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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2003)
Page 8 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, May 7, 2003 Honors due responders at GP blaze Brown new state forester Marvin Brown of Mary- land has been selected as the new Oregon state forester by the Board of Forestry in a spe- cial meeting held in Salem. The former Missouri state forester fills a vacancy left by Jim Brown, who resigned ear- lier this year to become Gov. Kulongoski’s chief natural resource policy adviser. Currently director of pri- vate forestland management with the American Forest and Paper Association in Wash- ington, D.C., Brown served as state forester of Missouri from 1992 to 1999. He worked for Willamette Industries from 1999 to 2002 as director of forest policy, stationed in Portland, Ore., and Ft. Mill, S.C. As head of the Oregon Dept. of Forestry, (ODF) Police officers, sheriff’s deputies, firefighters, medics and other support personnel will be honored for their ef- forts at a $6 million blaze on March 6 by the Grants Pass Dept. of Public Safety (GPDPS). The arson fire involved two assisted-living facilities. The awards/medal ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21 during a regular session of the Grants Pass City Council. In the days following the incident, stories emerged in- volving heroic acts by several GPDPS police officers and firefighters, Josephine County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Rural/Metro Fire Dept. fire- fighters. In addition, many other members contributed in a vari- ety of ways, which collec- tively resulted in the rescue of more than 60 elderly resi- dents, as well as suppression of the fire. GPDPS detectives have arrested a juvenile sus- pect for starting the blaze. Blanche M. Phlaum U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Blanche M. Phlaum, granddaughter of Ronald Phlaum of Kerby, and a 1999 Illinois Valley High School graduate, is deployed to the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf while assigned to the aircraft carrier USS “Carl Vin- son,” homeported in Bremer- ton, Wash. Phlaum is one of more than 6,000 Pacific Fleet Sail- ors and Marines aboard the ships of the USS “Carl Vin- son” carrier battle group com- mitted to maintaining peace and stability in the Western Pacific region. During the deployment, volunteers from Phlaum’s ship gave a combined 420 man- hours of their liberty time to the Sae Doel Children’s Home during a port visit in Pusan, Republic of Korea. Phlaum’s ship also made port visits in Guam and Pearl Harbor, Ha- waii where Sailors had the opportunity to shop, sight-see and enjoy the culture and cui- sine. Aircraft carriers like the “Vinson” are deployed throughout the world to main- tain U.S. presence and provide rapid response in times of cri- sis. They serve as a highly visible deterrent to would-be aggressors, and are equipped with the most versatile and powerful weapons and aircraft available, the Navy said. Brown will administer the agency under policies set by the board. The department provides wildfire protection to 16 million acres of private and public forestland, implements the Oregon Forest Practices Act and manages 800,000 acres of state-owned forests. In addition, ODF provides technical assistance to the state’s many family forestland owners. The resident of Rockville, Md., has forestry credentials that include international pol- icy-making experience. He served on a panel that wrote the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators, widely recog- nized measures of forest sus- tainability that the Oregon Board of Forestry has adapted and incorporated into its draft 2003 strategic plan. JACOBSON PAINTING Thinking of having your paint jobs done? NO JOB IS TOO SMALL Phone 592-6310 Today for a FREE estimate! ILLINOIS VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL, which hosted the annual Academic Masters competition on Wednesday, April 30, had five winners. In top photo (from left) Oley Crocker, 3rd in science, Jes- sica McMahan, 3rd, music; Chris Boatman, 4th, math; Daniel Clausnitzer, 4th, Eng- lish; and Kyle Hoelzle, 4th, social studies. Grants Pass High won the team trophy against I.V., North Valley and Hidden Valley. Center photo shows all competi- tors, and Boatman in com- petition at right. (Photos by Ryan Schaffer) CARL JACOBSON JR. PAINTING License #137572 Cell phone 592-9219 BPA quits Enron; sees wholesale drop The Bonneville Power Administration has terminated all its remaining contracts with the bankrupt Enron. BPA estimates the action will reduce a proposed 15 per- cent wholesale rate increase by about 2 percent. The agreement saves more than $40 million for North- west ratepayers, a discount of 30 percent off the market value of the contracts. Under the agreement approved by the bankruptcy court, BPA pays Enron’s creditors $99 million. The agreement also re- solves legal uncertainty about other Enron contracts BPA unilaterally terminated early in 2002. Those terminations saved ratepayers approxi- mately $150 million, which is already figured into BPA’s rates. “We were able to negoti- ate a very beneficial settle- ment for ratepayers,” said BPA Administrator Steve Wright. “The agreement avoids high legal costs and unpredictable rulings by regu- lators and the courts. It’s a significant step among our efforts to reduce costs and provide certainty at a moment when the Northwest economy needs it most.” Wright said he particu- larly wanted to thank Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), for their unflagging pursuit of a resolution of Enron bank- ruptcy issues in a way favor- able to Pacific Northwest con- sumers. “Their strong support in this matter put us in a better position to negotiate the agreement,” he said. BPA’s portfolio of busi- ness with Enron dates to 1998 when the company was a ma- jor market participant. In 2001, utility and industrial customers throughout the re- gion placed an additional 3,000 average megawatts of demand on BPA under new five-year agreements. Lacking sufficient genera- tion from the federal system, BPA met some of the need by Pay no attention to what the critics say; there has never been a statue erected to a critic. - Jan Sibelius - entering into five-year con- tracts to buy power from mar- keters, including Enron. BPA purchased about 300 average megawatts from En- ron at an average price of about $52 per megawatt hour (MWh) to be delivered be- tween 2003 and 2006. At the time, market prices ranged as high as $100 MWh. Prices now are a little above $35 MWh. After Enron filed for bankruptcy in 2001, it contin- ued to honor its BPA contracts by delivering power. BPA will pay the settle- ment from a government fund that provides money for reso- lution of legal disputes. The agency will repay the fund over seven years. A big THANK YOU to all the teachers, classified and office staff. You are always there for our kids. Your dedication is so greatly appreciated. Evergreen PTA