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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (June 25, 2003)
Screaming, gleaming machines due at car show Saturday Gleaming chrome and special sparkling paint on more than a million dollars worth of some 150 cus- tomized and restored clas- sic cars and pickup trucks, followed by a live concert, will be among attractions during an Illinois Valley event on Saturday, June 28. Jubilee Park in Cave Junction is the site for the fifth annual Show & Shine, sponsored by Cave Junc- tion Lions Club; and the beginning of the annual Concerts in the Park series, sponsored by Illinois Val- ley Chamber of Com- merce. The next concert, also in Jubilee Park, will fea- ture Bluegrass music from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Thurs- day, July 3. The schedule for Sat- urday the 28th: *Noon to 4 p.m. - the car show, which the public can attend at no charge. *8 to 11 a.m. - CJ Li- ons breakfast. *8 a.m. to noon - reg- istration for car show en- tries. *11 a.m. and 2 p.m. - Guide dog demonstrations by Guide Paws 4-H Club. *Noon to 3:30 p.m. - CJ Lions Club lunch. *4 p.m. - Car show trophies and awards pres- entations. * 4 : 3 0 p . m . (approximately) - Live rock ‘n’ roll concert by “Chase’n the Blues” on the open air stage. In addition, there will be raffle drawings through- out the day. Vehicles all will be from the 1920 to 1978 period. Last year’s show fea- tured 97 entries, but this year approximately 150 are anticipated, based on early registration. Car show T-shirts will be available at the park, or in advance at The Book Exchange in Western Plaza at the north end of Cave Pool open, thanks to CJ efforts By BRITT FAIRCHILD Staff Writer It’s official. The city of Cave Junction now owns Illinois Valley Swimming Pool. With a 5-0 vote during their Monday night, June 23 meeting in city hall, Mayor Ed Faircloth and councilmen accepted the land transfer of the pool, now referred to as Cave Junction Pool, from the Josephine County Board of Commissioners. Describing it as an “historic moment for the county and the city of Cave Junction,” Commis- sioner Harold Haugen, who attended the meeting with Commissioner Jim Riddle (Commissioner Jim Brock was absent), thanked the council for its leadership and dedication in keeping the pool open. Applause from those attending the meeting fol- lowed. Haugen also called the pool a “stepping stone” toward other activities in the valley. And he noted that although the board may not be able to help the city financially with the pool, it would help in whatever other ways it could. Councilman and active pool supporter Rita Dyer thanked Faircloth and fel- low councilmen for their efforts, as well as the com- missioners for their consid- eration of the city taking over control of the pool, which opened Monday. Dyer also recognized several community mem- bers, including Julia and Kyle Kirchner, Bob and Diane Wendover and Teri Dougherty, for their hard work toward the cause. “I’m just tickled to see the city taking it (the pool) over,” Faircloth said, describing it as a “valley asset.” It was previously agreed upon that the com- missioners would give $20,000 toward pool op- erations for this year only. Later in the meeting, the council approved its an- nual $2,000 in funds for the pool as part of the city’s 2003-04 budget. To celebrate the occa- (Continued on page 6) Junction. The shirts feature last year’s Best of Show winner, a 1951 Mercury from Grants Pass. Proceeds from the event will be used by CJ Lions for aiding various valley organizations. They include I.V. Safe House Alliance, CJ Cares, and Glenn Morrison American Legion Post #70. As well, funds are used to assist the S.W. Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Project. Jana Fincher is chair- man of the concert series for I.V. Chamber. Car show co-chairmen are Martin San and Darrel Al- len, with Joan Welcome as registration chairman. Bobbette San is president of CJ Lions Club. Helping the club as co- sponsors of the Show & Shine are Home Valley Bank, SOFCU, Wild River Brewing & Pizza Co., and CJ 1-Hour Photo and Cave Net. Resignation of chief OK’d by fire board RIVER CELEBRATION - The sixth annual River C e l e b r a t i o n / Hathkapasuta was held on Saturday, June 21 at ‘Forks’ State Park in Cave Junction. The large crowd enjoyed the sunny day beside the Illinois River. The free event featured live music, a food court, various artists, a heal- ing arts village, activi- ties for all ages and exhibits by many or- ganizations, including Illinois Valley Fire Dis- trict, Oregon State Parks, Sierra Club, I.V. Fine Arts Council and Siskiyou Project. (Additional photos on page 12) DUAL DIVING DUDES - Taylor Harris, 10, flies from the high dive, and Ben Kendall, 11, jumps from the lower diving board Monday, June 23 during opening day of the Cave Junction Pool. The grand opening will be on Satur- day, June 28 from 1 to 5 p.m. There will be free swimming, Taylor’s hot dogs and beverages. Pick up schedules at the pool. (Photo by Steve Fairchild ) Shocked silence fol- lowed by indignation from most of a 40-member audi- ence marked a 5-0 action by Illinois Valley Fire Dis- trict directors to accept the immediate resignation of- fered by Chief Kyle Kirchner during a special meeting on Wednesday night, June 18 in the Jose- phine County Bldg. in Cave Junction. “What the hell hap- pened?” asked one irate man. Kirchner, 49, and chief since September 1996, had been on paid administra- tive leave since board ac- tion in late March. His sal- ary was approximately $1,700 every two weeks. Wednesday night, Di- rectors Don Haviland, Lar- rick Jones, Leonard Frick, Joe Malcolm and Joel Downing voted 5-0 during open session on two mo- tions. One was to accept the resignation offered by the chief; grant him three months severance pay, and continue his health insur- ance coverage for three months. The second mo- tion was to retain staff training Chief Jeff Gavlik, who has been acting chief since Kirchner’s adminis- trative leave, as interim chief with a 5 percent pay raise. In addition, Kirchner said after the meeting, his agreement with the board includes a “hold harmless” clause stating that he will not sue the district; and likewise that the district will not sue him in connec- tion with the issues that led to his resignation. Kirchner’s administra- tive leave, which was sup- posed to last some two weeks that stretched into three months, had been approved by the board while an audit of district transactions during the past several months was con- ducted. Ten related com- plaints against Kirchner were involved, ranging from use of a district vehi- cle to use of a district cell phone and charging items on a district credit card and then repaying the amounts. These items, Kirchner said, have occurred throughout his tenure and there were no complaints from the board. Indications are that the 10 complaints, described as insignificant and not worthy of extreme action, were refuted by Kirchner. Situation could have been avoided if the board had just talked to me: Kirchner He said that “at least three board members were convinced that I had em- bezzled enough money through fabricated data entry to get me fired.” The entire situation, he said, could have been solved long ago if the board had sat and spoken with him rather than taking the ap- proach it did. The 11th complaint, involving a personal matter of the chief borrowing $30,000 from a private person and then declaring bankruptcy, also was logged. It appears that the 11th item comprises the basis for a majority of the board pushing for a move to fire Kirchner. During his tenure as chief, he received all “excellent” evaluations. He (Continued on page 12) Former Chief Kyle Kirchner (left) spoke with interim Chief Jeff Gavlik after a special board meeting.
