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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2003)
Burglars hit more CJ targets By BRITT FAIRCHILD Staff Writer Burglaries and vandal- ism are continuing in Cave Junction despite increased attention to crime from downtown business own- ers, law enforcement and the city council. Following a string of other downtown busi- nesses that have been hit during the past few months, Cave Junction 1- Hour Photo/ Cave Net had its front door shattered sometime between late Thursday night, Aug. 14 and early Friday morning, Aug. 15, according to an employee on Monday, Aug. 18. Workers noticed the damage on Friday morn- ing, she said, noting that though that no one saw a rock or brick or other item that had been thrown at the door. Vandals also caused around $50 worth of dam- age at downtown antique store Darn Near Every- thing early the previous morning. Owner Carol Gilmore said the store alarm sounded at 3 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 13. “We arrived within eight minutes and (Josephine County Sher- iff’s Deputy Keith Hub- bard) arrived 10 minutes later,” she said. Apparently someone pried several rocks from a structure in front of the store and threw them through the window, Gil- more said. No one entered the store and nothing was sto- len, but there was a lot of shattered glass around the front window, she added. “The store will be pa- trolled and armed on a regular basis,” Gilmore said. “I will be actively participating (with other business owners) to rid downtown of these van- dals.” Later in the week, bur- glars twice struck River Valley Village Mobile Home Park on Ollis Road, stealing a TV, VCR, CD player, CB radio, a vac- uum and other items from an RV owned by park resi- dent Donald Campbell. The first incident took place between late Friday night and early Saturday morning, Aug. 15 and 16, said Campbell, who had returned on Thursday, Aug. 14 from a weeklong trip to California with his wife, Claire. He had parked the large RV in the designated lot at the park and even checked it sometime dur- ing in the day Friday and everything was fine. When he went back to the RV on Saturday, he found a window screen had been removed the win- dow slid open. Campbell said he must have left the front passen- (Continued on page 8) Valley gets its new Lorna Byrne Middle School … and what a school it is NEW SCHOOL SPIRIT– Lorna Byrne Middle School Prinicpal Peter Maluk and Vice Principal Tom Hewkin (photo above) stand in front of one of the two tile murals on display in the new school’s main entrance. In just a few weeks, students will fill the halls of the new school (photo right). Related photos on page 8. (Photos by Britt Fairchild) By BRITT FAIRCHILD Staff Writer Careful, or you could get lost. OK, maybe not lost exactly, but at least a bit turned around. The new Lorna Byrne Middle School (LBMS) is so large -- not to mention grand -- that during a re- cent visit, I found myself, more than once, ponder- ing which hallway or doorway I had just en- tered or exited. And that was after LBMS Principal Peter Maluk, who to the con- trary knows his way around the building with ease, had given me a guided tour. Not that the approxi- mately $7 million school -- paid for with a portion of the November 2000 school bond funds -- isn’t well-designed. Each of the facility’s three sections houses its own set of features in quite an organized and usable fashion. For example, the two- story portion at the north end of the school consists of spacious classrooms centered around a com- mons area, computer labs on both levels and the stu- dent health center on the first floor. “(There are two sto- ries) because I’m from New York and I wanted a skyscraper,” Maluk joked as we entered the elevator to go to the second level. (Yes, there’s an elevator, but don’t worry, there are stairs too). Actually, the reason for the extra floor on top was so that the structure itself wouldn’t encroach on what limited outdoor rec- reation space there is around the new school, Maluk said, noting there was previously more rec- reation room. Perhaps I was simply too enthralled with the shiny new lockers, expan- sive media room (library), stage and administrative office, and pleasing palette of cranberry, custard, mus- tard, peach and “Smith River green” on the walls and floors to notice where I was going. My junior high sure didn’t look this snazzy. “The Eatery” is an- other treat. For the first time, LBMS will have its own kitchen and cook to prepare meals for students. And there’s windows. Plenty of ’em. “We wanted a lot of light,” Maluk said. The most unique fea- tures of the new school, however, are the two col- orful tile murals in the main entrance. Last year each LBMS student and Blackfeet Nation welcomes Dykeman After more than 20 years as a principal, this is the first new school Maluk has opened. Needless to say he’s excited. “I’m pumped,” he said, noting his apprecia- tion to the community for its support. And Vice Principal Tom Hewkin? He was as cheery as ever when I ran into him in the hall during my visit. I think he was also guiding a tour. In the few minutes we spoke, he noted that he’s heard that some of the Illinois Valley High Schoolers wish that they too, could start the com- ing school year, which begins Tuesday, Sept. 2, at the new LBMS. I can see why. Salvage operations in Biscuit area to expand By STEVE FAIRCHILD Staff Writer Receiving an honorary membership into a Native American tribe has been a once-in-a-lifetime honor for Barbara “Bobbie” Dykeman of Cave Junc- tion. But Dykeman said she was heartbroken when doctors told her she would not be allowed to make the trip to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Mont. to participate in a ceremony and accept her honor. Dykeman, 62, is cur- rently under hospice care for cancer that is affecting the sciatic nerve in her hip area. She learned from doc- tors that she would not have access to the medical staff member decorated an individual tile. Of particu- lar sentiment is the one painted with a delicate rose made by Tygrachet “Tiger” Rose Lorentz. The LBMS eighth- grader died in a car acci- dent in April. It seems that every- thing at the school is new, except for the existing gym and music room that were built in 1994, which re- main. Part of this existing structure will be converted into a modern art room, Maluk added. In reference to the trees that were removed in this vicinity which caused some upset within the community, Maluk ex- plained they had to be taken out in order to reach the crumbling foundation of the gym and fix it. “We made every effort to save them (the trees),” he said. Barbara ‘Bobbie’ Dykeman care she would need for her cancer if she tried to make the trip, she said. Dykeman, also known by her Indian name of “Golden Cloud,” comes from a lineage of the Powhaten, of Virginia, and Cherokee tribes. Her grandparents were Native American and she said that she is related to Poca- hontas. Her relationship with the Blackfeet Nation began in grade school. “I went to school with a brother and sister that were Blackfoot children,” Dykeman said. “We wanted to become blood sisters, but had to get spe- cial permission from the chief at that time who was also the children’s grandfa- ther. “We were only al- (Continued on page 8) After investigating a new report, Scott Conroy, Rogue River and Siskiyou national forest supervisor announced recently the expansion of the area to be salvaged in the Biscuit Fire Recovery Project. The decision was based on new information and ideas generated in the report by a group of scien- tists led by Dr. John Ses- sions of Oregon State Uni- versity (OSU). The report is titled, “The Biscuit Fire: Management Options for Forest Regeneration, Fire and Insect Risk Reduction and Timber Salvage.” “It (the report) has pro- vided us with some impor- tant new information,” Conroy said. The new alternative will increase the salvage timber operations on the 500,000-acre fire area from the proposed 450 million board feet to more than a billion board feet. The report called for tougher salvage logging in order to reduce the possi- bility of wildfires and speed up the restoration of spotted owl habitat. Scientists have con- cluded that actively man- aging the area will prevent the overgrowth of shrubs and dead snags (dead standing trees) which would be fire hazards. Conroy’s decision will delay the draft rehabilita- tion plan. Work on the area is expected to start in late spring or next summer. Tom Lavagnino from the supervisor’s office of the U.S. Forest Service in Medford said 22 percent of the value of the Biscuit Fire timber was lost in one year. An additional 30 percent is expected to be lost each additional year. The alternative also calls for cutting trees in roadless areas within two miles of existing roads.