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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 2003)
IVCRT wins 10-year Caves concession contract A long-term “shot in the arm” in the form of a 10-year contract to manage the concession at Oregon Caves National Monument has been awarded to Illi- nois Valley Community Response Team (IVCRT). The long-awaited de- cision for Oregon Caves Outfitters under IVCRT was revealed on Monday, Oct. 6. The announcement was made by Craig Acker- man, superintendent of the monument, operated by the National Park Service (NPS); and Jon Jarvis, NPS Pacific West regional director. “I guess we can finally exhale,” said George Fence, IVCRT chairman. “We have sought this mo- ment for two years, and now the real fun begins. “I must say that I am so proud of the skills, lead- ership and just plain hard work demonstrated by so many in helping us win this bid,” Fence said. “A 10-year contract will help pave the way for genuine economic and quality-of- life revitalization for our area.” After two successful seasons managing tempo- rary contracts, IVCRT, which is a 501c3 nonprofit organization “engaged in the social and economic development of rural Jose- phine County,” will main- tain its management role of the concession through 2013. IVCRT is one of the few nonprofit national park concessionaires in the country, said Executive Director Ron Phillips. “Otherwise,” he said, “it’s a field dominated by a few large corporations. This contract represents a spe- cial, mutually beneficial partnership between a local community and NPS.” The concession is comprised of food, lodging and gift sales. Jarvis said that a panel of concession profession- als analyzed proposals on specific objectives and recommended selection of IVCRT. “We concur with the team’s high standards of supporting the park and its desire to encourage sus- tainable tourism, as well as its community develop- CJ studio shows off textile arts By BRITT FAIRCHILD Staff Writer At the Singing Loom Studio opening during September’s Second Fri- day Art Walk, Cave Junc- tion artist Libby Goines noticed that some of her visitors looked puzzled, as though they didn’t quite know what to make of the place. She even spotted a woman picking through one of her work baskets, looking for an item to buy. For Goines, their be- havior reinforced her rea- sons for wanting to open the studio in the first place. “(People) can see what a working artist’s studio looks like,” she said of Singing Loom, something currently lacking in town. Located above Blue Moon Books & Coffee in Downtown CJ, Singing Loom Studio offers the community a chance to explore and learn such tex- tile arts as weaving, spin- ning, beadwork, sewing, knitting and embroidery, and others. Known already in the valley for her musical tal- ents, Goines also offers singing, guitar and piano lessons. Joining Goines in the studio next door is CJ artist Deborah Dawson, who offers private and group painting instruction and other art-related activities. The women are calling their developing art collec- tive, “A Creative Space.” “It took an Aquarian named Libby Goines to light a fire under me,” Dawson said, noting she used the last of her savings to open the studio and had been planning to open one for about a year. It’s a risk, she admit- ted, but at least she’s doing something she loves. An artisan group, funded by a grant through I.V. Community Response Team, also is looking into using the third studio in the upstairs building. The other studio is vacant. The time is right, Goines said, for introduc- ing such a concept like A Creative Space to the area. (Continued on page 8) ment spirit as a nonprofit organization,” said Acker- man. “IVCRT has done a good job during the past two years under especially difficult and uncertain cir- cumstances.” He specifically noted last year’s 500,000-acre Biscuit Fire that threatened evacuation of all 15,000 I.V. residents. The fire caused a 25 to 50 percent reduction, said Ackerman, in visitation during last summer and fall. Despite that, he said, the Outfitters “not only recovered from that set- back, but increased occu- pancy in the Chateau (built in 1934) by 80 percent from last year.” With 41 valley resi- dents on staff, IVCRT has focused on employing I.V. community members. It also has integrated local arts and crafts, and other products representing the uniqueness of Southwest- ern Oregon into the gift shop and food service op- erations; an approach strongly supported by NPS. (Continued on page 8) Suspect in O’Brien incident on the run SHOOTING -- Ameri- can Medical Response (AMR) and Illinois Val- ley Fire District medics tended to two gunshot victims at the AMR fa- cility behind Cave Junction City Hall on Sunday, Oct. 5 follow- ing an incident in O’Brien. Josephine County Sheriff’s Office deputies and other lawmen in the area are looking for the sus- pect in the shootings. Consultants will help find fire chief By BRITT FAIRCHILD Staff Writer Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) board de- cided during a special meeting on Friday eve- ning, Oct. 3 in the district’s main fire station to use BOLA Consultants in Jacksonville to advertise for a new fire chief. Board members will meet with Lou Gugliotta from BOLA during an- other special meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. at the main station, 681 Caves Hwy., to dis- cuss criteria for the posi- tion. IVFD Board President Joel Downing said Mon- day, Oct. 6 that a job de- scription developed in 1999 and reworked in 2000 will be used in the advertising process. “It’s still valid to this day,” Downing said of the description, noting the re- quirements for the job in- clude management and firefighting experience. The board noted a col- lege degree is also pre- ferred, but not required. BOLA’s services will include providing a back- ground check, printing and mailing expenses and other advertising-related costs. (Continued on page 3) LATE NIGHT FIRE -- Illinois Valley Fire District and Oregon Dept. of Forestry re- sponded on Sunday, Oct. 5 to an 8:06 p.m. alarm for a wildfire with two structures moderately threatened, said I.V. Division Chief Joe Feldhaus. The fire of undeter- mined origin burned a half-acre of grass and brush, and some $2,000 worth of red- wood planking at 1111 Lone Mountain Road. No injuries were reported, and firefight- ers rapidly extinguished the blaze. I.V. sent four engines, two tenders and three brush rigs; ODF sent four engines, because of the potential for a much-larger fire. An “armed and dan- gerous” suspect in the shooting of two O’Brien residents apparently was chased by a deputy some 17 hours after the incident, but the driver escaped into a wooded area after his pickup truck hit a tree. Josephine County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) deputies and lawmen in surrounding areas includ- ing Northern California are seeking Wilfred C. Cod- dington, 47, of 475 O’Brien Road, where the shootings occurred. He is wanted in con- nection with single gun- shot wounds to the abdo- mens of Jesse J. Ballenger- Windle, 26, of 9407 Takilma Road; and Jeremy L. Jorgensen, 18, of 475 O’Brien Road. The victims were taken to Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass by American Medical Response follow- ing the incident reported at 11:29 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 5. They were in stable condition, said JCSO. Following the call for help on Sunday, emer- gency personnel could not locate the two victims, as they had been taken by private vehicle, driven by an unidentified woman, toward Cave Junction. It appears that they first were taken to Siskiyou Commu- nity Medical Center. Find- ing no one there, they were then driven to the AMR quarters, where medics from AMR and Illinois Valley Fire District re- sponded. At the AMR site, the two were given first aid and basically stabilized before being taken to Grants Pass. Two ambu- lances were used. Meanwhile on Sunday, deputies sought informa- tion from the two, and oth- ers went to the shooting location. Officers sur- rounded a residence and shed, and a canine deputy was called in. Neighbors were alerted. However, the suspect was not found. But a dep- uty at 3:51 a.m. on Mon- day tried to stop a pickup truck he believed was driven by Coddington. JCSO said that the ve- hicle failed to yield to emergency lights on Naue Way near its intersection with Lone Mountain Road. After the vehicle (Continued on page 7) Disabled I.V. woman to walk for three days to raise cancer awareness By BRITT FAIRCHILD Staff Writer If no one will walk with JoAnne Forbing, then JoAnne Forbing will walk alone. She’s determined to cross the finish line at this year’s Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day walk in San Fran- cisco on Nov. 7-9 -- even if no one from Illinois Val- ley is there to cross it with her. “I’m a very stubborn, strong-willed person,” said Forbing, a modest and gen- tle but resilient disabled woman who uses crutches which she calls her second pair of “legs” to help her walk. Forbing participated in the 60-mile Avon walk in Seattle last year, but stopped after 44.6 miles because of dehydration and the blisters on her hands from her crutches. After traveling so many miles the hilly ter- rain also became difficult. Despite stopping early, Forbing however recalls the event with a sense of awe. “It’s an experience you don’t even know how to describe. The unity is something that is totally indescribable,” she said, noting some 3,000 men and women took part in the Seattle walk. “It kind of dumb- founded me,” she said. The 51- year-old (Continued on page 7)