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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 2003)
Page 2 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, December 31, 2003 Women thwart apparent kidnapping situation (Continued from page 1) There’s a journalistic axiom that no matter who leaves the job or doesn’t show up because of ill- ness, wrinkled clothing, tsunami or other creative ex- cuses, the newspaper will still come out. Stories, headlines and captions will be written, advertisements built, and photos taken. “The paper” will be laid out and sent to the printer by deadline. Eureka! Voila! Or even Ole! It’s an axiom with truth. Of course, it can also mean that those on duty have to extend themselves until the missing staffers show up or are replaced. This is not to disparage the recent departure from the “Noose” of a great couple: Steve and Britt Fairchild. They worked with us until the last minute, departing with honor, and placing themselves between a rock and another rock in that Steve had to report for work at his new job on a Monday only two days after de- parting this valley. We have been able to fill the huge gap left by their departure, although the Time of Transition can be tough. But we’ve been through such situations more than once at various other publications. And al- though these climates of change are challenging, there is no doubt that by using the talents of Michelle Binker and Shane Welsh, the “Noose” will continue in its annoying way to be published each week no matter what. Or who. Besides, we have other terrific co-workers, primarily Cindy Newton, Chris Robertson, Kacy Clement, Becky Loudon and Millie Watkins. Oh, and I work some too, just to help out. But back to Steve, 30, and Britt, 27: They have done outstanding work for us and are much ap- preciated. Married on April 27, 2002 after graduating from Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo with bachelor of science degrees in journalism in 1999, they came to Oregon some 18 months ago from Arroyo Grande, Calif., where he was sports editor and then copy edi- tor at the “Times-Press Record,” a twice-weekly newspaper. She had worked for a couple of newspa- pers, and both were highly regarded by their supervi- sors. They moved to Grants Pass, as Steve had been hired as a sports writer for the Grants Pass “Daily Courier.” Britt contacted us, and we hired her in Sep- tember 2002. She stayed until November, when the “Courier” hired her away from us. After a month there, she returned to the “Noose” and was with us since. Steve worked at the Grants Pass paper for about eight months before coming to the valley for approxi- mately the same time. Now they’re returned to Arroyo Grande, as they both have friends and family either there or nearby. In addition, even though they will be living in a rural area, they’ll be much closer to the cultural events and pastimes they’ve missed while here. Steve will be sports editor at the paper he left; Britt will do free-lance work. Both found it difficult to say good- bye here. While in the Beaver State, they enjoyed the trees and the overall beauty of Nature. They both en- joy hiking and found some great spots around Illinois Valley. Now they’ll be hiking in some more familiar haunts. They will be sorely missed, not only for their dedication, proficiency and good humor, but simply because they are a neat couple. Yeah, the “Noose” will continue as usual, even without Steve and Britt. But there’s no denying that they’ve left some big chairs to fill. We wish them Godspeed and all the best. Attention: Medicare Beneficiaries Quality Care Prescribed by your doctor - the Health Net Options Plus PPO Advantage $59.00 is the Monthly Premium remembers. The man stopped, too, and again insisted he had done noth- ing wrong, but Maloney and Demming weren’t buying it. Fortunately, the home owner in whose driveway this confrontation was tak- ing place heard the com- motion and came outside. “He (the home owner) was now yelling at us, ‘You people get out of here! You’re trespassing! You’re out of control! I’m gonna’ call the cops!’” Maloney recalled, “And we were yelling at him ‘Call the cops! This man kidnapped our kids!” The second child in the black car then managed to open a door, and fled into some woods nearby. As both children were now free of the vehicle, Demming and Maloney returned to the pickup, and backed down the drive- way. “I stopped at the bot- tom of the driveway, to get a description of the vehicle and a license plate,” Dem- ming remembers. The man stopped, too, and again insisted he had done nothing wrong. “I told him, ‘You knew something was wrong when we told you to stop’.” The man then passed Demming’s vehicle, and pulled into another drive- way, which led to an obvi- IVHS School Menu Sponsored by SISKIYOU COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER 319 Caves Hwy. 592-4111 You’ll get more with Health Net Options PPO. Free Seminar Learn more about the features and benefits of this plan. Seminar Dates: Jan. 7 - I. V. Family Resource Center 535 East River St., Cave Junction 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Jan. 12 - Riverside Convention Center Chinook Room, 971 SE 6th St. Grants Pass 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Jan. 21 - I. V. 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The two women considered this strange enough to warrant sticking around. “I saw a young girl walking up (Kirkham) Road, probably walking home from the bus stop.” Demming said, “I told her ‘You go straight home. This guy just snatched our kids and I don’t want it to happen to you!’” The black car soon reappeared. The driver stopped near Demming’s pickup. He told the women that “he was checking to see if his boss was home.” The man then threw his beer bottle into the roadside ditch. At this point, Dem- ming, who claims exten- sive experience working with law enforcement, at- tempted a citizen’s arrest for drunken driving. “I demanded his name, and he appeared to think about it some before giv- ing me a name that was probably a lie,” Demming said, “He insisted that he had no ID and no priors (convictions or warrants for his arrest).” “He kept saying ‘I don’t want the cops in- volved.’ and drove away.” The vehicle crested a hill, moving out of the women’s sight. Before Demming and Maloney reached the same hill, the vehicle was gone. Josephine County Sheriff’s Office deputies, responding to the incident, Please don’t drink and drive! met Demming’s vehicle at Kirkham and Dick George roads. “I told them ‘That’s the car you want.’ and (the deputy) said ‘The black one?’ I gave him the li- cense number and descrip- tion..” Demming said. The deputy told the women to wait there. By their estimate, the women waited on the road for “nearly 30 minutes” before deputies returned. Deputy Cory Krauss took statements from the women, and Maloney’s son. Later, he also took a statement from the second child, who had been re- turned to his mother. Maloney said the deputies gave her a brief description of what hap- pened when they contacted the man at his residence. “The man told (the deputies) he didn’t know what they were talking about. The cops told me they could smell alcohol on his breath. And he had apparently changed his clothes,” she said. After taking their statements, “(Deputy) Krauss said he was gonna’ go file a report and I would be contacted to come sign it,” Maloney said. Now four weeks after the incident, and in spite of several calls she has made to the sheriff’s office, Ma- loney has yet to hear from the deputy or see a report. Lt. Lee Harman, com- menting on the incident, said the case had been turned over to the Major Crimes Unit, but that “the victim refused to make statements,” and there was “basically no case.” Neither Demming nor Maloney find this a satis- factory conclusion. “We feel like our lives are in danger,” Maloney said, “because the cops just don’t do anything.” Said Demming, “No matter how you look at it, something wrong hap- pened here, whether it was kidnapping or drunk driv- ing or whatever, there had to have been a reason to arrest (the man involved).” 325 Caves Hwy. (In back of A&B Clothing) 592-2376 Celia Siemer with the Illinois Valley Christmas Toy/Basket Program would like to thank the following people and businesses for their donations and support. The Christmas Toy/Basket ‘give away’ was held on Saturday, Dec. 20 and many families were served who would not have otherwise had a gift under the tree for their children. We had an outpouring of donations that increased the number of toys that could be distributed. Thank you all very much and Happy New Year! *Oregon Mountain Real Estate *Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance *Chris Mallette *Laurence & Elaine Stein *Forest Edge Farms (Joyce Abrams) *Crate Ideas (Bruce Gibbs) *Evelyn Evans *Eye Care Group *I.V. Lions Club *I.V. Select Market *Wild River Brewing & Pizza Co. *Southern Oregon Sanitation *Coffee Heaven *Laura Anger *Eileen Noggle *Patti Culver *Deborah Newell *Dr. Joe’s Pet Hospital *Lancaster Rolling Video *Junction Inn Restaurant, Motel & Lounge *Illinois River Hideaway *IVCRT/Oregon Caves Outfitters *Oregon Mountain Soap Co. *Selmac Auto Service *Stevereno’s Family Restaurant & Lounge *Hart Insurance *Illinois Valley Senior Center *CJ Dairy Queen *True Value Hardware *Rising Suns *Clouser Drilling *Cone Ten Pottery *Oregon Caves Chevron *‘I.V. News’ *Bargain Mini Storage *Junction Realty *First American Title *Century 21 Harris & Taylor *Taylor’s Sausage *John Meengs *It’s a Burl *Darlene Berman *Charles Nussbaumer *I.V. Garden Club *Frontier *Alyce Kendall *I.V. Doll Club *I.V. Sierra Club *Illinois Valley VFW Post 5995 *Bridgeview Vineyards Winery *Immanual Methodist Church *FCE *Grants Pass Kiwanis *Salvation Army *Women’s Crisis Support Team We would also like to thank the volunteers that helped put food bags together and with distribution of the baskets. *College Dreams (IVHS and LBMS) *Honor Society *Passages *Illinois Valley Fam- ily Coalition *Lorna Byrne Alternative Center *IVHS Alternative Center *Dept. Human Services employees *FCE *Becky *Johnna LaRue *Kelly Ivy *Lisa Pappas *David Siemer *Eldon and Barbara Parchim *Darcy Turner *PJ and Gordon Kennedy *Tabitha Jackson *Tom Green *Parker Evans *Carla Mitchell *Leslie Vandiver *Asa Martinson-Squire *Kellie & Andrew Augustadt *Megan Cotta *Trinity LaRue and the many volunteers that helped throughout the day… Thank you and Happy New Year!