‘I don’t want to see
anyone’s baby die’
CJ mom on crusade for guardrails
where her son died on Hwy. 199
HAUNTED CORN MAZE - At Kerbyville Farm in Kerby,
just in time for the Halloween season, a haunted corn
maze with ‘scary’ features is open. It’s available for a
small fee per person for children and adults. (Top
photo, from left) members of the Hart Family, Jessica,
16; Amy, 12; Jacob, 5; Austin, 10. (Bottom left) One of
the features near the entrance to the maze, and
(bottom right) Austin Hart inside the maze.
Artist Laurie grinning, bearing it
Illinois Valley artist
Alan Laurie finds a certain
notoriety quite bearable.
In fact, he’s bearing
quite well the news that his
Cubist Cub, part of this
year’s BearFest in Down-
town Grants Pass, is the
only one from the event to
be donated to the Grants
Pass Museum of Art, or
otherwise chosen for dis-
play in an art location.
Laurie, “a starving
artist” responsible for
many logos and the like in
and around Illinois Valley,
said that he’s also pleased
with the response of other
artists in BearFest.
“The other artists
picked my Cubist Cub as
their favorite,” he said,
“and that made me feel
quite pleased.”
Since moving to the
valley from Seattle in
2001, Laurie has created
logos and signs for Coffee
Heaven, I.V. Arts Council,
Barter Faire, Oregon Cul-
tural Trust, Hathkapasuta
(the river celebration), Jo-
sephine County Fair, Jef-
ferson State Financial
Group, and Oregon Caves
National Monument.
Last year he was re-
sponsible for the I.V. Art-
ists calendar for I.V. Fam-
ily Coalition, and another
artistic endeavor for the CJ
Skate Park.
He also came up with
the cartoon map of the val-
ley, a project developed by
Jack Heald of HOVA,
(Hwy. One-99 Visitors
Association).
During his years as an
artist, Laurie has won nu-
merous awards in fine arts
and graphic arts.
Laurie, who describes
himself as a fine arts and
graphic artist, was born in
Washington state. He also
has worked in his field in
Los Angeles.
Regarding BearFest,
Laurie noted that after the
auction of its bears late last
month, auctioneer Wayne
Liska paid for and donated
Laurie’s Cubist Cub to the
GP Museum of Art.
Vickie Killion, assis-
tant marketing director at
Evergreen Federal Bank
that sponsored BearFest,
said, “We think that’s
wonderful because it
means the public will con-
tinue to enjoy the little Pi-
casso bear.”
Lack of quorum
cancels council
Due to lack of a quo-
rum, the Cave Junction
City Council meeting set
for Monday night, Oct. 11
was canceled.
City Recorder Jim
Polk indicated that the
situation likely occurred
because Monday, as Co-
lumbus Day, was a holiday
for some.
As was his
language, so
was his life.
- Seneca -
Joshua Allen, 22, was
headed home to Cave
Junction from work on
Hwy. 199 in a company
pickup truck.
A 2000 graduate of
Illinois Valley High
School, he was engaged to
be married.
He was 21 days from
his 23rd birthday.
“Josh” died July 7
when the crummie he was
driving, owned by Hanson
Logging, went off the
highway near milepost 23
and was demolished.
Now his mother is on a
crusade to have guardrails
installed by Oregon Dept.
of Transportation (ODOT).
“I don’t want to see
anyone else’s baby die,”
said his mother, Cori Al-
len, 45. “No one deserves
it. I’m not looking for a
lawsuit or anything like
that: Let’s just say that
mama wants guardrails.”
Her son was engaged
to Amanda Allen (no rela-
tion), and their child,
Shelby, was 3 months old.
Cori Allen began her
quest for guardrails only
recently, as it’s taken
awhile to recover from the
shock of the death.
She, like many valley
residents, is aware that the
portion of Hwy. 199 in the
Gold Canyon/milepost 23
area is notorious for motor
vehicle crashes.
Using files of “Illinois
Valley News,” she’s re-
searching the incidence of
crashes, many of which
have involved deaths or
serious injuries.
She plans to take her
findings to ODOT to dem-
onstrate the need for
guardrails. Although she
still is checking data, she
believes that a federal law
was passed in 1998 to re-
quire guardrails alongside
any embankment at least 4
feet high.
She is aware that a
family in Crescent City,
Calif. petitioned ODOT for
a guardrail several years
ago after a head-on colli-
sion. Because of the colli-
CORI ALLEN
sion and subsequent fire,
four people died.
“And we know of
many accidents in that
area,” said Cori, including
a toxic chemical spill in-
volving a tanker truck in
2000; plus the deaths of a
number of valley residents
and others.
She’s researching data
from 1998 because that’s
when she believes the
guardrails law was en-
acted.
“I’m not coming down
on the state or Roger Han-
son,” she said. “I just want
guardrails, and it’s worth
my trying with ODOT to
make it happen.”
She noted that her
family moved to the valley
from Alturas, Calif. seven
years ago. “Josh” entered
IVHS as a sophomore, and
he worried that he’d never
have any friends.
But at his memorial
service at Rough & Ready
Park, more than 300 peo-
ple turned out.
“Josh” has a sister,
Mechelle Northrup, 26, in
Cave Junction. And his
father, Darrell Allen, also
lives in CJ.
People with informa-
tion or questions about
accidents in the noted area
of Hwy. 199, or related
information can reach Cori
at 592-6391.
Homecoming under way
Cave Junction
Wednesday, Oct. 13
Sunny and breezy
High--84, Low--41.
Thursday, Oct. 14
Abundant sunshine
High--83, Low--42.
Friday, Oct. 15
Sunny and pleasant
High--77, Low--39.
Saturday, Oct. 16
Mostly sunny
High--72, Low--40.
Homecoming 2004 is
under way at Illinois Val-
ley High School, and in-
cludes a football game on
Friday, Oct. 15.
The Cougars will face
Rogue River on the new
IVHS field at 7 p.m.
A highlight of the
game will be introduction
of the homecoming court
and announcement of the
homecoming queen at the
game half.
In addition, the annual
Spirit Parade from IVHS
to Downtown Cave Junc-
tion is planned for Friday.
Indications are that it will
begin not long after lunch,
which will end at 1:12 p.m.
Th e h o me c o mi n g
dance will be held in the
school cafetorium on Sat-
urday, Oct. 16 from 8 p.m.
to midnight.
A number of other
events were planned for
this week, including spe-
cial dress-up days, a bon
fire on Tuesday night, Oct.
12; a powder puff football
game (for girls) Wednes-
day evening; and a power
buff volleyball game (for
boys) on Friday.
Sunday, Oct. 17
Partially cloudy
High--68, Low--39.
A Cubist Bear created by
Cave Junction artist Alan
Laurie (above, with his
dog ‘River’) was honored
by being selected for
permanent display in the
Grants Pass
Museum of Art.
Monday, Oct. 18
Possible showers
High--63, Low--29.
Tuesday, Oct. 19
Partly cloudy
High--60, Low--25.
A public forum to meet and hear the four
candidates seeking two seats on the
Josephine County Board of Commissioners
will be held Wednesday, Oct. 20 at Lorna
Byrne Middle School. See the ad on page 2.