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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2004)
Tree lighting set Dec. 11 by chamber OSP notes holiday stats A reduction in traffic crashes, fewer fatalities and a drop in arrests for driving under the influence of an intoxicant (DUII) during the Thanksgiving holiday period was reported by Oregon State Police. During the period from Wednesday, Nov. 24 through Sunday, Nov. 28, four persons died in three crashes. Last year, six died in three crashes, OSP said. DUII arrests by troopers decreased to 58 vs. 80 last year. Statewide, troopers responded to 450 crashes vs. 512 last year. Saturday, Dec, 11 is set for the annual lighting of the Community Christmas Tree on the lot between Junction Inn and Pizza Pit. The event, sponsored by Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce, will run from 3 to 5 p.m. There will be free candy canes, and music with T. Lund and student choir members. There also will be caroling. Watch next week’s issue for details. Biscuit cash looks short Timber salvaged from the 2002 Biscuit Fire is sell- ing at lower prices than ex- pected, meaning that the Rogue River-Siskiyou Na- tional Forest could net less money for rehabilitation projects, according to The Associated Press. The AP further noted the following: It also means that the salvage and restoration pro- ject will not reach the size predicted in July, when en- vironmentalists criticized the Bush Administration for the largest federal timber sale in recent history. In July the U.S. Forest Service announced that it would sell 372 million board feet of timber killed during the Biscuit Fire. The proposed sale was projected (Continued on page 3) Following are the high and low temperatures as recorded by Cheryl and Harry Johnson in O’Brien: *Friday, Nov. 19, 47- 36. *Saturday, Nov. 20, 46-33. *Sunday, Nov. 21, 50- 28. *Monday, Nov. 22, 51- 27. *Tuesday, Nov. 23, 51- 31. *Wednesday, Nov. 24, 52-33. *Thursday, Nov. 25, 56-47, and (.39 inches of rain). Cave Junction Wednesday, Dec. 1 Sunny and cold High--43, Low--22. Thursday, Dec. 2 Partly sunny High--45, Low--21. Friday, Dec. 3 Cool and sunny High--45, Low--27. Saturday, Dec. 4 Rain and snow mix High--43, Low--27. Sunday, Dec. 5 Rain and snow mix High--42, Low--31. Monday, Dec. 6 Possible showers High--47, Low--26. Tuesday, Dec. 7 Rain with morning ice High--45, Low--29. County payroll jobs up, but jobless rate at 7.3% REDWOOD HWY./LAUREL ROAD MISHAP - The four flashing amber lights at the in- tersection of Hwy. 199 and Laurel Road on the north side of Cave Junction were low- ered unexpectedly at approximately 3:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 29. A Bronco driven by O’Brien resident Mike Palmer, 62, struck a utility pole, breaking it off at the base and causing electrical and support cables to drop, said Oregon State Police. The agency said that Palmer, who was reported to be uninjured, was southbound when he ap- parently reached to get something off the floor of his vehicle. OSP added that he veered off the road and traveled approximately 250 feet before striking the pole. Pal- mer was cited on a charge of careless driv- ing. Illinois Valley Fire District, Pacific Power, and Oregon Dept. of Transportation re- sponded to the accident. Traffic was limited to in- termittent one-way travel until the damage was repaired. A street sign was knocked over as well, and Palmer’s vehi- cle incurred damage to its right-front. City acts to accommodate Measure 37 Declaring an emergency due to the impending effec- tive date of Measure 37, the Cave Junction City Council Monday night, Nov. 22 heard and approved an ordi- nance providing procedures for processing real property compensation claims. According to a sum- mary provided by the League of Oregon Cities (LOC), Measure 37, ap- proved by voters Nov. 2, authorizes a property owner to file a claim against a gov- ernment that enacts or en- forces certain types of land use regulations, if the re- strictions reduce the use of private real property and if the restriction reduces the value of the property. All governmental agen- cies within Oregon must have procedures in place to process claims before the law takes effect on Thurs- day, Dec. 2. Cave Junction took its cue from information pro- vided by LOC, compiled by a bevy of attorneys. Although it is unclear if Measure 37 allows for it, the ordinance approved 5-0 in- cludes a section which al- lows the city to recoup proc- essing costs, including the cost of staff and legal coun- sel, by presenting the claim- ant/property owner a bill following final action on the claim by the city. -Michelle Binker CJ cop notes advance against transients Appearing before the Cave Junction City Council for the first time since he was assigned to the CJ beat, Josephine County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Ray Webb summarized a statistical report on crime in the city during October. During the Monday night, Nov. 22 meeting in city hall, Webb noted that the total number of incidents is down from the month prior, with highly significant reductions in property and “person-on-person” crimes. However, traffic inci- dents, stops and contacts were up 22 percent from the month prior, Webb reported. The deputy also indi- cated that he was “networking with the Nar- cotics Taskforce in the fight against drug dealers and trafficking.” Concerning transient persons who have been causing trouble while intoxi- cated or trespassing, Webb mentioned steps taken which will allow deputies to remove unwanted campers from certain properties. Webb also mentioned a case in which the city’s pub- lic intoxication ordinance, a non-standard rule under Oregon law, appears to have survived a legal hurdle. -Michelle Binker Payroll employment in Josephine County increased by 80 jobs during October, with losses in leisure and hospitality more than offset by hiring in the local gov- ernment education sector, according to Oregon Em- ployment Dept. (OED). Josephine County’s unemployment rate was unchanged from September, at 7.3 percent in October. There were 2,360 estimated as unemployed in the county’s civilian labor force of 32,400. The Jackson County unemployment rate during October was 5.6 percent. There was little change in most of Josephine County’s industry sectors in October. Slight declines were reported in construc- tion (-10), manufacturing (- 10), retail trade (-20), and federal government (-10). Wholesale trade, which added 20 jobs in October, was the only published in- dustry sector to add employ- ment other than local gov- ernment education (+220). The largest over-the-month decline occurred in leisure and hospitality, which fell by 90 jobs, said OED. During the past 12 months nearly all industries in the county have added jobs. The only exceptions were food and beverage stores, leisure and hospital- ity, other services, and gov- ernment, OED said. Construction employ- ment has risen by more than 100 jobs since October 2003. Building permit data published by the Census Bureau bodes well for future strength in the county’s con- struction sector, said OED. New housing units throughout the county indicate a strong situation for the construction industry. Through September 2004, permits were issued for 603 total housing units in Josephine County. Through September 2003, 432 total unit permits were issued in Josephine County. Building permit data is a good indica- tor of future building and employment demand for this sector. Preliminary population estimates recently released from Portland State Univer- sity’s Population Research Center show Josephine County’s population at 78,600, as of July 1, 2004, up 3.8 percent since the cen- sus on April 1, 2000. Other sectors showing employment growth during the past year include manu- facturing (+250), wholesale trade (+80), retail trade (+50), financial activities (+50), professional and busi- ness services (+60), and educational and health ser- vices (+60). Subscriptions to the ‘Illinois Valley News’ to make unique Christmas gifts that keep on giving for 12 months. Phone 592-2541 for more information or come to the ‘Noose’ office at 321 S. Redwood Hwy. New ‘first bridge’ needs city water adjustments Oregon Dept. of Trans- portation (ODOT) will re- place a bridge on Hwy. 199 which crosses the East Fork of the Illinois River on the south side of the city of Cave Junction. The city council is re- quired to come up with a plan for relocating a water service line, which runs un- der “first bridge,” to custom- ers south of the river, out- side city limits. And it is rapidly run- ning out of time, as it has promised ODOT the work will be completed by April 1, 2005. The city is required to disconnect and relocate the line slung beneath the exist- ing bridge before work on the new one begins. The city is exploring options for providing drink- ing water to affected cus- tomers, including Illinois River “Forks” State Park, south of the bridge. One option would reactivate the Rockydale well field. -Michelle Binker School district website offers numerous links Three Rivers School District has initiated its own website to provide Jose- phine County residents ac- cess to a wealth of data. Information is available at threerivers.k12.or.us. The site features links to each district school. E-mail addresses of teachers, meet- ing schedules, activity cal- endars and other informa- tion also are available. The district worked with Project A in Ashland to develop the site. The fee was $4,000 and it will cost $1,000 annually to maintain. The district said is a bargain overall, as doing it in-house would have cost more. ‘THREE PIGS: A Comic Tale With a Twist’ will be pre- sented by the Dell’ Arte Company from Blue Lake, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at Lorna Byrne Mid- dle School. The production will feature an ensemble of 10 ‘physical comic actors’ playing an array of musical instruments in a new look at the classic story of ‘The Three Little Pigs.’ There is an admission fee for adults; all youth will be admitted free. (Photo provided)