Officers nab
15-year-olds
for burglary,
vehicle theft
Meth site
busted at
CJ home
Highly hazardous
chemicals located
Two transient 15-year-
old boys were arrested on
multiple charges of Cave
Junction burglaries and ve-
hicle thefts Monday, Jan. 17
by Josephine County Sher-
iff’s Office deputies.
Det. Sgt. Ken Selig
identified them as Jack Mi-
chael Doak and Christopher
Wayne Simpson.
Doak and Simpson each
were charged with six
counts of unauthorized use
of a motor vehicle (UUMV)
involving four U-Haul
trucks and two private cars.
They also each were
charged with four counts of
second-degree burglary, two
counts of second-degree
theft, and one count of first-
and second-degree criminal
mischief.
In addition, Simpson
was charged with second-
degree escape, and his arrest
included two counts of
UUMV under warrants is-
sued in Jackson County.
Selig said that at ap-
proximately 8:30 a.m. Mon-
day, Deputy Cory Krauss
checked a U-Haul truck
stuck in a ditch on Redwood
Hwy. near Kerby. Doak and
Simpson were walking
away from the vehicle.
When Krauss learned
that Simpson was wanted,
the boy fled on foot. Doak
LI’L CHEERLEADERS - The
Illinois Valley High School
cheerleaders, directed by
coach Heather Merrill, worked
with girls from Evergreen Ele-
mentary, Lorna Byrne Middle,
and Madrone Adventist
Schools Saturday, Jan. 15 in
Ken Mann Memorial Gym. The
‘newcomers’ will perform Fri-
day, Jan. 28 at the half of a
boys varsity basketball game.
Prior to their performance,
the girls will have two more
training sessions.
(Photos by Dale & Elaine
Sandberg)
(Continued on page 8)
Following are O’Brien
high and low temperatures,
plus rain and snowfall in
inches as recorded by Cheryl
& Harry Johnson.
*Fri., Jan. 7: 35-33, rain
1.02, snow 8
*Sat., Jan. 8: 36-33, rain
1.10, snow 4
*Sun., Jan. 9: 43-34, rain
1.18, snow 1
*Mon., Jan. 10: 36-33,
0/0
*Tues., Jan. 11: 38-34,
0/0
*Wed., Jan. 12: 36-24,
0/0
*Th., Jan. 13: 34-24, 0/0
Cave Junction
Wednesday, Jan. 19
Partly sunny,
Clouds increasing late
High--60, Low--34.
Potty-trained horse, ‘Francisco,’ no flush in the pan
By CHRISTINA HILL
Correspondent
Cave Junction is home
to a lot of attractions: the
majestic Oregon Caves, the
beautiful Illinois River.
And now, a celebrity,
who, by the way, is a horse.
Meet “Francisco.” He’s
an 11-year-old, half Ara-
bian, half Peruvian Paso.
“Francisco” recently
landed himself a spot on
“Animal Planet’s Pet Stars,”
a game show for animals
from around the country,
who perform amazing tricks
and routines.
Last
August,
“Francisco” and his owner
and trainer, Karen Parker,
went to Los Angeles, where
they met game show host,
Mario Lopez. “Francisco”
then did his trick, which was
taped live in front of a stu-
dio audience.
The trick that has made
him famous -- sitting on a
potty.
“It took about six
months to train him to do
this trick,” said Parker. “A
lot of tricks go together to
make one big trick. First he
flips up the lid on the potty,
and then he turns around
and sits down on the potty.
“Next, he pulls the
newspaper out, then pulls
the toilet paper out. Then he
gets up, flushes the toilet --
there’s a pull chain -- then
he turns around and puts the
lid back down,” said Parker,
trainer and owner of
Clickin’ On Ranch on Dick
George Road.
Parker said that she got
the idea for the “potty trick”
from local horse trainer,
Thursday, Jan. 20
Partly cloudy,
Increasing clouds
High--58, Low--32.
Friday, Jan. 21
Variable sunshine,
Mostly cloudy late
High--56, Low--32.
Saturday, Jan. 22
Variable sunshine,
Cloudy evening
High--56, Low--31.
Sunday, Jan. 23
Mostly cloudy,
Clouds increasing late
High--54, Low--30.
Monday, Jan. 24
Overcast,
Evening rain possible
High--50, Low--29.
Tuesday, Jan. 25
Clouds-a-plenty,
Freezing rain late
High--48, Low--28.
‘Francisco,’ the potty-trained steed of Cave Junction. (Photo by Christina Hill)
Molly Ayres.
Parker, who has raised
five gen erations of
“Francisco’s” family, started
training “Francisco” for
tricks about five years ago.
“I use clicker training,
which is a positive rein-
forcement training system,”
she said. “It’s a little plastic
box, and when I push it, it
makes a clicking noise. That
noise is a bridging signal
that tells him the moment he
did the right movement.
“Horses love that click-
ing sound,” she said,
“because it’s associated with
praise, petting or food, so
they’re really happy when
they hear it and they work
harder to hear it again. His
training is totally based on
positive reinforcement,
rather than by force.”
Parker also credits her
son, Justin, who makes the
videos; and her daughter,
Sarah, who helps her with
demos by interacting with
the horse.
The episode of “Pet
Stars” with the horse
“showing off” has already
aired several times this
month, but will air again
Friday, Jan. 21, Parker said.
However, she noted,
this hasn’t been the first
time for “Francisco” to be
on television.
“He’s been on TV sev-
eral times, but last August
(Continued on page 8)
Chemicals that when
combined make phosphine
gas that “can kill a person
within minutes when
breathed” were found by
narcotics officers in Cave
Junction.
In connection with the
chemicals and a meth lab,
Holly Ann Dangerfield, 21,
was arrested Saturday, Jan.
15 at 495 S. Old Stage
Road, said Det. Sgt. Ken
Selig of Josephine Inter-
agency Narcotics Team
(JOINT).
She is charged with
manufacturing, possession
and delivery of a controlled
substance, methampheta-
mine; and possession of a
precursor substance/meth.
Still sought is Merle
Leonard “Merle The Squir-
rel” Southard, 25, of the
same address, Selig said.
The site is near the end of S.
Old Stage.
Southard, described as
“armed and dangerous,” is
5-11, and weighs 160
pounds. His hair and eyes
are brown.
Those with information
about his location can phone
JOINT at 474-5151, or the
county jail at 474-5140.
There are four arrest
warrants for him. Two
charge failure to appear
(FTA) on previous charges
of possession of a controlled
substance/meth; and two
charging FTA on previous
charges of second-degree
criminal mischief.
JOINT detectives be-
lieve that Dangerfield and
Southard, who is six months
pregnant, were making meth
for sales and delivery.
Selig said that JOINT
officers served a search war-
rant at the S. Old Stage ad-
dess at 10 a.m.
They found, said Selig,
“a fully operable metham-
phetamine manufacturing
lab. It was located in an old,
rundown travel trailer
parked less than 10 feet
from Southard and Danger-
(Continued on page 8)
Revised regs
OK’d for IVFD
By SHANE WELSH
Staff Writer
Chief Harry Rich is un-
dertaking an update of all
guidelines, including bylaws
and policies and procedures,
for Illinois Valley Fire Dis-
trict (IVFD).
During the district
board meeting Thursday
night, Jan. 13 in administra-
tive headquarters, Rich said,
“I would like the board to
entertain a motion to re-
scind, vacate or nullify all
rules, regulations, policies,
procedures, bylaws or hid-
den past practices so I can
present a new updated dis-
trict manual of operations.”
According to Joe Mal-
colm, IVFD board president,
district policy requires that
IVFD procedures be re-
(Continued on page 8)