Rural Advocate offers Land eyed
homeless assistance for future
Door-to-door bus noted for elderly, disabled
*You’re homeless or
stranded in Illinois Valley --
do you know where to go for
help?
*You’re an I.V. resident
Maureen Goodrich
-- do you know where to send
the homeless or stranded for
assistance?
*And if you’re an I.V.
resident and want to help or-
ganizations that aid them, do
you know how to go about it?
People in all three cate-
gories will be helped by a
forthcoming brochure from
Illinois Valley Family Coali-
tion (IVFC), with funding
from the Medford-based Car-
penter Foundation, said Mau-
reen Goodrich, hired March
23 at IVFC as a rural advo-
cate.
The brochure for busi-
nesses, residents and those in
need will include information
on where to go for hot meals,
clothing, mental health help, a
hot shower, transportation,
groceries and other needs,
such as where to wash
clothes.
As well, Goodrich --
working with IVFC Execu-
tive Director Vikki Miller --
will include insights on:
*Scheduling door-to-
door service, such as rides to
medical appointments, bank-
ing or shopping, for senior
citizens and people with dis-
abilities.
*How to connect with
available resources for those
without pharmaceutical cov-
erage.
*How to access resources
throughout Josephine County
for low-income housing.
Also, she wants to begin
a story hour for children at the
IVFC location on E. River
Street in Cave Junction. And
she would like to develop
computer-based literacy ac-
tivities, as the center has sev-
eral computer terminals avail-
able for use at no charge.
Regarding use of the
door-to-door service that’s
available, Goodrich and
Miller noted that the number
of people from Selma using
the service is quite low.
Eva Rathburn has been
hired part time through a
grant to coordinate transporta-
tion, and can be contacted at
592-6139.
Senior citizens and those
with disabilities have priority
for the bus. It is available
Mondays through Fridays
from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The fee is $2 per round-
trip, and side-trips cost 50-
cents each. The area the bus
covers is from Selma to
O’Brien. The driver is
“Charlene.”
Miller said that last year a
study was conducted through
a partnership with Options of
Southern Oregon Inc. to de-
termine the needs surrounding
homelessness in Illinois Val-
ley. That study is providing
the basis for the brochure.
In addition, Miller cited
the Carpenter Foundation for
its continuing financial assis-
tance.
Regarding Goodrich,
Miller said, “We couldn’t be
luckier to have such a bright,
warm, friendly and easy-to-
talk-to advocate. She is very
interested in helping those
with special needs, and she is
an exceptional problem-
solver.
“People in need of ser-
vices,” said Miller, “are sure
to receive her full attention
and energy.”
Goodrich, whose hus-
band, David, is pastor of Im-
manuel United Methodist
Church in CJ, previously has
worked as a special education
teacher at Illinois Valley and
Hidden Valley High schools.
“There are a lot of church
people in this valley,” she
noted, citing the 13 churches
in I.V., and many are willing
to share their resources; to
make a dent in the needs af-
fecting the homeless.”
They and others, she in-
dicated, will find the coming
brochure a useful tool.
County looking at low ledger
Less income, higher ex-
penses.
That’s the gist of a “State
of the County Report” given
Tuesday night, April 12 by
Josephine County commis-
sioners during a town hall
meeting in Anne Basker
Auditorium in Grants Pass.
Using a series of graphs,
the board demonstrated the
county’s continuing struggle
to stay afloat financially. “A
lot of people don’t realize that
a small percentage of their tax
bill goes to support county
operations,” said Commis-
sioner Dwight Ellis.
The board also indicated
that should the county lose its
O&C “safety net” funding,
some drastic changes would
have to be made.
Following the fairly brief
presentation, questions were
received from the audience,
who wrote them on 3-by-5-
inch cards.
Disabled busing grant slated
A $77,686 grant to continue
providing transportation service
to disabled people in Josephine
County was to be considered by
the county commissioners.
The item was on the board’s
agenda for its meeting Wednes-
day morning, April 13 in Grants
Pass.
It was anticipated that com-
missioners would OK the con-
tinuing grant from Oregon Dept.
of Transportation to Options for
Southern Oregon Inc.
Advertise in the ‘Illinois Valley News’
B&G Club
Clarification as to
whether a 1.45-acre parcel of
vacant land could be used for
construction of a Boys &
Girls Club facility for Illinois
Valley is requested by the city
of Cave Junction.
The land lies between
Junction Avenue and Old
Stage Road. The clarification
was requested by I.V. resident
Chris Freedman, of Fire Mt.
Gems, for the club.
Freedman asked the city
to correspond with Ora May
Meyer and find, regarding her
late husband’s will: “Did his
directive that the 1.45-acre
plot, donated to the city, for
park purposes only include
use of the property as a club-
house of the Boys & Girls
Club of the Rogue Valley?”
The city accepted the
property by resolution in 1991
from the Meyer Loving Trust.
City Recorder Jim Polk wrote
a letter dated April 5 this year
to Mrs. Meyer to determine
whether the property could be
transferred to the Boys &
Girls Club for construction of
a facility.
Polk said that the land is
basically land-locked, al-
though there is an easement
only for emergency vehicles.
The parcel is surrounded by
homes and businesses; the
latter being Ron Versteeg’s
law office and Family Tree
Garden Center on Junction
Avenue.
‘The Claw’ versatile in removing small brush including berry vines
Former Illinois Valley resident Tom Vallejo, who operates Vallejo Land Improvement
from Rogue River, demonstrated ‘The Claw’ last week to the U.S. Forest Service in
Cave Junction. The tool was developed by Vallejo and Pete Eresh. Vallejo uses low-
impact equipment that doesn’t damage the ground, but does a great job removing
small brush, especially blackberry vines. Using flat-track equipment, he can work on
a 50-degree slope, and get close to riparian areas with little damage. He can be con-
tacted at 472-5042. (Photo by Dale Sandberg)
I don't know the key to
success, but the key to
failure is trying to
please everybody.
‘LEARNING THROUGH
ARTS’ is the title of a
program sponsored and
conducted by Southern
Oregon Arts Guild of
Cave Junction, which
currently is working with
Lorna Byrne Middle
School students on a
project linking Cave
Junction, salmon and the
Illinois River. Anastasia
McCleary (left) is among
eighth-graders involved,
as well as (bottom from
left) Trinidy LaRue and
Tracie Losey. Guild
members including Cate
Bendock, Reni Schaeffer
and Linda Naydol are
working with all grade
levels. The salmon rendi-
tions (from top clock-
wise) are by Jessica
Cooper, Brittani Loucks,
Aleena Anderson, Jeff
Evans, and Tonya Tyler.
‘Learning Through Arts’
began three years ago
involving artists and
educators in the commu-
nity and includes the an-
nual ‘Dia De Los Muer-
tos’ project.
- Bill Cosby -
Following are the high-
low temperatures and rainfall
recorded by O’Brien residents
Cheryl and Harry Johnson.
*Mon., April 4: 57-33,
.04
*Tues., April 5: 66-40
*Wed., April 6: 66-34
*Th., April 7: 50-37, .98
*Fri., April 8: 41-37, 2.36
*Sat., April 9: 62-36
*Sun., April 10: 63-33
Cave Junction
Wednesday, April 13
Rain with slush,
Overnight clearing
High--49, Low--33.
Thursday, April 14
Partly cloudy,
Cool evening
High--53, Low--33.
Friday, April 15
Mostly sunny,
Mild evening
High--63, Low--40.
Saturday, April 16
Variable moisture,
Decreasing late
High--61, Low--41.
Sunday, April 17
Scattered sprinkles,
Light evening rain
High--55, Low--38.
Monday, April 18
Cloudy & cool,
Rain increasing late
High--58, Low--36.
Tuesday, April 19
Still raining,
Pouring through night
High--61, Low--39.
Sheriff seeks more money; sues on promotion
Josephine County Sheriff
Dave Daniel is sticking to his
guns on two money issues,
including one for which he is
suing the county board of
commissioners.
Daniel told commission-
ers last week, as initial data
were presented for the 2005-
2006 fiscal year, that unless
the sheriff’s office receives
another $1.2 million, he will
lose 18 deputies.
The $1.2 million repre-
sents a 13 percent rise from
the $9.7 million budgeted
amount for the current fiscal
year that will end June 30. His
new budget, if approved,
would total $10.9 million.
Without additional fund-
ing, Daniel said, his force
would shrink to 71 deputies.
During the past five years, the
sheriff’s office has lost 29
deputies because of budget
issues cited by Daniel, who
took office in January 1999.
In addition to the sheriff’s
office, budget increases also
are proposed for the district
attorney’s office, and the
Community Service Dept.
D.A. Steven Campbell
seeks another 10 percent from
his current budget of nearly
$2 million. He wants to hire
an additional secretary and a
(Continued on page 7)