50¢
Babyfoot recovery plan
topic Tuesday, Sept. 15
Berry festival
on agenda for
city council
A public meeting to
discuss specific restoration
options for the Babyfoot
Lake Botanical Area will be
held by the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice in Cave Junction Tues-
day, Sept. 13.
The meeting will begin
at 7 p.m. in the Butler Bldg.
at the lower portion of the
forest service compound.
“The agency wants to
act promptly to begin resto-
ration in the area,” said
Maureen Jones, botanist for
the Illinois Valley Ranger
District in the Rogue River-
Siskiyou National Forest.
“As we look at the con-
ditions in the botanical area
-- from the effects of the
2002 large-scale, intense
Biscuit Fire -- to the unin-
tended cutting of dead, fire-
killed trees,” she said, “we
want to begin to piece to-
gether a strategy that will
detail specific treatments to
restore portions of the area.”
The purpose of the
meeting is to open a dia-
The future of the Black-
berry Festival in Cave Junc-
tion is among agenda items
for the city council’s meet-
ing Monday night, Sept. 12
at 7 p.m. in city hall.
Resident “Bear” Mar-
ston asked that the item be
placed on the agenda, as he
has concerns. He added that
several others with similar
concerns also will attend
regarding the matter.
The council also will
conduct a public hearing on
a public peace ordinance
involving blocked drive-
ways. Another hearing will
involve revising the busi-
ness license tax based on
number of employees after
the $50 basic fee, which will
remain the same.
logue with the public to dis-
cuss opportunities relating to
the ecology of the site, and
identify steps to restore the
botanical area, said USFS.
The agency intends to
restore native vegetation and
reduce the visual effect of
the areas that have been cut,
as well as restore Brewer
Spruce killed by the Biscuit
Fire in the entire Babyfoot
Lake Botanical Area.
The botanical area was
established in 1963 to pro-
tect Brewer Spruce.
During 2002, the major-
ity of the Babyfoot Lake
Brewer Spruce was killed
by a high-intensity crown
fire, said USFS.
During the recent Fid-
dler Fire Salvage Sale,
USFS made an error, which
resulted in harvest of the
dead, burned trees on ap-
proximately 10 to 17 acres
of the 352-acre botanical
area, the agency first an-
nounced approximately two
weeks ago.
Country singing star
Jessi Coulter (left) enter-
tained a large crowd
Monday, Sept. 5 in Jubi-
lee Park as part of the
Illinois Valley Lions Club
Labor Day Festival.
Kerby resident Lloydeen
Davis (above) was
among parade entrants.
(Photos by ‘I.V. News’)
Selma fire
called out
Late last week, with a
cost of approximately $5
million, the 1,548-acre Deer
Creek Conflagration in
Selma was contained, con-
trolled and pretty much
knocked out cold.
From a force of some
2,000 firefighters bolstered
with bulldozers, fire engines
and helicopters with water
buckets, the army of inferno
fighters is down to nearly
none as of this week.
The blaze broke out
Thursday afternoon, Aug.
25 on Lakeshore Drive and
spread rapidly across open
ground with grass and brush
to Deer Creek Road. Flames
burned up to the road, and
then leaped across it.
The flames spread
quickly into more dry grass
and brush, and then into
timbered areas in the Davis
Creek Watershed. Five
homes were destroyed. Sev-
eral barns, some full of hay,
plus a number of outbuild-
ings were lost to the fire.
On the evening of Aug.
25, Gov. Kulongoski in-
voked the Oregon Confla-
gration Act, which enabled
Oregon Dept. of Forestry
The Babyfoot Trailhead (‘Illinois Valley News’ photo)
Ready for emergencies?
In case of emergency evacuation, 72-hour kits are recom-
mended by Josephine County Sheriff’s Office Dept. of Emer-
gency Services.
The notice follows the Deer Creek Conflagration during
the past two weeks, and Hurricane Katrina, which has
wreaked havoc in New Orleans, La.
During the Deer Creek fire, power was out to the area,
regular telephone service has hampered, and cell phone usage
“was halted by smoke and over-usage,” said the department.
In New Orleans, residents are struggling with lack of
medications and child-care items, among other necessities.
A 72-hour kit -- to be ready for evacuation -- should in-
clude food, water, medications, a battery-operated radio, and
important documents.
The county website has “Family Emergency Prepared-
ness Handbooks” available to print at co.josephine.or.us/Files/
prepared/pdf or they can be picked up at the sheriff’s office.
Residents also can phone 474-5300 to obtain a booklet.
“The more we are prepared as a community and as indi-
viduals, the better we can fare when the next emergency af-
fects our area,” said the department.
(Continued on page 3)
Following are the temperatures
recorded by O’Brien residents
Cheryl & Harry Johnson.
*Fri., Aug. 26: 93-56
*Sat., Aug. 27: 95-49
*Sun., Aug. 28: 88-50
*Mon., Aug. 29: 79-49
*Tues., Aug. 30: 83-49
*Wed., Aug. 31: 88-54
*Thurs., Sept. 1: 95-56
Alcohol servers take a dive
in county testing by OLCC
Seventy percent of the
licensed businesses tested in
Josephine County sold alco-
hol to a minor during a com-
pliance operation conducted
Friday, Aug. 26 by the Ore-
gon Liquor Control Com-
mission (OLCC).
“The sales rate is unac-
ceptably high when a major-
ity of liquor licensees we
test are selling to underage
buyers,” said Inspector Jon
Rodes, of OLCC’s Medford
office.
“When we do these
compliance visits, usually
the average sales rate runs
about 24-27 percent, and
even that’s much higher
than it should be.
In Josephine County,
these businesses refused to
sell to the minor: Applegate
Saloon; Lake Selmac RV
Park & Resort, and Mary’s
Mini Mart.
These licensees sold:
Grants Pass -- Cedarwood
Saloon, and Murphy Coun-
try Store; Merlin -- Back-
road Grill; Williams -- Wil-
liams Country Store, and
Williams General Store;
Wolf Creek -- Wolf Creek
Truck & Travel.
Servers and bartenders
or licensees whose employ-
ees provide alcohol to the
minor or fail to verify their
age, face administrative
sanctions including fines or
license suspensions. Store
clerks who sell are cited and
face a $350 fine.
Rhodes, another OLCC
inspector and an underage
volunteer conducted the
compliance operation. Com-
pliance checks are a key part
of OLCC’s mission to pre-
vent underage drinking,
which is a critical problem
in Oregon and across the
nation, OLCC said.
(Continued for page 3)
Illinois Valley
Wednesday, September 7
Sunny
High--86 Low--48
Thursday, September 8
More Sunshine
High--85 Low--48
Friday, September 9
Plenty of Sunshine
High--90 Low--51
Saturday, September 10
Warm & Sunny
High--92 Low--51
Sunday, September 11
Mostly Cloudy
High--85 Low--39
Entrants in the Illinois Valley Lions Club annual Labor Day Parade attracted hun-
dreds of spectators in Downtown Cave Junction Monday, Sept. 5. Among partici-
pants were (from top) American Legion Post 70, former Siskiyou Smokejumper Base
firefighters, Shriners in their midget cars, an ultralight aircraft developed in the Illi-
nois Valley and used in the movie ’Die Another Day,’ Madrone Adventist School, and
hefty three-wheeled motorcycles. (More photos, stories on pages 4, 8, 9, 11, & 16)
Monday, September 12
Sunny & Hot
High--93 Low--52
Tuesday, September 13
Sunny
High--92 Low--50