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Smokejumper base making leap
State historical preservation unit OKs plan for national register
An early day view of Illinois Valley smokejumping activity. (Photo provided)
A proposal to place the
former Siskiyou Smokejum-
per Base at Illinois Valley
Airport on the National
Register of Historic Places
was approved Thursday,
Oct. 20 by the Oregon State
Advisory Committee on
Historic Preservation.
The base was operated
from 1943 to 1981 by the
U.S. Forest Service, and was
one of the first smokejum-
per bases in the nation.
Daylight-saving time
will end at 2 a.m. Sunday,
Oct. 30, meaning that clocks
should be set back one hour.
The rule is “spring
ahead, fall back,” and as this
is the fall season, well, you
figure it out.
P.S. -- Oct. 30 is the
absolutely correct date,
which should assure those
with long memories who
still remind the editor of his
error a few years back.
JoCo jobless
rate at 6.1%
(Continued on page 5)
Following are the high-
and-low temperatures and
rainfall figures recorded in
O’Brien by Cheryl & Harry
Johnson.
*Fri., Oct. 14: 66-40, .51
*Sat., Oct. 15: 60-46, .55
*Sun., Oct. 16: 67-47
*Mon., Oct. 17: 71-43
*Tues., Oct. 18: 71-47
*Wed., Oct. 19: 61-46
*Thurs., Oct. 20: 65-42
Illinois Valley
Ready for impact, I.V. Cougars Lefi Tausaga (#51) and Ian Moore (#20) help pave the
way for Illinois Valley’s homecoming victory. Additional photos on page 9.
(Photo by Dale & Elaine Sandberg)
Cougars squeeze by Henley 14-13
For a while there it
looked like a grim night for
homecoming fans at Illinois
Valley High School in Cave
Junction Friday, Oct. 21.
But with a “never-say-
die” attitude, despite a 13-0
deficit until the fourth quar-
ter, the I.V. Cougars pulled
the fat from the fire, coming
up with two touchdowns
and two good kicks, both by
Joel Dierkes, beating the
Henley Hornets 14-13.
It’s the best way to end
a homecoming game, al-
though prior to the final TD
by the Cougars -- with 1:34
left in the game -- fans were
on the edges of their
bleacher seats.
Ian Moore contributed
the winning TD with a 10-
yard run. He also was good
for an interception, and was
the Cougar leader with 115
yards in 25 carries.
I.V.’s first score, with
10:35 remaining, was by
Jacob Ellis with a 3-yard
dash. The Cougs overall
turned in 237 rushing yards
on 58 carries.
The victory put I.V. at
2-2 in the Skyline Confer-
ence, 6-2 overall.
The team will play the
league leading Phoenix Pi-
rates (4-0 in the Skyline) on
Friday, Oct. 28 on the Pi-
rates’ field.
At I.V.’s homecoming,
the Hornets (1-3 in the Sky-
line) scored in the second
quarter on a pass and a run.
(Continued on page 3)
Because of continued
funding reductions and levy
defeats, the possibility of a
special district for the Jose-
phine County Library Sys-
tem is being mulled by the
board of trustees.
The financial situation
is so severe, said Linda Nay-
dol, acting chairman of the
library board, that, “We may
see the closure of our
branches, or, at the least,
hours reduced from what
they are now.”
She said that hours
might be reduced at the
main library in Grants Pass.
In response to a letter
from the trustees, the board
of county commissioners
states, “Although next
year’s budget (for fiscal
2006-07) has not been dis-
cussed, we would envision
that the amount of funding
the library receives will be
significantly reduced.”
Commissioners Jim
Riddle, Dwight Ellis and
Jim Raffenburg further state
that they hope there will be
time “to assess how best to
proceed without being de-
pendent on county funds.
“Options,” wrote the
county board, “may include
privatization, coming under
the umbrella of another li-
brary system, forming one
or more districts, or offering
branch libraries to the com-
munities of Grants Pass,
Cave Junction, Wolf Creek
and/or Williams.”
It is further noted by the
county board that it would
be best for passage of a li-
brary tax district if it is “a
citizen-driven grass-roots
effort,” and not, it is indi-
cated, as one proposed by
the county.
“It appears that our first
good chance to put a district
proposal on the ballot will
be in November 2006,” said
Linda Naydol, a Cave Junc-
tion resident.
“It’s a huge, scary un-
dertaking,” she said, while
noting that four trustee seats
on the seven-member board
are vacant.
The library board, as-
sisted by Joe Momyer, con-
ducted a survey to “analyze
(Continued on page 3)
Community development IVCDO goal
BY BRYAN HARLEY
Staff Writer
When unemployment
and poverty infiltrate a com-
munity, it’s easy to point
fingers or to look away.
Bob Schumacher, ex-
ecutive director of the Illi-
nois Valley Community
Development Organization
(IVCDO) refuses to take
that approach.
“We want to improve
the economic condition of
the area and improve the
quality of life for our citi-
zens,” said Schumacher.
Through his current
employer, the IVCDO, he
is a man of his word, por-
traying the organization’s
“CanDo” attitude in his vigil
to provide Cave Junction
and Illinois Valley programs
aimed toward community
development.
The IVCDO, known
formerly as the Illinois Val-
ley Community Response
Team (IVCRT) endeavors
to make these improvements
in many ways.
One of these programs
is construction of a business
incubator building which
will function to assist new
businesses with mentoring
and services in basic office
administration.
“The object is that as
we help businesses grow,
they will need local employ-
ees, then hopefully they can
go on to even bigger
things,” stated Schumacher.
The IVCDO furthers
their support by supplying
eligible start-up businesses
that possess well-defined
business plans with micro-
loans.
The organization
currently has $130,000 in-
vested in enterprises
throughout the valley.
During 2002, the or-
ganization engaged in the
first of its social ventures,
the managing of conces-
sions for The Chateau at
(Continued on page 5)
Wednesday, Oct. 26
Partly Cloudy
High--64 Low--36
Thursday, Oct. 27
Cloudy,
showers possible
High--62 Low--30
Friday, Oct. 28
Mixture of Clouds
& Sunshine
High--61 Low--28
Saturday, Oct. 29
Mostly Cloudy
High--60 Low--28
Sunday, Oct. 30
Cloudy
High--61 Low--29
Monday, Oct. 31
Rainy & Partly Spooky
High--58 Low--28
Tuesday, Nov. 1
Periods of Clouds
& Sunshine
High--58 Low--27
ally will be forwarded to
Washington, D.C., where
they will be placed on the
National Register of His-
toric Places. The designation
would open the door for tax
breaks, grants and other pro-
grams to help maintain the
buildings.
Comments about the
base, between Cave Junc-
tion and O’Brien, were
opened by Jeff LaLande, of
Library district funding
pondered by trustees
Tick-tock talk
During September, the
Josephine County unem-
ployment rate fell to 6.1
percent -- the lowest re-
corded since October 2002,
when it was 6 percent, re-
ported Oregon Employment
Dept. (OED).
The 6.1 rate represents
2,160 persons in a labor
force of 35,204, said OED.
Nonfarm employment
last month rose by 190 jobs,
and has increased by 950
jobs since September 2004.
Manufacturing gained 70
jobs, with the wood products
sector adding 50 of those.
In the county, said
OED, manufacturing em-
ployment rose by 210 jobs
since September 2004, and
the average annual wage in
the sector was $30,944. That
represents the eighth-lowest
Meeting in Jacksonville,
the nine-member advisory
board, headed by Robert
Keller, of Clackamas Com-
munity College, reviewed
several nominations. Its in-
tent was to determine the
significance of each site to
Oregon history and decide if
the nomination should be
forwarded to the State His-
toric Preservation officer.
Nominations approved
by the review board eventu-
The staff at Illinois Valley Community Development Organization show the IVCDO
‘CanDo’ attitude. (From left) Bill Moore, Rene Rauch, Norah Letzke, and Bob
Schumacher. (Photo by ‘Illinois Valley News’)
Firefighter Dan Green, Lt. Joe Brown, and Chief Harry
Rich. (Photo by Dale & Elaine Sandberg/I.V.Fire )
IVFD sends its preliminary team
to assist FEMA efforts in Atlanta
In connection with dis-
aster assistance, two Illinois
Valley firefighters are on a
30-day Federal Emergency
Management Administra-
tion deployment to Atlanta.
In addition, Illinois Val-
ley Fire District (IVFD) has
two other teams on a standby
basis, said Chief Harry Rich.
Lt. Dan Green, 24, and
Firefighter Joe Brown, 26,
left from Portland Friday,
Oct. 21.
FEMA requested help
from IVFD, and when he
made that known, said Rich,
“I thought I was going to
lose my entire department,
as everyone wanted to go.
“To date, 29 teams from
Oregon have gone, and we
are happy to participate.”
Green began in the
IVFD apprenticeship pro-
gram through I.V. High
School in November 1999.
He has advanced to his cur-
rent rank at Station 5/
Dryden. He also is a fire-
fighter with Grayback For-
estry, a Basic EMT, and the
IVFD Webmaster.
Green also assists with
in-house training.
Brown began his career
with IVFD in April 2003 as
a firefighter at Station 2/
Selma. He is one of the dis-
trict’s certified apparatus
operators, and is working on
numerous fire service certi-
fications.
Brown is engaged to
Paramedic Anngalyn Noel,
of American Medical Re-
sponse.
“I couldn’t be more
pleased with the people we
have as our volunteer mem-
bers,” said Rich.
“We have a task at
hand,” he said, “and I can
count on numerous volun-
teers to respond. I am so
proud of the men and
women of this district: This
30-day commitment is one
example of the loyalty and
dedication to this valley and
fire district.”
Other members await-
ing deployment are Lt. Will
Sowell, and Firefighters Joe
Feldhaus, Kathy Pangburn
and Lisa Edmonds.