50¢
Coug girls
run at state
falls short
County withdrawing
from some health aid
Arrangements under way for outside help
as state, federal fund sources drying up
Win some, lose some.
Sometimes you get the
breaks: sometimes not.
So it was for the Illinois
Valley girls basketball team
-- this year’s champion of
the Skyline Conference with
a 21-2 mark -- but which
lost twice in the state 3-A
playoffs in Corvallis against
some big guns.
The Cougars were de-
feated 53-33 by the Burns
Hilanders on Wednesday,
March 7; then lost 52-50 in
a nail-biter Thursday, March
9 vs. the Marist Spartans. In
the latter game, the Cougars
looked as though they’d be
staying at the playoffs, as
they were leading Marist
46-38 in the fourth quarter.
But the Spartans came
from behind, outscoring I.V.
14-4 during the final four
minutes. The Cougars ex-
perienced three turnovers
during the final minute of
the game.
SOME SNOWFALL on
Thursday and Friday,
March 9-10, and early
this week, caused icy
roads and accidents, as
top and left photos show
on Hwy. 199 in the
O’Brien area (Photos by
Dale Sandberg/I.V. Fire
District)
On Thursday morning,
some Lorna Byrne Mid-
dle School students
(below) made a giant
snowball. Schools were
closed Friday. (Photo by
‘Illinois Valley News’)
(Continued on page 3)
Zonta cites
four of I.V.
for service
Four Illinois Valley
residents have been honored
by the Zonta Club of Grants
Pass for their dedication of
service to the community.
Cited for their achieve-
ments are Illinois Valley High
School (IVHS) Principal
JoAnn Bethany, I.V. Senior
Center (IVSC) President Don
Fulk, and Stuart and Chris
Freedman, of Fire Mt. Gems.
Each received a single
long-stem yellow rose and a
certificate of thanks and
appreciation.
They are among 11 per-
sons Zonta cited in Jose-
phine County.
Fulk, 78, was nomi-
nated by Cathy Putney,
IVSC treasurer. She noted
that he has been a Mason for
more than 50 years, and has
served as IVSC president
for three years.
“Under his leadership,”
she wrote, “the senior center
supported the financially
strapped Cave Junction
Swimming Pool with a
$1,000 donation so that the
children and families in Illi-
nois Valley would have a
source of recreation.
“As president, he has
actively pursued the expan-
sion project for the center,
which provides educational
and recreational activities
for members and the com-
munity.
“He supports the IVSC
scholarships to IVHS stu-
dents, and the school pro-
gram advocating interaction
of teen-agers with senior
citizens. He’s a member of
the Laurel Cemetery board,
and a former director on the
I.V. Golf Course board.”
Putney added that Fulk
“is never too busy to help a
neighbor.”
Bethany, IVHS princi-
pal since 2003, was nomi-
nated by Jann Taylor, cur-
riculum director for Three
Rivers School District.
Bethany “has made the
commitment to stay at IVHS
until she retires. Although
she lives in Grants Pass, her
commitment and passion is
clearly for students of Illi-
nois Valley,” Taylor wrote.
(Continued on page 10)
Due to financial woes,
as of July 1, Josephine
County is withdrawing from
a number of health and hu-
man aid programs, including
direct mental health service.
The board of county
commissioners announced
Monday, March 13 that the
county no longer will pro-
vide or administer the fol-
lowing programs:
*Direct mental health
services.
*Addiction services.
*Developmental dis-
ability services.
*Early intervention ser-
vices.
The county will main-
tain the local Mental Health
Authority for mental health
and addiction services, but
will contract with local ser-
vice providers to provide
and administer the help.
“By retaining the local
authority,” said the commis-
sion, “the county will moni-
tor the services provided by
the contractor to assure the
quality in the future.”
The county board added
that it is “involved in discus-
sions with the nonprofit ser-
vice provider, Options for
Southern Oregon, in an at-
tempt to enter into a contract
where it would assume the
administration.”
Developmental disabil-
ity services will be “returned
to the state of Oregon. Early
intervention services will be
returned to the Douglas
County Education Service
District (ESD).”
Letters have been sent
to all affected organizations,
said the commission. They
are the Oregon Dept. of Hu-
man Resources, Douglas
County ESD, and American
Federation of State, County
& Municipal Employees.
The board met with
affected county employees
Monday to explain the
changes and answer ques-
tions. Data about how many
county jobs might be lost
because of the changes was
not immediately available.
Announced the com-
mission, “These changes
will help to assure the con-
tinued success of the af-
fected programs, allowing
for the continued delivery of
services to the public, in an
increasingly difficult fiscal
environment.
“This is due in part to
the continued rising county
costs, and due to an uncer-
tain future regarding county
revenues from federal and
state of Oregon sources.”
M.D.-aided suicides higher
Thirty-eight Oregonians
ended their lives under the
Death with Dignity Act dur-
ing 2005 compared to 37
who did so in the previous
year, according to the eighth
annual report released last
week by the Oregon Dept.
of Human Services (DHS).
“Once again, our report
shows little change in the
demographics and charac-
teristics among those who
are using this law,” said Dr.
Mel Kohn, state epidemiolo-
gist. “And again, these
Sheriff candidates present varied viewpoints
To a man, the four can-
didates seeking the office of
Josephine County sheriff
believe that stable funding is
needed.
Ideas ranging from
grants to citizen volunteers
and greater use of reservists
were among ideas. Each
indicated that more citizen
involvement is needed.
The four also generally
agreed that a source of fund-
ing other than the federal
“safety net,” based on tim-
ber receipts, must be found.
C a n d i d at e s B r i a n
Anderson, Donald Fasching,
Gil Gilbertson, and William
Spike Kelly addressed a
crowd of approximately 60
persons Wednesday night,
March 8. The public forum
in the county building in
Cave Junction was spon-
sored by Illinois Valley
Chamber of Commerce.
Voters will cast ballots
in the May 18 vote-by-mail
primary for the office, being
vacated after eight years by
Sheriff Dave Daniel, who is
running for county commis-
sioner. If none of the four
gains a majority, the top two
will run off in the November
general election, but if one
gets a majority, only his
name will show Nov. 7.
Each candidate was
allotted six minutes to pre-
sent qualifications and plat-
forms. This was followed by
written questions from the
audience.
Each candidate has ex-
tensive experience in law
enforcement.
Anderson, of Merlin, is
the current county un-
dersheriff. He has some 20
years in law enforcement,
17 with the county sheriff’s
office in many areas of con-
siderable responsibility.
Fasching, of Selma, has
more than 32 years law en-
forcement background, in-
cluding wide-ranging ex-
perience at the San Diego
Police Dept., from which he
is retired.
Gilbertson, of Grants
Pass, is a retired police offi-
cer of nearly 30 years. And
as a law enforcement con-
sultant he has served in Bos-
nia, Kosovo and Iraq. He
has served at many levels.
Kelly, of Williams, is
currently a corrections dep-
uty at the county jail, and a
lawman of 30 years. Like
the others, he has a range of
experience in many facets of
law enforcement.
Each of the candidates
said that they would strive to
be available to citizens,
while working to beef up
coverage for their protec-
tion. Kelly said that he
would have quarterly com-
munity meetings.
In response to a query
about citizen review boards,
comments included:
Gilbertson said that as
sheriff he would have an
oversight committee watch-
ing him, and that he would
monitor his subordinates.
“There would be employee
evaluations,” he said, “to
identify problems and prob-
lem officers.”
Fasching said that is
“not in favor of a citizen
review board. They start
thinking that they have
power,” he said. “I am in
favor of support by citizens”
through communication
with him.
Eschewing such a
board, said Kelly, “could be
underestimating the intelli-
gence of the citizens. If they
tell us what kind of job
we’re doing, we could make
it better.”
(Continued on page 9)
deaths reflect a very small
portion of the average
31,000 annual deaths in
Oregon.”
Physician-assisted sui-
cide was legalized in 1997,
and since then, 246 Orego-
nians have died under terms
of the law.
As in prior years, par-
ticipants were more likely to
have cancer (84 percent), be
younger (median age of 70
years) and have more formal
education (37 percent had at
(Continued on page 4)
Following is the weather re-
corded in O’Brien by Cheryl &
Harry Johnson.
*Fri., March 3: 48-36,.04
*Sat., March 4: 56-32
*Sun., March 5: 43-38, .83
*Mon., March 6: 50-38,1.26
*Tue., March 7: 50-36, .67
*Wed., March 8: 46-35, .43
*Thurs., March 9: 38-32,
.05 rain, 6 in. snow
Following is the weather re-
corded in Cave Junction at Moun-
tain Wind Farm.
*Fri., March 3: 49-35,.04
*Sat., March 4: 51-31,.01
*Sun., March 5: 42-39, 1.13
*Mon., March 6: 50-38,1.26
*Tue., March 7: 51-33, .56
*Wed., March 8: 46-34, .40
*Thurs., March 9:38-30, .38
Illinois Valley
Wednesday, March 15
Showers
High--47 Low--36
Thursday, March 16
Rain & Wind
High--48 Low--34
Friday, March 17
Showers
High--44 Low--29
Saturday, March 18
Partly Cloudy
High--50 Low--30
Sunday, March 19
Partly Cloudy
High--49 Low--33
Monday, March 20
Mostly Sunny
High--55 Low--36
Tuesday, March 21
Mostly Cloudy
High--55 Low--35
BRIAN ANDERSON
DON FASCHING
GIL GILBERTSON
WILLIAM ‘SPIKE’ KELLY