50¢
Feldkamp terror talk set
“Terrorism In Your Backyard” will be addressed by Jim
Feldkamp in Cave Junction on Thursday, March 30.
The free program will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Josephine
County Bldg. at Redwood Hwy. and Lister Street.
A Roseburg native, Feldkamp is a former naval flight
commander and FBI counterterrorism agent. He now teaches
a class on terrorism at Umpqua Community College, and is a
candidate for Fourth District Oregon congressman.
Feldkamp will talk about the “global and local war on
terror.” There will be a question-and-answer period.
IVFC teen help efforts
gain boost via Collins
A TAKILMA ROAD FAMILY lost all their belongings in
a fire Saturday night, March 18, as they were preparing
to move. Story on page 5. (Photo by Dale & Elaine
Sandberg/Illinois Valley Fire District)
‘Old hand’:
TOPS adds
life, vitality
A MOTORCYCLIST WAS INJURED in a single-vehicle crash at Holland Loop and Takilma
Road, reported at 4:44 p.m. Saturday, March 18, said Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD).
The driver was identified as Kirkham Road resident George Hertel, 72, who suffered
chest/rib and head injuries, IVFD said. A Mercy Flights helicopter put down at a quickly
established landing zone and evacuated him to Medford Providence Hospital, where he
tentatively was listed in stable condition. Besides IVFD and Mercy Flights, responders
were Oregon State Police, American Medical Response, Josephine County Sheriff’s Of-
fice, and U.S. Forest Service. (Photo by Dale & Elaine Sandberg/IVFD Media Dept.)
Oregon Caves announces 2006 tour schedule
Oregon Caves National
Monument, 22 miles east of
Downtown Cave Junction,
will open for the 2006 sea-
son Saturday, March 25.
Besides guided tours,
the season will include chil-
dren’s activities, ranger pro-
grams, and hiking trails are
open, said the National Park
Service (NPS).
The tour fee will rise
50-cents. Children 16 and
younger will pay $6; per-
sons 17 and older $8. Chil-
dren must be at least 42
inches tall to go on the tour.
However, for those with
youngsters too short, a short
“family tour” can be re-
quested. Staff will take the
child and family into the
first room of the cave at no
charge, said NPS.
Fees are used only to
help repay the cost of tour
operations, and are invested
in projects including build-
ing repair and research, said
NPS. Additionally, fees help
fund learning opportunities
for valley schools.
Food and lodging are
available at the historic Ore-
gon Caves Lodge, a Na-
tional Historic Landmark.
Dining service, gift gallery
and lodging are open from
May 5 through October.
Information is available at
592-3400.
(Continued on page 5)
ONE YEAR LATER - An anniversary gathering at the Illinois River green bridge in mem-
ory of the late Joan Norman and the 21 other women arrested after taking a stand
against Fiddler Mt. logging was held Tuesday, March 14. Several people camped at the
bridge in the snow and rain. Ranger Pam Bode of the forest service’s I.V. District was
told at the site that protesters want more economic accountability, protection of wilder-
ness areas and more public access to decision-making. A number of participants took a
planned three-day walk ending with a visit to BLM on Friday, March 17. (Photo provided)
By LINDA FAUSEL
Public Ed Coordinator
TOPS Club Inc. (TOPSi)
He’s a man who assigns
great value to living life --
and to his membership in
Take Off Pounds Sensibly
(TOPS).
Five years ago, while
out chopping wood 14 miles
from his home in Oregon,
O’Brien resident Bob Hall’s
heart gave out. This then-
69-year-old man was able to
jump into his truck, drive
down the tree-lined moun-
tain, and call an ambulance.
Stints were installed during
a hasty surgery, and a month
later, Hall visited his doctor.
“You know, Doc,” he
said, thinking hard about his
years as a TOPS member,
“if I hadn’t been fat-free for
the last five years, I don’t
think I would have made it.”
Hall’s doctor looked him in
the eye.
“You would have been
dead before you hit the
ground,” the doctor replied.
A 99 percent blockage was
discovered in Hall’s heart on
the operating table.
Flash forward five
years. These days, at 74
years of age -- and 10 con-
secutive years of maintain-
ing his goal weight of
182.75 pounds, Bob doesn’t
waste even one minute wor-
rying about the past or the
future.
He’s too busy enjoying
the present: being married to
the love of his life for 58
years, his wife, June: plus
picking berries, chopping
wood, writing poetry, mak-
ing his prize-winning Pos-
sum Hallow wine (“Hallow”
being a combination of the
word Hollow and his last
name of Hall); and leading
his chapter, TOPS #OR 970,
Grants Pass.
He plans to start a chap-
ter in June that will meet in
the evening for Illinois Val-
ley residents. Announce-
ments will be made.
Hall says TOPS taught
him to pay attention to what
he eats. And this 6-1
“mountain man” gets plenty
of exercise. “I do lots of
(Continued on page 5)
Illinois Valley Family
Coalition (IVFC) announced
that The Collins Foundation
has joined forces with the
coalition’s other grantors to
support the Illinois Valley
Teen Community Services
Work Project.
The Collins Foundation
has granted $11,405 to the
project. This grant brings
total contributions from The
Cow Creek Umpqua Indian
Foundation, The Carpenter
Foundation and The Collins
Foundation to a total of
$31,405.
The Collins Foundation
is an independent private
foundation which exists “to
improve, enrich, and give
greater expression to the
religious, educational, cul-
tural, and scientific endeav-
ors in the state of Oregon
and to assist in improving
the quality of life in the
state.”
Foundation trustees have
chosen to work through ex-
isting agencies and have sup-
ported proposals submitted
by colleges and universities,
organized religious groups,
arts, cultural and civic or-
ganizations, and agencies
devoted to health, welfare
and youth, according to an
announcement.
As the “Illinois Valley
News” previously reported,
the project is in response to
the community’s desire to
change the unemployment
and poverty trends in Illinois
Valley while helping senior
and disabled persons in the
valley at the same time.
The intent of the project
is to work with community
teen-agers to help them es-
tablish positive work ethics,
provide employment, build
self-esteem, and in the
course positively influence
school attendance.
The work project does
not compete with education,
but instead is a service avail-
able to teen-agers who re-
main in school full time,
said Carol Ronan, IVFC
executive director.
The project’s steering
committee held its second
meeting last month. More
than 60 applications have
been mailed to customers
and teen-agers applying for
the program. Ronan antici-
pates that the first work eth-
ics training class may be held
in as soon as two weeks.
Besides the work ethics
training, teen-agers also will
receive training in the safe
use of tools. There also will
be a session on finances
related to preparation of
time sheets, calculating pay,
interpreting payroll checks
and deductions, and setting
up a bank account.
Some of the pending
jobs already on record are
for yard work, tree-planting,
brush-clearing and collect-
ing and stacking firewood.
Jobs will be completed in
work crews with full-time
supervision provided
throughout the project, said
Ronan.
The teen-agers also will
be assigned one hour of
community service for each
three hours of work for
which they are paid. Once
sufficient service hours are
banked, the Steering Com-
mittee will choose the com-
munity improvement pro-
jects for the teen-agers who
work, again through work
crews.
Those with questions
about the project or who
wish to apply to participate
in the project should contact
IVFC at 592-6139.
Drug dogs join OSP Patrol
Oregon State Police
(OSP) recently welcomed
two new tools to help offi-
cers in their battle to find
and remove illegal drugs on
our highways and in our
communities.
Equipped with four legs
and a keen sense of smell,
the narcotics detection dogs
hit the road two months ago
with their handlers at OSP
offices in Central Point and
Pendleton.
“The use of dogs in
police work has proven to
be a great resource in drug,
arson, and bomb investiga-
tions, and are invaluable in
assisting officers searching
for suspects and missing
(Continued on page 9)
TROOPER GREG COSTANZO & ‘COOKIE’
(Photo by Oregon State Police)