50¢
California
fires cause
smoke here
City seeks
mediation
With a 4-0 vote, the
Cave Junction City Council
has agreed to proceed with
mediation in connection with
a union grievance involving
a dismissed employee.
Diane Swarts, who was
the city’s utility clerk, was
terminated on June 30. She
had been on the job for three
years, said City Recorder
Jim Polk.
After her dismissal, the
Teamsters Union filed a
wrongful termination griev-
ance on her behalf. The
council, with member Dan
Fiske excused, voted Friday,
Aug. 18 following an execu-
tive (closed to the public)
session that lasted approxi-
mately an hour in city hall,
Polk said.
Polk said that the union
plan involves an effort to
have Swarts reinstated to her
previous job with back pay
and benefits. Also, the sub-
ject would be removed from
her personnel records.
Based on the council
vote, the matter will be for-
warded to Ken Jones, a
Eugene attorney who deals
in labor matters, Polk said.
Mediation will be attempted
before arbitration.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN a major wildfire was corralled
quickly by Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) and Oregon
Dept. of Forestry Saturday night, Aug. 19. Firefighters
held it to approximately a half-acre of grass, brush and
trees. Some stayed on-scene through the night to ensure
against rekindling. It was on Wild Park Lane off Hwy. 199
in the 20000 block. ODF is investigating the cause. (Photo
by Dale & Elaine Sandberg/IVFD Media Dept.)
Punks, thugs
need to know
crime bites
Notwithstanding
McGruff the Crime Dog,
what’s needed to deter and
decrease crime in and
around Cave Junction is
some teeth.
Particularly a good set
of choppers in the form of a
county jail with increased
ability to accommodate law-
breakers so that they can’t
commit crime while they
serve time. Plus, they’d
think twice about another
offense if they knew they’d
go to jail.
“Give me 50 beds and
I’ll clean up this town and
area,” said Cpl. Sean Rarey
of Josephine County Sher-
iff’s Office (JCSO). The jail
is at a low capacity because
of a lack of funds.
“About 99 percent of
the crimes around here are
committed by less than 1
percent of the population,”
said Rarey, officer-in-charge
of JCSO’s Illinois Valley
Substation in Cave Junction.
Rarey and Deputy Cory
Krauss, city of Cave Junc-
tion contract officer, spoke
during a meeting of the
Cave Junction Security
Council in CJ City Hall on
Monday night, Aug. 21.
Approximately 30 persons
attended.
Regarding the current
lack-of-consequences situa-
tion, Rarey provided the
following scenario:
He arrests a suspect for
breaking into a car and steal-
ing its stereo system. Be-
cause of the jail situation
and the level of the crime,
all he can do is cite the sus-
pect into court.
The suspect, knowing
this, laughs, balls up the
citation and bounces it off
Rarey’s chest.
Subsequently, when the
suspect does not show up
for his court date, a warrant
is issued. Rarey serves the
warrant, and issues another
citation. The suspect laughs,
(Continued on page 4)
A pall of smoke in the
Smith River Canyon and
Illinois Valley during the
past several days apparently
is from wildfires in Northern
California, including one in
neighboring Siskiyou
County.
There is no fire in the
Kalmiopsis Wilderness, de-
spite several rumors, said
U.S. Forest Service.
Four active fires in
Northern California, as of
Monday, Aug. 21, had
burned 50,595 acres of wild-
land. Suppression costs so
far are listed at $46.6 mil-
lion.
One fire resulted in two
deaths, when a helicopter
crashed into the Klamath
River. The pilot and co-pilot
were dead at the scene.
More than 1,500 per-
sonnel were fighting the
blazes as of Monday, and 21
had suffered injuries.
Between July 23 and
Aug. 16 a total of eight
large fire incidents have
occurred in the Northern
California Region. Those
large fires have burned
more than 70,259 acres
costing more than
$69,305,355 in suppres-
sion efforts.
Drive sober
FLYING DOGS AND FRISBEES were the order of the day
at Lake Selmac in Selma on Saturday, Aug. 19 with na-
tional champion canines showing their stuff. More photos
and information on page 16. (Dale Sandberg photo)
Labor Day weekend is
second only to Memorial
Day weekend in terms of
the percentage of alcohol-
related traffic fatalities
across the state, noted Ore-
gon State Police.
Law enforcement agen-
cies in Oregon, in partner-
ship with the Oregon Dept.
of Transportation, are join-
ing the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administra-
tion (NHTSA) in its national
impaired-driving enforce-
(Continued on page 4)
Pedal to the metal equals gulping gallons of gas
Rising gasoline prices
are prompting many drivers
to fill up on fuel-saving tips.
Fortunately, drivers can
add miles to every gallon by
following a few easy and
inexpensive maintenance
tips from the Car Care
Council:
*Vehicle gas caps --
Approximately 17 percent
of vehicles on the road have
gas caps that are either dam-
aged, loose or missing alto-
gether, causing 147 million
gallons of gas to vaporize
every year.
*Underinflated tires --
When tires aren’t inflated
properly, it’s like driving
with the parking brake on
and can cost a mile or two
per gallon.
*Worn spark plugs -- A
vehicle can have either four,
six or eight spark plugs,
which fire as many as 3 mil-
lion times every 1,000
miles, resulting in a lot of
heat, electrical and chemical
erosion. A dirty spark plug
causes misfiring, which
wastes fuel.
*Dirty
air filters --
An air filter
t h a t ’ s
clogged
with dirt,
dust
and
bugs chokes off the air,
wastes gas and causes an
engine to lose power. Re-
placing a clogged air filter
can improve gas mileage by
as much as 10 percent, sav-
ing approximately 15-cents
a gallon.
*Don’t be an aggressive
driver -- Such driving can
lower gas mileage by as
much as 33 percent on high-
ways and 5 percent on city
streets resulting in wasting
7- to 49-cents per gallon.
*Avoid excessive idling
-- Sitting idle
gets
zero
miles
per
gallon. Let
the vehicle
warm up for
one to two
minutes only.
*Observe the speed
limit -- Each mpg driven
more than 60 will result in
an additional 10-cents per
gallon. To maintain constant
speed on the highway, use
cruise control.
*Combining errands
into one trip saves gas and
time. Several short trips
taken from a cold start can
use twice as much fuel as a
longer multipurpose trip
covering the same distance.
*Avoid carrying un-
needed heavy items in the
truck. An extra 100 pounds
can cut fuel efficiency by a
percent or two.
As part of the “Be Car
Care Aware” education
campaign, the Car Care
Council offers a free service
interval schedule to help
take the guesswork out of
what vehicle systems need
to be routinely inspected and
when service or repair
should be performed.
The schedule can be
printed at www.carcare.org.
(NAPSA)
Illinois Valley
Wednesday, August 23
Mostly Sunny
High--90 Low--48
Thursday, August 24
Sunny
High--91 Low--49
Friday, August 25
Clear & Hot
High--99 Low--50
Saturday, August 26
Mostly Sunny
High--98 Low--51
Sunday, August 27
Plenty of Sunshine
High--90 Low--49
Monday, August 28
Partly Cloudy
High--89 Low--49
Tuesday, August 29
Mostly Sunny
High--90 Low--48
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in O’Brien by Cheryl
& Harry Johnson.
*Fri., Aug. 11: 87-56
*Sat., Aug 12: 86-56
*Sun., Aug.13: 99-58
*Mon., Aug 14: 96-56
*Tue., Aug 15: 87-53
*Wed., Aug 16: 80-56
*Thurs., Aug 17: 93-48
A REPORTED DISTURBANCE with a gunshot drew
four law enforcement units and officers to 750 Caves
Hwy. Friday evening, Aug. 18, said Oregon State Po-
lice. Levi D. Doney, 24 and Bernard B. Garcia, 50, both
of the Caves Hwy. address, were charged with at-
tempted first-degree assault, said OSP. Garcia also is
charged with pointing a gun at a person. Indications
were that he held a handgun while striking Dominic J.
Materazzi, 51; the weapon discharged, grazing
Materazzi’s skull, according to a report. OSP added
that Doney struck the victim with a shovel. The inci-
dent, which actually occurred in the 5000 block of
Caves Hwy., appears to be related to disputed owner-
ship of a trailer. (‘Illinois Valley News’ photo)
Following are the high-and-
low temperatures, and rainfall,
recorded in Cave Junction at
Mountain Wind Farm.
*Fri., Aug 11: 84-55
*Sat., Aug 12: 86-52
*Sun., Aug 13: 94-50
*Mon., Aug 14: 93-48
*Tue., Aug 15: 87-48
*Wed., Aug 16: 76-52
*Thurs., Aug 17: 88-43