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Two dead, three hurt
in collision near CJ
Two California residents died and three persons from
Idaho were injured in a two-vehicle head-on collision on
Hwy. 199 at Airport Drive Friday morning, Oct. 6, said Ore-
gon State Police.
The Crescent City, Calif. persons, declared dead at the
scene, were identified as the driver, Nick Bacila, 81; and
Lorraine Jean Molin, 87.
The injured were identified as the driver, Donna Jerome,
64, from Marsing, Idaho; and Caldwell residents Margie
Barker, 54, and Deena Eels, 48. Jerome and Barker suffered
minor injuries and declined transport. Eels, also with minor
injuries, was taken by American Medical Response (AMR) to
Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass, said OSP.
The crash was reported at approximately 8 a.m. Because
of the wrecked vehicles, and rescue and extrication work by
Illinois Valley Fire District and AMR, the road was closed for
approximately two hours.
OSP said that all five persons were wearing safety belts. It
reported that Bacila’s Chevrolet Aveo was northbound when it
began to swerve “all over the roadway.” The vehicle left the
highway along the north shoulder and then swerved onto the
lane for southbound traffic, OSP said.
It collided with the Buick LeSabre driven by Jerome.
OSP is investigating whether Bacila had a medical prob-
lem prior to the collision that might have been a contributing
factor.
Besides OSP, IVFD and AMR, emergency responders
assisting at the scene were Josephine County Sheriff’s Office,
Jerry’s Towing, and ODOT.
Current, coming growth
noted for CJ urban area
Numerous emergency personnel, including Illinois Valley
Fire District (IVFD) and American Medical Response as-
sisted at a fatal accident near Cave Junction. (Photos by
Dale & Elaine Sandberg/IVFD Media Dept.)
Controlled burns scheduled by forest service in I.V.
A number of prescribed
fires totaling approximately
1,178 acres during the next
couple of months, beginning
as early as this week, are
planned by the Galice and
Illinois Valley Ranger
districts of the Rogue River-
Siskiyou National Forest.
These prescribed fires
comprise 317 acres of hand
piles and 861 acres
of broadcast burns.
The prescribed burns
will take place in Illinois
Valley Ranger District at:
Illinois Valley Ranger
District facility in Cave
Junction, Oregon Caves,
Days and McGuire gulches,
Oak Flat, Six Mile, Little
Grayback Creek, Upper
Grayback Creek, Upper
Sucker Creek, Althouse
Creek, Elder Mountain,
French Peak, and Hogue
Meadow (south of Takilma).
Fire managers will
closely monitor these pre-
scribed fires, said the forest
service. The weather fore-
cast will be closely watched
for changes in winds, tem-
perature and humidity.
If the conditions are not
right, the prescribed fires
will not be set.
The prescribed burns
are conducted when the
state of Oregon, Smoke
Management Office indi-
cates it is suitable weather
conditions for smoke disper-
sal, said the forest service.
A prescribed burn, the
agency added, is a carefully
controlled low fire that con-
sumes forest vegetation such
as dried leaves, twigs,
branches, grasses and small
trees, but will not harm lar-
ger trees.
These burns benefit the
area by reducing ground
fuels such as forest vegeta-
tion, protecting the natural
resources and protecting
private property and resi-
dences in and around com-
munities, the agency said.
Incorrect population figure by state cited
A number of matters
dealing with current and
potential growth and devel-
opment came before the
Cave Junction City Council
Monday night, Oct. 9.
One significant presen-
tation was by Craig A.
Stone & Associates, of
Medford, regarding the
city’s urban growth bound-
ary (UGB). The firm’s Alec
Miller indicated that the city
is being short-changed by
the state because of under-
estimating the CJ population
within the UGB.
See separate story on
page 6.
Near the end of the 90-
minute meeting in city hall,
City Recorder Jim Polk an-
nounced that rural CJ resi-
dent Dave Toler has filed a
petition for review involving
the planned Primrose Lane
Senior Housing Project with
43 duplex homes and a cen-
tral medical facility.
Toler has twice before
appealed to the state Land
Use Board of Appeals
(LUBA) on the matter, cit-
ing improper zoning. He
had indicated recently that
he would again challenge
the city council’s earlier
rulings.
The developer, Manor
Communities Development,
of Lodi, Calif., has 21 days
to file a response with
LUBA, Polk said. Its repre-
sentative is Larry Osborn.
The council Monday
also approved 4-0, with
Mayor Tony Paulson ab-
staining, a zone change ap-
plication from commercial
to multiple residential for
3.5 acres on N. Sawyer
Avenue. The request was by
CLL Investments Inc.,
which plans a residential
development adjacent to
Laurel Pines Golf Course.
Paulson abstained, he
said, because he has coun-
seled the company. “Andy”
Chen, of CLL, told the
council that she wants to
fulfill the dream of her late
husband, Jerry Sterling, by
helping the community and
its economy with an
(Continued on page 6 )
Flu vaccine supplies OK
U.S. MILITARY INVOLVEMENT in Iraq and Afghanistan
was protested by a crowd of approximately 70 demon-
strators Thursday, Oct. 5 in Downtown Cave Junction
along Hwy. 199 in front of the Josephine County
Bldg. The protest, which lasted around 45 minutes,
received support from many passing motorists, who
honked their horns and waved. ‘The World Can’t Wait’
protest was sponsored by the Democratic Central
Committee of Josephine County. (Photos by ‘Illinois
Valley News’)
Oregon and the rest of
the nation expect to have
more vaccine available this
year than ever, although as
much as 50 percent of this
year’s supply may not arrive
in Oregon until November
and December.
However, a flu immuni-
zation clinic is planned at
the Josephine County Bldg.
in Downtown Cave Junction
on Tuesday, Oct. 17. It will
run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
* * *
In a page 1 story Oct. 4,
there was a reference to flu
shots at the Grants Pass
clinic (of the county health
office) -- not the private
business, Grants Pass Clinic.
* * *
Appropriate insurance
cards should be brought to
the public health clinics;
otherwise the cost is $30,
required at the time.
“Supplies are arriving in
Oregon daily, but we en-
courage patience and persis-
tence in seeking vaccina-
tions this year,” said
Lorraine Duncan, immuni-
zation manager in the Ore-
gon Dept. of Human Ser-
vices (DHS) Public Health
Division.
Duncan said that public
health officials are encour-
aging communities, provid-
ers and families to jointly
organize vaccination clinics
through the holidays. She
said that it’s never too late to
get a flu shot during influ-
enza season, which in Ore-
gon typically peaks in Feb-
ruary.
Influenza, a contagious,
virus-caused respiratory
illness, annually kills an
estimated 36,000 people in
the United States.
FluMist, a nasal spray
vaccine, is not affected by
distribution delays.
“We’re encouraging
healthy people between ages
5 and 49 who want vaccine,
including health-care work-
ers and people in contact
with infants, to ask for
FluMist,” said Dr. Susan
Allan, state public health
director at DHS. “Choosing
FluMist means you are help-
ing to conserve injectable
influenza vaccine, and it
may help to avoid spreading
the flu to others who are
more vulnerable. Your deci-
sion could save a life.”