50¢
Masked men
rip off weed
Heritage tourism goal
of group at I.V. Airport
A large quantity of
marijuana was reported
taken by two gun-wielding
men in ski masks and cam-
ouflage clothing from a
home on Dick George Road
near Beaver Meadow Road.
A woman contacted
Josephine County Sheriff’s
Office (JCSO) at 2:16 a.m.
Saturday, Oct. 28 to report
that the men, who seemed to
be young, had broken in the
front door of her trailer.
She said that they
claimed they were “with the
police department,” and told
her to stay in her room or
they would shoot her. They
took several pounds (30 to
35 gallon-sized, resealable
bags) of marijuana.
One unofficial estimate
was that there could have
been at least 9 pounds. If so,
it would have a street value
of approximately $45,000.
The women stated that,
without asking, “They ap-
peared to know right where
it was.” One man, she said,
had a rifle and stood in her
doorway.
JCSO listed it as a case
of first-degree burglary and
menacing. There was no
notation about why the
woman had the illegal weed.
Ex-smokejumper base seen as big attraction
THE SELMA CENTER
FREE LIBRARY held open
house Saturday, Nov. 4.
Attendees also could visit
the children’s room, avail-
able for use by groups
holding meetings. The
library and center office
are open Mondays
through Fridays from 1 to
4 p.m. Books can be bor-
rowed at will from the li-
brary, and trades are ac-
cepted. Center member-
ships are available for $5
per person; $10 per fam-
ily. (‘I.V. News’ photos)
Fatal crash on
Dick George Road -
See page 4
and gift store in the historic
mess hall to serve travelers
who come by airplane to
visit the site. The former
mess hall has been the site
of four restaurants.
The base comprises
approximately 2 acres, all of
it on airport property owned
by Josephine County. The
business plan will be pre-
sented during the county
Airports Advisory Board
meeting at the Grants Pass
Airport in Merlin on Thurs-
day, Nov. 16.
Said SSBMP, “Some of
the buildings are in desper-
ate need of maintenance, but
the group is optimistic that it
can get the work done to
prepare for making the site a
tourist attraction.”
Added Gary Buck,
SSBMP chairman, “We
already have organizations
that offered financial help;
and a few local profession-
als such as plumbers and
electrical contractors have
already offered to do repair
work at no charge for labor
and materials.
(Continued on page 5)
ODF concludes ‘06 fire season
An end to the 2006 fire
season, which had fewer
blazes than in the past, was
declared Thursday, Nov. 2
by the Oregon Dept. of For-
estry (ODF) Southwest Ore-
gon District.
The declaration affects
state, private, county and
Bureau of Land Manage-
ment forestland in Josephine
and Jackson counties. Cur-
I.V. burglary
victims tired
of situation
Darrell & Cori Allen
are tired of being statistics,
as more than 200 break-ins
have been reported to homes
and businesses in Illinois
Valley during the past six
months.
They’ve been victims
three times -- always while
they’re home -- and Darrell
is taking a stand at his Pine
Cone Road property.
He is angry, frustrated --
and ready to protect his
home and property.
In the most recent inci-
dent, persons as yet un-
known tossed a Roman can-
dle into a car at their home.
The incident occurred at
approximately 6:30 a.m.
Sunday, Nov. 5.
The car was completely
destroyed by fire.
On Sunday, Oct. 29,
around midnight, thieves
stole some $1,200 worth of
tools. Apparently that was-
n’t enough of thrill for them,
as they fired some 40 rounds
from a 9mm handgun and
some rounds from a rifle at
a vehicle -- the same car that
was maliciously burned
Nov. 5, Allen said.
And some six months,
ago, the thieves stole some
$1,300 worth of tools, in-
cluding a Lincoln arc
welder. The latter belonged
to the Allen’s late son,
Joshua, who died in a traffic
crash near Sis’s Gap on
Hwy. 199.
Allen said that the dep-
uty who came to the Oct. 29
incident told him that there
have been more than 200
break-ins during approxi-
mately the past six months.
“If they come back, and
I catch them,” said Darrell,
“the sheriff’s office will get
what’s left.”
The historic former
Siskiyou Smokejumper
Base at Illinois Valley Air-
port between Cave Junction
and O’Brien is one of the
most significant heritage
stories in Oregon history
with almost four decades of
action-packed adventures
back to the beginning of
smokejumper history.
With that in mind, a
nonprofit group in Cave
Junction, the Siskiyou
Smokejumper Base Mu-
seum Project (SSBMP),
believes that the base repre-
sents an outstanding oppor-
tunity to improve the econ-
omy of Josephine County
through heritage tourism.
Members will present a
proposal and business plan
to county commissioners to
ask Josephine County to
give them the responsibility
of managing the base in-
cluding the maintenance of
the grounds and buildings.
The nonprofit organiza-
tion wants to install self-
guiding waysides, a small
museum in the historic dis-
patch office, and a small deli
FAC looking forward to good rooting section
The Forestry Action
Committee (FAC) is gearing
up for the 15th annual Ri-
parian Tree Planting Project.
Questionnaires have
been sent to land owners
who have previously partici-
pated. Land owners are
asked to complete and return
them as soon as possible.
“These questionnaires
are important to the Tree
Planting Project; through the
observations of the land
owners we learn a lot so that
we can better meet the needs
of the local community and
the health of the riparian
areas in the Illinois Valley,”
said Suzanne Vautier, pro-
ject coordinator.
The sooner the ques-
tionnaires are returned, the
sooner land owners can get
their trees,” she said. “This
is important because in our
area it is best to get trees in
the ground during the rainy
season so they can become
better established before the
hot, dry summer weather
hits, greatly improving the
survival rate of the seed-
lings.
“The earlier people con-
tact FAC, the earlier they
can get their trees and give
them a healthy head start.”
Meanwhile, Vautier and
Kristine Miller, tree planting
technician, are acquiring
native shrubs and trees for
the 15th year. Monday, Oct.
30, FAC visited Graig
(Continued on page 3)
ILLINOIS VALLEY GIRLS took sixth place at the state 4-A cross country champion-
ship 5K race at Lane Community College in Eugene Saturday, Nov. 4; narrowly miss-
ing fifth place to Sisters. Hidden Valley placed fourth. Cougar runners, who took
second place in the Skyline Conference, with their state placings and times are (rear
from left) Tammy Huntamer, 102nd, 25:02; Michelle LaPierre, 29th, 21:10; Megan
Cotta, 25th, 20:58; Paige Ragsdale, 104th, 25:02; McKenzie Yeoman, 47th, 21:34; and
Sierra Chiverton, 70th, 22:55. Coaches are (far rear from left) Brian Thompson, head
coach Bill Yeoman and Janie Pope. The Cougars surprised the field, as they were
not even chosen by area coaches as being among the top 10. (Photo by Dale
Sandberg for ‘Illinois Valley News’)
rent and predicted rainfall is
sufficient to lower the pub-
lic-use fire danger level to
“Low,” ODF said.
All public-use restric-
tions and fire season-related
closures on industrial opera-
tions were removed as of 7
a.m. Nov. 2.
Debris pile and barrel
burning is now allowed on
(Continued on page 3)
Positive Behavior Support
aiding discipline at LBMS
Program rewards students for good conduct
By OLIVIA
TAYLOR-YOUNG
For IVN
A pilot program at
Lorna Byrne Middle School
(LBMS) offers a breath of
fresh air in a campaign to
make bullies powerless.
It also offers a fresh
approach to student behav-
ior. Revolving around re-
sponsibility, safety and re-
spect, Positive Behavior
Support (PBS) defines, af-
firms and rewards com-
mendable conduct instead of
focusing on the penalties for
bad behavior.
The program’s intent is
to establish an atmosphere
where good behavior is rec-
ognized and acts of kindness
take center stage.
Developed at University
of Oregon at Eugene, PBS
rapidly is being adopted by
school districts nationwide.
At Lorna Byrne, the pro-
gram
is
in
its
“implementation” year.
Although still in an
early stage, according to
Julie Barnes, the school’s
PBS facilitator, “We’ve al-
ready witnessed some dra-
matic, significant changes
since the program went into
effect.”
Barnes, who has taught
eighth-grade language arts
for 11 years, emphasizes
that a school need not be
plagued with rising behav-
ioral problems in order to
benefit from PBS. LBMS,
for example, consistently
achieves high academic
standards and its discipline
issues are more likely to
arise in the cafeteria or on
the playground rather than
in classrooms.
Nevertheless, according
to Barnes, the staff chose to
adopt PBS on the basis that
“A good school could al-
ways be better.”
PBS requires a virtual
100 percent staff buy-in be-
fore any school can go for-
ward with the program. It
also requires staffwide train-
ing.
Both the buy-in and
training are essential be-
cause PBS employs a team-
based approach. Everyone
has to be on board and fully
committed to PBS’s premise
-- and promise -- in order for
it to work.
Teamwork also is vital
because PBS replaces a
patchwork of behavioral
management styles with a
single, schoolwide strategy.
Teachers help develop the
strategy, and then follow a
clear, focused lesson plan
for achieving expected stu-
dent behaviors.
As a result, students are
given a clear, focused un-
derstanding of what consti-
tutes appropriate conduct
and what is expected of
them in and out of class-
rooms.
PBS encompasses every
aspect of school life and
defines acceptable behav-
ioral standards in non-
classroom settings such as
hallways, the cafeteria, li-
brary and rest rooms. The
consistent team approach
includes behavioral guide-
(Continued on page 14)