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Smokejumper base attains National Register
The former Siskiyou
Smokejumper Base at Illi-
nois Valley Airport has been
accepted into the National
Register of Historic Places
by the Oregon State Historic
Preservation Office.
The base is the last of
the original four smokejum-
per bases established when
the smokejumping program
was established in the
1940s. It includes the oldest
smokejumper parachute loft
in North America.
The nomination was
submitted by members of
the Siskiyou Smokejumper
Base Museum Project
(SSBMP) in spring 2005
and was approved for sub-
mission to the National Reg-
ister by a governor’s ap-
pointed review board in Oc-
tober the same year. The
nomination was forwarded
by the State Historic Preser-
vation Office to Washing-
ton, D.C., where a panel of
authorities on history re-
viewed and approved plac-
ing the historic base on the
National Register.
Acceptance of the base
into the National Register is
a confirmation of the site’s
national significance in U.S.
history. The designation
opens the door for federal
tax breaks for Josephine
County and grants to pre-
serve the buildings and fund
the development of exhibits
and waysides, said Roger
Brandt, SSBMP secretary.
“This validates what we
have known all along about
the importance of the base,”
said Sharon Westcott. She is
a member of a group of resi-
dents associated with
SSBMP, who have been
working during the past two
years to make the site into a
heritage tourist attraction.
“This is a place with a
history that is full of action
and adventure,” she said.
“We are lucky to have this
one-of-a-kind tourist story in
Josephine County.”
The group recently
made a presentation to the
Josephine County Airport
Advisory Board. It submit-
ted a draft business plan and
a draft interpretive develop-
ment plan that outlines the
steps that need to be taken to
make 2 acres of the site into
a heritage tourism attraction.
“The airport board has
been very supportive of our
efforts, and some of the
members have met with us
to provide support and ad-
vice,” said Brandt. “The
members of the board are all
volunteers, and the amount
of support they have dedi-
cated out of their personal
time is remarkable.”
Some airport commis-
sion members who have
helped or offered to help
SSBMP are Bill Gettles,
owner of The Flying Ma-
chine at the airport; Bob
Bleadon, a professional pilot
living in Selma; Andy Chen,
a business woman and resi-
dent of Illinois Valley who
also has offered financial
support; Luz Moore, of
Century 21 Harris & Taylor
TAKELMA TRIBAL ELDER ‘Aggie’ Pilgrim has written a
book about ways to encourage world peace. See story
on page 7. (Photo by Josiah Dean/‘I.V. News’)
(Continued on page 12)
Fed money for counties
‘top priority’ for Wyden
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE was the order of the
day as Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) conducted
Insurance Service Office (ISO) flow tests. IVFD demon-
strated that crews and apparatus can maintain a 250-
gallon per minute flow for two hours, including filling
and dumping water supplies. ISO ratings affect fire
insurance actuaries. The district currently has ratings
of 5 and 8B, with hopes of eliminating the ‘B,’ which
could result in reduced fire insurance rates. (Photo by
Dale & Elaine Sandberg/IVFD Media Dept)
Levy plan pondered pending loss of O&C funding
Josephine County commissioners hold first of several community presentations on effects
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Josephine County com-
missioners got an earful dur-
ing the first of several public
workshops regarding the
likely discontinuation of
federal O&C funds on Mon-
day night, Jan. 29.
Approximately 114 resi-
dents packed Anne Basker
Auditorium in Grants Pass as
officials explained the finan-
cial crisis that the county
soon will face.
Commission Chairman
Jim Raffenburg said that
county government “has
worked very hard” during
the past two years to reduce
costs. Raffenburg cited bene-
fit reductions among em-
ployees; reduction of county
staff from 700 to 377 em-
ployees; and the privatization
of some county government
functions as examples of
newfound efficiencies.
“We’ve done our part,
but we can’t cut and save
our way out of the prob-
lem,” Raffenburg said. The
county stands to lose some
$12 million annually if
O&C funding is not re-
newed by Congress.
Raffenburg, sitting with
fellow Commissioners Dave
Toler and Dwight Ellis, said
that the biggest effects have
thus been felt on the
county’s criminal justice
system.
“We have a new jail
that we’ve never been able
to utilize” to its fullest ex-
tent, Raffenburg said. “The
loss of that revenue makes
the existing problem even
worse.”
Library services have
been drastically affected.
Di s tr i ct At to rn ey
Stephen Campbell stated
that the federal funds have
enabled Josephine County
to have the lowest tax rate in
the state.
“That is not the norm,”
Campbell said. “To some
extent, we’ve been spoiled
by O&C funds.”
Campbell said that
without the federal funds or
anything to replace it, his
office would be limited to
two and a half prosecutors.
“We could only prose-
cute the most serious of fel-
ony person crimes,” he
said. Those crimes would
include murders, man-
slaughters, assaults and
rapes, along with child
abuse and kidnapping cases,
Campbell said.
Property crimes such as
burglary and theft, as well as
drug crimes, would fall by
the wayside.
Campbell said that in
such a scenario, the Jose-
phine County Sheriff’s Of-
fice (JCSO) would have
extremely limited patrols;
the county jail would only
be able to house between 20
and 30 inmates; and the ju-
venile shelter would have to
close.
“We’re standing at the
edge of a cliff here in Jose-
phine County. We need to
be proactive,” Campbell
said. “We have to plan and
prepare for this disaster.”
A survey was given
audience members to gauge
the public’s responsiveness
to two possible levies. The
first would cost between
$2.25 per $1,000 of assessed
property value. The second,
dubbed the “Criminal Jus-
tice Systems Enhanced
Levy,” would cost between
$2.75 and $3 per $1,000 of
assessed property value.
Sheriff Gil Gilbertson
took to the podium amid
enthusiastic applause. he
told the audience what ser-
vices his office could pro-
vide under the differing op-
tions.
(Continued on page 3)
ILLINOIS VALLEY BOYS
varsity basketball team
took their Skyline Con-
ference mark to 0-7 with
a 66-33 loss to Rogue
River in Ken Mann Me-
morial Gym Friday night,
Jan. 26. Sam McMahan
scored 11 points for the
Cougars. RR’s Ryan Cas-
tro and Carson Frantz
teamed for 37 points for
the Chieftains. At Rogue
River Friday, the Cougar
girls defeated the Chief-
tains 58-51. I.V.’s Leilani
Tausaga led all scoring
with 21, and Shannon
Loock netted 16. (Photo
by Dale Sandberg for
‘Illinois Valley News’)
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Fresh from a series of
town hall meetings held
throughout the state, Sen.
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) held a
conference call on Monday,
Jan. 29 to discuss federal
issues with reporters.
The three main topics
addressed were federal
county payments legislation,
the Iraq war, and Wyden’s
recent health-care proposal.
Wyden emphasized the
importance of renewing
O&C payments to local
counties, calling such legis-
lation his “top priority.”
“I think there’s great
awareness around the state
that getting this legislation
reauthorized is literally
about survival for small,
rural communities around
the state,” Wyden said.
“With the federal govern-
ment owning more than half
of the land in our state, it’s
about keeping faith.”
Wyden said he believes
that the bill has a broad base
of support in the House and
Senate.
“I think it’s getting
more visibility,” Wyden
said. “I introduced the bill
with senators all over the
West from both political
parties, and I think we have
the chance to grow a lot of
support.”
Asked about the Iraq
war, Wyden said, “It’s not
clear” whether or not the
Senate will respond posi-
tively to President Bush’s
call for an additional 21,000
troops to supplement secu-
rity forces in Baghdad.
However, Wyden said
that he is not seeing much
public support for such a
plan.
“On the basis of my
town hall meetings over the
weekend, Oregonians are
not convinced that over-
stretching the military still
further is the way to go,”
Wyden said. “There are sub-
stantial questions, I think,
around the state about what
21,000 more people would
accomplish that hasn’t yet
been accomplished by the
more than 300,000 people
that are already there.”
Oregon Rep. Peter De-
Fazio (D-Springfield) intro-
duced a resolution last month
that would require Bush to
seek congressional approval
before any potential military
action against Iran. Wyden
said he supports the resolu-
tion in principle.
“I happen to believe in
the basic proposition that the
president should have to
come to Congress,” Wyden
said. “DeFazio is saying the
same thing should be done
with Iran, and I support that
view.”
Last year, Wyden intro-
duced the Healthy Ameri-
cans Act, which would re-
place employer-based health
care with a universal private
insurance system.
“With the amount of
money we spend today, we
could guarantee every per-
son in the country private,
affordable coverage that’s at
least as good as what their
member of Congress gets,”
Wyden said.
Wyden said that the
current health-care system is
“not sustainable,” and that
he hopes to build bipartisan
support for his proposal.
Argument in GP deadly
An argument about adequate compensation for household
movers turned deadly for one man and sent another to the hos-
pital with injuries, said investigators with Josephine County
Sheriff’s Office (JCSO).
Dead of a stab wound is Portland resident Javier Florean-
Gomez, 49.
JCSO said that Stephen P. Kelly, 50, contracted with
three men, Victor Manuel Solis-Marinez, 44; Julian Martinez-
Calderon, 42; and Florean-Gomez to move him from Portland
to Grants Pass. An argument regarding money ensued in the
100 block of Mountain View Place, off Rogue River Hwy.
east of Grants Pass.
Florean-Gomez assaulted Kelly with a brick, investigators
said, causing injuries to his face and head. Kelly, in turn,
armed himself with a pocketknife, and stabbed Florean-
Gomez in his chest, reported JCSO.
Both men were transported to Three Rivers Community
Hospital in Grants Pass, where Florean-Gomez was pro-
nounced dead.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation or
the persons involved is asked to phone JCSO Detective
Emory Souza at 474-5153, Ext. 3523.