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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2007)
Major growth seen as IVCDO adds loan fund “This is a testimony to By MICHELLE BINKER the credibility our organiza- IVN Staff Writer tion and loan board have Huge opportunity for gained throughout the re- growth is seen for Illinois gion,” Houck said. Valley Community Devel- To date, IVCDO has opment Organization loaned some $344,000 (IVCDO), as it has been through its chosen to take over a ‘Illinois Valley Community r e v o l v i n g g r a n t - Development Organization loan fund to funded loan best-fit to take on loan fund.’ f a c i l i t a t e small busi- program ness development in Illinois after dissolution of a re- Valley -- with only two de- gional microenterprise de- faults. velopment center. Unlike the USDA fund Medford-based South- IVCDO currently adminis- ern Oregon Women’s Ac- ters, the loan fund inherited cess to Credit (SOWAC) from SOWAC is not limited dissolved its operations as a in scope to the few census nonprofit organization on tracts within Illinois Valley. Feb. 15. By law it must This will allow IVCDO to transfer its assets to other branch out to loan to clients nonprofit agencies. This in Grants Pass, rural Jose- portfolio included a loan phine and Jackson counties. fund based on a USDA The bottom line, small business development stresses Bob Schumacher, grant. IVCDO’s executive direc- SOWAC lists $50,000 tor, is that the organization out in loans, and $110,000 has money to lend. in reserve. “We would rather have Although other such the money out there as funds are being returned to loans,” Schumacher said. their originators, IVCDO By expanding the range was tapped to inherit of its activities, IVCDO also SOWAC’s USDA fund, as is well-positioned to admin- it has prior experience work- ister grants and other monies ing with such a revolving allocated regionally, as from loan fund. the state, Schumacher indi- The addition of this loan cated. fund to IVCDO represents SOWAC was in opera- “huge growth” for the or- tion for little more than 10 ganization, said Kenny Houck, board chairman. (Continued on page 2) ‘Fairly’ close to the wire By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer Last December, the Jo- sephine County Board of Commissioners ordered the county fair board of direc- tors to fix finances by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Now, with that deadline rapidly approaching, some issues have yet to be re- solved, to the consternation of some county officials. A Memorandum of Un- derstanding (MOU) be- tween the Josephine County Fair Board of Directors and the county government has yet to materialize, although one nearly was ready in De- cember. One main issue in- volved is that county com- missioners appointed three new board members in January, said commission chairman Jim Raffenburg. “The MOU was ready to be signed by the previous fair board, but the new peo- ple wanted to put their mark on it,” he said. “That slowed the whole process down.” Fair Manager Jackie McBee said that the new fair board members needed time to familiarize themselves with the MOU before sign- ing off on it. “They had never seen it as of the February meeting, which was their first meet- ing,” McBee said. The MOU also con- tained language regarding the chain of command be- tween the commissioners, fair board and fair manager. Marie Hill, county chief operating officer, said that issue has also caused delays with the MOU. “We’re really working on how we work together, (Continued on page 12) Three girls found dead in rural GP fifth-wheel Three young girls having a sleep-over in rural Grants Pass were found dead, possibly from suffocation due to a fire in the fifth-wheel trailer they stayed in, said Josephine County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO). The victims were identified as Samantha Jean Hauptman, 11; her sister, Tiana Jill Hauptman, 8; and a friend, Skylar Ann Pettit, 12. JCSO provided the following scenario: At 8:42 a.m. on Saturday, March 17, Gary Lee Pettit, 50, father of Skylar, phoned 911 to report that his daughter and two friends were the apparent victims of a fire at his residence at 355 Cheslock Drive. Emergency personnel found the three girls all deceased in a fifth-wheel trailer near the main residence. It often was used by guests, and the girls had asked to use it. The father reported that when he awoke around 8 a.m. he smelled smoke. When he knocked on the locked door, there was no response. He forced open the door, discovering that there had been a fire and that the girls were dead. Oregon State Police fire investigators are aiding JCSO detectives to determine the cause of the fire. It apparently was confined to the interior of the fifth-wheel. JCSO said that is not unusual, as the windows and doors were closed, and that once a fire consumes all available interior oxygen, it goes out. No foul play is suspected, said JCSO. Autopsies will be conducted, and a further announcement is anticipated late Thursday, March 22. NO INJURIES were reported following a roll-over acci- dent in the 1300 block of Caves Hwy. at 7:16 p.m. Mon- day, March 19. A Chevrolet Suburban towing a trailer with large logs fishtailed out of control on a curve and ended up on its top in the ditch . Illinois Valley Fire District responded. (Photo by ‘Illinois Valley News’) I.V. Airport park tenants actively recruited Growth of valley, increased employment tied to efforts of two advisory board directors Solid steps to boost em- ployment and help the econ- omy by securing tenants at Illinois Valley Airport are being taken by two mem- bers of the Josephine County Airports Advisory Commission. Besides serving volun- tarily on the commission, Illinois Valley residents Luz Moore and Andy Chen are entrepreneurs. Moore is an agent for Century 21 Harris & Taylor; Chen operates CLL Investments. “We live in the valley, and we want to see it grow and prosper,” said Moore. “And we believe that utiliz- ing the light industrial park at the airport is a key step toward accomplishing that goal,” she said. This week, she and Chen are in San Francisco addressing the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, as Chen speaks Chinese. “I’m the facilitator, and “They want to build a Andy is the translator,” said huge warehouse,” she said. Moore with a smile. “They have told me that Additionally, the two they initially would have have planned their own 115 job openings, and that trade mission to China dur- more could be hired later.” ing early May. “There are many Chinese who want to export to this country,” said Moore, “so we want to intro- duce them to I.V. Airport and the val- ley.” Later this ANDY CHEN and LUZ MOORE month, Moore (‘Illinois Valley News’ photo) will tour the airport with representatives The possibility of at of what she describes as one least one small cargo aircraft of the largest suppliers of using the 5,200-foot-long raw gems. It’s possible, she runway also is on the said, that the company agenda. would want to lease the Another potential pros- whole industrial park, rather pect for the industrial site, than a portion. said Moore, is a new com- pany that would make a nontoxic, biodegradable fire suppression product. “It’s an environmentally friendly product,” said Moore, “and the company is awaiting a license related to mass production.” On another front, Moore said that she is work- ing with an aide in Gov. Kulongoski’s office. Eco- nomic development is a goal of the governor, and Moore wants to be sure that the airport industrial park is in the state’s view. “The idea,” she said, “is to fully utilize the site to boost employment. “That’s a goal of the airport commission, and that’s what we’re working toward.” She added that tenants will be accepted on a first come-first served basis, and that she’d like for one to take the entire site. Oregon Caves tours will open for season March 24 Oregon Caves National Monument will open for another season of cave tours, ranger programs and children’s activities on Sat- urday, March 24, announced Craig Ackerman, site super- intendent for the National Park Service. The opening at the site, 22 miles east of Cave Junc- tion, once again coincides with spring break for Ore- gon schools. Tours will be provided through Nov. 27. Cave tours last approxi- mately 90 minutes and will operate on the following schedule through Labor Day: *Spring schedule, March 24 through May 25, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with tours at least once per hour. May 26 through June 23, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; tours at least once per hour. *Summer schedule, June 24 through Sept. 4, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; tours at least every 30 minutes. All tours are currently on a first-come, first-served basis. Ackerman stated that the new Federal Lands Rec- reation Enhancement Act requires that the fees charged for recreational ser- vices are comparable with private sector operators. Ackerman added that the Monument has re- quested a waiver that allows acceptance of the “America the Beautiful – The National Parks and Federal Recrea- tional Lands Pass Program” documents. They now in- clude the new Interagency Annual Pass, the Inter- agency Senior Pass, the In- teragency Access Pass and the Interagency Volunteer Pass for admission fees for the basic cave tour. The National Park Pass, Golden Age Passports, and Golden Access Passports will continue to be honored according to the provisions of the individual pass. The Monument will retain 100 percent of all monies col- lected for cave tours for pro- jects that improve Monu- ment facilities or have a di- rect benefit to visitors. Besides supporting the tour guide operation, cave tour fees are funding roof replacement on the historic Chateau and new interpre- tive displays this year. Visitors to the Monu- ment should be prepared for cool temperatures in the low 40s inside the cave year- round. Those planning on taking a tour should bring warm clothing even during summer months. The cave is fully lighted – flashlights are not necessary. Cameras with flash units are permitted although there are some restrictions in bat roosting areas. The height restriction on the gen- eral cave tour will remain the same. Children must be at least 42 inches tall to safely negotiate the cave stairs and passageways en- countered on the tour. Food, lodging and gift shop services will open in the National Historic Land- mark Chateau later this spring. For more information on cave tours phone (541) 592-2100. For lodging or reservations at the Chateau phone (541) 592-3400. OREGON STATE POLICE issued a citation for careless driving to Cave Junction resident Michelle Blankenship, 39, following a collision at 25870 Redwood Hwy. on Friday, March 16 at 7:41 a.m. Blankenship’s vehicle struck the rear of a car that was stopped, waiting to make a turn. Its driver was CJ resident Mary Halvorsen, 49. Mi- nor injuries were reported. (Photo by Dale & Elaine Sandberg / I.V. Fire District)
