Airport, RCC projects to benefit valley
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Josephine County com-
missioners were scheduled to
consider a couple of matters
intended to benefit Illinois
Valley during their Wednes-
day morning, May 9 meeting
in Grants Pass.
On the agenda is the ap-
proval of a site lease agree-
ment with McSquared Design
Corp. for county property at
I.V. Airport. McSquared,
involved in ultralight aircraft,
already leases property there.
Commission Chairman
Jim Raffenburg said that the
new agreement only covers
the airport’s restaurant, and is
an extension of an existing
lease that has expired.
Raffenburg said that the
lease includes a reduction of
McSquared Design’s rent in
exchange for improving the
facilities. They will not be
used for a restaurant, Raffen-
burg said.
“Instead of the county
putting money into the build-
ing, he’s going to do the work
and get a break on his rent,”
Raffenburg said. “It’s a five-
year lease, and he’s going to
have to do a certain amount
of work, and we’ll be watch-
ing it. If he doesn’t, we can
terminate the lease.”
Also slated for approval
is a memorandum of under-
standing between the county
and Rogue Community Col-
lege for administration of a
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
(USDA) Rural Business Eco-
nomic grant. It will go toward
the Illinois Valley Business
Entrepreneurial Center in
Kerby, and will be used to aid
start-up businesses based in
Illinois Valley.
“The latest version is a
business incubator,” Raffen-
burg said. “We have a part-
nership with RCC, and we’re
making them co-applicants
with the county so they can
administer the USDA grant.
The idea is that RCC will
then be responsible for run-
ning the center.”
Original plans to have
the business center at the air-
port proved unfeasible, Raf-
fenburg said. As such, the
county had to ask USDA to
extend the grant’s timeline
over a year to make the ar-
rangements that will be im-
plemented.
“The plan for the airport
wasn’t going to work, and it
took a year and a half to sort
it out and come up with an
alternative,” Raffenburg said.
“Now it seems to be moving.
RCC is pumped about it.
They wanted to do it, but
needed a vehicle and we gave
them the vehicle.”
Raffenburg said that the
grant will benefit all involved.
“It’s good for the county,
good for RCC and good for
the people,” he said. “I’m
glad it got to this point.”
The county has until Sep-
tember 2008 to spend the
grant money. Raffenburg said
that Commissioner Dwight
Ellis was instrumental in
making the project a reality.
“Dwight’s the one who
really carried the load on this
one,” Raffenburg said.
Postal rates jacked up May 14
A new U.S. Postal Service (USPS) rate structure will go
into effect Monday, May 14.
New prices include:
*41-cents for a 1-ounce letter (up 2-cents).
*80-cents for a 1-ounce flat (up 28-cents).
*$1.13 for a 1-ounce parcel (up 61-cents).
After 1 ounce, the cost will be 26-cents per ounce, a 2-cent
per ounce increase. Postcard postage will be 26-cents (up 2-
cents).
Other rates are available from USPS offices.
JoCo finances shaky
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Last week, President
Bush vetoed an emergency
appropriations bill, which
included funding for continu-
ing combat operations in Iraq
and Afghanistan, as well as a
one-year extension of the
federal county payments plan.
The legislation also car-
ried a timeline for the with-
drawal of U.S. troops from
Iraq, a major point of conten-
tion for Bush.
However, the veto,
Bush’s second as president,
has cast greater uncertainty
over Josephine County’s deli-
cate fiscal situation.
During their Wednesday,
May 2 meeting, Josephine
County commissioners ad-
dressed the continued stand-
off between Bush and the
Democrat-controlled Con-
gress. The county board also
expressed disgust with the
behavior of the nation’s fed-
eral representatives.
“Our president has aban-
doned the people of Jose-
phine County,” said Commis-
sioner Dave Toler.
Commission Chairman
Jim Raffenburg, who has
traveled to Washington, D.C.
twice during the past six
months to lobby for O&C
funds, said that the executive
and legislative branches of
the federal government have
become an “embarrassment”
to the country.
“We really have a very
dysfunctional federal govern-
ment,” Raffenburg said. “I
hope they get their act to-
gether.”
Also unknown at this
point is how the state govern-
ment plans to react to the
funding loss, which will affect
half of Oregon’s 36 counties.
Oregon House Speaker
Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) and
Oregon Senate President Pe-
ter Courtney (D-Salem) were
among a dozen legislators
who visited Josephine and
other affected counties on
April 19 to learn about the
effects of the federal funding
(Continued on page 3)
Pacific N.W. fire season
prediction: dry, severe
ONE FATALITY and two
serious injuries resulted
from a head-on collision
on Redwood Hwy. near
Wonder on Thursday af-
ternoon, May 3, said Ore-
gon State Police. See
story on page 4.
(Photos by Dale & Elaine
Sandberg/Illinois Valley
Fire District Media Dept.)
Fund for SS
OK: DeFazio
Lawmen aiming to educate population
Self-help seminars designed to clarify use of deadly force, repercussions
By MICHELLE BINKER
IVN Staff Writer
Josephine County resi-
dents, bracing for a severe
reduction in law enforcement
coverage, now realize that
they must be responsible for
their own safety in the event
of violent attack or home in-
vasion.
To clarify citizen rights
and responsibilities in the
face of such an encounter,
Josephine County Sheriff’s
Office (JCSO) is offering
several “Defend Yourself”
seminars. The first such meet-
ing was held at Josephine
County Fairgrounds Tuesday
night, May 1.
Sheriff Gil Gilbertson’s
stated reason for holding the
seminars is to make certain
that citizens understand not
only their right to self-defense
in a given situation, but their
responsibilities and potential
liability.
Gilbertson and Un-
dersheriff Don Fasching told
a standing-room-only crowd
of some 200 people that their
first course of action is to plan
ahead.
“It’s extremely important
to be aware of your surround-
ings, because you’re going to
be caught when you’re off
guard,” said the sheriff.
“Law enforcement offi-
cers practice all the time. If
you’re not pre-planning,
thinking about what you’re
going to do in that situation,”
the sheriff said, “you’re
gonna’ lose.”
Oregon law states that a
citizen may use physical --
but not deadly -- force in de-
fense of premises.
“In terms of defending
other property (car, TV, what-
ever), you cannot use deadly
force,” Gilbertson said. “You
must be reasonably sure that
your use of physical force is
necessary to prevent their
committing the crime against
you.”
Gilbertson observed,
“You can knock ‘em down,
sit on ‘em and hog tie them;
then you need to call the po-
lice right away to turn them
over. One of the problems we
might end up with,” he
grimly noted, “is there may
not be (a deputy) to come out
to transport them.”
State law allows for the
use of deadly force -- that
which can cause serious in-
jury or death -- in self-defense
or defense of a family mem-
ber or another person, and
only if threat of serious injury
or death exists. Assess the
threat. The likelihood of fac-
ing criminal charges stem-
ming from the use of deadly
(Continued on page 5)
Based on a current re-
port, there’s no problem
with Social Security, ac-
cording to U.S. Rep. Peter
DeFazio (D-Springfield).
He commented on the
release of the annual Social
Security and Medicare Trus-
tees report, which found that
Social Security will be able to
pay full benefits to American
workers “for at least the next
34 years with no changes
whatsoever.”
Said DeFazio: “Where’s
the crisis? The report shows
that Social Security will be
able to pay 100 percent of
promised benefits until at
least 2041. And after that
date, Social Security will still
be able to cover 75 percent of
promised benefits without
any changes whatsoever.
“Covering that 25 per-
cent gap is a manageable
challenge, and with a few
modest changes to the sys-
tem, we can maintain Social
Security on sound footing for
the next seven decades and
beyond. I have a plan to do
just that that I will reintroduce
later this year.
“It is also important to
note that the president’s so-
(Continued on page 3)
The West is in for a fairly
severe fire season, brought on
by widespread drought condi-
tions and huge fuel buildups
in western forests and range-
lands.
So suggest the newest
forecasts of summer drought
and fire by researchers at
Oregon State University
(OSU) at Corvallis, and the
U.S. Forest Service.
By contrast, most of the
nation east of the Rocky
Mountains should have few
or no fire concerns in coming
months, the study indicates.
Although, it adds, there may
be some continued drought in
various places, and some fires
already are under way in
Florida and Georgia.
“Fire is a combination
not just of immediate drought
stress, but also of recent
weather years and fuel loads,”
said Ronald Neilson, an OSU
professor of botany who also
is an ecologist with the forest
service and one of the na-
tion’s leading experts on the
interaction between climate
and vegetation.
“There are pockets of
drought all over the country,
but the coming fire season
looks like it could be focused
in the West and a very nasty
one, worse than normal,”
Neilson said. “There could be
some fairly large fires.”
Among the areas of
greatest fire risk with pro-
jected significant wildfires,
the latest analysis shows, are
much of Northern California,
portions of Southwestern
Oregon, and northeastern
Oregon and eastern Washing-
ton. Also, Southern Arizona
and New Mexico; and the
Great Basin, especially some
hot spots in eastern Idaho and
S.W. Wyoming.
Most of the Cascade
Range and Coast Range face
lesser risk this year.
(Continued on page 4)
A HOLLYWOOD DOG and his boy were among the
many who attended the 10th-annual Illinois Valley Chil-
dren’s Fair & Pet Parade Saturday, May 5. Additional
photos on page 10. (Photo by Dale Sandberg/‘IVN’)