Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Page 13
Soil & water district annual meeting
includes biomass benefit questions
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
A presentation on the
potential benefits of woody
biomass was met with
marked skepticism by mem-
bers of Illinois Valley Soil
and Water Conservation
District (IVSWCD).
The presentation was
part of IVSWCD’s annual
dinner meeting Thursday
night, June 28 at Taylor’s
Country Store in Downtown
Cave Junction.
Darren Mahr, a biomass
resource specialist with
Oregon Dept. of Forestry,
summarized a report pre-
pared by Portland-based
Oregon Forest Resource
Institute (OFRI). Valley
interest in biomass has been
piqued by improvements to
an existing plant at Rough &
Ready Lumber Co. in Cave
Junction.
The OFRI study, com-
pleted in June 2006, exam-
ined the possibility of har-
vesting biomass from fire-
prone forests and using it to
produce electricity and bio-
Body located
A Medford helicopter
pilot on June 28 found the
body of Craig McGoogan,
41, who drowned in the
Rogue River on June 21.
Two previous ground
and water searches had not
located the corpse. The body
was found approximately 2
miles from the location
where the victim last was
seen.
Josephine County
Search and Rescue and a
marine deputy retrieved
McGoogan’s body from an
area near the 2400 block of
Portola Drive. He was listed
as a Grants Pass transient.
Aiding workers
in violent home
goal of seminar
A seminar, “Domestic
Violence in the Workplace,”
will be presented Wednes-
day, July 11 from 6:30 to
7:30 p.m. in the Josephine
County Bldg. in Downtown
Cave Junction.
The seminar is co-
sponsored by Illinois Valley
Safe House Alliance
(IVSHA) and I.V. Mer-
chants Association.
Said IVSHA: “Hear
what you can do if you have
an employee or co-worker
experiencing domestic vio-
lence,” and, “Find out what
your legal obligations are as
an employer and how much
it can cost your business.”
Read this!!!!!!
Do you have smoke de-
tectors in your home?
When is the last time you
checked the batteries?
Did you take one out
because it was beeping? That
is telling you that you need a
new battery, said Illinois Val-
ley Fire District.
How much are the lives
of you and your loved ones
worth? Smoke detectors do
save lives because when
working properly they can
provide an early warning that
smoke is in the house.
Do you have fire drills
with the family and pets? Do
you know how they will re-
spond to the sound?
People and pets die in
fires because they don’t know
the house is on fire.
Not all children hear
smoke detectors -- do yours?
Do you have a fire extin-
guisher in your home?
Keep a small fire small.
The life you save may be
your own.
For help with placement
of smoke detectors and extin-
guishers, or other fire-safe
questions, phone 592-2225.
fuels. Mahr said that doing
so could improve forest
health, revitalize rural
economies and generate
renewable energy.
An estimated 4.25 mil-
lion acres of forest land
could provide the material,
Mahr said. Biomass oppor-
tunities exist in Klamath,
Lake, Jackson, Josephine,
Douglas and several north-
eastern Oregon counties.
Approximately 71 percent
of that land is federally
owned, Mahr said. And
those areas, he added, do not
include federal parks and
roadless and designated wil-
derness areas.
Thinning those forests
during the next 20 years
could produce one million
bone dry tons (BDT) of ma-
terial per year, Mahr said.
That would be enough to
generate 150 megawatts of
electricity or 63 million gal-
lons of ethanol, and does not
include potential materials
like Western Juniper or log-
ging slash.
Harvesting woody bio-
mass materials currently
costs approximately $600
per acre, Mahr said.
During a question-and-
answer session, audience
members questioned the
actual environmental bene-
fits of biomass use. Some
suggested that the process
could be used by timber
companies as an excuse to
log larger trees.
Prior to the presenta-
tion, IVSWCD members
voted to appoint Paul
Anderson and John Gar-
diner to its Watershed
Council, and adopted its
2007-08 fiscal year budget
and work plan.
The plan comprises the
Notter Stream Enhancement
Project on Althouse Creek,
and the Three Creeks Stream
Enhancement, and Gray-
back-Sucker Creek Stream
Enhancement projects.
ILLINOIS VALLEY NEWS contributing writer Don Kidderman, 78, (center, with fiddle)
met some 65 family members at Lake Selmac for a reunion Saturday, June 30. Those
attending traveled from as far away as Fresno and Seattle. Kidderman, who now
lives in Mt. Shasta, Calif., was born on the family ranch on Dick George Road near
Althouse Creek in Illinois Valley. (Photo by Michelle Binker / Illinois Valley News)
Semi-truck crash statistics show 6.9 percent rise 2005 to ‘06
Following are the 2006
statistics for truck crashes in
the state from Oregon Dept.
of Transportation:
*Truck crashes that in-
volved a fatality, injury, or
disabling damage to any
vehicle: 1,402.
*Difference in total
truck crashes during 2006
compared with 2005: up
6.94 percent.
*Of the total crashes,
number considered to be
trucker-at-fault: 751.
*Of the truck-at-fault
crashes, number considered
to be the driver’s fault: 716.
*Difference in total
truck-at-fault crashes during
2006 compared with 2005:
Speed primary cause of big-rig wrecks
During 2006, trucks
traveled 1,908,000,000
miles in Oregon and they
were involved in 1,402
crashes, said Oregon Dept.
of Transportation’s Motor
Carrier Division.
Since 2001, the crash
rate has increased from
0.598 to 0.735 per million
miles. By comparison, the
national rate for truck
crashes during 2005 was
1.641 per million miles.
Trucks were at-fault in
751 crashes. Since 2001, the
truck-at-fault crash rate has
increased from 0.323 to
0.394 per million miles.
There are no national figures
for truck-at-fault crashes.
Truck drivers were
blamed for causing 716 of
the truck crashes. The ac-
tions of other drivers caused
582 crashes. There were 69
crashes attributed to auto
mechanical, bicycle, pedes-
trian, other, or undeter-
mined. Only 35 truck
crashes were attributed to a
mechanical problem, consis-
tent with previous years.
Speed is the primary
cause of truck-at-fault
crashes, said ODOT, and
Oregon long has empha-
sized the need for more
speed-related traffic en-
forcement stops. Since
2002, ODOT and Oregon
State Police have worked
together in special opera-
tions along three major
freight routes: Interstates 5
and 84, and U.S. 97.
Oregon has identified
fatigue as a secondary factor
in truck-at-fault crashes. The
state requires completion of
a Crash Analysis Fatigue
Profile form for suspected
fatigued drivers. A data ana-
lyst then uses the forms to
determine whether or not
fatigue was a likely con-
tributor to the crash.
up 9.96 percent.
*Percent of truck-at-
fault crashes caused by
speed: 27.43 percent.
*Most truck crashes in
one day: 24.
*Most crashes by one
company: 20.
*Average length of time
between truck crashes: 6.25
hours.
*Median age of truckers
involved in crashes: 46.
*Age of oldest driver
involved in a crash: 84.
*Number of people who
died in truck crashes: 63.
*Number of truck
drivers among the dead: 14.
*Number of people in-
jured: 647.
*County with the most
truck crashes: Multnomah
(219).
*County with the most
truck fatalities: Lane (seven).
*Percent of crashes that
involved Oregon-based car-
riers: 56.99 percent.
*Percent of crashes that
involved trucks carrying
hazardous materials: 3.35
percent.
*Ratio of fatal crashes
caused by car drivers to
those caused by truck driv-
ers: 1 1/2 to 1.
*Total property damage
resulting from truck crashes
in 2006: $161,606,469.
*Number of truckers
who drove off a road while
grabbing a cup of coffee or
adjusting a radio: 16.
Dr. Ahmed at Siskiyou site in Grants Pass
Siskiyou Community
Health Center (SCHC) has
welcomed Dr. Hala Ahmed,
Board Certified in family
practice medicine, to the
staff of its Grants Pass site.
Receiving her medical
training at Cairo University
Medical School in 1996, she
then attended MetroHealth
Medical Center for her resi-
dency training. Her areas of
practice range from geriatric
care to women’s health, pre-
natal care and pediatrics.
She is accepting new pa-
tients at SCHC.
Said Ahmed: “Taking
good care of every patient as
if they are a family member
is what I enjoy the most.
“I strongly believe in
delivering quality health
care to people regardless of
their ability to pay. I also
DR. HALA AHMED
believe that people should
be treated as people not pa-
tients.”
SCHC has been serving
Josephine County since
1973. It is the only not-for-
profit federally qualified
health-care clinic in Jose-
phine County. It provides a
sliding fee scale for all indi-
vidual without insurance. It
also accepts most private
insurance, plus Medicare
and the Oregon Health Plan.
The Grants Pass loca-
tion is 125 N.E. Manzanita
Ave. The Cave Junction
clinic is 25647 Redwood
Hwy., Cave Junction, be-
tween Wild River Brewing
& Pizza Co. and Illinois
Valley Golf Course.
For more information
about the clinic, phone Judi
Hill at 955-6053, Ext. 1158;
or for an appointment,
phone 471-3455.
John 3:16
Come hear the Word at
Bridgeview Community Church
Auto photo collection coming to Firehouse Gallery
“Photographic Reflec-
tions of the Automobile,” a
collection of work by Randy
White, will be displayed
from Friday, July 6 through
July 28 at the Rogue Com-
munity College Firehouse
Gallery.
The gallery is in His-
toric City Hall at Fourth and
H streets in Grants Pass. It is
open Tuesdays through Fri-
days from 11:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., and Saturdays
from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
All phases of general, laser
and cosmetic dentistry
Find this hat and handbag in
The New Collection at
Shop River Rock
Hellgate Jet Boats in Grants Pass
‘Ingenue’ with her hat and handbag
We’re also at the SOG Gallery in the
RCC Building in Kerby: 592-5019
And, you can visit us, the llamas &
the studio at the ranch. Phone 592-6078
Mercury-free fillings match
your natural teeth
Nitrous oxide available
Complete family care since 1981