Page 13
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Vagrants loitering around city of Cave Junction prompt numerous complaints
Legal limitations hamper ability to deal with situations including intoxication; although trespassing can be addressed if locations are posted
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Every summer, valley
residents and others who
pass through town fre-
quently witness the sight of
vagrants hanging out along
Redwood Hwy., the “main
drag” of Downtown Cave
Junction.
Mayor Tony Paulson has
become all too familiar with
the complaints -- often related
to panhandling, loitering, tres-
passing, and sometimes dis-
turbances. He frequently is
asked why the city doesn’t do
something to move along the
urban wanderers.
While the city has ordi-
nances prohibiting menac-
ing and trespassing, those
laws are limited.
“They are only viola-
tions,” Paulson said.
“They’re finable, but they’re
not arrestable offenses.”
Property owners who
post “No Trespassing” signs
can request law enforcement
personnel from Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office
(JCSO) to help remove vio-
lators. However, the city has
no laws prohibiting public
intoxication or vagrancy,
because it simply cannot.
Oregon Revised Statute
430.325 states:
“A political subdivision
in this state shall not adopt
or enforce any local law”
against public intoxication,
public drinking “except as to
places where any consump-
tion of alcoholic beverages
is generally prohibited,”
drunk and disorderly con-
duct or vagrancy.
It adds, “or other be-
havior that includes as one
of its elements either drink-
ing alcoholic beverages or
using controlled substances
in public, being an alcoholic
or a drug-dependent person,
or being found in specified
places under the influence of
alcohol or controlled sub-
stances.”
“That’s why we can’t
make any law to do any-
thing about it,” said the
mayor. “We’d have to
change state law,” he said.
Al Hurt, semiretired
owner of Hometowne Interi-
ors, said that he’s dealt with
his fair share of vagrants
during the years.
“It’s been going on
every since I’ve lived here,”
Hurt said. “I’ve had prob-
lems off and on with them
all along.”
Hurt said that vagrants
often sit in the shade on the
side of the former location
of his business building
(“Caves Mall” between
Caves Avenue and Junction
Avenue) and forage through
his dumpsters while scaring
customers away.
“There’s no law to en-
force it, so what are you
going to do?” Hurt asks.
Back when JCSO Dep-
uty Cory Krauss maintained
an active presence in Cave
Junction as city contract
officer, Hurt said, it was
considerably easier to get rid
of vagrants.
But budget cuts in the
sheriff’s office have led to
decreased patrols, and to
Hurt, the results are obvious.
“There’s
more
(vagrancy) now than there
used to be,” Hurt said.
“What it boils down to is,
there’s no law.”
Kneeling near his cam-
ouflage backpack and sev-
eral empty cans of 211 Steel
Reserve malt liquor on a
gravel driveway near some
businesses in Downtown
Cave Junction, “Mountain
Mike” offers a different per-
spective.
“Mike” said that he and
his friends are “harassed
quite often” by business
owners, although they try
not to cause any trouble.
“The problem is with
people bitching about va-
grancy,” he said. “We’re
just people.”
Joining “Mike” on the
driveway, Neil White said
that he prefers to think of
himself as “houseless,” not
homeless.
“I’m home,” White said
while slapping the ground in
front of him.
Being “houseless” is
nothing new for White, who
said that he left home at an
early age.
White added that his
early adulthood was spent
touring with a band. He later
worked on a shrimping boat
off the Florida coast, and
said that those experiences
have helped him cope with
the realities of living on the
streets.
“The typical day is, you
wake up and you’re alive,”
White said.
White, who will turn 60
next month, said that his
mornings usually began at
Shop Smart. He waits until
the store opens at 7 to recy-
cle cans and bottles.
Those efforts fund the
bulk of his alcohol con-
sumption, White said, along
with “gratuity.” For suste-
nance, he relies on an Ore-
gon Trail food stamp card.
For now, White is con-
tent to spend his days in
whatever shady areas he can
find. But whenever winter’s
wet weather rolls around, he
has to make adjustments.
“You wear a cowboy
hat and a long coat,” White
town Cave Junction busi-
ness, but doesn’t seem the
least worried about it.
“Whatever happens,
happens,” he said philoso-
phically.
noted from experience.
On this particular night,
White is reasonably safe
from the elements. He said
he plans to sleep in the
bushes surrounding a down-
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The old saying attributed to
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Photos by Michelle Binker, Illinois Valley News
Two Grants Pass residents injured in gun, knife incidents
Attempted murder in-
volving a gun, and an assault
with a knife kept Grants
Pass police officers busy
Thursday and Friday, July
26 and 27.
The first incident re-
sulted in the arrest of two
suspects, with a third still at
large, said Grants Pass Dept.
of Public Safety (GPDPS).
Arrested on a charge of
attempted murder was Ken-
neth Allen Faddis, 42. Ar-
rested on a charge of con-
spiracy to commit murder
was Wanetaha Dawn
Biddle, 29. Both are Grants
Pass residents, and they
were lodged at county jail.
The victim was identi-
fied as Christopher Lee
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A new study of the po-
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The report was funded
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Oregon University System
and Oregon Economic and
Community Development
Dept. It shows that there are
few hurdles for new busi-
nesses to jump, much private
and public interest and a new
era of bioenergy production.
“We knew there was a
lot of interest in this area and
opportunities for growth, but
it was very surprising to see
how much is already going
on,” said Kenneth William-
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neering at Oregon State Uni-
versity at Corvallis.
“It appears that the most
activity so far has been fo-
cused in corn-based ethanol
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field to broaden,” he said.
“Because electricity from
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especially in areas like cellu-
losic ethanol where we have
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Murray, 33, also of Grants
Pass. He went to River City
Grill on K Street shortly
before midnight with gun-
shot wounds to his left cheek
and jaw, and his left shoul-
der, said GPDPS.
He had been shot in
front of his residence on
Ninth Street, said GPDPS.
American Medical Response
(AMR) took him to Three
Rivers Community Hospital
(TRCH) in Grants Pass.
Investigation led to the
arrest of two suspects. The
third suspect is sought. He is
described as a white male, 6
feet tall, clean-cut with a
medium build.
A suspect vehicle was
recovered. Officers are look-
ing for a motive in the case,
and anyone with information
is asked to phone 474-6370.
The stabbing case oc-
curred Friday, July 27, and
was reported at 8:22 p.m.
Police said that Grants
Pass resident Clinton Perry
Hall III, 49, suffered stab
wounds to his neck, and one
wrist and arm. He was taken
by AMR to TRCH from
Fourth and G streets.
After investigation, a
suspect identified as Grants
Pass resident Edward James
Sargent, 58, was arrested on
a charge of first-degree as-
sault, said GPDPS. He was
taken to county jail.
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