Inside:
CJ city ‘jail’ in
sheriff’s sights
Rustic furniture
Kauffman shows
Cave Bear items
Page 3
Child safety
Officers will check
car seat use
Page 7
Whale of a tale
Cetacean attracts
curious hoard
Page 9
Heartline
Plan now for
sweet Valentine’s
Page 13
Youth wrestling
Valley grapplers
present well
Page 14
One driver was reported injured in a two-
vehicle accident on Hwy. 199 on the south
side of Cave Junction Friday, Feb. 1. Icy con-
ditions contributed to the crash. Illinois Valley
Fire District, American Medical Response,
and Oregon State Police turned out for the
incident. Story on page 7. (Photos by Illinois
Valley News)
Church hit
by fire still
a Wonder
Wonder Bible Chapel
was damaged by a fire started
by a transient early Friday
morning, Feb. 1, but the
building is reported to be
structurally sound.
Illinois Valley Fire District
and Rural/Metro Fire Dept.
responded. No official mone-
tary estimate of damage was
available, but Selma Battalion
Chief Ken Gavlik thought it
would be in the vicinity of
$25,000 to $30,000.
Damage was caused, said
Gavlik, after a transient
started a fire in a wood stove,
but left the door open. As a
result, the carpet was ignited,
and the chapel ceiling exten-
sively damaged.
Richard W. Wagner, 47,
was charged with criminal
trespass and unauthorized
entry into a motor vehicle,
said Josephine County Sher-
iff’s Office (JCSO). Wagner
is described as a transient.
Oregon State Police as-
sisted JCSO, detaining him
until a deputy arrived.
The fire was reported at
8:08 a.m. at the chapel in the
11000 block of Hwy. 199.
Wagner had spent the night in
the chapel, and left it. Subse-
quently, he was accosted by a
car owner who found him
trying to break into the car,
Gavlik related. The man saw
the smoke and phoned 911.
Gavlik complimented
Rural/Metro, which arrived at
the fire seven minutes after
the alarm. IVFD arrived 10
minutes after the alarm. The
fact that Rural/Metro staffs its
Wilderville Station 4 around-
the-clock resulted in “a good
save,” said Gavlik.
Besides the damaged
ceiling, some pews and car-
peting were lost. There was
extensive smoke damage
throughout the building, Gav-
lik said. The pastor of the
nondenominational church is
Phil Anderson, of Wimer.
Power to the building
was disconnected shortly
after the alarm. Members met
in the chapel on Sunday, Feb.
3 “to give grateful thanks that
the damage was limited.”
Until the building is re-
paired, in perhaps two
months, the Wonder Bible
Chapel participants, which
include Gavlik and his fam-
ily, will meet at Blessed Hope
Fellowship in Wilderville.
Pastor Tony Russo made
the offer, so the Wonder
group will meet at 9 a.m., and
the Blessed Hope congrega-
tion at 10:30 a.m.
(Photos on page 14)
By WALLY AIKEN
For IVN
“I think it’s going to happen,” is Jose-
phine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson’s com-
ment concerning remodeling of the former city
jail by volunteers in the Cave Junction City
Hall basement so that it can be used as a tem-
porary holding facility.
The sheriff’s optimism is based on con-
versations he has had with county officials
working toward a resolution of the sticking
points to the facility.
Gilbertson said that questions concerning
facility liability expressed by the county com-
missioners are valid and needed to be ad-
dressed before an agreement could be reached.
But the problems could be addressed easily, he
said.
The county’s chief lawman said that the
current sheriff’s office substation in the county
building in CJ is being used solely as “a rest-
room facility” and does not facilitate better
service to the community. It is also more ex-
pensive in that the sheriff’s office currently
pays $9,700 annually for the county facility as
opposed to the $2,400 Cave Junction is asking
to cover utilities.
“It’s less money for a more operational
facility,” Gilbertson said. The money-saving
nature of the move, however, is also a sticking
point for the county.
Said Gilbertson, “It is very difficult to
streamline the sheriff’s office due to the
‘obligatory system’ established to spread the
overall cost of running the county to the vari-
(Continued on page 3)
Mosley selected Youth of the Year by
Boys & Girls Club’s Illinois Valley unit
Jacob Miller (left) handily defeats his opponent at 145.
(Photo by Ward Winter)
Cougar wrestlers claim
top rank for dual meets
Illinois Valley High School wrestlers cinched their
sweep of dual meets in the Skyline Conference by defeating
Hidden Valley 61-15 Thursday, Jan. 31 in the Mustang gym.
Winning for Illinois Valley were: Rhino Prince, 119;
Quayde Fisher, 130; Sam Winter, 140; Jacob Miller, 145;
Jacob Ellis, 171; Eric McConico, 189; and Lance Tausaga,
215. Jerrod Miller, 152, won by forfeit.
District competition will begin Friday, Feb. 8 noon at
Rogue River High School. Finals are scheduled for Saturday,
Feb. 9 beginning at 10 a.m.
Said Ward Winter, one of the Cougar boosters, “Maybe
we can get some of our fans out there this weekend since
Rogue River is so near. This is the Chieftains’ last season as
a 4-A school, due to lower enrollments.”
At age 14, “Brittany
Mosley is a true example of
an extraordinary young
woman, as she has just been
selected Youth of the Year
for the Illinois Valley Boys &
Girls Club,” said Scott Thorn-
hill, I.V. Unit director.
Brittany is the daughter
of rural Cave Junction resi-
dents Dutch & Shay Warner.
She is among hundreds of
Youth of the Year winners
across the country recognized
by Boys & Girls Clubs of
America (BGCA) for their
sound character, leadership
skills and willingness to give
back to the community.
“Being named Youth of
the Year is the highest honor
a Boys & Girls Club member
can receive,” said Thornhill.
“The title recognizes out-
standing contributions to a
member’s family, school,
community and Boys & Girls
Club, as well as overcoming
personal challenges and ob-
stacles.
“This program was
founded more than 60 years
ago through the generosity of
the Reader’s Digest Founda-
tion,” he said.
Mosley, a member of
the JV rally squad, is a fresh-
man at Illinois Valley High
School in Cave Junction. She
has been a Boys & Girls Club
BRITTANY MOSLEY
member for seven years.
When she is at the club she
enjoys singing, dancing and
helping staff when needed.
Brittany also enjoys
participating in the daily rec-
reation game, doing art pro-
jects and “hanging out” with
her friends.
“It’s a good place to be
with my friends,” said
Mosley, “and I like being
able to help staff when
needed.”
Said Thornhill, “The
Illinois Valley Boys & Girls
Club staff is excited to have
Brittany represent us as our
youth of the year. She is a fun
kid to have at the club. She is
always helpful and re-
spectful to staff and her
peers.”
Du ring February,
Mosley will compete
against other Boys &
Girls Club members for
the Oregon Youth of the
Year title and a $1,000
scholarship
from
Reader’s Digest. If she
wins at the state level, she
will compete for the title
of Pacific Northwest Re-
gion Youth of the Year
and an additional $10,000
scholarship.
The five regional win-
ners will advance to
Washington, D.C. in Sep-
tember to compete for the
title of BGCA’s National
Youth of the Year. That win-
ner receives an additional
$15,000 college scholarship
and is honored by the presi-
dent during an Oval Office
ceremony.
Mosley has been in Illi-
nois Valley since the third
grade, moving from Dallas,
Texas. She has progressed
from Evergreen Elementary
School and Lorna Byrne
Middle School to IVHS.
Her career goals are not
firm yet. Being a singer and
dancer appeals to her, and she
also has considered modeling
and fashion designing.
Oregonians kicking butt, note state health advocates citing cigarette use
Oregonians smoked an
estimated 2.6 billion fewer
cigarettes between 1996 and
2006 as consumption de-
creased 41 percent during that
time, said the Oregon Dept. of
Human Services (DHS) Pub-
lic Health Division.
Oregon outpaced the
nation by 10 percent, as ciga-
rette smoking declined 31
percent in the United States
during the same period, ac-
cording to “Oregon Tobacco
Facts,” released by the Ore-
gon Tobacco Prevention and
Education Program (TPEP).
Tobacco use has declined
among adults, youth and
pregnant women since 1996
when Oregon voters ap-
proved a tobacco tax
increase, which in
part funds the
state’s
anti-
smoking effort.
“We’ve
come a long way in
10 years, but tobacco
use still takes a tremen-
dous toll on Oregonians,”
said Dr. Mel Kohn, state epi-
demiologist in DHS. “We
must continue to help people
quit and prevent kids from
starting to smoke.”
Kohn said that Oregonians
are four times more likely to die
due to tobacco-related causes
than from motor vehicle acci-
dents, suicide, AIDS
and homicide com-
bined.
“With nearly a
quarter of all
deaths
in
Oregon attrib-
uted to tobacco
use, this is truly
a health epi-
demic,” he said. “And
unlike many diseases, this
situation is entirely prevent-
able.”
Here are some of the
1996-2006 changes in Ore-
gon tobacco consumption
patterns:
*22 percent fewer adults
smoke.
*59 percent fewer 8th
graders smoke.
*46 percent fewer 11th
graders smoke.
*30 percent fewer preg-
nant women smoke, meaning
that potentially 17,500 fewer
infants were exposed to the
effects of prenatal smoking.
Exposure to secondhand
smoke also declined during
the past decade, according to
the report. In a survey, 87
percent of Oregon adults said
that people should be pro-
tected from secondhand
smoke.
More than 95 percent of
employees are covered by the
Oregon Clean Indoor Air Act,
Plan ahead! Valentine treats and special offerings. See page 13
which prohibits smoking in
most workplaces. Almost all
indoor workplaces, including
bars, are required to be
smoke-free by January 2009.
Oregon Tobacco Facts is
available at www.oregon.gov/
DHS/ph/tobacco/docs/
facts07.pdf.
“TPEP works with
health departments, tribes,
schools and community or-
ganizations to deliver a com-
prehensive tobacco preven-
tion program to Oregonians.
This program uses evidence-
based strategies to reduce and
prevent tobacco use. Visit
www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/
tobacco.