Inside:
Chateau classics
Guitar virtuosos
due at Chateau
Page 5
Fatal incident
Del Norte cops
shoot man, dog
Page 7
Alpaca preview
Suri Futures sets
open house
Page 8
Quite colorful
Bea Thompson
art displayed
Page 14
Deadlines same
despite holiday
Ellis, Brown, Mackin, Cassanelli board contenders
Measure by I.V. Fire District to bolster emergency staff defeated by voters
Come November, incum-
bent Josephine County Com-
missioner Dwight Ellis will
face challenger Jack A. Brown
Jr.; and Harry Mackin and
Sandi Cassanelli will square
off for the seat being vacated
by Commissioner Jim Raffen-
burg.
That scenario is based on
unofficial results from the
Tuesday, May 20 vote-by-mail
primary election with approxi-
mately 90 percent of the votes
verified and counted, said the
county clerk’s office shortly
after 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Measure 17-20, a tax levy
proposal by Illinois Valley Fire
District, was headed for defeat:
1,583 to 931. Chief Harry Rich
said that he is “very, very dis-
appointed. We have a steadily
declining number of firefight-
ers, and the levy would have
given us the opportunity for
expanded coverage on a 24/7
basis at our two main stations
in Cave Junction and Selma.”
The chief said that the
measure likely will be pro-
posed again in November.
On the statewide level,
unofficial and incomplete re-
sults indicate that Barack
Obama took a strong win
against Hillary Clinton for the
Democrat presidential nomina-
tion. John McCain was the
Republican winner, garnering
at least 76 percent of the vote,
followed by Ron Paul’s 20
percent plus showing.
In Josephine County,
again based on unofficial, in-
complete results late Tuesday:
Connie Roach was defeating
Robert Graper for the position
of county assessor.
Roach had at least 60 per-
cent of votes cast, with Graper
at approximately 40 percent.
Besides Ellis and Brown
in the race for Position 3, re-
sults were showing the follow-
ing vote-getters in descending
order: John E. Makepeace,
Gary Albright, Craig Heiller
and Allen Ehr.
For Position 2 after
Mackin and Cassanelli: Frank
Iverson, Cliff Thomason,
Rowdy Bates, Paul Walter,
Selma resident James
O’Grady, and G.D. Massey.
The run-off election in
November is made necessary
because no one received at
least 51 percent of the vote. If
that had happened, the top
vote-receiver would have been
elected outright.
Josephine County was
strongly in favor of 3rd District
Rep. Ron Mauer (R-Grants
Pass). He was receiving at least
90 percent of the votes cast,
early figures show. Julie
Rubenstein is the apparent
Democrat winner.
In the race for 4th District
representative, incumbent Re-
publican Dennis Richardson
has more than 86 percent of the
votes, followed by Ronald
Shutz with around 13 percent.
There was no Democrat filer.
For the 2nd District state
Fuel costs
park cars
on holiday
Despite the Memorial
Day holiday on Monday, May
26, regular deadlines are in
effect for the Wednesday,
May 28 issue. The Illinois
Valley News office will be
open Memorial Day; ques-
tions can be directed to 592-
2541, or visit the office be-
hind King’s Chinese Cuisine
in Cave Junction.
Burn piles
a hazard,
says ODF
The first hot days of the
year are ahead, and some old
burn piles may return to life
as a result, said Oregon Dept.
of Forestry (ODF).
A day or two of 90-
degree weather, a breath of
hot afternoon breeze, and that
patch of blackened ground --
where you burned a pile of
tree branches in April --
might sprout a few flames.
That same breeze can
easily push flames into
nearby grass and cause a
wildfire, said ODF.
Embers can survive for
days, weeks, even months in
roots and other organic matter
in the soil. Bark, stumps,
leaves and needles all may
continue to slowly burn even
when completely buried un-
derground.
Now is the time to take a
look at those black patches to
see whether there is any
smoke, said ODF. Better yet,
spray water on the burned
area. If it is still hot, you will
see a puff of steam.
If the old burn pile site is
beyond the reach of a garden
hose, pass your hand an inch
or two above the black
ground. Feel a little heat? Stir
the spot with the point of a
shovel and test the air above
it again. If the air is cooler,
there isn’t a problem. If it’s
hotter, it’s time to do a little
work, ODF said.
To fully extinguish em-
bers, turn the soil with a
shovel to expose the hot ma-
terial. Spray it with water, or
slosh some on it from a
bucket, and turn the embers
to get them really wet. Chop
up glowing embers and con-
tinue to wet them until they
no longer smoke and are cool
to the touch.
Don’t think that the fire
will eventually go out if you
just bury it deeper, particu-
larly if the material you’re
burying is large. Using a
backhoe to bury still-smoking
stumps and tree boles may be
simply postponing the chore
of putting out the fire.
And if firefighters need
to dig up buried debris to put
(Continued on page 3)
Senate seat, incumbent Repub-
lican Jason Atkinson was run-
ning unopposed, but strongly
supported. Richard Koopmans
appeared to have the Democrat
nod in the contest.
Incumbent Greg Walden
was capturing the lion’s share
of ballots cast with nearly 99
percent of the vote. He holds
the 2nd District U.S. Congress
seat from Oregon. Noah Le-
mas, a Democrat, was gaining
his party’s vote.
Fourth District Democrat
Congressman Peter DeFazio
was running unopposed and
getting the nod from voters.
Final and official results
will be printed in next week’s
issue. The preceding numbers
are due to press deadlines.
Flooded carburetors can be a problem, but flooded four-by-four
vehicles that become swamped when their operators drive them
into streambeds and rivers are another matter altogether. Such
was the case Thursday evening, May 15, at the end of Sixth
Street in Kerby (above). And a similar situation occurred Friday
night, May 16 at Illinois River ‘Forks’ State Park in Cave Junction
(left). Drivers are strongly advised against running their rigs in the
waterways. (Photos by Illinois Valley News)
JCLI turns page for library system membership drive
Josephine Community
Libraries Inc. (JCLI) kicked
off its five-week membership
drive Saturday, May 17 with
a procession and commemo-
ration of the one-year anni-
versary of the day the Jose-
phine County Library Main
Branch shut its doors to the
public.
The membership drive
began with people contribut-
ing their individual tales to
the collective story of the
community.
The drive will end with a
workshop on June 21, where
people will be invited to share
their dreams for a library
years in the future.
JCLI board member Bill
Peterson is the organizer
for the vision workshop.
“The workshop is impor-
tant to us because we’re not
just looking backward in
paralyzed sorrow,” he said.
“Together, we can turn
memories into hope.”
June 21 also will mark
the beginning of summer, the
symbolic coming of a new
season for libraries in Jose-
phine County, said JCLI.
A Montana woman, identified as Great Falls
resident Josephine H. Miller, 75, died on U.S.
Hwy. 199 near the California/Oregon border a
few miles south of O’Brien. The Monday, May
19 crash, between Oregon Mt. Road and the
California ‘bug station,’ was reported at 5:42
Board President Doug
Walker explained some of the
history of the grass-roots
library effort. He said that
those involved had debated
the best way to run a library
under private management
and decided on a model simi-
lar to public radio, in which
donors become members, but
the library is open to anyone
regardless of ability to pay.
JCLI recently received
501(c)(3) charity status
from the IRS, allowing mem-
bers to write off donations
made directly to the library
p.m. Gasquet Fire Dept., California Highway
Patrol and Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD)
responded. Miller apparently slid her Lincoln
off the road sideways on a curve, and the vehi-
cle was ‘sandwiched’ against a tree. (Photo by
Dale & Elaine Sandberg, IVFD Media Dept.)
group and enabling the or-
ganization to apply for a vari-
ety of grants.
During the membership
drive the group plans to
hold various community ac-
tivities and to mail informa-
tion to every Josephine
County household and busi-
ness so that everyone will
have the opportunity to
become a founding member
of the new library, regardless
of how much they’re
able to contribute. The group
has developed a management
plan, evaluating ways to pay
for desired services such as
interlibrary loan and Internet
access.
“In order to make this
plan work and open the li-
braries with the services
and materials we all need, the
organization needs large do-
nations,” Walker said.
“However, the benefits that
come from a library belong to
all of us, and every little bit
helps.”
Membership levels con-
sist of Sustaining Members of
up to $200, Bronze Member
at the $201 to $500 level,
Silver Member at $501 to
$1,000, Gold Member at
$1,001 to $5,000, and Plati-
num at $5,001 and up.
The group already has
raised approximately
$80,000; but needs at least
$200,000 and a membership
base before approaching
county commissioners to
work out a contract for the
existing library and collec-
tion, as it must show sustain-
ability.
(Related photo, page 8)
AAA projects that the
number of Americans travel-
ing during the Memorial Day
holiday will drop this year
compared to 2007.
AAA estimates that
37.87 million Americans will
travel 50 miles or more from
home on Memorial Day,
Monday, May 26, a decrease
of nearly 360,000 travelers
(0.9 percent) from last year’s
total of 38.23 million.
It’s predicted that nearly
31.7 million Americans (83
percent of all holiday travel-
ers) will travel by automobile,
a 1 percent decrease from the
approximately 32 million
people who drove a year ago.
Nearly 4.35 million (11
percent of holiday travelers)
plan to fly during the holiday
weekend; a decrease of 0.5
percent from the 4.37 million
who took to the skies last
year. Approximately 1.8 mil-
lion intend to travel by train,
bus or other mode of trans-
portation.
“Many Americans are
feeling the financial pinch
from record-high gas prices
and a slowing economy,” said
Marie Dodds, oublic affairs
director for AAA Oregon/
Idaho. “But despite the small
decrease, millions of people
are still traveling this week-
end,” she said. “More than 12
percent of the U.S. population
will be celebrating the Me-
morial Day weekend away
from home.”
Those driving to their
Memorial Day destinations
will encounter record-high
gasoline prices. As of late
last week, the national aver-
age for regular unleaded was
$3.78 per gallon, the same as
the Oregon average. A year
ago, the national average was
$3.10, while the average in
Oregon was $3.41.
Six of 10 (59 percent)
American currently planning
a trip with their car, truck or
SUV this summer will not
change their travel plans de-
spite additional increases in
the price of gasoline. Among
the 41 percent of respondents
who stated that their plans
would change if gas prices
continue to rise, the greatest
percentage would simply
drive a shorter distance to
their vacation destination.
According to AAA’s
Leisure Travel Index, it’s
anticipated that air fares dur-
ing the Memorial Day holi-
day weekend will rise 8 per-
cent above prices last year, as
air passengers will pay an
(Continued on page 3)