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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Shots fired in O’Brien arrest
We decided to take a drive earlier this
month. Turned out to total 1,668 miles portal to
portal and back again, as we traveled the so-
called I-5 corridor from Cave Junction to Carls-
bad, Calif. in San Diego County. It was quite a
drive.
Those long I-5 stretches, where one can
maintain 75 to 85 mph with the rest of the pack
racing south, go by easier when it’s dark. During
daylight the relative desolation seems worse
than boring.
We hadn’t seen our daughter, Vicki; and
granddaughters Natalie, 6, and Ella, 3, since
Dec. 30 when we watched them leave Jack
McNamara Field (AKA Del Norte County Re-
gional Airport) in Crescent City, Calif. They were
with us through Christmas and Hanukkah.
We had not driven south (that far) for sev-
eral years, preferring commercial aircraft, thanks
Scrappy and Ella
to our stand-by flight status. But we wanted to
take some time off. So we did, and besides, we (one of us especially) also wanted to take
our youngest kitty cat, Scrappy, with us. He’s a terrific feline, the only one we’ve ever seen
who can wrinkle his nose, but he has attack tendencies. This got him in trouble with Bubba
Big Foot, Flint Eastwood and Jellirabbit. Thus we felt somewhat obligated to take him along
so that when we returned he wouldn’t
look like Beetle Bailey when Sarge
gets through with him.
Scrappy is a good passenger; no
trouble. We stayed in Santa Nella on
the way south in a pet-friendly Holiday
Inn Express. Good, “free” breakfast
too. However, on our return trip, we
lost 10 pounds. Yes, Scrappy hit it off
so well with a former cat of ours, Char-
lie, that we felt it best for both of them
to stay together. It’s kinda’ sad though.
Best buddies, Scrappy and Charlie
We miss the little guy and his wrinkly
nose. We also miss ol’ Charlie, but
he’s doing great down south. He and Charlie became best buds, and they’re both outdoor
explorers.
Vicki treated me to a pre-birthday treat; a special breakfast at the Sheraton Carlsbad.
Unusual menu of good stuff. She, Jan and I walked to the place, mostly uphell, I mean,
uphill, from her home. Then she and I went for a brisk walk; leaving Jan (Nonna) at the ho-
tel. She got loose in the gift shop, but the damage was minimal.
Also took a couple of other walks with Vicki and her friend, Heather, in the nearby foot-
hills. On one we picked up rubbish left by slobs. Vicki and Heather set a rapid pace walk-
ing. Actually, they usually run, and I walk. We meet after about an hour. Here at home I
plan to walk more, as the cardiovascular benefits are quite good.
The major reason for heading south, besides taking time from the office, leaving the
place in the capable hands of editor-in-chief Michelle Binker, was to attend a Smothers
Brothers concert in Escondido. Jan gave me the tickets for us and Vicki for Christmas.
We’ve always enjoyed the music and humor of the pair, and we were not disappointed with
their performance. Tommy even came out as Yo Yo Man, and did a wonderful job. It was
great. For two guys in their 70s, they did a most credible job.
There’s lost more, I mean, lots more, that I could relate, but I’m running out of room.
Suffice it to say that I could get used to warmer weather than we’ve been having here at
home. But an 834-mile one-way driving trip solely for hot temperatures somehow doesn’t
seem appropriate.
(Continued from page 1)
methamphetamine, being a
felon in possession of a fire-
arm, unlawful possession of
a firearm, and furnishing
false information to a police
officer; and a warrant charg-
ing felony attempt to elude,
misdemeanor attempt to
elude, unauthorized use of a
motor vehicle, interfering
with a police animal, and
unlawful possession and
distribution of a controlled
substance.
Batty also was charged
with attempted aggravated
murder, unlawful use of a
firearm, two counts of being
a felon in possession of a
firearm; and unlawful pos-
session, distribution and
manufacturing a controlled
substance/methamphetamine
and marijuana.
Other additional charges
were pending, Lux said.
The “shots fired” and
arrest situation occurred in
connection with an investi-
gation initiated by the Rogue
Area Drug Enforcement
(RADE) team. The arrest
Israeli ‘restraint’
From Steve Lyons
Cave Junction
Israel embarked upon
an air and ground war
against Gaza militants on
Dec. 27 to stop the rocket
fire that has traumatized
southern Israel for years.
The spiraling Palestin-
ian death toll, which in-
cludes hundreds of civilians,
is due mainly to the cow-
ardly tactics of Hamas.
They launch from homes,
schools and even mosques.
Imagine Mexico or
Canada sending missiles at
us. How long would my
country stand for that? What
restraint they have shown.
followed a brief standoff
with the OSP SWAT team
during which the man fired
in the direction of SWAT
members who responded
with chemical munitions and
subsequently deployed the
use of a taser to arrest the
armed man.
Also participating was
the Josephine County Sher-
iff’s Office K-9 team.
A second man at the
house was cited and released
on several charges, said Lux.
He was identified as David
L. Taylor, 43.
He was cited and re-
leased on a warrant charging
failure to appear on a DUII
charge, and local charges of
unlawful possession of a
short barrel shotgun, and
possession of less than an
ounce of marijuana.
Lux said that the OSP
SWAT team was called to
execute the search and arrest
warrants due to the nature of
the charges and potential for
violence.
With the SWAT team in
place, Batty was told to exit
the residence. He did so
briefly, armed with an as-
sault rifle, and then immedi-
ately retreated and secured
himself inside, Lux related.
Batty was ordered to surren-
der and refused to comply,
so SWAT officers sent
chemical munitions into the
residence.
Batty responded by
shooting in the direction of
SWAT officers, Lux re-
ported.
SWAT officers main-
tained their positions and
continued to attempt to ne-
gotiate with Batty. At ap-
proximately 5:30 a.m., he
exited with a firearm visible
in his pants back pocket.
SWAT officers deployed a
taser and were able to take
Batty into custody without
injury to anyone.
Because Batty was in
possession of firearms and
attempted to use a firearm
toward OSP SWAT officers,
an additional search warrant
was obtained. An OSP
Crime Lab team responded
and assisted in processing
the scene. The search war-
rant and crime scene proc-
essing yielded a large sum
of cash, methamphetamine,
marijuana, packaging and
distributing materials, and
two firearms including an
assault rifle, Lux stated.
The investigation is
continuing, and it’s antici-
pated that additional infor-
mation will be released after
the Martin Luther King Jr.
holiday weekend with the
approval of the Josephine
County District Attorney's
Office.
RADE is an interagency
narcotics team comprised of
members from OSP, Grants
Pass Dept. of Public Safety,
Josephine County D.A.’s
Office, and Josephine
County Community Correc-
tions Dept.
Anyone with informa-
tion regarding suspicion of
drug activity is encouraged
to phone the RADE tip line
at (541) 955-6970.
Charges filed in fraud case ...
(Continued from page 1)
said. “We almost lost the
FAC completely…” It was
stated that the IRS had
agreed to freeze interest
rates for a short time until
a police report was filed.
Susan Chapp, FAC
executive director, phoned
Josephine County Sheriff’s
Office on Nov. 20 to report
discovery of the theft. The
extent of the loss was not
fully known at that time.
The Oregon Dept. of
Justice and JCSO are con-
tinuing the investigation.