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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 2009)
Inside: County briefs Commissioners eye many issues Page 3 To y’all with love Valentine greetings from merchants Pages 4&5 People-powered Vehicle marks design revolution Page 9 Man on the street Tell us about the sheriff’s office Page 12 Play ball! I.V. girls softball coach named Page 14 CJ has ‘no authority’ to ban public boozin’ By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer A proposed ordinance to ban consumption of alcohol in public spaces within Cave Junction may have to be changed in order to comply with state law. The ordinance was scheduled to have a public hearing and its second read- ing at the Monday night, Feb. 9 city council meeting In Cave Junction City Hall. But City Attorney Pat Kelly said that “state law has prevented our authority” to enact the original ordinance. “They say that alcohol- ism is a disease,” Kelly said. “It’s frustrating to me, but there is simply no authority for the city to do so.” Kelly said he discussed the issue with Josephine County District Attorney Stephen Campbell and County Legal Counsel Steve Rich, and they agreed with that interpretation of the law. However, Kelly men- tioned that state law does allow for enforcement of dis- orderly conduct for persons blocking the sidewalks and streets. “That’s the way it’s go- ing to have to be enforced,” Kelly said. Mayor Don Moore agreed that the city can better avoid potential litigation by enforcing disorderly conduct statutes. Kelly added that if peo- ple are drinking on private property and the owner asks them to leave, the crime of criminal trespass occurs. He said that by pursuing that and disorderly conduct “we might (Continued on page 6) Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) firefighters train continuously. As part of their regimen, on Saturday, Feb. 7 personnel took part in a Burn to Learn exercise. The structure used was an Toler seeks energy solutions for JoCo economy By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer Renewable energy was the topic on Friday, Jan. 30, when Josephine County Commissioner Dave Toler met with state and regional officials at the Oregon Insti- tute of Technology (OIT) campus in Klamath Falls. Toler said that Jeff Griffin from Gov. Kulongoski’s eco- nomic revitalization team was present, along with Michael Cavallero from Rogue Valley Council of Governments (RVCOG). The group heard a presentation from representa- tives of the Oregon Built En- vironment & Sustainable Technologies (BEST) Center. Toler said that Oregon BEST is the research arm of a consortium consisting of the University of Oregon at Eugene, OIT, Oregon State University at Corvallis, and Portland State University. Its aim is to achieve Kulon- goski’s goal of 25 percent renewable energy production. Josephine County is in- cluded as part of the gover- nor’s Southern Oregon re- newable energy solution team, along with Lane, Coos, Curry, Douglas and Jackson counties, Toler said. “The goal of the solu- tions team is to help us achieve an accurate inventory of renewable energies in the counties,” he said. Wind power may be fea- sible on the coastal counties, Toler said, while hydro, solar and biomass sources are pos- sible in Josephine County. While at the OIT cam- pus, Toler said that he wit- nessed some of the geother- mal drilling occurring there. That facility is looking to use that energy source to com- pletely power its operations, Toler said. Besides Griffin, he also met with Mark Kendall of the Oregon Dept. of Energy about the possibility of creat- ing a “green industrial park” and wood pellet manufactur- ing plant in Josephine County. “It’s a matter of acre- age,” Toler said. Approximately 13 acres already are available for a solar array at the North Val- ley Industrial Park in Merlin, Toler said, and 40 percent of that property has yet to be developed. “There are still a lot of empty spaces there,” he said. Toler said that compa- nies currently at the industrial park could have their facili- ties retrofitted for renewable- energy use. Adding renew- able energy to that area could stimulate the existing busi- nesses and the park, create more employment and keep companies there. “Providing them with green energy might be a way to do that,” Toler said. The commissioner said that he also planned to meet with representatives from Merlin-based Grayback For- estry about providing the raw material for a wood pellet or brick manufacturing plant. “We’ve got the resource, let’s use it,” Toler said. I.V. grapplers making strong show at tournaments By KENNY HIX For IVN The past two weeks have been something special for the 4-A #3-ranked (tied with Sweet Home) Cougar wrestling team. Despite being short some wrestlers, head coach Jay Miller and his staff have done a great job rallying the “Cats” to a couple of top finishes during two recent tournaments and a dual meet win. Two weekends ago in Cottage Grove the Cougars fin- ished second by scoring 140 points behind champion South Umpqua (156) and ahead of North Medford (134.5). Champions from Illinois Valley High School were Jesse Orndoff in the 103-pound weight class, who scored a deci- sion against Blake Woolsey of Philomath; and Lance Tau- saga in the 215 class, who also scored a decision, against Grant Thompson, of Cottage Grove. Sam Winter a split-second from pinning his Henley opponent. On Saturday, Feb. 7 at the prestigious 2009 Rogue Val- ley Championships in Medford, the Cougars clawed their way to a third-place finish with 157.5 points behind champion 6-A Roseburg (237.50) and runner-up 5-A Eagle Point (189.5). What makes this so impressive is the fact that IVHS is the smallest 4-A school in the state. Roseburg is the #1-ranked team in the state in 6-A. To make it a more unbelievable ac- complishment, the Indians are ranked 23rd in the nation in that class. A totally awesome performance by the Cougars. Three Cougars were champions: Jesse Orndoff (103), Jon Anderson (125/tech fall) and Lance Tausaga (215). Three Cou- gars captured second places: Quayde Fisher (135), Sam Winter (140), and Landy Wells (171). Matt Coultas finished 4th in his 16-wrestler bracket. The Cougars seem to be hitting their stride and getting hot at the right time on their quest for that state 4-A title. Lance Tausaga took on a Henley heavyweight. They then won a dual match against Henley, 34-31, on Thursday, Feb. 5 at Ken Mann Memorial Gym in Cave Junction. Two Cougars stepped up against the Hornets, literally. Jarrod Houston normally wrestles in the 189 class, but on the 5th he wrestled at 215. That’s because the Cougar who wrestles at that weight, Lance Tausaga, jumped 70 pounds to the 285-weight class. Amazingly, both of them won. Other Cougar winners in their respective weight classes were Jesse Orndoff (103), Chris Culver (112), Jon Anderson (125), Mitch Van Tassel (145/pin), Sam Winter (152/pin), Landy Wells (171), and Brett Mathes (189). Landy Wells had his Henley opponent tied up. (Photos by Michelle Binker, IVN ) old farmhouse in Selma. Firefighters conducted 10 separate burns, culminating with a fully con- sumed building. (Photo by Dale & Elaine Sandberg, IVFD Media Dept.) Space available at county jail By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer Most Josephine County residents likely never will see inside the county’s adult jail on F Street in Grants Pass. But recent approval of additional staffing positions for the county sheriff’s office means that more criminals could soon become familiar with every nook and cranny at the jail. The new facility opened in 2000 and has a capacity of 265 beds. Despite that, Lt. Robin Ward, jail commander, said that it’s never held more than 210 inmates. As of Tues- day, Feb. 3, approximately 105 jail beds were occupied. “It runs much better if it’s at full capacity,” Ward said. A breakdown of the jail popula- tion reveals the seriousness of the crimes for which its in- mates are charged. As of Wednesday, Jan. 28, 8 percent of inmates were suspected of murder; 26 per- cent were being held for as- sault charges; 17 percent were incarcerated for sex crimes; 28 percent for property crimes; 11 percent for drug violations; 27 percent for pa- role or probation violation; and 5 percent were being held for federal crimes. Ward said that some in- mates are being held for mis- demeanors, but that nearly a quarter are being incarcerated for Measure 11 crimes. Ap- proximately 22 Measure 11 offenders were being held as of Wednesday, Feb. 4. “A majority of the in- mates are here for felonies,” she said. Among current occu- pants is 19-year-old Timothy Waddell, awaiting trial for the Dec. 10, 2007 murder of for- mer Cave Junction Mayor Tom Green. Ward said that when the jail first opened, “We took everybody.” But, she noted, roller-coaster funding and staffing has forced cuts. For example, Ward said that the jail intake and book- ing area was shut down a few months ago. Two deputies and one booking clerk are needed to operate that portion of the facility, which contains six holding cells. Inmates still are photo- graphed and fingerprinted there, but correction deputies staffing the jail have been concentrated in one portion of the facility for the sake of accessibility. “We just kind of consoli- dated to one area,” Ward said. All inmates are catego- rized by gender, the type of crime committed and their severity. There are even sub- categories for varied types of sex offenders. Some inmates, including those who are suicidal, or who have behavior or medi- cal problems, are kept in “suicide cells” and monitored via video camera. Ward said state law requires that all in- mates be checked every hour. Some free services are offered to inmates. Church groups, Alcoholics Anony- mous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meet regu- larly inside the premises. Aside from that, Ward said that inmates have the oppor- tunity to enhance their educa- tion levels. “A lot of inmates get their GED every year,” she said. “We encourage them to get their GEDs.” In an attempt to reduce recidivism, Ward said, courses on cognitive restruc- turing were offered at the old jail, but budget cuts caused them to fall by the wayside. She added that AA and NA classes “always suffer first” when cuts are being made. (Continued on page 12) R&R in ‘cost-cutting’ mode The Rough & Ready Lumber mill is having what co-owner Jennifer Phillippi refers to as a “short-term” curtailment of around 90 em- ployees over the next few weeks. Phillippi said the curtail- ment was similar to what the company did last year as a cost-cutting measure. “I can’t think of a forest product company that hasn’t done this last year or this year,” Phillippi said. “It’s pretty typical of companies trying to negotiate through this tough housing market.” The company’s sawmill and planer operations will be shut down on a “staggered” basis this month, Phillippi said. However, the employees affected by the production curtailment will be able to apply for unemployment benefits during that time, she added. “It’s a tough thing for us to do, but it’s the smartest thing to do,” Phillippi said. “We hope to stretch out our inventory until lumber prices pick up a bit.”
