Inside:
Forest Board in GP
SFI field trip in
store for members
Page 4
Grad night benefit
Rockband tourney,
auction slated
Page 5
State budget hacking seen as prelude to tax increases
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
The state of Oregon’s
budget for the 2009-11 bien-
nium continues to be battered
by predicted revenue short-
falls.
But one member of the
Legislature’s budget-writing
Ways & Means Committee
says that programs benefiting
some of the state’s most vul-
nerable citizens are being
slashed under Gov. Kulon-
goski’s recommended budget
for the sake of passing tax
increases.
In his April 3 e-mail
newsletter to constituents,
Rep. Dennis Richardson (R-
Central Point), wrote that the
recommended budget was
designed to “coerce compli-
ance” from legislators who
might be reluctant to remedy
the revenue shortage by rais-
ing taxes.
“People need to under-
stand that the governor has
not served us well,” Richard-
son said. “We have to over-
ride his lack of wisdom with
common sense.”
Lawmakers are waiting
until the May 15 revenue
forecast to make any further
decisions on the 2009-11
budget. At this point, there is
a $4.4 billion shortfall to
maintain the state govern-
ment’s current service levels.
Richardson said that to
make up for the shortfall, the
governor’s recommended
budget suggest terminating a
prescription drug benefit of-
fered under the Oregon
Health Plan (OHP) for
chronically ill patients. Preg-
nant women would be spared
from those cuts. However,
everyone else under the pro-
Guilty on all counts
Jury returns
Waddell verdict
Page 7
WOPR questioned
Report alleges
political interference
Page 12
(Continued on page 8)
Joblessness
up to 14%
in Oregon
Pirates pillage
IVHS softball,
baseball roundup
Page 14
CJ Council OKs
Redwood Hwy.
improvement
district (LID)
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
During its Monday night,
April 13 meeting in city hall,
the Cave Junction City Coun-
cil voted to approve a Local
Improvement District (LID)
for work that’s already been
completed on a portion of
Hwy. 199 at the north end of
the city.
City Attorney Patrick
Kelly began the discussion by
telling councilors that, ac-
cording to his interpretation,
state statutes refer to
“perspective” improvements,
not those that have already
been made.
“I think this is very stat-
ute-driven,” Kelly said.
“Statutes don’t allow us to do
this.”
Speaking on behalf of the
LID petitioners, Grants Pass-
(Continued on page 4)
Patriot Games
raise funds for
Guard families
A “Patriot Games” event,
organized by Redwood Lions
Club in support of Oregon
National Guard troops and
their families, was held on
Saturday, March 14 at Jose-
phine County Fairgrounds in
Grants Pass.
Some 3,500 Oregon
guard troops have recently
deployed.
Activities included a car
and motorcycle show, Ore-
gon National Guard climbing
wall and bouncer, a sanc-
tioned drift car race, and re-
tirement of the tattered U.S.
flag at the fairgrounds.
Rogue Valley Young
Marines conducted the retire-
ment ceremony, complete
with a burning of the old flag.
The new 5-by-10-foot flag,
purchased in part with a do-
nation from Illinois Valley
News, was raised as several
hundred attendees looked on.
Said organizers, “The
Patriot Games raised approxi-
mately $1,600 to support
Guard families, and food do-
nations were made to food
banks to assist families of
those in the service.”
Cave Junction Lions
Club assisted Redwood Lions
on the day of the event.
gram would lose their medi-
cations when the new bien-
nium begins on July 1.
Those cuts are restored
under the governor’s recom-
mended budget by using $100
million from a new 60-cent
per pack cigarette tax in-
crease, and $10 million from
a proposed tax on health-care
providers, Richardson said.
The provider tax still is being
negotiated at the capitol,
Richardson said, adding that
hospitals are “not real happy”
about having to pay it.
Also included in the gov-
ernor’s recommended budget
is an 83 percent cut to alco-
hol-and-drug treatment pro-
grams. Richardson said that
A company of Rangers silently negotiate to an enemy objective
while participating in the third phase of Ranger training at Camp
James E. Rudder, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Photos by Air Force
MSgt. Cecilio Ricardo)
Training the ‘best of the best’ to lead the way
The “Walk” phase is held
in the mountains near Dahlo-
nega, Ga. It teaches techniques
for employing squads and pla-
toons for continuous combat
patrol operations in a mountain-
ous environment.
Finally, the “Run” phase is
held in the swamps of Eglin Air
Force Base, Fla., and tests the
students’ ability to operate ef-
fectively under conditions of
extreme mental and physical
stress.
Training young men to be-
come Rangers requires that the
instructors be the best of the
best. They themselves must
have several years of leadership
experience, and be qualified as
a Ranger, jumpmaster, path-
finder, assault climber, moun-
taineer, combat lifesaver, and
scuba diver.
“An individual must be
Ranger-qualified, have 24
months of squad leader experi- Rangers climb the slippery and steep face of
ence, and hold the rank of staff Mt. Yonah during the mountaineering phase of
sergeant or sergeant first class,”
training in Dahlonega, Ga.
said Luft.
Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors
and Marines volunteer to become part of situations. This means that they must
this highly trained and rapidly deployable possess technical and tactical proficiency,
light infantry force. Their specialized physical fitness, mental toughness, and a
skills allow them to engage in a variety winning spirit of never quitting --
of conventional and special operational qualities and attributes that set them apart
from other military members.
“I believe it is the want and drive
to set yourself apart from your peers
that make good Rangers,” Luft noted.
“You have to be able to test yourself
on how far you can push your body in
order to accomplish your mission.”
For nearly 70 years, since the first
group of hand-picked volunteers was
activated in World War II, Rangers
have led the way on more than 50
military campaigns, including opera-
tions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Occa-
sionally, their unique skills are called
upon during their military careers.
“Being a Ranger has made me a
better leader under high stress situa-
tion in combat,” said Luft, who has
been in the military for 13 years.
At the end of the day, Luft and his
fellow instructors can feel proud to
know that the men they are molding
Rangers perform “abdomen-searing flutter kicks” due to their lack of silence while
into future Ranger leaders will be the
waiting to undertake a Combat Water Survival Assessment during the first phase of
best of the best to “lead the way.”
By DONA FAIR
FORT BENNING, Ga. - Teaching a
baby to “crawl, walk, and run” is a task
most of us will tackle at some point in
our lives.
But for the son of a Cave Junction
man, teaching the U.S. Army’s best sol-
diers to “crawl, walk, and run” is a chal-
lenge most never will experience.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Jason C. Luft,
son of Harold Luft of Lakeshore Drive in
Selma, and the late Lorene Luft, is an
Army Ranger School instructor. He is
“leading the way” for soldiers to com-
plete one of the toughest military training
schools anyone can volunteer to attend.
Instructors push their students to
their physical and mental limits through
sleep and food deprivation, continuous
enemy attacks, and extreme physical de-
mands. They are taught how to achieve
mission success while encountering and
overcoming seemingly insurmountable
obstacles.
“I am the mountaineering platoon
sergeant for B Company, 5th Ranger
Training Battalion, Dahlonega, Ga.,” said
Luft. He graduated in 1995 from Illinois
Valley High School.
Ranger School is a 61-day course
spread out on three distinct locations. The
“Crawl” phase is located at Fort Benning,
where students discover whether or not
they have the physical and mental skills
to complete combat missions and the
remainder of Ranger School successfully.
Ranger training at Fort Benning, Ga.
Oregon’s unemployment
rate jumped 1.4 percent dur-
ing March to 12.1 percent,
state economist Tom Po-
tiowsky announced Monday,
April 13.
Potiowsky also predicted
that the state’s unemployment
figures would go higher and
lead the nation.
February statistics show
that Oregon’s unemployment
was 10.7 percent, the third-
highest in the nation, behind
only Michigan and South
Carolina.
More than 14,000 jobs
were lost statewide during
March, combined with the
more than 22,000 jobs lost
during February. The number
of unemployed Oregonians
topped 250,000 during
March, more than two times
the numbers in March 2008.
The March figures repre-
sented a continued 14-month
employment decline in the
state. In an April 13 press
release, Gov. Kulongoski
called the numbers
“staggering.”
“We still have a tremen-
dous amount of work ahead
of us to make sure we make
smart investments in policies
and programs that create jobs,
open doors to new economic
opportunities and put Orego-
nians back to work quickly,”
he said.
“That means,” he contin-
ued, “investing in our roads
and investing in our schools.
It means continuing to enact
policies that advance Ore-
gon’s leadership position in
renewable energy. And it
means making sure we have
adequate safety nets for our
most vulnerable in need of
assistance.”
House Republican
Leader Bruce Hanna (R-
Roseburg/District 7) also had
a statement regarding the
unemployment figures.
“Oregon continues to
lose tens of thousands of jobs
each month, yet the 2009
Legislature is taking little
action to improve our econ-
omy,” Hanna said in an April
13 press release. “House Re-
publicans will continue to
pursue policies to put people
back to work and help Ore-
gon businesses survive this
recession.”
Hanna also said that the
state can’t reverse the reces-
sion “through more govern-
ment debt and massive gov-
ernment spending.”
“Oregon will continue to
have one of the highest unem-
ployment rates in the nation
as long as the Legislature
stifles businesses and elimi-
nates incentives for job crea-
tion,” Hanna said.