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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2009)
Man shot by deputy files federal lawsuit Inside: Alpaca action Open Farm Days set May 24, 25 By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer A multimillion dollar lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court against the Jo- sephine County Sheriff’s Of- fice (JCSO) and other local entities and officials regard- ing a 2006 shooting incident in O’Brien. On Feb. 26, 2006, the victim of a home invasion altercation in O’Brien phoned 911 to report the incident. JCSO deputies James Geiger and Alan Johnson responded, and encountered a vehicle on a driveway near the 37000 block of Redwood Hwy. Five people were in the car, in- cluding Kurtis Kern Korff. Accounts differ as to what exactly happened next, but Korff ended up being shot in the head. The deputies re- ported that they were acting in self-defense. Korff subsequently was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, first- degree attempted assault, and attempted murder. The latter stemmed from allegations that Korff tried to run Geiger over with the vehicle. Korff’s first criminal trial took place in June 2007, and ended in a mistrial. A retrial Page 3 Hummer habits The Birdwatcher discloses all Page 5 Laurel spruce-up Cemetery group plans work day Page 8 IVHS sports Softball, baseball notes Page 14 Council OKs drinking ban in city of CJ An ordinance banning public drinking within city limits -- effective immedi- ately -- was approved 5-0 by the Cave Junction City Coun- cil during its 39-minute meet- ing Monday night, May 11, in city hall. The ordinance is effec- tive at once because of an emergency clause. Kerby resident John Bowler pro- tested the clause. He told the council that he could see no reason for declaring the mat- ter an emergency. Passage of the new rule was greeted by enthusiastic applause from the 18 citizens in the council chamber. Patricia Castle, of Ollis Road, was among the city residents who had been asking for the ordinance. She spoke on its behalf during a brief public hearing Monday night. “I think it’s about time,” she said. “I’m all for it.” Ron Peralta, a city resi- dent on Hanby Lane, asked Mayor Don Moore how the ordinance would be enforced. Moore replied that the city previously lacked the author- ity to have sheriff’s deputies dump the beverages of public drinkers, but could do so un- der the new ordinance. “That’s the first step,” Moore said. “If you take their alcohol away, I think they will go away.” Moore empha- sized the importance of pass- ing the ordinance prior to the summer tourist season. The council had passed a previous public drinking ordi- Public acts of art were witnessed by multitudes during Illinois River Valley Arts Council’s Sec- ond Friday Art Walk in Downtown Cave Junction on May 8. (Above) Elaine Barker’s I.V. High School art students demonstrated cooperative chalk sidewalk painting. More photos on page 14. (Photo by Michelle Binker, Illinois Valley News ) Privacy upheld for concealed weapons By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer Legislation is being ad- vanced at the Oregon capitol in Salem to protect the pri- vacy of concealed weapons permit holders. On Monday, May 4, the Oregon House of Representa- tives passed House Bill 2727 on a 54-4 vote. If approved, the 12-page bill would ex- empt concealed handgun li- cense information from dis- closure under the state’s open records law. The issue emerged from a 2007 case in which South Medford High School Eng- lish teacher Shirley Katz asked Medford Public Schools District for permis- sion to bring a concealed weapon to work. Katz insisted that she needed to take her pistol to work because she feared that her ex-husband could show up and try to harm her. She said that she also was worried about a Colum- bine-style attack. Her request was denied, but prompted the Mail Trib- une newspaper to ask Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters for a list of concealed weap- ons permit holders in the county. Winters refused, which led to a court battle. A judge ruled in the newspaper’s fa- vor, and Winters began seek- ing a legislative remedy to the problem. HB 2727 was referred to the House Judiciary Commit- tee on Feb. 20. A public hear- ing was held on March 10, and a work session conducted April 15. On April 24, the committee approved an amended version of the bill with a do-pass recommenda- tion, and sent it to the full House for a vote. Winters testified in favor of HB 2727 when it was still (Continued on page 3) in committee, and said that passing the bill is “the right thing to do.” “I think it’s a win-win for everyone involved,” Winters said. “I think this solves eve- rything and protects people’s safety, security and right to privacy.” HB 2727 leaves the deci- sion of whether or not to re- lease the information up to the sheriff of the county where the request is made, Winters said. Section 2 of the bill states that “the party seek- ing disclosure shall have the burden of showing that public disclosure would not consti- tute an unreasonable invasion of privacy.” Winters said that those provisions establish “clear guidelines on what needed to happen. “This takes the ambigu- ity out of it,” he said. “It’s an important issue, and we need (Continued on page 4) started on Feb. 28, 2008. A 10-member jury con- victed Korff of the assault charge, but found him not guilty of attempted murder. Korff, who had already pleaded guilty to the weapons charge, was sentenced to 40 months in prison, with credit for time served. According to court pa- pers, Korff is currently an inmate at the Mill Creek Cor- rectional Facility in Salem. Anatomy of the Lawsuit On Tuesday, April 28, Josephine County received the $3 million lawsuit notifi- cation, which was filed by an attorney representing Korff. The county is listed as a de- fendant in the suit, along with JCSO, Geiger, Johnson, Sher- iff Gil Gilbertson, the Oregon State Police, Josephine County Adult Corrections and Jeffrey Dovci. Dovci had testified as a forensic expert for the prose- cution during Korff’s crimi- nal case. Among other items, the suit alleges that those persons and entities engaged in civil rights violations, conspiracy to interfere with civil rights violations and violation of the (Continued on page 10) Cougar stalking Waldo By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer A Waldo Road family wants to warn residents of a possible cougar on the prowl in the Indian Hill Ranch area. Marissa Northrup said that on the weekend of April 26, her family’s two Barba- dos sheep were attacked by another animal. The family thought it might have been one of their dogs, so Northrup’s husband phoned the Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife for an expert opinion. A cougar then be- came the likely suspect. “We described the wounds to a sheep biologist, and he said it sounded like a classic case,” Northrup said. Further adding to the family’s suspicion of a cou- gar is the fact that they found droppings on a recent hike. “That was the first hint we had,” she said. The Northrups bought a 350-pound Hampshire sheep earlier this month. But on Sunday, May 3, they found it with puncture wounds and lacerations. “We got him on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday afternoon, after we came back from church, he was in the field,” Northrup said. The sheep was alive and still breathing, but had been partly eaten by what attacked it, she said. “It ate through the ribs and ate the heart out,” Northrup said. Other aspects of the at- tacks make the family believe that a cougar must have been involved. For example, they only occur when the family isn’t present. “It knew, obviously, that there was a sheep there, so it must have been lying in wait,” she said. “Our theory is that it was just hanging around, unfortunately.” Northrup said that her family has decided against getting any more sheep until the suspected cougar is ei- ther caught or killed. They also have posted flyers at stores to warn others, as cougars have a 40-mile roaming radius. “It’s not too heavily populated out this way, but there are people with live- stock and kids,” Northrup said. “I would hate to have something happen and have it be preventable.” Goodwill Industries to close Cave Junction outlet $10,000 for return of our son Thatcher Missing three years this month email: thatcherskeys@aol.com write: Mahurin P.O. Box 3203 Ashland OR 97520 Reward sent where you wish after DNA identification Goodwill Industries Week was Sunday through Saturday, May 3 to 9, just in time for the an- nouncement that the Cave Junction Goodwill store will close Friday, May 15. During 2007, Good- will was a $3.16 billion nonprofit organization. After several years serv- ing Illinois Valley, Goodwill administrators decided that the Cave Junction store was not making enough money, and gave a two-week notice of closure. “Our stores serve the function of funding our pro- grams,” said Suzy Lewis, Director of Retail & Opera- tions from Goodwill Head- quarters in Medford, “but the Cave Junction branch was not a positive economic return.” able to drive into Grants Pass to shop. The thrift store still Clothing stores are few in Illinois Valley -- the Senior Center Thrift Shop, Brandy’s Boutique, Bear Images and Embroidered Adaptations, are among choices for those un- will accept clothing contribu- tions to continue the donation stream. Goodwill’s motto, “Let’s go to work,” has “worked to help people find good jobs and move up the career ladder so they can earn a living and support their families” since 1902, according to www.goodwill.org. Goodwill continues to offer employment and training services in Illi- nois Valley, said Bre- anna Fain, Josephine County area manager. Make Parenting a Pleasure parenting classes recently were sponsored by Southern Oregon Goodwill Indus- tries as part of its Fam- ily Strengthening pro- gram. CJ Goodwill clothing will be discounted 30 percent through May 15; then all mer- chandise will be shipped to the other Goodwill stores. ~Zina Booth
