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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2009)
Summer meals Free for kids Page 2 Budget crisis Mining office? Page 4 Historic work Parachute loft Page 11 Tree art ‘Jubilee’ Park Page 12 Car show Sat. Cave Junction Lions Club will present the 11th annual Antique & Classic Car Show in Jubilee Park in Cave Junc- tion on Saturday, June 27. There is an ad on page 12, and see Here, There & Every- where on page 3 for details. Huge expansion proposed at Caves Monument Federal legislation would prohibit grazing, ‘protect’ land, according to DeFazio, Wyden By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer Three pieces of federal legislation to protect wilder- ness areas throughout the state -- including a major ex- pansion of Oregon Caves National Monument property near Cave Junction -- were introduced by Rep. Peter De- Fazio (D-Ore.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Grazing would be pro- hibited under the plan. Josephine County Com- mission Chairman Dwight Ellis opposes the plan, citing it as a federal land grab. According to a Tuesday, June 16 press release from DeFazio’s office, the Oregon Caves bill would expand the monument by more than 4,000 acres -- a proposed increase of more than 900 percent in property. Additionally, the Na- tional Park Service (NPS) would take over some aspects now under the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The legislation is in- tended to “enhance the pro- tection of the natural re- sources associated with (the monument), increase public recreation opportunities, ex- pand local economic develop- ment opportunities, and pro- tect the drinking water source of (the monument) from pol- lution and contamination by adjusting the boundary of the Monument.” Such protections are nec- essary, the release states, be- cause grazing in the water- shed has caused water quality problems, including contami- nation of the monument’s drinking water supply. The monument, currently comprised of 480 acres, is managed by NPS. Surround- ing watersheds are managed by USFS, which would change under the new legisla- tion. That land would be transferred to NPS and desig- nated as a national preserve. According to the release, a second proposal, the Lower Rogue Wild & Scenic Bill, would designate 142.9 miles of 40 waterways as wild, sce- nic or recreational. Josephine County Com- mission Chairman Dwight Ellis said that he has concerns about some of that bill’s pro- visions. Ellis said that the river designation contains a half-mile buffer on each side of its tributaries. “That’s probably almost 30,000 acres that they’re tak- ing out of our county or other counties from here to Gold Beach,” Ellis stated. He said that it is too early to tell what restrictions will be placed on those designated areas in terms of public access, land use, and grazing. “My concern is, I don’t want to see them closing this for public use,” he said. “People who want to hunt, fish and recreate on these lands should be able to, rather than closing them altogether to public use.” Tax raise challenges planned I.V. reunion set for 4th Hundreds of alumni from Illinois Valley High School and the former Kerby Union High School (KUHS) will “come home” from Friday through Sunday, July 3 through 5, for Reunionmania 2009. The annual event will conclude at Jubilee Park on July 5 with a breakfast by Cave Junction Cares. The organization gives 10 percent of its gross to the scholarship fund of The Association of IVHS Alumni and Friends and KUHS Alumni Inc. And a silent auction will be held. The reunion weekend will mark the final meeting of the KUHS organization. The board has voted to dissolve as a corporation due to age and infirmities. Reunionmania will in- clude lunches, dinners and special events. It will involve the classes of 1944, ’49, ’54, ’59, ’64, ’74, ’79 and ’84. The annual dance will be held at the Junction Inn on July 4. Watch the Illinois Valley News issue on Wednesday, July 1 for more details. City of CJ will enforce curfew law Josephine County Sher- iff’s Office is warning teen- agers that Cave Junction’s curfew ordinance will be en- forced this summer. Section 9.28 of the city of Cave Junction Municipal Code will be enforced, said Deputy George Gasperson, city con- tract officer. It establishes a curfew of 10:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays for children 16 years and younger. Persons 16 to 18 years old will have a midnight curfew on those days, and a midnight curfew will apply to everyone younger than 18 on Fridays and Saturdays. The city officer said that warnings will be issued to parents and juvenile persons for the first curfew violation. The second violation can result in parents being cited for not controlling their children, Gasperson said. Parents also will be cited if they fail to pick up their chil- dren, in the event that their youngsters end up in police custody. The deputy said that the curfew enforcement stems from the need to stop vandal- ism, which “seems to be a problem every summer.” Because of those reasons, Ellis said that he is not in- clined to support such a plan. “It seems like Congress is just trying to grab more and more land,” Ellis said. “Any time there’s a land grab by the feds, I am against it. They keep taking more and more.” However, Ellis said that his opposition might not mean much in the larger scheme of things. “With the new admini- stration in Washington D.C., I imagine it’s already a done deal. It looks like they’re just going to go ahead and do it.” According to the release, the House Natural Resources Committee & Senate Energy Committee likely will hold hearings on the bills soon. A pack train demonstration, showing how materiel was moved in the old days, was given at Oregon Caves National Monument. There also was a re-enactment of the discovery of the caves by Elijah Davidson. For the story on both pres- entations, see page 5. (Photo by Linda Corey-Woodward, for Illinois Valley News ) Merchants hope for lucrative tourist season By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer A guest book lies on the front counter of Lue-van-o’s in Downtown Cave Junction, just as it has since the busi- ness opened in January. The difference is that the signatures of people from throughout the world have filled its pages during recent weeks. Owner Fred Luevano said that during the past month, his store has been visited by tourists from Ger- many, Australia, New York, Texas, South America, Can- ada, Alaska, Holland, and Washington D.C. Luevano said that, as far as he’s concerned, it’s tourist season in Cave Junction. “It’s already started,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of tourists come through. Some are looking; some are buying.” Bob Schumacher, execu- tive director of the Illinois Valley Community Develop- ment Organization, said that he has seen a similar pattern at the I.V. Visitor Center. “We’re seeing the num- bers starting to go up substan- tially,” Schumacher said. On the morning of Fri- day, June 12 a group of high school students from Gettys- burg, Penn., stopped at the Visitor Center on their way to Oregon Caves National Monument. This year marks the 100- year anniversary of the monument’s designation, as well as the 75th anniversary of the Chateau and Oregon’s sesquicentennial. As such, Schumacher and others are hoping that increased interest will draw more tourists to Illinois Valley. But that focus isn’t lim- ited to people from out-of- Numerous four-wheelers and recreational vehicles con- verged at Lone Mountain RV Resort in O’Brien for the annual McGrew Trail event during Father’s Day weekend. The influx state or country. Rather, Schumacher said, marketing efforts are under way to reach Rogue Valley and Northern California residents who have never visited the caves. That may prove a boon to local businesses, many of whom rely on a strong sum- mer season to carry them through the winter months when business seems to de- cline. Andrea Thomas, owner of Nacho Mamas Cantina & Restaurant in Cave Junction, said that she benefits from tourists being referred to her business by the area’s tree- house attractions. Thomas said that this year has been “inconsistent,” and that it’s too early to tell if summer will see strong sales. “I’m not sure about this year yet,” she said, adding that she remains optimistic. Cautious optimism also was expressed by Brandy Dussault, owner of Brandy’s Boutique in Cave Junction. Brandy’s Boutique opened in late February, so the business has yet to experi- ence a summer tourist season. Things have been slow so far, Dussault said, but business has picked up since winter. “You just take what you can get from people and hope they support you,” she said. Last year’s summer tour- ist season was dampened by record-high gasoline prices, but pressing concerns about the economy may affect whether many Americans decide to hit the road. Dussault said that she’s starting to see more RVs driv- ing through Cave Junction, which could be a good sign for area merchants. “Hopefully, it will pick up,” Dussault said. of summer visitors is important to many Illinois Valley busi- nesses, which rely on revenue from that time to carry them through the slower months. (Photo by Illinois Valley News ) Advertise in the Illinois Valley News -- the only community newspaper in the valley. Phone 592-2541. By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer Oregon legislators ap- proved a series of tax in- creases earlier this month, but plans are already being made by others to put them up for a public vote. Jeff Kropf, Oregon state director for the national grass- roots organization Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and a former legislator, said that his is one of many groups intend- ing to challenge the tax hikes. “We are getting organ- ized along with a lot of great freedom-loving groups to be ready to go and gather signa- tures all over the state to re- peal these job-killing tax in- creases,” Kropf said. In order to refer the tax increases to voters, opponents would need to gather approxi- mately 75,000 signatures. Jack Swift, coordinator of AFP’s Josephine County Chapter, said that groups like FreedomWorks likely will take the lead in those efforts. Swift added that AFP will be able to assist because it has grown this year follow- ing the April 15 Tax Day protests that occurred throughout Oregon and many other states. “AFP has a grass-roots organization as a carry-over from the tea parties,” he said. “We’ve got the structure and organization to make this happen.” Kropf said that among all the tax measures, his top pri- ority is challenging House Bill 2649, which raises the personal income tax on indi- viduals earning more than $125,000 per year. That bill will “hit small businesses especially hard,” he said. Swift described HB 2649 as “terrible” legislation. “It sounds great to say they are only going to tax a person who makes more than $125,000 per year,” he said. “That guy is, in all likelihood, a small business operator. That would go to all kinds of people that we really don’t want to be hammering in this economy.” Kropf said that AFP also plans to gather signatures to overturn HB 2116, a 1 per- cent premium that will be assessed to health-care pro- viders, including hospitals and insurance companies. “The tax on health insur- ance premiums will cause a lot of small businesses to drop health insurance and pay (Continued on page 3)
