BCC grant paves way for $3.2 million allocation
Inside:
Letters, To & From
Your free-wheeling
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Page 2
Energy investment
I.V. schools gain
ARRA funding
Page 3
Hey, fun-lovers
Don’t forget the
Sno-park permit
Page 5
Law challenged
Suit contends
employers’ rights
violated
Page 8
CJ mayor
proud of
first year
successes
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Cave Junction Mayor
Don Moore said that he’s
proud of what the city accom-
plished during 2009, and that
he looks forward to his sec-
ond year in office.
When Moore took office
in January, he set out to pass
an ordinance banning public
alcohol consumption within
city limits. It wasn’t easy, as
the city had received multiple
legal opinions questioning its
ability to do so.
But despite the seeming
setbacks, Moore and the city
council persisted and passed
the ordinance.
“We didn’t take ‘No’ for
an answer,” he said. “We
moved on to the state, got a
state hearing on it and came
out the victors on that. It has
made a difference in the city.”
Other accomplishments
for the city during 2009 in-
cluded repairing the tennis
courts, walkways and skate-
board ramps at Jubilee Park;
and purchasing a piece of
property to better control dis-
charge from its sewer and
water plants, Moore said.
Also passed by the coun-
cil was an Advance Financing
District (AFD) for improve-
(Continued on page 4)
Merlin-based Recoil Suppression Systems lands helicopter tank Dept. of Defense contract
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
What began as a $25,000
economic development grant
approval from the Josephine
County Board of Commis-
sioners has turned into a $3.2
million appropriation from
the federal government.
Commissioner Dave
Toler, an Illinois Valley resi-
dent, announced that Recoil
Suppression Systems LLC,
based in Josephine County,
received the allocation re-
cently signed into law by
President Obama.
Recoil is an aircraft parts
and auxiliary equipment
manufacturer in Merlin. The
funds will be used to provide
a wildland fire suppression
fixed-belly tank system for
the U.S. Army National
Guard’s UH-60A, L&M
Blackhawk helicopter.
County commissioners
voted last February to ap-
prove the company’s grant
request under the name
“Project Carriage.” Toler
heralded the county’s deci-
sion to leverage economic
development dollars to draw
$100,000 in additional public
investment for the company.
Economic development
funds are allocated by the
state government, and origi-
nate from proceeds generated
through the Oregon Lottery.
Before Toler took office
in 2007, he said, the county
tended to spend some of those
dollars on its own programs
and save the rest. But he be-
gan to push for a change in
policy, and said that 2009 was
a “promising year” for eco-
nomic development projects
in the county, despite the
grim national job picture.
Another success story
cited by Toler is the use of
$20,000 in county economic
development funds to lever-
age dollars from Southern
Oregon Regional Economic
Development Inc. (SOREDI)
and the city of Grants Pass to
lure a call center to the area.
That call center has em-
ployed 70 people, offers
health benefits and it’s antici-
pated to double to 150 jobs by
the end of 2010, Toler said. It
also has reduced blight, as the
company is headquartered in
Downtown Grants Pass at the
former location of Ken Rob-
erts Co. The building had
been unoccupied for the past
few years.
Earlier this month, the
commissioners voted 2-1 to
approve a $20,000 grant for
Grants Pass firm, Encore Ce-
ramics. Toler said that grant
will be used to leverage be-
tween $150,000 to $200,000
from SOREDI and the state
government to encourage the
company to create a new
product made of 90 percent
recycled material.
(Continued on page 4)
Mining association submits
coordination plan to county
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
A plan for federal and
state government agencies to
coordinate with Josephine
County has been formulated
by members of the Southwest
Oregon Mining Association
(SOMA).
The Josephine County
Board of Commissioners
voted 3-0 on Nov. 24 to pass
a resolution calling for a coor-
dination plan.
That came after Gov.
Kulongoski, U.S. Sen. Jeff
Merkley (D-Ore.), U.S. Sen.
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-
Springfield) sent letters to
U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Ken Salazar and U.S. Secre-
tary of Agriculture Tom Vil-
sack in support of a proposed
mining withdrawal for the
Siskiyou Wild Rivers area.
President Clinton pro-
posed the withdrawal in the
waning days of his admini-
stration, but President Bush
never acted on it. However, a
series of high-profile disputes
involving mining claims in
Illinois Valley has prompted
questions regarding the juris-
dictions of agencies to regu-
late those activities.
The coordination pro-
posal states that “mining is
one of the historical uses of
public land and agency man-
agement of such use is statu-
torily compatible within the
(Continued on page 4)
Cougars girls hoopsters
drop ball to Rogue River
Santa and a gaggle of merry helpers with Cave Junction Cares dished up breakfast for 400
people and toys for some 375 children on Christmas morning, Friday, Dec. 25 at Jubilee
Park in CJ, said Fred Ball, a friend of Santa. Another 150 people received meals delivered
to their homes. The annual event is made possible through the efforts of volunteers and
community donations. (Photo by Michelle Binker, Illinois Valley News )
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Despite a series of losses,
the Illinois Valley High
School girls varsity basketball
team continues to press on.
IVHS hosted Rogue
River High School in Ken
Mann Memorial Gym on
Tuesday, Dec. 15, a game
that resulted in a 73-31 loss.
“The Rogue River game
was rough for us,” said coach
Steve Marsden. “They
pressed us, and we have a
hard time with the press.
They ran out a pretty big
score at the start of the
game.”
Cougar junior Kayla
Johnson led her squad with
15 points, a season high.
But even Johnson’s ef-
forts were not enough to stop
the onslaught from the Chief-
tains squad, which includes
RR sophomore Allison
Ehrhardt, daughter of coach
Dave Ehrhardt.
“She really knows the
game and how to play,”
Marsden said.
The Cougars then headed
to a tournament in Bandon on
Thursday, Dec. 17. Their first
game there pitted IVHS
against Sheridan, and resulted
in a loss of 47-26.
Junior Laurissa Tausaga
was the leading Cougar
scorer in that contest, putting
up 10 points.
In a second game IVHS
fell to Glide 50-38. Tausaga
scored 4 points in that match,
as did sophomore Megan
Householder.
Marsden said that the
third game, against Oakridge,
was the squad’s best of the
tournament. It still led to a
43-22 loss, but featured
strong performances by John-
son, with 12 points, and Tau-
saga with 6.
Tausaga is a “very good
shooter,” Marsden said. He
also praised her ball-handling
and defensive abilities.
On Tuesday, Dec. 29, the
IVHS squad traveled to Glen-
dale for a four-team tourna-
ment. Its first game will be
against Powers.
So long, 2009: A year-end review from the I.V. News archives
January
*The U.S. Bureau of
Land Management opted to
reject major environmental
protests against the proposed
Western Oregon Plan Revi-
sion (WOPR).
WOPR was the result of
a 2003 settlement of a lawsuit
filed by American Forest Re-
source Council and other
groups after the passage of
the 1994 Northwest Forest
Management Plan, which
reduced logging throughout
the region.
The announcement was
welcomed by Steve Swanson,
president of the Swanson
Group lumber company, but
decried by Gov. Kulongoski
and Leslie Adams, Rogue
River keeper for the Ashland-
based Klamath Siskiyou
Wildlands Center.
*Grants Pass resident
Dale Matthews continued his
quest to be recognized as a
member of the news media
by the Josephine County
Board of Commissioners.
Matthews, publisher of the
semi-annual First Friday
newsletter, sought permission
to be allowed into executive
sessions with other creden-
tialed members of the press.
His requests were denied.
*Josephine County Com-
missioner Sandi Cassanelli
was sworn in to Position 2 on
the board Monday, Jan. 5.
She said that she planned to
fulfill her campaign promise
of “transparent and account-
able government.”
*On Friday, Jan. 9, the
Josephine County Board of
Commissioners voted 2-1 to
approve a plan to increase
staffing levels at the sheriff’s
office, with Cassanelli dis-
senting.
The plan added 16 full-
time deputy positions to boost
patrol shifts from 12 to 20
hours per day and raise the
jail capacity from 100 to 140.
*During its Jan. 12 meet-
ing, the Cave Junction City
Council unanimously rejected
a plea from Merlin resident
and land-use activist Holger
Sommer to dismiss an order
by the state Land Use Board
of Appeals (LUBA) to pay
the city $7,500 in legal fees.
*Gunshots were fired
during a Jan. 16 standoff be-
tween O’Brien resident Ge-
rald Batty and an Oregon
State Police SWAT team on
Lone Mountain Road.
Chemical munitions and
a taser ultimately were used
to bring Batty into custody.
Officers found a large amount
of cash, drugs and firearms in
Batty’s residence after the
standoff was resolved.
February
*Josephine County Sher-
iff’s Office (JCSO) Deputy
Jim Geiger and his K-9 part-
ner, Basco, escaped serious
injury Feb. 1 after Geiger
crashed his patrol car near
milepost 39 of Hwy. 199,
south of O’Brien.
Geiger had also crashed a
patrol car on Nov. 7, 2007.
Basco also was with him dur-
ing that incident.
*Sommer paid the attor-
ney fees that LUBA deter-
mined he owed the city of
Cave Junction on Feb. 27. He
delivered a cashier’s check to
the Grants Pass office of City
Attorney Pat Kelly, who al-
ready had garnished more
than $2,000 from Sommer’s
checking account.
*On Feb. 28, Illinois
Valley Fire District held its
annual awards banquet. Lt.
Kathy Koontz was named
Firefighter of the Year. James
Eddy earned Rookie of the
Year honors, and the nod for
Support Member of the Year
went to Jeannie Sherman.
Lt. Millie Stepp received
special recognition for 22
years of service to the district,
and Capt. Kameron Ismaili
was named Officer of the
Year.
March
*Approximately 80 per-
sons attended the Illinois Val-
ley Chamber of Commerce
annual awards dinner March
14 in the Junction Inn.
Taylor’s Country Store
and Oregon Caves Chevron
tied for business of the year
honors. Illinois Valley News
Publisher Bob Rodriguez was
named top citizen of 2008.
*Rough & Ready Lum-
ber Co. filed a $515,000 law-
suit against PacifiCorp re-
garding cost overruns associ-
ated with the Illinois Valley-
based company’s co-
generation plant, which
opened in November 2007.
The mill was unable to
hook into PacifiCorp’s sys-
tem until February 2008,
prompting the loss of some
Business Energy Tax Credits
and other revenue sources.
*JCSO submitted a for-
mal request March 3 to the
federal Drug Enforcement
Agency for more than
$62,000 seized during Batty’s
arrest.
*Bridgeview Vineyards
Winery co-owner Lelo
Kerivan was named commu-
nity Volunteer of the Year at
the Illinois Valley Commu-
nity Development Organiza-
tion annual membership
meeting March 19.
April
*A $1.4 million steward-
ship contract was announced
by U.S. Forest Service
(USFS) for the Hope Moun-
tain area. The contract was
funded through the federal
American Recovery & Resto-
ration Act.
*Subcontractors for
Charter Communications
began removing that com-
pany’s equipment from utility
poles in Cave Junction. All
cable service throughout the
city was immediately discon-
tinued as a result.
A series of ownership
changes and bankruptcies
complicated the city’s efforts
to collect cable franchise fees
that were long overdue.
*Gold Hill resident
Gregory Glenn Graybill, 53,
was seriously injured by a
blast from a 12-gauge shot-
gun April 5 in the Tennessee
Mountain drainage area west
of Kerby.
Graybill was among a
group of 4x4 enthusiasts util-
izing trails on USFS land
when he got into a confronta-
(Continued on page 10)