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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 2010)
Oregon revenue plummets Inside: Bagging bucks Scholarship awards listed Page 3 By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer A revenue forecast given Tuesday, May 25 shows that the State of Oregon is $577.1 million short of meeting its financial obligations from now through June 30, 2011. The forecast originally showed the state facing a $562 million shortfall. But that figure was adjusted Thursday, May 27, when officials realized that they overstated cigarette tax reve- nues by $14.5 million. During a May 25 press conference, Gov. Kulongoski described the decline as “significant.” “On one hand, it is sur- prising, while on the other hand, I have consistently cau- tioned that we could see con- tinuing declines in state reve- nues even as the economy begins to recover — and that we should be better prepared to deal with such declines,” Kulongoski said. The governor said that he is reluctant to call the Legisla- (Continued on page 2) Standing ready New cab service begins in I.V. Page 7 ‘Git ‘er Done!’ ‘Cable Guy’ visits Rough & Ready Page 9 Showing support Community assists Bill Coultas’ garden plan Page 10 On track Johnson takes 3rd at state meet Page 18 Huffman makes bid for Senate By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim Huffman made his pitch to Josephine County voters during the Wednesday, May 26 KAJO Radio talk show based in Grants Pass. Huffman, who won his party’s nomination in the May 18 primary election, will face incumbent U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in the Nov. 2 general election. After growing up in Bozeman, Mont., Huffman attended Montana State Uni- versity, then attended gradu- ate school in Boston, Mass., where he earned a master’s degree in international affairs. He attended law school in Chicago before moving to Portland in 1973 and working as a professor at Lewis & Clark College. During the past few dec- ades, Huffman has taught classes on subjects including constitutional law, personal injury law and natural re- source issues. “I’ve spent a lot time thinking about the kinds of public land and resource is- sues that affect the rural parts of Oregon,” Huffman said. He observed that current policies regarding the man- agement of federal lands are “ineffective” and “detrimental” to rural areas. He said that the fundamental laws under which the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management operate need to be reformed. Although he said he would like to see a reduction in federal ownership of land, Huffman said that specific, unique areas like Crater Lake should be protected. “Taking a lot of timber land and turning it into a monument or a national park, to me, just doesn’t make any sense. It further ties up these resources and makes them unavailable for economic use,” Huffman said. “I’m generally a believer that we should defer to state and local governments where we can and not have these things managed from Washington D.C., in particular when (Continued on page 7) Celebrations in observance of Memorial Day took many forms during the final week of May. (Above) An Oregon Army National Guardsman waves during the annual Boat- nik Parade in Grants Pass on Saturday, May 29. (Photo by Ali Madjdi) In Downtown Cave Junction (photo right), Gene Prockl took part in a tribute to fallen and departed soldiers was held on Monday morning, May 31. (Photo by Michelle Binker, Illinois Valley News ) Illinois Valley High School’s students honored veterans with a musical salute on Wednesday, May 26. (Photo provided) Mining law history discussed Future bright for top IVHS 2010 grads By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer The 2010 commencement ceremony at Illinois Valley High School has come and gone, but the future remains wide open for valedictorian Eddie Goynes, sa- lutatorian Heidi Unger, and their fellow graduates. The ceremony was held on Tuesday, June 1. Goynes earned a grade-point aver- age of 4.0; Unger achieved 3.96. Goynes has lived in Illinois Valley his entire life. He began his education in pre- school and kindergarten at Takilma Dome School, and said that experience has proven valuable. “I think it helps a lot to be studying that early,” Goynes said. “The earlier you are, the easier it is to learn stuff.” He attended Evergreen Elementary School and Lorna Byrne Middle School before arriving at IVHS. Although it was- n’t initially his goal to be valedictorian, Goynes tried to excel in all his classes. But during his junior year, he noticed that he was high in his class standings. At that point, Goynes began taking Advanced Placement (AP) classes and decided to pursue the valedictorian posi- tion. “Those AP classes were easier than I thought they would be,” he said. Goynes said that his favorite classes were calculus and physics. His extracur- ricular activities included involvement in Cougar Pals, Mathletes and the Math and Integrated Learning Experience (SMILES) programs. That involvement already has started to pay off for Goynes, as the SMILES program has given him a scholarship to attend summer school at Oregon State University (OSU) in Corvallis. Goynes is set to start that on June 20. The summer program will familiarize him with the OSU campus, which will come in handy when he begins attending there this fall. Goynes said he plans to study electrical engineering, and added that he may even pursue a masters degree. Unger took a much different path to the head of the 2010 graduating class. Illinois Valley High School’s 2010 Valedictorian Eddie Goynes (left) and Salutatorian Heidi Unger. (Photo by Scott Jorgensen, Illinois Valley News ) She grew up in a U.S. Navy family, and lived in Texas, California and Wash- ington state before her father retired from the service and brought her to Illinois Val- ley in the sixth grade. Describing herself as a former “trouble child,” Unger said that faith in Jesus Christ helped turn around her life. She began applying Christian principles to her life, and became more involved in extracurricular activities. She spent three years as a member of a church worship team, has taught a Bible club, was a business manager for the As- sociated Student Body, president of the Interact Club, served as a class officer, and participated in the volleyball, track and cross-country teams. While at IVHS, Unger said that her favorite class was psychology. Her imme- diate plans are to attend Portland Bible College. The salutatorian said she would someday like to be a missionary to India. But her long-term goal, she noted, is “pure happiness.” Proposed reforms to long -standing mining laws were the main topic during a Tues- day, May 25 town hall meet- ing at Anne G. Basker Audi- torium in Grants Pass. More than 50 people attended the forum. It fea- tured panelists Ron Gibson and Hal Anthony from the Southwest Oregon Mining Association, Jack Swift from the Southern Oregon Re- source Alliance, and Joel King, recently retired from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) as head ranger for the Wild Rivers District. Gibson, who said that he has studied mining and con- stitutional law for around 43 years, gave a history of how such laws have evolved in the United States. The California gold rush of 1849 prompted a “nationwide migration” of people heading west in search of opportunity, Gibson said. “There was a whole lot of chaos that went on,” he said, adding that many acts of violence resulted, including shootings and stabbings. Part of the problem, Gib- son said, was the lack of any clear records of mining claim ownership. In response, peo- ple began forming mining districts, Gibson said. Some, like the Waldo Mining Dis- trict based in Illinois Valley, still exist. Gibson said that such districts were formed to pre- vent “unlawful infringement,” and had their own judges, courts and law enforcement. “They were actually gov- ernments,” Gibson said. In 1866, he noted, the federal government first be- came involved in trying to regulate mining activity. “They had no idea what to do and had no idea how to do it,” he said. Congress made a grant in 1866, which gave citizens the right to stake a claim on pub- lic land and get a patent, Gib- son said. That provided a “tremendous incentive” for (Continued on page 7 )
