Arraignment set in
embezzlement case
Inside:
On the fence
Airport meeting
covers issues
Page 3
‘Fair’ to sunny
Solar project eyed
for fairgrounds
Page 4
Shooting justified
DA backs deputies
in fatal incident
Page 6
Day in court
CJ man pleads
guilty to five sex
abuse charges
Page 6
The seventh-annual Illinois Val-
ley Chamber of Commerce-
sponsored Siskiyou Bluegrass
Festival was held on Saturday,
July 17 at Lake Selmac. Fea-
tured were performances by
(From top) Laurie Lewis & Tom
Rozum, Eight Dollar Mountain,
Jefferson, The Goldman Family
and Eastfork. An ad hoc band
(bottom left) prepares to per-
form in the Band Scramble, a
popular event that invites par-
ticipation from audience mem-
Investment ‘FAIL’
State to sue firms
for PERS losses
Page 8
County to
reduce Old
Stage speed
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Throughout the years,
Dave Toler, a Josephine
County commissioner and
Illinois Valley resident, has
heard countless complaints
regarding speeding motorists
on Old Stage Road in the city
of Cave Junction.
But the most immediate
obstacle to changing that was
the fact that the stretch of
roadway always has been
under the jurisdiction of the
state of Oregon.
But on Wednesday, July
21, Toler and his fellow com-
missioners were set to finally
fix the issue with an official
order.
Last summer, there were
a few instances of bicycle vs.
vehicle collisions near Old
Stage and River Street. That
prompted some citizens to
request that the board of com-
missioners intervene.
“Having been out there
for 21 years myself, I know
that Old Stage has been a
problem for a long time,”
Toler said. “I certainly am
aware that there is a problem.
I know it’s been complained
about for years.”
Newer housing develop-
ments and the increased ur-
banization of the area have
further exacerbated the issue,
Toler said. However, the
commissioners had the ability
to begin the process of peti-
tioning the state to lower the
speed limit, which previously
was unsigned.
“We do have the ability
to petition for it, and that’s
what we did,” he said.
The county public works
department conducted a traf-
fic count, which was submit-
ted to Oregon Dept. of Trans-
portation (ODOT).
“We have to be able to
show the state that there’s a
certain amount of traffic and
speed out there,” Toler said.
ODOT gave the green
light, so to speak, for the limit
along the section of Old Stage
from Laurel Road to E. River
Street to be lowered to 35
mph. Toler said that signs
posting the limit soon will be
purchased by the county.
“This is one of the great
examples of people having
concerns that they take to
their local government,” he
said. “It will make for a safer
community out there.”
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
On June 30, in connec-
tion with the loss of some
$56,000 from an Illinois Val-
ley nonprofit organization,
Robin Wilson was booked on
charges of identity theft, ag-
gravated identity theft, first-
degree forgery and two
counts each of first-degree
theft and aggravated first-
degree theft.
Booked into Josephine
County Jail in Grants Pass,
Wilson, 50, a former Cave
Junction resident, was being
held on $52,500 bail.
The criminal charges
against her are based on alle-
gations that she stole more
than $80,000 from the Illinois
Valley-based Forestry Action
Committee (FAC), a non-
profit organization where she
worked for eight years.
According to a Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office
(JCSO) incident report narra-
tive, Wilson is accused of
forging the signatures of two
members of the FAC Board
of Directors, and altering 36
checks from the organization
between January 2006 and
October 2008.
Court documents state:
“Numerous irregularities
were located in the Forestry
Action Committee’s bank
Robin Wilson (JCSO photo)
records. A total of 36 checks
were identified as suspicious.
The 36 suspicious or forged
checks resulted in a loss to
Forestry Action Committee
of $59,026.58.”
Wilson also is alleged to
have used a debit card issued
to FAC and Susan Chapp, its
executive director, on 108
occasions between July 2007
and November 2008. Docu-
ments state that although Wil-
son was not authorized to use
the card, it was used in trans-
actions at several places, in-
cluding JD’s Sports Pub in
Grants Pass and the online
gaming site, BigFishGames.
Those debit card transac-
tions totaled $24,455.74,
court documents state, adding
that numerous cash with-
drawals by Wilson are al-
leged to have occurred, with
(Continued on page 6)
Protectionist policies
promoted by author
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
The downside of U.S.
free trade policy was dis-
cussed by author Ian Fletcher
on the Wednesday, June 30
KAJO Radio talk show,
based in Grants Pass.
Fletcher is an adjunct
fellow at the San Francisco
office of the U.S. Business &
Industry Council, a think tank
founded in 1933. He has writ-
ten the book, Free Trade
Doesn’t Work—What Should
Replace it and Why.
Politicians still are reluc-
tant to admit that free trade
has become a problem,
Fletcher said. He noted that
the Obama administration
currently is pursuing such an
agreement with South Korea.
“The basic reality is that
in the last 10, 15 years, the
U.S. economy has lost the
ability to generate any new
jobs,” Fletcher said.
Despite its rapid eco-
nomic growth, U.S. trade
partner China still is a very
poor country, he said. Even
relatively affluent areas
abroad cannot afford to buy
bers. Fair weather contributed to the
overall success of the well-attended
event. More photos on page 14. (Photos
by Michelle Binker, Illinois Valley News )
American goods, he said, and
tend to have export barriers.
Fletcher stated that from
the time of independence to
the end of World War II, the
United States of America was
a protectionist nation, which
helped make the country an
economic powerhouse.
Practicing free trade with
poor, low-wage countries like
China and India threatens the
wages of working Americans,
he said, as there are millions
of people there willing to
work for “absolute peanuts.”
For the past 100 years,
he continued, U.S. policies
that have struck a balance
between having free markets
and reasonable restrains have
worked well. As a result, the
USA has environmental and
labor laws and institutions
such as the Securities & Ex-
change Commission to help
regulate commerce, he said.
One common myth about
free trade is that large compa-
nies have no allegiance to any
particular country, Fletcher
said, and that national
boundaries are rapidly disap-
(Continued on page 6)
Volunteers keep Illinois Valley Golf Course in full swing
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
Most days, Suzie Ken-
nedy can be found behind the
front counter to greet visitors
at the Illinois Valley Golf
Course in Cave Junction.
It’s nothing new for Ken-
nedy, as she’s been doing it
for around four years.
But in November 2008,
Kennedy was laid off, having
become a casualty of the
course’s deteriorating fi-
nances. The course was
closed to the public until
March 2009, and then resur-
rected by a volunteer board of
directors, which decided to
handle much of the mainte-
nance and operations.
Kennedy, meanwhile,
grew restless after months of
drawing unemployment. She
agreed to start volunteering at
the course and did so for
about a year and a half.
Those efforts have paid
off for the board, Kennedy
and the course. In fact, opera-
tions are going so well that
Kennedy was rehired for her
previous job approximately a
month ago.
The past few years have
been somewhat tumultuous
for the course, and its for-
tunes have risen and fallen
with those of the town and
the overall economy.
It wasn’t too long ago
that plans were made to begin
expanding the course to 18
holes, with three separate
subdivisions set to wrap
around it. The course even
spent nearly one year in es-
crow as the housing market
soared nationally and devel-
opment in Cave Junction
grew at levels never before
seen.
That bubble eventually
burst, and the grandiose vi-
sions for the golf course fal-
tered accordingly.
Now, the course is open
from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven
days a week. Kennedy said
that the board of directors
was concerned about the pos-
sibility of burning out its vol-
unteers.
“They know it wasn’t
going to last forever,” Ken-
nedy said. “It’s been a job
keeping enough volunteers to
keep it open that much.”
Volunteers still do much
of the maintenance, but some-
one has been hired to water
the course at night for the
scorching summer months.
“The course has never,
ever looked so pretty or so
nice. It’s in great shape,”
Kennedy said. “It looks really
nice out there. It’s really
pretty.”
She said that golfers often
are waiting at the course when
it opens in the morning. On a
good day, she said, approxi-
mately 40 people play at the
course. In recent weeks, peo-
ple from as far away as Scot-
land and Germany have come
to hit the links, Kennedy said.
Tournaments recently
held at the course have been
very successful, she said;
weekends tend to be busy,
and the financial bottom line
is “much better.”
The annual youth pro-
gram ended Thursday, July
15, but twilight golf leagues
have been in full swing on
Monday and Wednesday
nights. And although overall
membership is down, Ken-
nedy said, many former
members still use the facility.
Summer rates are $12 for
nine holes; $18 for 18 holes.
Carts can be rented for $8 for
nine holes and $11 for 18.
The biggest concern right
now, she said, is making
enough money to maintain
the course during the winter.
At this point, it’s difficult
to determine what the future
may hold for I.V. Golf
Course, as it still is listed for
sale. But that’s fine with Ken-
nedy, because like many
Americans right now, she’s
just happy to have a job —
especially one that she loves.