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This edition is in memory of Aaron Clouser
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illinois-valley-news.com
Wednesday, November 13,2013, 1 Section, 14 Pages, Volume 76 No. 36 Published Weekly Cave Junction, Oregon 97523
CJ murder
investigation
nabs man
wanted on
warrant
Honoring our veterans
(Photo by Dale Sandberg, IVFD Media Dept)
Auston Sitton places a flag in honor of Veterans Day on Charles Bernard Brady’s grave site at
Laural Cemetery in Cave Junction Friday, November 8.
Oregon State Police (OSP) Criminal Investigations Divi-
sion (CID) detectives with the assistance of the Josephine Coun-
ty District Attorney’s Office, Grants Pass Department of Public
Safety, and Josephine County Parole and Probation, are continu-
ing to investige the Nov. 5 homicide of 39-year old Cave Junc-
tion resident Aaron Lee Clouser.
According to Sergeant Jeff Fitzgerald, a report was received
at about 10:30 p.m. Nov. 5. that a man was lying in the road in
the 200 block of W. Millie Street in Cave Junction. Illinois Val-
ley Fire District personnel responded and confirmed that there
was a deceased adult male at the location who was later identi-
fied as Clouser.
OSP troopers and detectives from OSP and Grants Pass De-
partment of Public Safety responded to the scene to investigate.
During the course of the first day’s investigation, a person of
interest identified as Cave Junction resident Michael Clyde Mc-
Donald, 60, was taken into custody on two felony warrants for a
probation violation and dangerous drugs. McDonald was booked
in the Josephine County Jail on the arrest warrant charges.
During the afternoon, investigators obtained a search war-
rant and executed it at 223 W. Millie Street. Per the Josephine
County District Attorney’s Office, the cause of death has been
released.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is
asked to call OSP Southern Command Center dispatch at 800-
442-2068. Tips can also be sent via email to crimetips2OSP@
state.or.us.
Email tips will be monitored by the Criminal Investigations
Division, reviewed and then forwarded to the lead investigators
for follow-up. Emails should include specific details including
the type of case and tip information. Even though tips may be
received anonymously, the person providing a tip is encouraged
to include contact information for follow up by the investigators
if needed.
False rumors of school lockdowns spurred by social media
By
Annette McGee Rasch
IVN Contributing Writer
False rumors on social media
about “school lock-downs” flew like
wildfire around the Valley last week
in response to a threat of violence tar-
geting the Illinois Valley High School
made months ago. However the high
school remained open, there was no
actual incident, and the other schools
were unaffected.
Some parents opted to keep
their kids home from school on No-
vember 5, the date mentioned in the
threat made last August. Both school
authorities and the Josephine County
Sheriff’s Office are continuing to in-
vestigate that threat.
“We did receive a lot of phone
calls from concerned parents and
there was an increase in absences, but
we operated as normal,” said Illinois
Valley High School Principal Casey
Alderson.
“It’s a tough position for par-
ents to be in,” Alderson said. “These
are their kids. So, rightfully, it’s their
choice whether to keep their kids
home or send them to school in a situ-
ation like this. Though we reinforce
to parents that their children will be
safe and that we take all precautions
to ensure that we’re providing a safe
learning environment.”
Drills for emergency response
protocols happen monthly at the high
school and safety preparations are
ongoing and updated as needed. Stu-
dents, teachers and school staff all re-
ceive training and rehearse responses
to all manner of potential emergen-
cies at the school.
“We have a zero-percent record
for that sort of violence and we plan
to keep it that way,” Alderson added.
“We take any threat about school-
wide violence very seriously. We will
continue to investigate to get to the
source of this incident.”
Oregon State Police and the
Josephine County Sheriff’s Office
did investigate the initial threat but
didn’t find any cause to warrant clos-
ing the school, according to Alder-
son. However, security was boosted
at the school for the day, including an
increased police presence.
“We push as many resources out
to the Illinois Valley as much as pos-
sible,” said Josephine County Sheriff
Gil Gilbertson. “The kids’ safety is
primary to us.”
Gilbertson also wanted Valley
residents to know that his office is
following up with an in-depth inves-
tigation to root out the source of the
threat and that this sort of behavior
will be dealt with seriously.
“If anyone has any leads or solid
information that can help us get to the
bottom of this sooner, they can call
me and remain anonymous,” he said.
Apparently the rumor of school
lockdowns or closures started on
Facebook and Twitter, according to
Gilbertson. With the aid of social
media, numerous people helped blow
the incident out of proportion.
“There’s no controlling what
people are writing on social media,
but we’d hope that people would ex-
ercise some common sense and care,
especially where children and schools
are involved,” Gilbertson said.
People can pass along infor-
mation concerning this incident in
confidence to Principal Alderson at
541-592-2116 or Sheriff Gilbertson
at 541-474-5117.
Learn Biochar techniques Solid waste problem still here
By
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
A free hands-on opportu-
nity to learn biochar techniques
from an expert will take place
November 15–17 in Josephine
County.
Peter Hirst is a princi-
pal at New England Biochar
(NEB), best known for its de-
velopment of the Adam Retort
biochar kiln. NEB has devel-
oped masonry units and mo-
bile, stationary and multiple
stationary versions of the orig-
inal, award-winning design by
Chris Adam.
Hirst has worked inten-
sively with land managers to
develop the open conserva-
tion burn as a transitional tool
for biochar projects and as
the best conservation alterna-
tive for projects where large
amounts of woody biomass
must be reduced and no other
alternative is practically avail-
able to the open burn. He in-
troduced the method this year
in Sonoma County, where it
is rapidly gaining recognition
and adoption and approval
among fire officials, foresters,
vineyard managers and inno-
vative farmers and ranchers.
Biochar is a form of
charcoal produced from super-
heating biomass. It’s found
naturally in soils around the
world as a result of vegetation
fires. Biochar has also been
created and used by humans
in traditional agricultural prac-
tices in the Amazon Basin of
South America for over 2,500
years.
Dark, charcoal-rich soil,
known as “terra preta” or black
earth, supported productive
farms in areas that previously
had poor, and in some places,
toxic soils. Terra preta was dis-
covered in the 1950’s by Dutch
soil scientist Wim Sombroek
in the Amazon rainforest. Ter-
ra preta still covers 10 percent
of the Amazon Basin.
Similar sites have been
found in Ecuador, Peru Benin
and Liberia in West Africa.
Typically, jungle soils are
very unproductive. After mix-
ing biochar into the topsoil,
the soil is better able to retain
vital organic matter, plant nu-
trients and moisture essential
for plant growth. The prac-
tice allows annual cultivation
of the same fields, rather than
slash-and-burn practices nec-
essary to eke out crops on new
land every few years. Given
a stable location for agricul-
ture and soils made fertile by
char, a steady food supply was
made possible, which allowed
for the establishment of large
communities.
An oak savannah restora-
tion project at the Enchanted
Forest near Grants Pass, has
generated a number of woody
debris burn piles.
See Biochar on A-11
By
Annette McGee Rasch
IVN Contributing Writer
The package of four solid waste ordi-
nances adopted by the county board last May
went before Josephine County voters in a ref-
erendum election on November 5 and were re-
jected by an average of 78 percent.
The ordinances were designed to enable
the county to deal with serious solid waste
violations in months, instead of years. Another
key objective was to hold violators, not tax-
payers, responsible for cleanup costs.
The locally controversial ordinances mir-
ror laws utilized by most jurisdictions across
the nation, including the state and the City of
Grants Pass. Cave Junction’s solid waste or-
dinance also has more teeth and is better en-
forced than the county’s current ordinance.
“Our city is proactive about these situa-
tions and we’re always prepared to take appro-
priate steps to resolve these problems,” said
Waste Water treatment plant supervisor Mike
Bollweg. “We have rules in place and they’re
enforced. It’s about taking pride in where you
live.”
“It’s just not fair when folks keep a nice
yard and maintain their properties but have a
neighbor with a big mess,” said Cave Junction
Mayor Carl Jacobson. “With our city ordi-
nance, if a situation gets to a certain point, we
declare it a nuisance, turn it over to a lawyer,
and people get 30 days to clean it up or go to
court. When they realize it’s going to hit them
in the pocketbook, then they clean it up.”
While the city does not allow disabled
vehicles and trash to pile up, once a person
gets beyond city limits it’s another story.
“We really see the difference between
the city and the county,” said Annita LaGaux,
a broker at Junction Realty. “There’s a lot of
properties through-out the county with exces-
sive waste out in the open and this can present
big obstacles for people living nearby trying to
sell their properties. What about their property
rights?”
“It seems like a lot of people around here
have lost confidence in any form of govern-
ment regulation and they don’t trust the county
government,” LeGaux added. “Maybe part of
that is because the better part of services al-
ways seems to go to the Grants Pass urban ar-
eas, instead of the Illinois Valley.”
See Solid waste on A-11