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Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014, 1 Section, 10 Pages, Volume 76 No. 43 Published Weekly Cave Junction, Oregon 97523
Rotary Club
holds annual
toy giveaway
By
Jenna Larkin
IVN Contributing Writer
On Tuesday, Dec. 24, the
Rotary Club of Illinois Valley
held its annual toy giveaway.
The event took place at the
County Building from noon
to 3 p.m. The toy giveaway
is held for families that are in
need of a little extra help dur-
ing the holiday season and to
ensure that every child in the
community gets at least one
toy on Christmas morning.
This event would not hap-
pen without the many volun-
teers, group organizations and
community members that help
each year to put on the event.
In late October, the Rotary
Club holds a Toy/Poker Run
that starts off the beginning of
the fund-raising and toy col-
lection for the toy giveaway.
This year, the Toy/Poker Run
raised $3,000; $1,000 of which
went to buy more toys along
with what was donated during
the toy run. The other $2,000
goes to all the local school ad-
vocates in the Valley to help
families that need a little boost
with everyday essentials. The
amount of money donated to
each school is determined by
the school’s population.
“If a family needs a laun-
dry voucher or a haircut, shoes,
whatever the family needs, the
money goes towards that,”
said Jannie Heller, a Rotary
Club member.
This year the Rotary
Club not only held their own
fund-raisers for the toy give-
away but they also teamed up
with Toys for Tots hosted by
the Marine Corps to collect
toys. Along with Toys for Tots,
donation boxes for toys were
set up at different local busi-
See Toys on A-8
nesses.
(Photo by IVFD Media Dept)
I.V. Fire District personnel responded to a garage fire in the 7000 block of Takilma Rd, Dec. 27. No injuries were reported.
More dead animals reported on woman’s property
By
Annette McGee Rasch
IVN Contributing Writer
Illinois Valley resident Kandi L. Crow is
under investigation for animal neglect once
again.
This latest investigation comes just weeks
after Crow completed her 40-day home de-
tention sentence for an Oct. 2013 conviction
on 22 counts of second degree animal abuse
stemming from the highly publicized seizure
of over 200 animals from her property in Sep-
tember of 2012.
The new case results from reports of a
dead goat and a dead chicken on Crow’s land,
located in the 1700 block of White School-
house Road. The incident has been reported to
the Josephine County District Attorney’s Of-
fice, according to Sheriff Gil Gilbertson.
Community Christmas
dinner is a success
By
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
A new collaboration involving three
primary organizations, 12 supporting
merchants and organizations and 30 vol-
unteers served a traditional Christmas
dinner to over 125 community members
at the Josephine County Building in Cave
Junction on December 25.
Coordinator Jennie Reed was thrilled
with the high level of donations and par-
ticipation. Many volunteers helped cook
and serve the meal, including a wide vari-
ety of desserts.
“This was a genuine community ef-
fort,” Reed said. “Everyone had such
a wonderful experience that volunteers
were coming up to me and asking to be
included next year as well.”
See Christmas on A-8
(Photo by Jenna Larkin, Illinois Valley News)
Garrick (left), Erich and Anabellah Grabarz with their gifts from Rotary Dec.
24 at the Josephine County Building in CJ.
“The information was written up and now
the DA’s office will have to a make a judgment
on the situation,” Gilbertson said. “It’s animal
control’s case and they’re working with the
DA’s office.”
Deputy District Attorney Ryan Mulkins is
handling the case, but was out of town over
the holidays, thus no information will become
available until early January.
See Crow on A-8
Fires, passings and redevelopment
dominate 2013 headlines
By
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
Quite a few changes
have taken place in Cave
Junction over the past year
and many of the big head-
lines in the Illinois Valley
News were about fires.
The 2013 tourism sea-
son was deeply affected by
smoke blowing across Jo-
sephine County from north
of Grants Pass and from
as far as Douglas County.
The Tenth Annual Sis-
kiyou Folk and Bluegrass
Festival on July 27 was
also impacted by smoke
from the Labrador Fire,
the result of which was re-
duced revenues for the I.V.
Chamber of Commerce.
On May 30, 2013,
fire struck, destroying the
Cave Junction Post Office.
Investigators say arson
is to blame for the early
morning blaze and the U.S.
Postal Inspection Service is
offering a $10,000 reward
for information leading to
the arrest and conviction
of those responsible. The
two alarm conflagration
was fought by the I.V. Fire
District and Rural Metro.
Rural and business
postal delivery continued
uninterrupted and post of-
fice box customers began
picking up their mail at a
temporary call window
in the Josephine County
Building until last month
when full service was re-
stored at a second tem-
porary facility, the DMV
building across from city
hall on Lister Street.
Many Cave Junction
postal service customers
expressed relief that they
were able to buy postage
and ship packages in time
for the holiday season.
Current plans call for the
postal service to return
to the original location in
2014, once the structure is
rebuilt.
On June 26, smoke
and water damage result-
ing from an electrical fire
effectively destroyed the
computers and printers in
MeriWeather Print Design
and the business was a to-
tal loss. The structure is
still being renovated.
The community also
lost cultural and civic lead-
ers over the past year. On
June 24, Takilma black-
smith Jim Rich was found
dead of natural causes.
Since 1994, Rich was
artistic director and co-
founder of Jefferson Ba-
roque Orchestra and spent
several weeks each year
sailing the wooden ship
Lady Washington along
the West Coast.
On July 26, a house
fire claimed the life of I.V.
Medical Center board chair
and I.V. Grange Grand
Master Kendell Phillips.
Bridgeview Church and
other community groups
organized fund-raisers for
Phillips’ widow, Tammie.
On July 30, Cave
Junction City Council
President Dr. Dan Fiske
D.M.V. was found dead
of natural causes. Fiske,
owner of Crossroads Ani-
mal Hospital, served on
the City Council for nearly
14 years and was also a
dedicated Boy Scout lead-
er who mentored several
Eagle Scouts. Former City
Recorder Jim Polk was
appointed to complete his
term of office through De-
cember 2014.
Well known Illinois
Valley entrepreneur Har-
vey Shinerock passed
away on August 7 fol-
lowing a lengthy illness.
His widow, Joy, and their
daughter, Sara, will con-
tinue to manage It’s a Burl,
their eye-catching Kerby
complex of art galleries
and studios.
See CJ on A-5