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Wednesday, March, 12, 2014, 1 Section, 12 Pages, Volume 77 No. 1 Published Weekly Cave Junction, Oregon 97523
St. Pats
celebrates
150 years
By
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
A flurry of activity is
taking place at St. Patrick of
the Forest Catholic Church in
preparation for an important
commemoration: the 150th
anniversary of the dedication
of the original church and its
cemetery in 1864 – only five
years after Oregon became a
state. This was the first Catho-
lic church in Josephine Coun-
ty; located in Allen Gulch, a
mining community about 12
miles south of Cave Junction.
This week, almost two
dozen volunteers assembled at
the church on March 8 to land-
scape the grounds and spruce
up the building. Special choral
music is being rehearsed and
special guests, including Arch-
bishop Alexander Sample of
the Portland Archdiocese, will
participate in the celebration.
The sesquicentennial cel-
ebration will take place on the
actual dedication date, March
17, St. Patrick’s Day. Arch-
bishop Sample will preside
over a special Mass at 6 p.m.
with co-celebrants Father Wil-
liam Holtzinger, and Father
Jose Campos. The Knights of
Columbus will also attend the
Mass. Cake and coffee will be
served immediately following.
On March 16, the Altar
Society will host a potluck
dinner following the usual
Sunday Mass.
See St. Pats on A-8
(Photo by Dan Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
Link Phillippi at the site of a new board sorter at the soon to re-open Rough & Ready Lumber Mill, Monday, March 10.
Rough & Ready ramps up
By
Annette McGee Rasch
IVN Contributing Writer
Just a year after closing down, the nearly 100-
year-old Rough & Ready Lumber Mill received a $5
million funding package comprised of tax credits and
a state loan to facilitate upgrades to its small log mill,
which means the business will be back on track this
summer.
The announcement was made at Cascade Wood
Products in White City last week and Gov. John Kit-
zhaber, who attended the news conference, said the
funding will enable Rough & Ready, an important
employer in Josephine County, to help extend the
economic recovery occurring from Portland to rural
southern Oregon.
“The restart of a family owned business that
provides family wage jobs for its employees is a rea-
son to celebrate,” Kitzhaber said.
“We plan to have 67 people working sometime
in June,” said mill owner Jennifer Phillippi. “We kept
quiet about this because we didn’t want to raise hopes
among our old employees until we knew for sure it
would happen. The job openings will be posted with
the state’s Employment Department in Grants Pass.
Like any employer, we’re required to fairly assess all
applicants, though I assume that our former employ-
ees, with all the skills they developed while working
at our mill, will be good fits for the new jobs.”
See Mill on A-10
State allows ban
on pot sales for
one year
By
Annette McGee Rasch
IVN Contributing Writer
Last Friday, the Oregon State Senate approved a bill giv-
ing temporary authority to local governments to block medical
marijuana dispensaries until May 2015. The bill also provides
clarity to cities and counties regarding their authority to regulate
dispensaries in locations where they are allowed.
The bill is a compromise, as numerous local governments
wanted permanent authority to enact bans. While refusing this
request, state lawmakers did give cities and counties perma-
nent authority to control the hours and locations of medical pot
stores.
Cities and small towns all over the state have been busily
enacting bans since Oregon voted to allow medical marijuana
dispensaries in August 2013. Many within the medical marijuana
industry were optimistic that the bans would be overridden by
statewide legislation and, last month, Oregon’s senate approved
a bill that prohibited the smaller jurisdictions from banning the
dispensaries. It was this bill that was amended last week to allow
local governments to enact the one-year moratoriums.
In a joint letter to House members, the Association of Or-
egon Counties, Oregon Association Chiefs of Police and Oregon
State Sheriffs’ Association said they intend to offer legislation
next year that would serve to repeal the May 2015 sunset clause
on the local bans. For their part, the state legislators say they will
review and likely revisit the issue in 2015.
The state’s pot dispensary registration website, up and run-
ning a few weeks ago, received almost 300 applications in its
first 24 hours of operation. There was at least one application
from Josephine County, though state officials will not identify
that location, claiming confidentiality rules prevent them from
disclosing that information in counties where less than ten ap-
plications have been made. Jackson County had the third high-
est number of applications for medical marijuana dispensaries
in the state on Monday, behind Multnomah and Lane counties.
With the recent wave of bans on pot dispensaries bolstered by
the one-year moratorium, the new bill provides a refund option
to dispensary owners who had already paid the $4,000 fee to
register their pot shops.
More than 20 cities currently have zoning ordinances ban-
ning medical marijuana dispensaries, with another 14 imposing
temporary moratoriums; and at least two counties, so far, have
passed similar measures applying to unincorporated areas. Last
week, the Medford City Council gave initial approval to a mora-
torium on marijuana dispensaries.
See sales on A-8
City council takes on medical marijuana
By
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
The Cave Junction City Council
held their regularly scheduled meeting
on March 10. Nearly three dozen citi-
zens were in attendance, many of them
interested in the council’s policy review
of medical marijuana dispensaries inside
city limits.
Councilor Dan Dalegowski had re-
searched the issue and assembled a six-
page analysis including a chart compar-
ing other Oregon city policies and a map
showing the four schools within Cave
Junction city limits and commercial
zones which extend one block on either
side of Redwood and Caves Highways.
During the public comment period,
many citizens spoke passionately in fa-
vor of the dispensaries for a variety of
reasons including increased commerce
and compassion for those in need of this
powerful medicine. Several spoke of the
legal system which unfairly punishes
medical marijuana users and the belief
that the timber, pharmaceutical and med-
ical industries had lobbied to create these
laws.
County Commissioner candidate
Nina Horsley stated there are 50,000 po-
tential hemp products and that farmers
were mandated to grow the crop during
World War II.
County Commissioner candidate
Mark Seligman gave the example of
greater prosperity enjoyed by Garber-
ville, Calif., compared to Cave Junction.
“I’m for legalization of this indus-
try,” he said. “We have a chance to rise
out of this poverty. This will eventually
be legal nation-wide.”
Several speakers compared the su-
periority of medical marijuana over phar-
maceuticals for pain relief and inflamma-
tory diseases. One mentioned that one in
19 people in Josephine County already
have medical marijuana cards.
One man stated he had lost every-
thing and was thrown on the street follow-
ing his quadruple bypass surgery because
he was caught with medical marijuana.
Another stated his prescription for syn-
thetic heroin had nearly killed him, but
that medical marijuana managed his pain
without side effects.
City councilors voted to meet for a
workshop in council chambers at 7 p.m.
March 17 to further discuss dispensaries.
All city council meetings are open to the
public, but the councilors may choose
whether or not to accept public com-
ment.
In other business, the council re-
ceived a report by Maureen Connelly
comparing three concept proposals by
skatepark manufacturers for the planned
facility in Jubilee Park. Connelly recom-
mended Grindline Skateparks over Can-
adina Ramp Company and Dreamland
Skateparks LLC.
“This design will allow younger
skaters to use the park without interfer-
ing with more experienced skaters,” she
said.
Organizers are planning a construc-
tion start date of May 19 with completion
by June 30. Non-circulating copies of the
three manufacturer’s proposals are avail-
able at the front desk of city hall for the
public to review. Mayor Carl Jacobson
announced a March 24 special meeting at
I.V. High School to award the contract.
He also encouraged all valley stu-
dents in grades 4 through 12 to submit
entries in the Oregon Mayors Association
“If I Were Mayor, I Would…” contest.
First prize is an iPad Air and applications
are available at city hall. The submission
deadline is March 28.
Additionally, the mayor appealed to
interested Cave Junction residents to join
the Budget Committee, which has three
openings.
The Council also approved a Little
League request for amplified sound at Ju-
bilee Park for the April 5 Opening Day
and Closing Day in June.