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Wednesday, April. 16, 2014, 1 Section, 12 Pages, Volume 77 No. 6 Published Weekly Cave Junction, Oregon 97523
Merger joins
Sterling with
Umpqua
banks
By
Annette McGee Rasch
IVN Contributing Writer
On April 18, Sterling
Bank will become Umpqua
Bank. The merger of the two
financial corporations creates
the West Coast’s largest “com-
munity bank” with over $22
billion in assets and nearly 400
locations, from Seattle to San
Diego and from the Oregon
coast inland to Idaho and Ne-
vada. The combined compa-
nies will operate as Umpqua
Holdings Corporation, with
banking operations conduct-
ed under the Umpqua Bank
brand.
Sterling Bank manage-
ment wants its customers to
know that while the sign on the
door will change, that “what
you love about your bank will
not.” Customers will not ex-
perience any interruptions to
their ability to make withdraw-
als, deposits or to check their
account balances.
The merger promises to
offer customers the products
and services of a large institu-
tion, yet still delivered with the
personal service and engage-
ment of a community bank.
Along with more locations
and ATMs, customers will find
more financial service options
“and two times the determina-
tion to make banking better for
you and your community.”
Umpqua is fully insured
by the FDIC, thus if you had
any deposits with Sterling be-
fore the merger, they will con-
tinue to be fully insured up to
the legal limit.
See Bank on A-10
(Photo by Dan Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
Workers began erecting walls April 14, at the site of the post office. Site officials declined to give a completion date at this time.
Train takes life of Valley Girl
By Kevin S. MacMillan
Managing Editor
The Sierra Sun
TRUCKEE, Calif. — In what officials are call-
ing a tragic accident, a local woman died Wednesday
after a train struck her while she jogged on the tracks
near the Truckee River.
The Truckee Police Department received a re-
port at 1:40 p.m. of a person hit by a train on the
Union Pacific Railroad underneath and east of the
Highway 267 overpass, according to a statement.
First responders soon found the body of Jana-
ki Rose Hayes, 27, of Truckee, on the side of the
tracks.
An investigation determined Hayes had come
from the Olympic Heights neighborhood on foot,
crossing Glenshire Drive and down to the rails on the
north side of the Truckee River.
Hayes was walking or running westbound on
the tracks with the intent of crossing the river to ac-
cess the Truckee Legacy Trail.
“The victim was wearing headphones that ful-
ly covered her ears while listening to loud music,”
police said Thursday. “The train operators saw the
victim in their path, sounded the horn extensively,
slowed the train, and did what they could to avoid
striking the victim.
“It appears the train operators did not contribute
to this accident and did all they could to avoid it.”
No one else was hurt in the incident.
The train — a Union Pacific cargo double-deck-
er — was stopped and remained on scene during the
investigation, Police Chief Adam McGill told the Si-
erra Sun Wednesday.
Hayes was living in Truckee after recently re-
locating from Cave Junction, Ore., according to po-
lice.
Alcohol and/or drugs do not appear to be a fac-
tor in the case.
See Hayes on A-8
GMO Free Jo Co is City punts on pot
campaigning hard
By
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
By
Annette McGee Rasch
IVN Contributing Writer
Driving by the Cron Farm, located on
Highway 199 between Cave Junction and Ker-
by, there’s a political sign signaling opposition
to Ballot Measure 17-58 that seeks to phase out
GMO’s in the county. Yet the farm also features
a “no GMO’s sign,” and some are wondering
which message reflects the farm’s views or op-
erations.
Political views and practices in the field
can diverge, and this is the case at the Cron
Farm.
“The GMO issue is a political football,
so we stay away from it,” said Cron Farmer
Manager, Rhett Nelson. “I’m selling produce
to clients who don’t want GMO’s, so the one
sign is to let people know we don’t grow GMO
crops. But the other sign is there because I
don’t support the GMO ban. I believe it takes
away our property rights. Plus, I think we can
work together as neighbors instead of making
new rules. We already have too many rules and
regulations.”
Nelson says he’s concerned that with the
way the GMO rule is written, he might have
to pay “a lot of money” to prove that he’s not
growing with GMO’s.
“Any farmer who is not growing any
GMO’s is already in compliance and won’t
have to do anything,” said Mary Middleton,
campaign coordinator for GMO Free Jo Co.
“This is not going to be any kind of Gestapo-
like search and destroy process.”
The way the measure is written, farmers
growing GMO crops will be given a 12-month
transition period to eliminate GMO crops. Mea-
sure organizers say their group is committed to
helping those farmers come into compliance, if
that support is wanted.
A GMO (genetically modified organism)
is the result of a laboratory process where genes
from one species is extracted and artificially
forced into the genes of another plant or animal,
resulting in combinations that wouldn’t occur
in nature. This is very different from conven-
tional plant breeding or hybridization process-
es. Through the action of wind, bees and other
pollinators, GMO crops contaminate non-GMO
and organic crops, farms and private gardens.
The American Academy of Environmental
Medicine urges physicians to advise patients to
avoid all GMO food due to serious health risks
including infertility, immune system problems,
faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major
organs and gastrointestinal systems. They say
that children, with their developing systems,
are particularly vulnerable to the ill-effects of
GMO foods.
“Recent polling indicates that a large ma-
jority in Josephine County will vote for the mea-
sure,” Middleton said. “When it passes, along
with Jackson County, we’ll have two contigu-
ous counties free of GMO’s and this will have
a huge positive economic impact on the whole
region. Consumer demand for clean non-GMO
foods continues to rise. Ensuring that farmers
are safe to grow crops free of contamination and
trespass from multi-national Bioetech corpora-
tions will help grow our farming economy.”
About 100 cities in the New England re-
gion have already adopted GMO free measures,
and Middleton cites Marin County, California,
which banned GMO crops in 1994, as an exam-
ple of West Coast success: “Their agricultural
values have increased by 700 percent.”
“While I don’t grow GMO crops, I do be-
lieve in them,” Nelson said. “Sure there’s risk,
there’s advantages and disadvantages, but one
important aspect is that if GMO crops can use
less water, isn’t that a good thing in this time of
water shortages? The people developing GMO’s
are working on that. The price of food is going
through the roof, so we need to find options and
alternatives so that people can afford to eat.”
See GMO on A-10
The Cave Junction City
Council met Monday for a
regularly scheduled meeting.
The the primary issue for dis-
cussion was whether or not
the city would chose to follow
federal or state law in deter-
mining whether it would issue
business licenses for medical
marijuana dispensaries within
city limits.
The council members
went into a closed door ex-
ecutive session to discuss legal
merits, risks and ramifications
of potential litigation related
to marijuana dispensaries. The
crowd in attendance at the
meeting dwindled from over
30 to less than half that by
the end of this session, which
stretched to nearly an hour.
Both Cave Junction City
Attorney Pat Kelly and J.
Ryan Kirchoff, whose areas of
expertise include municipal,
government and regulatory af-
fairs, discussed at least five op-
tions available to the city with
the councilors. During the ses-
sion, which was attended by
members of the media, the two
lawyers presented various le-
gal theories regarding possible
courses of action.
In recognition of the con-
flict between federal and state
law, the Oregon legislature has
also approved legislation to
allow cities to enact a morato-
rium, effectively delaying the
decision to allow these facili-
ties until May 1, 2015. Cities
may also chose to take no ac-
tion (ignore the new state law),
alter the current business code
that requires compliance with
all federal laws, or approve the
dispensaries.
Upon returning to the
public meeting room, the
councilors each presented their
reasons for the way they were
about to vote, with Councilor
John Gardiner recusing him-
self
See City on A-8
Stream Team gets new face
By
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
Cheryl Nelson has joined the Illinois
Valley Soil and Water Conservation District
(IVSWCD) “Stream Team.” The part-time po-
sition of Water Quality Program Specialist was
recently vacated by Kevin Kocarek, who has
accepted a full-time job with Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife.
Nelson, a Southern California native, first
moved to the Illinois Valley when she was a
sophomore at College of the Redwoods. While
employed as a Forestry Technician for the I.V.
Ranger District (now called the Wild Rivers
Ranger District), she worked to help restore a
degraded channel section of Greyback Creek.
“Two decades later, it is so gratifying to go
back and visit these sites that now provide good
habitat for salmon,” Nelson states.
In time, she met and married Jim Nelson
and they started a family. Jim worked at Rough
and Ready mill but later found a job in advertis-
ing and they moved to North Medford in 1993,
where their son and daughter graduated from
high school.
“I graduated from Southern Oregon Uni-
versity in 1996, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree
in English with a minor in biology. My desire
has always been to work in natural resource
management,” she smiles.
In addition to working for the U.S. Forest
Service, Nelson also worked in the BLM’s Ash-
land Resource Area doing work in silviculture,
before transitioning to an administrative posi-
tion.
Nelson also gained experience in grant
writing in Jackson County, where she collabo-
rated with county officials, local municipalities
and area non-profits. “The grants I sought were
for educational, environmental or economic de-
velopment projects. That’s what makes me the
happiest about joining the IV Soil and Water
Conservation District, because this job touches
on all three areas of my interest and experi-
ence.”