The Valley’s #1 News Source Since 1937
Illinois Valley News
Wednesday, July 13, 2016, 1 Section, Volume 79 No. 17
$1.00
Published Weekly Cave Junction, Oregon 97523
Marijuana
tax vote
scheduled
Caroline Griffith
IVN Contributing Writer
At its meeting Monday, July 11, the Cave Junction
City Council set a date for the first of two mandatory public
hearings on proposed fuel and cannabis sales taxes. Both
issues were on the agenda for Monday night’s meeting, but
acting city recorder Becky Patton informed the council that
legally they are required to perform two public readings of
the proposed ordinances before they can vote whether or
not to refer them to voters. The first of those readings will
be at the July 25 council meeting and the second will be at
the August 8 meeting. The proposed ordinances, which have
been available for perusal at multiple council meetings,
will be read in their entirety and the public will have an
opportunity to comment.
Also on the agenda were an easement request from
Cameron Camp of I.V. Data Center, and a discussion of
a potential lease agreement between the city and KXCJ,
a low-power FM radio station that is looking to be on
the air by the end of the year. The city approved Camp’s
request, which he says will help facilitate “some expansion
of our business and, potentially, other community uses.”
When asked by Councilor John Gardiner about potential
collaboration with the radio station, Camp said he “certainly
would support” putting the KXCJ antenna on his tower.
The council was also generally supportive of
entering into an agreement with the radio station to lease
an antenna site and requested a more detailed description
of KXCJ’s request. The topic is likely to come up at future
council meetings.
Though the regular business session of the meeting
concluded rather early, the public comments lasted for over
an hour.
Multiple residents of Old Stage Road addressed the
council about concerns regarding an industrial property in
their residentially zoned neighborhood. According to these
residents, the business operating on this property produces
industrial noise all hours of the day, heavy truck traffic and
offensive smells. One neighbor said, “It’s been god-awful.
It just doesn’t end.” Another neighbor, whose property has
been in his family for three generations, stated, “I’m ready
to move. It’s horrible.” This same man described walking
his toddler in a stroller down Old Stage Road, which has
neither sidewalks nor shoulder, and fearing that they would
be run down by dump trucks. The mayor informed him that
although all of the surrounding properties are within Cave
Junction city limits, that particular property is not. Since it
is considered part of the county, not the city, there is nothing
that the city can do to help the situation. The entire council
expressed their sympathy for the neighbors.
Rural Cave Junction resident Nina Horsely then
asked the council to join her in opposing the East West
Junction Timber Project. According to Horsely, the Bureau
of Land Management and Perpetua Forests Company are
planning to log a patchwork of properties around the Illinois
Valley, many of which are in the Illinois River watershed.
Waterways that would be affected by this project include
Sucker Creek, Greyback Creek, Chapman Creek, Logan
Cut Creek, Canyon Creek, Simmons Cut Creek and the
East and West Forks of the Illinois River. “I am asking you,
as a municipality, to stand up for our water supply,” said
Horsely. “To protect our water supply, we need to stop this
timber sale immediately.”
SEE TAX ON A-6
(Photo by Dan Klapheke, Illinois Valley News)
A group of youth meet up for a walk around town to catch Pokémon on the Pokémon Go App Monday, July 11.
Pokémon on the
‘Go’ in the Valley
By Dan Klapheke
IVN Staff Writer
Troops of smartphone-wielding
people of all ages have been roaming the
streets of Cave Junction this past week,
and they’re all looking for the same
thing: Pokémon.
Pokémon Go, the latest installment
in Nintendo’s Pokémon game series,
released for free July 6, for Android and
Apple devices. The game is the first in
the series available beyond Nintendo
handheld gaming systems, opening the
series up to a wider audience and age
range, and anyone with a smartphone.
Pokémon is a role-playing
adventure and strategy game series
where you catch monsters, or Pokémon,
in the wild, train them and then battle
them against other trainers in either the
game or the real world. Battling levels
up your Pokémon, and there are over
700 to catch, with a new “generation” of
Pokémon releasing in the fall.
“Go” is a radical change for the
series. It uses GPS tracking to interlace
the game in the real world, and lets you
catch wild Pokémon and collect items as
you travel. For instance, there are three
virtual gyms in Cave Junction--at Cave
Junction Real Estate, Jubilee Park and
the post office--where players can battle
and defend against other players.
Josh Hart, 27, has played Pokémon
since the first game released in 1996. He
said the new game is nostalgic for him,
but is bringing out the community like
he’s never seen.
“To actually have where you can
walk around in your hometown and have
landmarks and stuff where you can get
stuff makes it pretty fun,” Hart said.
“And it’s the first time in Cave Junction
I’ve seen this many people walking
around a couple of days in a row, like
together. I think it’s a good thing. I enjoy
it.”
Otis Kitchens, 14, has played
Pokémon since he was 8 years old. He
said “Go” is more entertaining than other
activity options, and it’s more interactive
than the traditional Nintendo handheld
device entries.
“It’s better than a FitBit,” Kitchens
said. “And I get exercise. You actually
get to go outside and do stuff with
Pokémon.”
One effect the game has is groups
meeting up around town to roam the
streets together. Caleb Groves, 20, helped
organized such cohorts three of the first
four nights after the game released.
He said the game lets him relive his
childhood while getting everyone active.
“I’ve gotten into Call of Duty,
sitting there every night all night,”
Groves said of other games he’s heavily
delved into. “Everybody’s getting active
and just walking around--it’s pretty cool.
You get to see the sunshine.”
And the game has no age limit. As
Hart, Groves, Kitchens and other friends-
-all part of the game’s team red--walked
around town the evening of Monday, July
11, a man who looked to be in his 50s or
60s drove by and examined the cohort.
He slowed down in front of them, and
then raised his phone out the window,
revealing that he was also playing
Pokémon Go. The young group cheered
and the older man drove off, zigzagging
between parking lots in apparent search
of Pokémon and items.
Later that evening, just before
sundown, the team red troop met up with
more friends traveling together as team
yellow. Friendly banter was exchanged,
and then the two teams formed a larger
group and set off together. Two or three
would occasionally split off to pursue
Pokémon off the pack’s path, but the
group was about 10-strong until it
disbanded at 10 p.m.
Older, non-Pokémon playing
members of the community have also
noticed the impact of the game. Jimmy
Evans, one of the leaders of the local CJ
Patrol neighborhood watch group, said
the game is doing exactly what he wants
to see in the community.
“I’ve been seeing dads with their
kids out here, and that’s what the town
needs,” Evans said. “I think it’s a great
thing for the community. I’m a little
worried about the safety things I’ve been
hearing, but I think we can get around
that. It’s exactly what you wanna see.”
Bluegrass festival looks to draw out positivity
By Dan Klapheke
IVN Staff Writer
The Illinois Valley Chamber of
Commerce will host its 13th annual Siskiyou
Folk and Bluegrass Festival Saturday, July 16,
at the Lake Selmac Trout Pavilion.
City of Cave Junction recorder Ryan
Nolan is at the helm of the festival and has
been involved since the first event in 2003. He
said this year’s lineup stands out from years
past.
“I think we’ve got really good bands, and
we’ve got bands from out of the area,” Nolan
said. “Like there’s a band from San Francisco,
and there’s a band from Washington.”
The festival has been steadily growing
since its inception, and Nolan said he expects
a larger turnout this year thanks in-part to not
having to compete with Grants Pass’ Back
to the Fifties car show, as is usually the case.
Attendance was over 500 last year, and the
crowd is a mix of various types of music
lovers, Nolan said.
“There’s old people, there’s young
people--it’s a good mix of that,” Nolan said.
“And it’s kind of relaxed. Nobody’s ever
gotten out of hand.”
Josephine County has helped fund
promotion for the festival the past two years,
Nolan said, and he hopes the event piques
interest in the area and encourages visitors to
explore more.
“We’re really hopeful that two years
of extra promoting will kinda get it up to an
attendance level that will really help it just
keep going as a permanent nice thing for
people in the community to do, and draw
people in from outside to see that maybe they
wanna come camp here, or move here,” Nolan
said.
He also said he thinks the festival helps
draw out positivity in the community.
“Everybody focuses a lot on what’s
wrong, like there’s no law enforcement. But
if you only think about what’s wrong, it just
spirals,” Nolan said. “So it’s nice to just do
something that adds to making it a good place
to be.”
This year’s performers include B Wishes
and The Honey Bee Choir, The Podunk Poets,
The Strillas, Acousta Noir, South Hills String
Band, Moody Little Sister and Hollis Peach,
in that order. There’s a $15 entry charge and
parking is $5, but ages 12 and under get in
free. Advance tickets can be purchased online
for $12.50 at siskiyoubluegrassfestival.com.
Food, beer and wine will be provided by Wild
River and the Illinois Valley Rotary Club, and
no outside alcohol is permitted.
Nolan said he thinks the festival’s relaxed
atmosphere makes for a continually pleased
crowd.
“It’s just an easy day, and I think
everybody has a good time,” Nolan said. “And
every year I’m at the end of it thinking, ‘A
couple hundred people came and had a really
good day today.’ So that’s nice.”