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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2016)
YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1937 Illinois Valley News Wednesday, December 21, 2016, 1 Section, Volume LXXIX No. 40 Caves and cats top Oregon’s fan favorites $1.00 Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley Dreaming of a light Christmas Judy Hoyle IVN Contributing Writer Two Illinois Valley attractions were listed in the recently announced “100 Best Fan-Favorite Destinations in Oregon.” Both the Chateau at the Oregon Caves rated No. 49 and Great Cats World Park rated No. 78 bested hundreds of other competitors to make the list. Portland based MEDIAmerica, publisher of Oregon Business magazine, opened the competition to all 9,000 tourism destinations in Oregon. Of the hundreds of businesses which signed up to compete, MEDIAmerica crunched scores from 22,000 online reviews combined from Trip Advisor, Yelp and Google. They then ranked the results based on the number of four and five star reviews compared to the overall number of reviews, to determine the level of traveler’s satisfaction. Crater Lake National Park was ninth on the list and the other Southern Oregon destinations listed in the “top 100” included Wildlife Safari (No. 76), in Winston, and ScienceWorks Hands-on Museum (No. 77) located in Ashland. The Prospect Historic Hotel (No. 97) and Crater Lake Lodge (No. 99) also made the fan favorite list. Menno Kraai the executive director of the I.V. Community Development Organization (IVCDO) and general manager of the Chateau said, “I’m very proud of our staff. They’ve been able to carry through offering superb hospitality and worked beyond standard expectations. We really have a great team. My heart goes out to them for giving our guests such wonderful experiences.” Kraai added that he’s looking forward to the planned renovation of the historic structure that is scheduled to take place in 2018. MEDIAmerica also publishes “Oregon Home” magazine, “Discover Portland” hotel guest guidebook and the annual “100 Best Companies to Work for in Oregon” survey. They will be distributing 75,000 “100 Best Fan Favorite” maps at visitor information locations around the state. “Consumers have a high level of trust in online, third party reviews.” said Andrew Insinga, CEO of MEDIAmerica. “So for us to be able to crunch the data and compile a usable, valuable list of the best destinations in Oregon is exciting.” Craig Peebles, events manager at MEDIAmerica, added: “It’s very meaningful that the actual scores and decisions that created the ranking were based on customers, and not derived by us. This is a list that Oregon fans, both visitors and residents, will find extremely useful.” Additional news for the Valley was the ranking for the Historic Balch Hotel, 13th on the list. The hotel is owned and managed by former Illinois Valley residents Claire Sierra and her husband, Josiah Dean. Dean had hotel management experience before moving to the Illinois Valley to become general manager of the Chateau for several seasons a decade ago. The Balch Hotel overlooks the Columbia River. The couple bought and renovated the property over the past few years. (Photo by Laura Mancuso, Illinois Valley News) A house in the Hanby neighborhood on Lindilu Ln. decorated with festive lights showing the Christmas spirit Monday, Dec. 19. Situation degrades at Old Stage Park Annette McGee Rasch IVN Senior Contributing Writer Both city officials and residents are noticing increased criminal activity at the isolated 40-acre Old Stage Park, located on the Illinois River at the south end of Old Stage Road. “There’s been complaints from citizen’s living in that area about excessive foot and vehicular traffic in and out of there at all hours,” said Cave Junction’s contract deputy Lehman. “It’s not a safe place for families.” “The recent increase of activity at Old Stage may well have to do with that some residents who’d been watch- dogging the park moved away - one man did that for two decades,” said Cave Junction’s city recorder Ryan Nolan. “So now it’s easier for people to gather there.” CJ Patrol (Cave Junction’s neighborhood watch) also closely monitors criminal shenanigans near SFI open house reveals grant Judy Hoyle IVN Contributing Writer During the presentation, it was announced that Siskiyou Field Institute (SFI) has won a $100,000 grant from Pacific Power’s Blue Sky program to fund a solar array installation. The grant will fund an initial installation and plans are in the works for a second phase that will further move the facility toward energy self-sufficiency. Christina Kruger, regional business manager for Pacific Power, attended the event and said, “We’re pleased that SFI was able to win this highly competitive grant. The Blue Sky program was created to increase Oregon’s energy independence and protect our environment. We’re hopeful that this development will lead to additional community solar projects in Jackson and Josephine counties.” A team led by facilities manager Michael Moss worked to write the grant proposal. Team members included SFI executive director Robin Hartmann, and SFI board members Karen Chase, Cathy Mechling, Jim Gurley and Lee O. Webb. The installation will be a 21 KW system with 84 solar panels in seven arrays built 8 feet off the ground. The system will be connected to the electrical grid, so that on sunny days, the energy generated will actually make SFI’s electric meter run in reverse. Hartmann also announced a second “win” for SFI. In the recent general election, “Outdoor School for All” (Measure 99) passed statewide. The initiative will provide the opportunity for every fifth and sixth- grade student in the state to attend a week of exploratory, science- based learning. The program will be financed with 4 percent of the Oregon Lottery Economic Development Fund and administered by Oregon State University (OSU). SEE SFI ON A-8 the park. “Even the thieves are getting their stuff stolen in that neighborhood,” said patrol organizer Jimmy Evans. “Neighbors complain about people camping over there and said there’s been stolen cars and a lot of street traffic and drug houses nearby causing problems. A few weeks ago, a boy stole a city lawn mower and drove it over there.” While looking for that lawn mower, Lehman and city maintenance workers recently found about 60-75 cartridges and blank casings in the park. “That leads us to believe they’re firing semi-automatic weapons,” he said, adding that, “there’s been a lot of transient camps there. We spotted about eight to 10 campsites that are used at different times of the year. There’s only one being occupied right now.” So, with several vacant camp sites at Old Stage Park; reduced numbers of transients at Jubilee Park after the community exerted pressure; and fewer reports of people breaking into vacant homes this winter (according to Lehman); where is the local transient population hanging out? “It doesn’t seem that we have the loitering problems in town as much as the same time last year, but I don’t think the transients really went anywhere,” Lehman said. “Maybe some of them found refuge on different peoples’ grows where there’s some work in exchange for shelter. If that’s the case, that’d be a good thing.” However Evans reports multiple transient encampments currently surrounding the periphery of town. “There’s one behind Hanby Lane on the Field’s property; another behind Dollar General; and the camp at Old Stage Park. And we used to know who most of the players are, but now, there’s a lot of new faces.” Lehman also thinks transients will move back in at Old Stage Park in summertime. “Then there’ll be a huge danger of fire. Each campsite had been burning, it’ll be something we need to address.” SEE PARK ON A-8 Concerns about dog fighting rise in JoCo Annette McGee Rasch IVN Senior Contributing Writer In recent weeks, several dogs have gone missing under suspicious circumstances - and a few other dogs had narrow escapes - in various locations throughout Josephine County, and according to longtime animal advocate Raleigh Smith, there’s good reason to suspect links to organized dog fighting. The Josephine County (JoCo) Health Department - which oversees the county’s Animal Protection Department - seemed to share this view, as per comments made to multiple media outlets in recent weeks. Dec. 16, released a statement clarifying its position. “The Josephine County Health Department had no reliable evidence that an organized dog theft ring, nor an organized dog fighting ring exists in Josephine County. An organized dog theft ring or an organized dog fighting ring was just one possibility, out of many, to explain Animal Control Officer Pitts recovery of Labrador (named)“Finley” from the Wal-Mart parking lot in Grants Pass. The Josephine County Health Department has discovered no reliable evidence since Dec. 8, 2016, to substantiate the presence of either an organized dog theft ring nor an organized dog fighting ring in Josephine County. Neither the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety nor the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office has seen a recent increase in reports of stolen dogs.” Smith said the apparent shift in JoCo officials’ views about potential dog fighting involvement in this incident may be about preserving the integrity of an investigation. SEE DOGS ON A-5
