Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Page A-3
Oregon dog gets temporary stay of execution after outcry
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP)
— A public campaign to save the life
of a pit bull on death row has led to a
temporary stay of execution.
The dog, Kron, attacked a horse
three weeks ago near Merlin, a rural
community in southwest Oregon.
The Josephine County
Board of Commissioners ruled
that Kron must be euthanized but
reversed course last week after an
outcry that included a protest in
downtown Grants Pass. The three
commissioners voted unanimously
to send the case to a hearings officer,
the Daily Courier reported (https://
is.gd/1h8wLF).
County records show the dog
is owned by Brye Rogers but was
staying with Leah Harp, whose
property is a few hundred feet from
where the horse lives.
The dog left Harp’s yard
through a broken gate, said David
Pitts, an animal protection officer
who investigated the incident.
Horse owner John Bartlett told
commissioners that he fired at the
dog when it was in a pasture and
again when it charged his wife. Kron
was shot twice, once in the head, but
survived and is now at the county
animal shelter.
Bartlett’s grandson, 15-year-old
Drew Hogan, told authorities in a
written statement that the dog at one
point had latched onto the nose of
the horse, a 30-year-old mare named
Hummer.
“The dog was dangling off the
horse’s nose,” he wrote. “The horse
(was) trying to get the dog off by
flailing her head.”
Veterinarian Todd Bershad
said the horse suffered an 8-inch cut
over its nasal bone and a cut to the
interior of its left nostril.
An online petition started
on the dog’s behalf describes the
injury as a small laceration that
didn’t require medical attention.
The petition had more than 18,250
supporters as of Friday morning.
“This is heinous disregard for
a well-loved member of a family
that quite literally didn’t hurt anyone
or any animal,” states the petition,
written before the stay of execution.
“If you have your four-legged friend
sitting next to you while you read
this, think of how lucky they and
you are to be comfortable and not in
pain... and not facing death over a
trivial matter.”
The Daily Courier reports the
hearings officer will be Robert Bain,
a local attorney. A hearing date has
not been set.
County attorney Wally Hicks
said hearings officers used to
consider most cases involving dogs,
but the practice was discontinued
because “everybody was appealing”
the decisions to commissioners.
Historic Wolf Creek Inn expected to reopen in May
WOLF CREEK, Ore.
(AP) — Shuttered to visitors
since 2014, the historic Wolf
Creek Inn is expected to reopen
for overnight guests and daytime
visitors on May 1.
Details are still being
worked out, but plans call for
state parks employees and
volunteers to run operations,
with the inn’s restaurant
remaining closed. Attempts to
find a private manager have
been unsuccessful.
“We had difficulty finding
a concessionaire that was a good
fit for that park,” said Nathan
Seable, Oregon State Parks
manager for the site. “We’ve
decided we needed to do
something to get that opened.”
The expected opening
is welcome news for this
unincorporated rural community
25 miles north of Grants Pass,
which benefited from the many
visitors who pulled off of nearby
Interstate 5 to take in a bit of
yesteryear.
“I really missed having it
open,” town postmaster Debbie
Roberts said. “From what I can
tell, everybody misses having it
open.”
The inn, also known as
the Wolf Creek Tavern, dates
back more than 130 years, to
the early 1880s, about the time
of the coming of the railroad
to Josephine County. It’s
been closed since the fall of
2014 for overhauls of heating,
Art’s Red
ALE
Garter H D
OPPER
Homestyle
DINNER
SPECIALS
Mon - Sat 5-9 PM
in Lounge
KARAOKE
Wednesdays
@ 9 p.m.
F r i d a y, A p r i l 2 1
@ 5:30
air conditioning and fire
suppression systems.
Former concessionaire
Margaret Quist of Sunny Valley
said she and her husband, Mark,
stepped away after six years
as the concessionaire when
construction took too long.
She remembers weddings,
celebrations and other events
there, including quilt shows.
Family members helped in the
restaurant.
“We loved it,” Quist said.
“Wonderful memories. It was
hard to walk away.”
But it was hard to make a
living at a venture so dependent
on seasonal traffic. During the
winter, Quist sometimes had
but one room rented, and would
serve only one meal in an entire
day.
“The restaurant never
really paid for itself,” she said.
“Summers were always good,
but usually the summer profit
wasn’t enough to get us through
the rest of the year.”
Quist said she would have
been happy with it opening as
a museum, if nothing else. She
still maintains a social media
site about the inn.
“I’ll see cars there all the
time, with people peeking in
the window,” she said. “It’s
hard on the community. That’s
such a tiny community, when
something that draws people is
gone, it’s something that’s felt
by the community.”
KARAOKE
w/ Steve - OH
Tim Mitchell
Friday, April 21 @ 9 p.m
Saturday the 22nd @ 6
Saturday Pool Tourney @ 7
Every Wednesday
from
Open MIC Night
6 - 8 p.m.
Taylor’s
Country Store
Fridays @ 6 p.m.
J Barley
Free pool on Sundays
Sportsman
Tavern
Seable expects the
building to be open as a
museum and for overnight room
rentals, with a park ranger on
duty weekdays and a volunteer
park host on site for overnights.
Reservations for room rentals
might begin in mid-April. A
formal announcement about the
park’s reopening is in the works.
Park Ranger Ed Johnson
was at the inn Friday taking care
of landscape maintenance and
getting things ready. There’s
dusting to do and linens to
refresh, along with contracts to
sign for housekeeping and linen
service. A park host will have to
be found to live in an RV trailer
out back.
Johnson, who has worked
The
G SPOT
Hump day Karaoke
w/ Jammer Dave
8-midnight
Open Mic
w/ B
Thursdays @ 7 p.m.
at the site for seven years, said
room prices have yet to be
determined and he wanted it
made clear that the restaurant
would not be open.
“I don’t want folks to be
disappointed,” he said.
The inn, restored by the
state in the 1970s, features two
parlors, a small room where
author Jack London and his
wife stayed while he wrote, and
a small room of historic photos
and pieces.
Each of the nine guest
rooms has a private bath. The
inn’s landscaped grounds stretch
to nearby Wolf Creek, with
picnic tables available for public
use.
4/20 PARTY
Thursday, April 20 @ 9
$10
The Herbal Crew
Dead Kids
Proper Nonsense
Plus Special Guests!
@
McGrew’s!