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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (July 26, 2017)
YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1937 Illinois Valley News Wednesday, July 26, 2017, 1 Section, Volume LXXX No. 18 $1.00 Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley 4th DQ break-in Jason McMillen IVN Contributing Writer (Photo by Dan Mancuso, Illinois Valley News) Oregon State Police recruit trooper John Anderson looks for shell casings in the parking lot of Speedy Mart in Cave Junction July 20. Squabble ends with 1 in hospital, 1 behind bars “I saw Jed looking very determined, like he had tunnel vision” The Cave Junction Dairy Queen was found burglarized on the morning of July 19, 2017. It’s the fourth time this restaurant has been broken into so far this year. The burglar made away with a single ice cream cake but, while leaving the premises, accidentally dropped it onto the floor which was covered in broken glass. He did not attempt to exchange his glass covered cake with a new one. “He just picked it up and kept going. I don’t know, I guess he ate it,” Nancy Clark, assistant manager, said. The suspect was caught on camera and although he partially concealed his face with a black scarf it is rumored that authorities have a person of interest in the case. Sheriff Daniel could not divulge additional information about the case because it’s still under investigation. “The sheriff’s department—they do a good job,” Clark said, “They do what they can.” During the course of the crime, the man broke two windows with rocks, the first of which was too high up to crawl through. After shattering the second window and gaining entry he proceeded to smash open the cake freezer. Unfortunately, attempts to lift fingerprints from what remained of the cake freezer’s glass door were unsuccessful. “I don’t know what the attraction is with the damn ice cream cakes,” Clark said, frustrated that three of the four break-ins this year have resulted in stolen cakes. Of those three incidents, two stole nothing but a single cake. Clark firmly feels that most of the burglaries around town are perpetrated by a small group of local drug addicts; most of which, she feels, have lived in the area their entire lives. Clark has been working at the Dairy Queen in Cave Junction for 8 ½ years and in all that time never experienced a break-in until this year.“They’re not going to beat us,” Clark said, stoic in her resolve, “We’re here and we’re staying here.” Carol Thomas, Speedy Mart By Dan Mancuso IVN Staff Shortly before 9 p.m. July 20, 2017 Speedy Mart manager Carol Thomas heard what she thought was three firecrackers. Thomas went outside to tell the, what she assumed was children to take their fireworks somewhere else. What she saw was in her words was a “very determined” Ronald Jedidiah Fehlhaber, age 32, of Cave Junction, rounding the fence behind the store’s parking lot looking to fire more shots at Floyd “Bubba” Argus Greenlee, 29, also of Cave Junction According to Thomas, earlier in the day Fehlhaber and Greenlee had some sort of an altercation after which Fehlhaber returned with a 0.22 caliber pistol. “I saw Jed looking very determined, like he had tunnel vision,” Thomas said. “I yelled, ‘Hey Jed, get the heck out of here’ and he snapped out of it and started walking toward Jubilee Park.” Thomas, with help from store patron Zane Blankenship, moved Greenlee into the store and locked it down. Thomas called 911 and started to give instructions to Blankenship who was applying pressure to Greenlee’s wounds. “The 911 operator kept me calm, told me what to do, she was so awesome, without her I don’t know what I would have done,” Thomas said. This is not Fehlhaber’s first incident discharging a firearm in town. May 25, 2016, Fehlhaber discharged a firearm in a crowded Jubilee Park during another argument. Fehlhaber left the park that day shirtless wearing a skipper’s hat and riding a beach cruiser. That incident caused the lockdown of local schools. On July 22, 2017, around noon, Fehlhaber turned himself into the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. On April 19, 2017, the Illinois Valley Soil & Water Conservation District (IVSWCD) was denied use of the county building in Cave Junction for a cannabis farmer’s forum on the grounds that the County Board of Commissioners had, at some point, banned all cannabis related events on county property. Despite the ban, on the evening of June 26, the Illinois Valley News witnessed Commissioner Dan DeYoung attend a cannabis themed event, at the county building, with a group of citizens who primarily voiced their extreme dissatisfaction with the cannabis industry’s presence in the area. Mark Seligman, a local community activist, further complicated the issue when he attempted to rent the county building out July 23, and was, like the IVSWCD, denied its use on the grounds that his event was cannabis related and fell under the ban—even though DeYoung himself attended a cannabis related event there just a month before. “Dan DeYoung broke his own order,” Seligman said. Wally Hicks, Josephine County’s legal council, said Health Center announces new CEO Ronald Jedidiah Fehlhaber County violates constitutional right of freedom of speech Jason McMillen IVN Contributing Writer Siskiyou Community that the ban was made via a “verbal vote” and was intended to prevent a singular outdoor cannabis event. He added further that banning all cannabis related events on county property is unconstitutional on the grounds that it inhibits freedom of speech and could, in no way, be a legal policy due to that. However, in the email sent by Glenda Wooldridge, with Josephine County Building Operations, to Amy Britt, IVSWCD’s office manager April 19 at 11:39 a.m., it was written by Wooldridge that, “Our Legal Dept. has advised us that these meetings are considered marijuana themed events which the Board of Commissioners has decided will not be held on county property.” Wooldridge refused to answer any questions regarding who, or what department, informed her that cannabis related events had been banned. When Seligman was refunded the $25 rental fee, he allegedly requested that his receipt be signed by Wooldridge along with a written statement as to why he was denied. When she refused he went to Josephine County’s legal department and was denied again. Grants Pass, Ore. - Siskiyou Community Health Center July 12, announced that its board of directors has unanimously chosen Rich Booth as the new chief executive officer (CEO). Booth, who has been serving as the chief operating officer (COO) of Siskiyou Community Health Center since 2008, will succeed the late Kurt Higuera. Booth and Higuera worked closely for nearly 10 years and, together, have ushered Siskiyou Community Health Center through the last decade of strategic growth and service expansion for the community. After thorough succession planning and a comprehensive search process, the board is pleased to have found the best individual to assume leadership of the organization. Under Booth’s exceptional leadership as the COO, Siskiyou Community Health Center has seen many exciting hanges and growth. They’ve expanded from 87 employees in 2008 to currently over 200 employees. SEE CEO ON A-10 SEE FREEDOM ON A-10 Navigating the currents of water rights and regulations Read about it on A-5 Rich Booth
