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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 2017)
YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1937 Illinois Valley News Wednesday, November 22, 2017, 1 Section, Volume LXXX No. 35 Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley USO meets CJ DeYoung fires back after strong- arm tactics accusation By Dan Mancuso IVN Staff Writer (Photo by Laura Mancuso, Illinois Valley News) Line dancers wear their red, white and blue for the veterans lunch and dance to the music of Paul and Maureen Hansen at the I.V. Senior Center Tuesday, Nov. 14. The line dancers meet at the senior center Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 - 11:30 a.m. and Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Santa is coming to town! Judy Hoyle IVN Contributing Writer Santa will leave his reindeer and sleigh at the North Pole Nov. 25 when he visits Cave Junction for the annual community Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony. Santa will arrive by fire truck, courtesy of I.V. Fire District for the popular holiday kickoff slated to begin at 5 p.m. at the intersection of Caves Hwy. and Redwood Hwy. Santa will be joined by Cave Junction Mayor Daniel Dalegowski and other dignitaries. A variety of family fun activities are planned, including a bake sale, Christmas caroling by attendees and members of the RCC / I.V. Chorus and a special coloring booth hosted by Mary Pustay. Free goodie bags will be available, courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service, which will include coloring books and educational materials. Free treats are also in store including cookies and cocoa donated by Shop Smart and candy canes donated by Maureen Connolly and (Photo by Judy Hoyle, Illinois Valley News) I.V. Chamber team members Melissa Becker (left) , Mary Pustay and Angie Graves decorate candy canes for the Tree Lighting event. Selma Second-Hand owners Melissa and Larry Becker. Kate Dwyer Catering will prepare the cocoa and Adam Kistler will provide the sound system. In advance of the event, Ronnie Fuson, owner of Rock ‘n Soil, will be grading around the tree to eliminate puddles. I.V. Chamber of Commerce coordinator Angie Graves has planned the tree lighting event to coincide with Small Business Saturday this year to help promote Cave Junction businesses. “This will be really fun, I’m really excited,” she said. Her preparations have included printing caroling booklets and decorating the candy canes to resemble Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, with help from Melissa Becker and Mary Pustay. “I’m most excited about securing a Snapchat Geo Filter,” Graves said. “It’s the first we’ve had in CJ that I’m aware of. We’re inviting the public to come take a special CJ Christmas tree selfie with their cell phones.” The I.V. Chamber recently teamed with Illinois Valley Community Development Organization (IVCanDO) and Rural Development Initiatives, based in Eugene, Oregon, to survey local businesses as to what kinds of support they need. The results of the survey indicated that downtown businesses were most interested in help with security and city beautification. SEE SANTA ON A-10 IVCDO releases safety tips Jason McMillen IVN Contributing Writer The Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce and the grant funded IVcanDO’s Public Safety Task Force has compiled a list of storefront safety tips to help deter burglaries, damage to property and other less than desirous activities. Although it’s reportedly just the first and most basic step in a continuing campaign to improve public safety, it may assist business owners with outside of the box advice that they haven’t yet thought up themselves. The Public Safety Task Force currently have on their agenda plans to unite and organize neighborhood watches with a comprehensive website, integrate mental health support with law enforcement, address the safety threat posed by abandoned buildings and squatters, coordinate with the Oregon State Police to tackle the problem of warm weather drag racing in and around Cave Junction, improve disaster preparedness and possibly create a shelter for the homeless to occupy. An objective study into the effects of the cannabis industry on public safety has also been discussed. Coordinator for the Chamber of Commerce Angie Graves is distributing the handout door to door, which outlines 21 tactics for avoiding trouble like not publicly posting vacation plans and leaving cash registers visibly open and empty at night. “A lot of this is the result of the public safety survey. One of the main things was, of course, security, for the downtown businesses,” Graves said, “The basic first step for us to take was giving security tips.” Graves, who until recently was not affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce, is getting up to speed after a few months of diligent work. She hopes to be able to recruit some new members under her leadership because many of the chamber’s 60 members are aging and may no longer wish to continue on in the future. Kate Dwyer, IVcanDO’s community development coordinator, said that the Public Safety Taskforce is also in the process of getting approval from the City of Cave Junction to make a proposal to the county commissioners for the allocation of revenue from the sale of the county building. The additional income, if approved, would be used for downtown security aspects. The specifics have yet to be discussed and will be reviewed during their next meeting Dec. 14. Although the Safety Tips document is ultimately a small thing,” Dwyer said, “we hope it will be one step in advancing local business self-reliance while also fostering a sense of mutual support in our business community.” Two local men get high, but not in the way you think Learn more about two of our local high climbers on A-3 $1.00 Passions are running high with the marijuana growing restrictions debate for Rural Residential (RR) properties in Josephine County. A few weeks back a couple young ladies representing a pro-grow community group aptly named “Growmunity,” met with Commissioner Dan DeYoung. During that meeting Cassie Cooper claims DeYoung used strong-arm tactics to get her to back down. (File Photo for, the Illinois Valley News) Dan DeYoung Cooper stated in an email to the Illinois Valley News that DeYoung said the following: “This ordinance is gonna happen. And if you keep fighting me on it you will get an outright ban. There are folks in the community who have put a petition together and are very close to having all the signatures required to get it on the ballot in May.” DeYoung views the conversation differently, “I was trying to explain to her what I felt would happen if we just stopped working on this ordinance.” Although DeYoung went on to say that he has heard there are people gathering signatures on a petition to ban all growing on RR property in Josephine County, he does not know who those people are. “I was trying to inform them there are folks out there that will do it. I am not the enemy. We have a pathway and they need to follow it.” The pathway DeYoung speaks of is under the currently proposed ordinance - any RR property over 5 acres would be able to seek a variance. “They would need to go through the planning department like any other resident and apply for a variance.” DeYoung failed to answer a question about who ultimately would make the decision to accept or deny the request and if they rarely approve a variance, it would still be a de facto ban. SEE DAN ON A-10 2 free holiday concerts focus on gratitude, community and the holidays Judy Hoyle IVN Contributing Writer Two inspiring holiday concerts are slated to take place at Immanuel United Methodist Church in the next two weeks. Both choral concerts will be under the direction of Kate Campbell. The first will feature the Rogue Community College / Illinois Valley Chorus in a free concert Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. The chorus will perform “Giving Thanks: Songs of Gratitude and Community” featuring compositions by Johannes Brahms, Paul Simon, Josh Groban and a Navajo prayer. The audience will be invited to open the concert with the chorus by singing the well-known Cat Stevens tune “Morning has Broken.” A reception will follow the RCC / I.V. Chorus concert. The second free concert, titled “Go Where I Send Thee!” will take place Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. The title takes its name from a traditional gospel spiritual which changes key, ever higher, 13 times. The performance will include “The 12 Days of Christmas,” rendered in a variety of styles ranging from Gregorian chant to John Phillips Sousa, and a peppy “Jingle Bells” in seven-eighth time. J.S. Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” has been updated by two choir members, Kim Bibeau and Valentina Scibilia. Billed as “A Christmas-Palooza to Brighten and Warm the Season of Dark and Cold,” the concert will feature the 3 Rivers Chorale. SEE MUSIC ON A-9
