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Illinois Valley News
Wednesday, December 6, 2017, 1 Section, Volume LXXX No. 37
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Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley
Cannabis Cup
100 bass die
mysteriously
at Lake Selmac,
ODFW
investigates
Jason McMillen
IVN Contributing Writer
(Photo by Dan Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
On Saturday, Dec. 2 Cannabis Cup attendees
could sample and vote for People’s Choice during
the second annual Southern Oregon Harvest
Cannabis Cup.
Almost 100 people attended the event that
showcased 26 different flower submissions.
Selma’s Cathy Foster started the event after the
legalization of cannabis. “It’s an exciting time now,”
Foster said referring to the legalization of cannabis
under Measure 91.
Four trophies were awarded, Best Outdoor
Flower, Best Edible, Best Concentrate and People’s
Choice.
The 2016 second place finisher, Bo Hiler
stepped up his game this season. Hiler’s flower
took first place with his Valley grown Hindu Kush.
Second place honors went to Stephen Fitch for his
Sour Diesel harvest. Dustin Williamsom’s Mango
Peach took third from the judges but was the crowd
favorite. Williamsom also took the People’s Choice
Award.
In other areas Peter Nygen took the winning
trophy for his “Shatter” in the Best Concentrate
division and Michelle Curtiss’ brownies brought
home the Best Edible honors.
On Nov. 23, Thanksgiving Day, the Josephine
County Parks Department received a report that 10
largemouth bass were found dead around the lake’s
dam which is currently being rebuilt. So far, as of the
last estimate, more than 100 bass have mysteriously
perished. No other species of fish living in the lake
have been affected.
“We don’t want to speculate what may or
may not be the issue,” Parks Director Sarah Wright
said, “I do know the Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife (ODFW) has been extremely involved
with the construction project. Our first thoughts is
that is doesn’t have anything to do with that.” The
ODFW maintains that low oxygen levels in the water
or a toxic algae bloom are the most likely suspects
but they’re investigating all potential avenues for
causation. Various samples, including living and
dead bass, were taken by the ODFW late last week
for testing and they hope to provide answers as to
why this happened and how it can be avoided in the
future.
Although, perhaps only circumstantial, the die
off roughly coincided with the dam being opened
for the first time in months. Opening the dam was a
common occurrence before the construction project
began. “It’s really amazing timing that this started
about the same time that we opened the dam,” Wright
said, further adding that aside from that there’s no
other abnormal activity taking place at the lake.
SEE FISH ON A-3
Cannabis ban tabled for discussion
“The variance process is a sham,” FARM’s land
use lawyer Ross Day said, “You guys are saying
that the variance process applies. It doesn’t. You’re
misrepresenting what a variance is and how it acts.”
(Photo courtesy of 8Kustomz for the Illinois Valley News)
A dead largemouth bass floats along the
shore of Lake Selmac Saturday, Nov. 26.
Ross Day, land use attorney
Jason McMillen
IVN Contributing Writer
On Nov. 29 Commissioners Lily
Morgan and Dan DeYoung voted
to continue deliberations regarding
Ordinance No. 2017-002, which aims to
regulate the production of commercial
cannabis on Rural Residential (RR)
land, and will reconvene for another
potential vote Dec. 6. The amount
of existing grow sites that will be
affected by the ordinance, since most
of them are Oregon Medical Marijuana
Program (OMMP) farms whose location
is protected under privacy laws, is
currently unknown. Oregon Liquor
Control Commission (OLCC) farms
do not have such protections and the
county has admitted on several occasions
that they’re not the source of citizen
complaints.
The board continues to forge the
amendments despite a letter from Grants
Pass District Representative Carl Wilson
urging the commissioners to delay the
ordinance until after they’ve observed
the effects of sweeping state regulation
brought on by Senate Bill 1057 and
House Bill 2198. “These two bills were
titanic, totally retooling and some say
destroying the OMMP as we know it.
Frankly, we don’t even know how many
producers will stay in business.” Wilson
went on to explain that OMMP farms
will have to move under the OLCC’s
“seed to sale” and other regulations if
they want to grow cannabis in quantities
over 12 mature plants at a time.
DeYoung initially voted to pass
the bill as written after Morgan voted to
continue deliberations but Commissioner
Simon Hare reminded DeYoung that
he’s recused himself from all political
involvement on the matter and that if
the vote went one to one, the ordinance
would be dead in the water. After hearing
this he agreed to continue deliberations.
Hare officially recused himself
from all activity regarding the ordinance
because of the public’s perceived
conflict of interest. Because his family
owns Exclusive Farm Use land, some
allege that the Hares would profit from
the ordinance because their property
would become more valuable. However,
Hare maintains that his family has
no plans to sell the property or to
grow cannabis on it. At the Oct. 24
Administrative Workshop meeting,
prior to recusing himself Nov. 1, Hare
expressed his general frustration with
pushing the ordinance after suggesting
that it would be “a perfectly good
strategy” to automatically refer it to the
voters. “I am so tired of this issue I’m
almost to a point where I don’t care and
I’m not going to do anything on it. There
are a hundred other things that I think I
should be doing and this is not my sole
job description.”
The ordinance, in its newest
iteration, mandates that commercial
cannabis operations are banned on RR
properties which have 5 acres or less
while any RR properties greater than
5 acres may only grow at the OLCC’s
Micro Tier I and II levels. Micro Tier I
production sites may have a maximum
of 625 square feet of canopy for an
indoor grow and 2,500 square feet of
canopy for an outdoor grow. Micro
Tier II production sites may have 626
to 1,250 square feet of canopy for an
indoor grow and 2,501 to 5,000 square
feet of canopy for an outdoor grow.
For reference, 5,000 square feet is 2.3
percent of the total square footage of
5.01 acres. However, the ordinance does
not limit any RR property, as long as
they follow state, county and OMMP
rules, from growing medical cannabis in
amounts of up to 36 plants, 24 of which
must be immature at any given time.
SEE BAN ON A-3
IVHS basketball is gearing up for a hot
season
Read about it on A-12
IVHS winter
concert slated
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing
Writer
Illinois Valley High
School’s (IVHS) winter
concert is slated for Dec.
7, 7 p.m. in the cafeteria.
There is no
admission charge for the
concert.
Both choral groups
and the Symphonic Band
will perform, including a
combined grand finale.
IVHS music
instructor Joshua
Dargavell stated, “I’m
really excited for the
community to join us
for this concert. It’s a
wonderful opportunity
to support our students
and appreciate their
progress.”
Holiday music
selections include the 17
member Concert Choir
performing “First Noel”
and “Walking in a Winter
Wonderland.”
The more
experienced IVHS
Ensemble singing group
includes 11 students who
will sing “Silent Night”
and “Carol of the Bells.”
Following a
short intermission, the
Symphonic Band will
play “Let it Snow” and
the “Christmas Song.”
At the end of the
evening, the audience
will be invited to sing
along as the combined
student groups perform
“The Little Drummer
Boy,” “Deck the Halls”
and “We Wish You a
Merry Christmas.”
Dargavell said. “It’s
so nice for our students
to see adults who enjoy
singing and important for
them to see that you can
always sing. We want to
encourage them to find
other outlets to keep
singing after high school
and the opportunities are
just going to continue to
get better.”
He hopes to
develop both a pep
band to help cheer on
the football teams and
other sports, as well as
a larger, more formal
concert group over the
next few years.