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Illinois Valley News
Wednesday, December 13, 2017, 1 Section, Volume LXXX No. 38
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Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley
RiverStars
Attorney
calls RR-5
variance
a sham
Jason McMillen
IVN Contributing Writer
(Photos by Birdy for the Illinois Valley News)
Arwyn Branum (above), Jayden Conrad, Maliyah
Meisenburg, Riley Branum. Elijah Ocean (bottom
left) and John Gardiner ham it up while Taylor
Hammers (bottom right) performs a solo during
“SuperReal” Sunday, Dec. 10 at Lorna Byrne.
Evergreen’s grade has silver lining
“Studies show that if kids are reading at third grade level by
the end of third grade, they will graduate from high school.
If kids understand fifth grade math by the end of fifth grade,
they have a better chance of graduating from high school.”
On Dec. 6 the Josephine County Board of
County Commissioners approved Ordinance No.
2017-002, which aims to regulate the production
of cannabis on Rural Residential (RR) land. Simon
Hare, who recused himself entirely from all action
related to the ordinance Nov. 1—citing the public’s
perceived conflict of interest—abstained while
Lily Morgan and Dan DeYoung voted in favor.
The county expects a series of lawsuits in response
to the new laws, most specifically from Farm &
Agricultural Rights Management, a collective of
affected parties rallied under Ross Day, a decorated
land use attorney.
Ordinances in Josephine County have a 90
day grace period before becoming effective during
which time citizens have the opportunity to circulate
a petition which, should it gain the required amount
of signatures, will refer the issue to the voters.
The local regulations come in tandem with
Senate Bill 1057 and House Bill 2198, whose
untested and titanic modifications to the production
of both medical and recreational cannabis will
change the face of the industry. “We don’t even
know how many producers will stay in business,”
Representative Carl Wilson said in a letter urging
the commissioners to delay the ordinance until the
effects of state law could be assessed.
Although the rules have yet to be crafted,
a variance process will, in theory, allow select
operations on RR properties 5 acres or less to
continue on as micro scale farms but only if they
are able to prove, on a case-by-case basis, that
their grow site will not interfere with neighbors.
However, Day holds that the process is a “sham”
and that the commissioners are misrepresenting
what a variance is, thereby giving farmers a false
sense of hope. All other recreational grow sites on
properties 5 acres and less will be outright banned
while those on properties more than 5 acres will
only be allowed to operate at the Oregon Liquor
Control Commission’s (OLCC) Micro Tier I and
Micro Tier II levels.
SEE SHAM ON A-5
Dave Regal, Evergreen Elementary Principal
Anita R. Savio
IVN Contributing Writer
In a frank and far-ranging interview,
Evergreen Elementary School Principal
David Regal spoke of the school’s
strengths and challenges. Evergreen
serves kindergarten through fourth grade,
plus a Life Skills class that equips special
needs students with the skills they need
to thrive in the classroom, overall school
environment and the world beyond.
Fifth grade students attend Lorna Byrne
Middle School.
Regal started off with a discussion
of Evergreen student scores, as detailed
on its yearly “report card” issued by the
state. Compared to other elementary
students in Oregon, Evergreen’s scores
are a mixed bag. The school’s report card
for the 2016 - 2017 school year shows
that Evergreen students rated a “3” out of
a possible “5” in academic achievement
in each of the two key subjects of English
language arts and math, where “5” is
the highest possible score and “1” is the
lowest. That puts Evergreen students
roughly in the middle of the pack, at
about a “C” level grade.
On a higher note, the same report
shows that Evergreen students earned
a “5” in academic growth between
third and fourth grade. Improvement is
measured by the change in scores on the
Smarter Balanced test, administered to
students throughout Oregon. In other
words, Evergreen students were in the
top range of students around the state in
terms of how much they have progressed
academically. Not only that, but the “5”
grade was up from a “4” the previous
year.
Regal hastened to add that academic
growth does not automatically happen
between third and fourth grade, but is
based on the intensive work the school
has to do with students at the lower
levels.
“And that’s part of our problem,”
he said. “Kids are often not school-ready.
That’s why you have a low academic
achievement level, because kids are still
trying to close the gap.”
According to Regal, about 50
percent of kids entering kindergarten at
Evergreen have not been in any kind of
a preschool. And although there is what
he describes as some great preschool
programs available in the Illinois Valley,
the programs do not have enough places
for all the children who would benefit
from them.
Pre-school programs mentioned by
Regal include the Head Start program
for very low income children, age’s
three to four. About 25 to 30 graduates
of that program enter Evergreen each
year. Another is the Preschool Promise
program, also operated by Head Start,
that serves 17 three and four-year-olds
from slightly higher-income families.
Regal also mentioned the local Christian
Academy preschool as being an available
resource.
SEE GRADE ON A-5
Bud Junction puts a different spin on cannabis sales
Read about it on A-12
Chetco Bar road
closures reduced
GOLD BEACH—
On Dec. 8, Rogue River-
Siskiyou National Forest
managers significantly
reduced the Chetco Bar
Fire Temporary Closure
Area on the Gold Beach
Ranger District.
They have now
reduced the number of
road miles closed within
the closure area by
about 62 percent and the
number of acres by about
65 percent.
The changes
follow several meetings
Rogue River-Siskiyou
N.F. Supervisor Rob
MacWhorter and Gold
Beach District Ranger
Tina Lanier held with
employees, Curry
County commissioners
and Curry County
Sheriff John Ward. They
also met with members
of the Curry Citizens for
Public Land Access, and
Chetco Bar Fire-Curry
Prevention and Recovery
groups.
The two Forest
Service managers also
spent much of last week
visiting burned areas
within the 191,125-
acre Chetco Bar Fire to
assess hazards and find
ways closures could be
reduced.
“We heard the
public’s concerns about
access to their national
forest and reduced the
size of closed areas to
improve access,” Lanier
said. “We understand
closures can be a major
inconvenience and
will continue to reduce
the size of closures as
conditions improve.”
SEE CHETCO ON A-9