Grants Pass
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Call 541- ing. $450 OBO g a . P . M a g .
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221-2781
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October 26, 2014
Sunday
75 cents
Weather
Poll offers
insight to
failed public
safety levies
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Seasonal change
Expect showers Sunday,
then a brief break before
more rain. See Page 2A.
Sunday’s high
Monday’s high
59
62
Results indicate future
levy could pass with
some adjustments
What’s inside
Analyzing fear
Experts get
to the heart
of what
scares us
and offer
advice on
how to
conquer fear.
USA WEEKEND / Inside
By Shaun Hall
of the Daily Courier
Shop ‘til ya drop
Check out our roundup of
holiday
bazaars and
Christmas
craft fairs
being put on
by local
nonprofit
groups.
Page 8B
TIMOTHY BULLARD/Daily Courier
Cheryl Keil explains the ins and outs of the medical marijuana dispensary business, inside
her own Mainstreaming Our Medicine dispensary in Kerby.
Local pot dispensaries
open amid uncertainty
By Jeff Duewel
of the Daily Courier
In a rout
Grants Pass blows out
South Eugene to earn a
share of the Southwest
Conference football title.
SPORTS / Page 1B
Bloody good
Barnstormers takes on
Shakespeare’s Scottish
play, “Macbeth,” with
ruthless vigor.
SPORTS / Page 1B
What’s online
Web highlights
Videos, photo galleries, even
a Fun Finder. There’s always
plenty going on at ...
thedailycourier.com
A look ahead
KERBY — Cheryl Keil said marijuana saved her husband Jesse’s
life, after a stroke 15 years ago left
him partially paralyzed and suffering from depression.
They ventured from Idaho to the
Illinois Valley, where an old friend
had a pot garden.
“He started smoking marijuana
daily. It made all the difference in
the world in him wanting to live,”
Keil said. “It takes the edges off his
pain. It saved his life.”
This experience and others motivated Keil and Tony Smith of Cave
Junction to open a medical marijuana dispensary in August next to the
Kerby General Store. The name of
the dispensary is Mainstreaming
Our Medicine.
Framed on the wall, a couple of
feet from a bong for smoking pot, is
a license approved by the Oregon
Health Authority, which manages
the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program. They also opened another dispensary, Providing All Patients
Access, a month ago in Cave Junction.
Keil and Smith’s dispensaries,
and one recently opened in Selma
called Sacred Flower, are just three
of over 200 licensed by the state of
Oregon since a new law allowing
such businesses took effect in
March. They’re the only ones oper-
Turn to POLL, Page 10A
Harry & David
announces 970
job openings
TIMOTHY BULLARD/Daily Courier
The medical marijuana symbol can be seen in front of MOM’s
— Mainstreaming Our Medicine — a dispensary that has
operated in Kerby for over two months.
ating in Josephine County.
But in the legal whirlpool that is
medical marijuana in Oregon, they
have been told to stop operating, by
of the Daily Courier
Whether you’re throwing a
Halloween party or just want
to scare up something fun to
eat, try these eerie edibles.
TUESDAY
Where to find it
Abby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9B
Classified . . . . . . . . . .1-6C
Comics . . . . . . . . . . . .12B
Entertainment . . . . . . .6-7B
Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . .3A
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . .4A
Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9A
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . .1-4B
Call us at 541-474-3700
email [email protected]
Volume CV
No. 28 Issue 31510
3 Sections, 30 Pages
the city of Cave Junction and by
Josephine County.
Turn to MARIJUANA, Page 11A
MEDFORD — Harry & David announced Friday it is looking to fill more than 3,000 open positions this holiday season, including 970 openings
in Medford.
Publicist Ruben Marinbach said there are a
“variety” of immediate openings at the gourmet
food and gift company’s Medford campus,
including the call center and in shipping and
packaging.
He also said at least some of the jobs openings are for permanent positions and not just
seasonal.
To learn more about the positions, visit
www.HarryandDavid.com/Jobs or www.Facebook.com/HarryandDavidCareers, or apply in
person at 2800 South Pacific Highway in Medford.
The announcement comes on the heels of
news that supermarket chain WinCo Foods is
building a new store in Grants Pass and plans to
hire up to 180 people full-time.
WinCo is an employee-owned chain that says
it offers most staffers, including part-time
employees, pension benefits and health care coverage.
Area voters still lean right, but fewer claim party affiliation
By Jim Moore
Tricky treats
On the heels of a poll that suggested
Josephine County voters would approve a public
safety levy if it was constructed and promoted
properly — and if it included beefed up patrols
— organizers said signature gathering would
begin soon on a new measure.
A poll commissioned by two citizen groups
earlier this month found that the failed jail levy
in May — the third May in a row — was doomed
in part because voters distrusted government
and because proponents failed to pour enough
money into a campaign to pass the measure.
The poll results, which were unveiled Thursday at Taprock Northwest Grill in downtown
Grants Pass, found however that voters supported a reworked measure that calls for a tax rate
of $1.40 per $1,000 of assessed value — higher,
actually, than last May’s failed proposal of $1.19
per $1,000.
The latest proposal calls for the money to be
spent differently. Specifically, it calls for
increased funding of rural sheriff’s patrols, plus
additional funding for jail and juvenile programs, whereas last May’s proposal didn’t call
for direct funding of patrols.
At 58 cents, Josephine County currently has
the lowest property tax rate in the state, far
below the average of more than $2 per $1,000.
Psst, want to know the worst-kept secret in
Southern Oregon?
Here it is: To win a majority of votes in
Josephine County, get endorsed by the Republican Party.
Historically, local voters consistently send
Republicans to Salem in House District 3, House
District 4 and Senate District 2. House District 3
encompasses Josephine County and the other
two districts include Josephine County voters.
Even unsuccessful Republican candidates
such as Art Robinson, who has twice lost to
incumbent Peter DeFazio for the U.S. House of
Representatives, have carried Josephine County.
DeFazio, who hails from Springfield, prevails
because his district also includes Lane County,
which has a Democratic edge.
Here’s another example. In a sometimes messy
race for the nonpartisan position of Josephine
County commissioner in 2010 between incumbent
Dave Toler and challenger Simon Hare, local
Republicans pushed Hare over the top.
These results are not surprising considering
the voter breakdown in Josephine County.
Through September of this year there are
20,717 registered Republicans in the county,
according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s
Office. Compare that to the 13,464 registered
Democrats and it’s easy to see why the GOP
dominates elections.
There is a total of 50,551 registered voters in
the county. The Independent Party has the third
most voters with 2,964 and there are another
1,776 registered voters who belong to other minor
parties.
That leaves 11,630 registered voters who are
not affiliated with any organized party. It also
means there are 29,834 total registered voters
who are not Republicans.
Turn to VOTERS, Page 10A