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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2022)
Applegater Winter 2022 Presentation to offer information on shared solar for those who can’t do their own installation New book deals with old murder in the Applegate BY LESLIE GHIGLIERI BY ALAN JOURNET Think you can’t go solar? Think again! Join us on January 19 in Jacksonville to find out how you can score huge savings from solar energy even if you cannot install panels on your own home. Renewable energy is becoming ever cheaper and is paying back the investment in its installation Energy from solar panels installed on the more quickly as prices come down Oregon Shakespeare Festival workshop building and state and federal rebates and in Talent is distributed to nearby neighbors credits encourage it. The average as part of a community solar project. payback time in the US is some 10 years with an annual savings of around $2,000. Since solar panels new home so long as they remain within have a life expectancy of more than 25 the Pacific Power service area. Solarize Rogue is a local nonprofit years and generally require minimal maintenance, the average homeowner that has already perfected this approach. could get many years of pure gravy in With its partner, the Oregon Clean Power Coop, Solarize Rogue has completed terms of financial savings. The catch is that not everyone can a community solar project featuring install solar panels on their roof. Some panels installed on the roof of the roofs are shaded or have the wrong Oregon Shakespeare Festival Production orientation, some roofs are old and in Building in Talent. They have pioneered need of repair so cannot support the this approach and ironed the wrinkles panels. Some families live in apartment out. Their first project generates 141 buildings or rent their homes and cannot kW and powers the homes of 16 install panels, even if they are interested. Rogue Valley residents. The project also includes providing service to two low- But there is a solution! Thanks to legislation passed by the income valley residents. Solarize Rogue is now scaling up. Their Oregon legislature several years ago, it is now possible for those of us who next project will be in Chiloquin and will cannot install solar panels to invest in a again serve the Pacific Power Utility area. community solar project and achieve the Thus, anyone who is served by Pacific same goals. The strategy involves some Power will be eligible to invest in the new generous individual(s) or entrepreneur(s) project and reap the benefits. The Jacksonville Climate Action Team acquiring real estate that is amenable to solar generation and is near electricity of Southern Oregon Climate Action Now grid access to install a field of solar panels is partnering with Solarize Rogue to bring and inviting others to invest in them. The information about this opportunity to result is that the solar farm, including our Jacksonville and the Applegate Valley. Ray solar panels, is cheaper to build because of Sanchez-Pescador, President of Solarize economies of scale, leading to additional Rogue and a major driving force behind savings for residents. It pumps electricity the first certified project in Pacific Power into the grid that replaces electricity territory and the first “participant-owned” we extract from the grid. So long as project in the state, will lead a discussion the community solar farm is pumping of how Jacksonville and Applegate Valley electricity into the same grid from which residents can benefit from this project. we take our electricity (for most of The public meeting will be held from us in Jackson County, this means the 5:30-7 pm Thursday, January 19, at the PacificCorp grid), we have an opportunity Jacksonville Public Library. (This event to invest in enough solar panels to offset is neither sponsored by nor endorsed by the electricity we use. This opportunity Jackson County Library Services.) Alan Journet also works for renters who move, since alanjournet@gmail.com they can continue to reap rewards in their Special Offer! Buy One Get One half off of equal or lesser value ($15 minimum) 211 NE A Street Grants Pass, OR 97526 Giannellisatasteofitaly.net Get an additional 10% off when you mention this ad in the Applegater! 21 I am excited to introduce my book The Decision to Kill: A True Crime Story of a Teenage Killer and the Mother Who Loved Him, released in June, that tells the story of a murder that took place in the Applegate Valley in October 1986. I wrote this book to fulfill a promise I made to my friend Cherie Wier, whose story fills the pages. In 2016, Cherie asked me to document the story of her husband’s murder by their teenage son. The book tells of the crime, but the story is about more than a murder. For years, Cherie struggled to overcome the consuming grief she suffers from the loss of her husband and the difficulty she faces as she attempts to forgive her son, Dwayne. The courtroom accounts of gruesome details and the shocking testimonies from experts add to Cherie’s desire to make sense of the crime. Tormented by wanting to know why this tragedy happened, she wonders if she could have prevented it. This book gives the reader an unusual look into the personal circumstances leading up to and after the crime. Cherie shares intimate details of her family’s struggles with substance abuse and a mental health disorder—the mistakes, disappointments, and tensions that led to the crime. Included are excerpts from letters written by the convicted teen revealing his battle with addiction, sexual identity, and his search for faith. Readers are challenged to conclude for themselves whether positive change is possible for violent sociopaths. The Decision to Kill is an unusually personal true crime story because it is told to the author by the mother herself and contains excerpts from letters written to her by her killer son while he is in prison. The crime reader will appreciate the rare insight this book provides into what the murderer himself describes as his “twisted mind.” The killer hints at the formation of “the decision” he made and how that one decision forever altered the course of many lives. Dwayne’s ever-changing views will challenge readers to decide if there is hope for true, positive change in violent sociopaths. My writing of the book was informed by my career in law enforcement, which began at a 911 Center in Santa Cruz County, California. Relocating to Oregon, I joined the Josephine County Sheriff’s Department and later provided computer services to local criminal justice agencies. The Decision to Kill is available locally at Devitt Winery (on Highway 238 between Ruch and Applegate), Rebel Heart Books in Jacksonville, and Bloomsbury Books in Ashland. A portion of all sales goes to the Restoring Our Community (ROC) Recovery Center, a faith-based organization in Medford serving Jackson and Josephine counties that provides help to those dealing with substance addiction and their families. This center provides the kind of help that Cherie looked for but couldn’t find when she was dealing with her own addicted son. Leslie Ghiglieri lghiglieri35@gmail.com
