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