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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2002)
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, October 23, 2002 Page 9 Time bank opens daily for our use Pacific Power seeks help to prevent expenses due to vandalism and theft Imagine that there is a bank crediting your account each morning with $86,400. Every evening that part of the balance you didn’t use during the day is deleted. What would you do? Draw out all of it, of course. Each of us has such a bank. Its name is Time. Every morning it credits us with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this we failed to invest to good purpose. It car- ries over no balance: It allows no overdraft. Each day it open a new account for us. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If we fail to use the day’s de- posits, the loss is ours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the “tomorrow.” We must live in the pre- sent on today’s deposits. In- vest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success. The clock is running. Make the most of today. *To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade. *To realize the value of one month, ask a mother who gave birth prematurely. *To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. *To realize the value of one hour, ask sweethearts waiting to meet. *To realize the value of one minute, ask a person who missed a train. *To realize the value of one millisecond, ask the per- son who won a silver medal in the Olympics. Treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special -- spe- cial enough to spend your time. And remember that Time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mys- tery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present. Every year, said Pacific Power, it faces numerous cases of preventable damage and vandalism to its power lines, poles and equipment from power thieves, vandals and those shooting power line insulators and equipment for target practice. These dangerous and costly incidents could be avoided if people knew of the consequences of their actions. Pacific Power is asking the public to stay alert to the danger associated with van- dalism and damage to equip- ment, help prevent serious injury and report dangerous or illegal behavior. “People need to realize the danger involved with shooting at lines, poles and insulators, tampering with meters or vandalizing electri- cal equipment,” said Amy Es- chete, Pacific Power public safety consultant. “Damage to equipment goes well beyond increasing costs for our business and our c u s t o m e rs , ” s h e s a i d . “Destructive behavior around power equipment can result in serious injury, even death.” Overhead lines can carry very high voltage - - up to 500,000 volts. Persons think- ing high voltage electric lines and insulators make good tar- get practice should think again. One gun shot to an in- sulator, the piece that isolates electrical current in power lines from the poles and tow- ers that support them, can en- ergize the poles, towers and anything they’re touching, including the ground, even if the power line stays up on the pole or tower. That electrical charge could cause serious injury or kill anyone who come in con- tact, including the vandal, any innocent passerby or a line worker who comes out to re- pair the line. If the power line should fall, it could land on and seriously hurt or kill the vandal or could land on the ground, stay energized and hurt or kill anyone or any ani- mal that touches or goes near it, said Pacific Power. Besides dangers, at nearly $12,000 per insulator the van- dalism is expensive to fix. It’s also an inconvenience to cus- tomers when service is inter- rupted, especially in remote Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge. Three Rivers School District directors toured the construction site at Lorna Byrne Middle School and liked what they saw. (Photos by Britt Fairchild) Lorna Byrne construction proceeding well By BRITT FAIRCHILD Construction at the new Lorna Byrne Middle School site is ahead of schedule by approximately three weeks, according to Three Rivers School District Superintendent Dr. David Burgess. Prior to their Tuesday night, Oct. 16 board meeting at Illinois Valley High School, Burgess and the other district board members toured both floors of the new school, which will consist of 52,000 square feet of space. They noted certain features includ- ing the elevator shaft, and the future biology labs upstairs. “They’re moving along 333 Redwood Hwy. Cave Junction 592-6434 or Lounge 592-4984 pretty well,” said board Chair- man Martin Seybold, who along with the others seemed impressed with the progres- sion of the project, as well as the site cleanliness. With the base of the first floor complete, the second floor is being constructed. Roofing will start in approxi- mately five weeks, according to Burgess. Darren Lee, project man- ager of the Lorna Byrne site and the site for the new Fruit- dale Elementary School in Grants Pass, briefly updated board members on both school projects during the tour. He followed with more in-depth reports on the progress of Lorna Byrne and Fruitdale during the meeting at IVHS. A $24 million Three Riv- ers School bond measure passed in November 2000 is funding the construction at both schools, as well as reno- vations in the district’s 13 other schools. The new Lorna Byrne Middle School is scheduled to open in September 2003. “I think it’s safe to say we’re pretty ecstatic,” Burgess said. “It is a real exciting time for our students, and the staff, and hopefully the commu- nity.” areas where repairs can be difficult and time consuming. In Oregon, transmission line vandalism is a class “C” felony, punishable by high fines and jail terms. Tampering with meters raises another safety concern. Tampering, which most often takes place when people are trying to “steal” power, may cause severe electrical flashes, expose energized wires or in- volve other improper wiring, creating hazards to the public. Tampering with meters can be hazardous to workers and the culprit. Electrical flashes can cause serious burns to van- dals. Hidden traps caused by tampering may cause injury to meter readers, electrical work- ers, people walking by and children playing. In addition, electrical fires may result, putting personal property and other innocent people at risk. Pacific Power offers some tips to help people avoid dan- ger related to vandalism, me- ter tampering and other elec- trical hazards. *If you witness an inci- dent of someone shooting at a power line or electrical facili- ties, or if you see someone acting suspiciously around an electric meter, panel box, transformer or power lines, report them immediately to the authorities. *Report meter tampering, open electric meters or other apparent electrical hazards involving power systems to Pacific Power (888) 221-7070. *Keep children away from electric equipment at all times. They should not play on or around pad-mounted ground transformers (the green boxes you see in the neighborhoods having underground electric lines), substations or other electric equipment. *If someone becomes in- jured by contacting exposed wires or energized lines, do not touch them or anything they’re touching because they still may be in contact with wires or other equipment. 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You can’t base your life on other people’s expectations.