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.
Phone 911 immediately and
wait for help to arrive.
Money will buy a pretty good dog,
but it won’t buy the wag of his tail.
Stevereno’s Lounge
(the new party place)
Come in and watch
Monday Night Football
on large screen TV with
(Located at the corner of Rockydale Road and Hwy. 199)
GREAT FOOD
592-5386
starting at $2.00 a plate.
Stock up now for next years
planting projects.
“FREE” chip & dip
1/2 time drink specials.
Come join the fun & meet new friends.
333 Redwood Highway - 592-4984
(Behind Stevereno’s Family Restaurant)
Full Lottery & pool table too!
Monday - Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday - 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
ALL PACKAGED SEEDS
50% OFF
FALL BULBS ARE HERE
PLANT THEM NOW FOR EARLY
SPRING COLOR!
We feature many
Tues. - Sat. - Noon to 9 p.m.
Sunday - Noon to 8 p.m.
(Closed Monday)
Take-Outs: U-Bet!
Gardner & Bloome
Soil Amendments
Do not follow where the path may lead.
Go instead where there is no path,
and leave a trail.
Better Quality
Better Quantity
Better Prices!
You can’t base your life on other
people’s expectations.