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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2007)
Page 14 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, November 21, 2007 All bomb warnings taken Fewer violent deaths in state, but suicides on rise of The report also found suicides. were white. seriously to protect kids violent While deaths the in number Oregon de- that 16 percent of the suicides *Homicide deaths de- *Nearly half of all vio- Although there is a his- tory of bomb threats at county schools, including a rash of them involving Illinois Valley High School (IVHS) recently, no explosive devices have ever been found. And yet, each incident needs appropriate response, and such threats are taken quite seriously, said Jose- phine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson. “Each year the county’s three high schools experience approximately two to three bomb threats,” he said. “These threats remain consis- tent in their content, delivery method and end result. De- spite the threats experienced each year, no bombs or an indication of an explosive device has ever been found on or near school grounds in Josephine County. “There is no indication in the current investigation of the recent threats,” the sheriff continued, “that suggest that student, faculty or visitors to IVHS were actually placed in danger.” He stressed that the sher- iff’s office, in partnership with Three Rivers School District (TRSD), “take these threats very seriously.” Said Gilbertson, “When any school in our jurisdiction receives a threat of this na- ture, the school district and sheriff’s office take immedi- ate steps to first and foremost safeguard the students. A search of the entire school is conducted, and should any suspicious item be found, it is removed as soon as possible and as safely as possible. “Each case is being in- vestigated, and it is our policy to hold the offenders respon- sible to the fullest extent of the law.” He added that the sher- iff’s office and school district are “struggling to spread re- source dollars as far as they can -- and this means that each time there is a bomb Josephine County Sher- iff Gil Gilbertson (Photo by Illinois Valley News) threat “It becomes an enor- mous drain on already scare manpower and resources. “It disrupts school activi- ties and causes other impor- tant community issues to be postponed,” the sheriff said. “Students of the very school being affected are most often the persons responsible for bomb threats. “In each case thus far, these perpetrators never in- tended to actually place an explosive device on school grounds, nor did they have the ability to do so. In all the cases investigated so far, the perpetrator’s motivation for this senseless act was to dis- rupt the school day and cause confusion. “Nonetheless,” said the sheriff, “we will continue to take proper steps to respond appropriately to each threat, with our top priority being the safety of our students. We also will continue to investi- gate each and every event with emphasis on holding those responsible to the full- est extent of the law.” He said that there is pro- gress in the investigation, and that those who can help with leads should phone the Major Crimes Unit at 474-5153 or the anonymous tip line at 474-5160. I.V. threat suspect ... (Continued from page 1) especially to staff. Because threats have been found written on walls in restrooms, students now are escorted to use them. Backpacks are checked when students arrive, and they are not allowed to enter in large groups. Also, lockers have been sealed. They may be made available to the student body during the next several weeks. JCSO said that its detec- tive work will lead them to suspects in the other explo- sive alerts. Arrests are antici- pated soon, said JCSO. IVHS staffers say that besides reducing attendance, the threats have disrupted the normal school routine. Many students have missed classes. “We’re fed up with these threats,” said one IVHS offi- cial, “and we hope that those responsible for the other threats also will be caught.” There also was a bomb James Guthrie (Photo from his MySpace page) threat at Lorna Byrne Middle School. A note was found on Tuesday, Nov. 13. As a re- sult, two girls each were sus- pended for 10 days, according to JCSO. Bomb threats, besides disrupting student routine, involve emergency respond- ers, plus school and Three Rivers School District staff. 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Homicide was the second, accounting for 103 or 13.8 percent of violent deaths. Suicide rates were higher among military veterans than the general population. The report found that during 2005, 28 percent of all suicides, or 153 adults, were among vet- erans, 148 of whom were male. Age-adjusted rates of suicide per 100,000 male veterans were more than twice those of nonveteran males, 46 per 100,000 vs. 22 per 100,000. were among older adults and that Oregon’s suicide rate among older adults was 78 percent higher than the na- tional average. Deaths relating to Ore- gon’s Death with Dignity Act are not classified as suicides by Oregon law. They are not included in the report. The Violent Death report makes a series of recommen- dations to address the suicide issue among veterans. They include strategies to train health-care providers; in- crease screening and treat- ment of depression; imple- ment community-based pre- vention activities; and focus on reducing suicides among veterans and Oregonians aged 25 to 65. The report notes: *Gunshot wound was the most common cause of death, accounting for nearly 54 per- cent of total violent deaths. Poisoning (21 percent) and hanging followed. *The 748 violent deaths occurred in 731 incidents. Of those, 714 incidents involved one death, and 17 incidents involved more than one death. Among the 17 inci- dents involving multiple deaths, 11 were homicide- Private rehab organization questions drug war victory By NARCONON ARROWHEAD Some speeches or arti- cles relate how America is winning the war on drugs. Our own government's statis- tics show a different story. The following is from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad- ministration, which annually publishes the National Survey on Drug Use and Health which contains detailed statis- tics on drug use in this coun- try. Here are the figures from that report on the number of Americans aged 12 and older who were current (during the past month) users of illicit drugs: *1996: 13 million, con- stituting 6.4 percent of the population. *’97: 13.9 million, 6.4% *’98: 13.8 million, 6.3% *’99: 13 million, 6.4% *2000: 14 million, 6.3 *’01: 15 million, 7.1% *’02: 19.5 million, 8.3% *’03: 19 million, 8.2% *’04: 19.1 million, 7.9% *’05: 19.7 million, 8.1% *’06: 20.4 million, 8.3% To state the obvious, during the past 11 years, 7.4 million more people became consumers of illicit drugs. Many have fallen to the crack cocaine or methamphetamine epidemics that rage in differ- ent parts of the country. Others have found no effective way to beat their heroin habits. Young people have decided to experiment with club drugs such as Ec- stasy while partying. Or maybe they snort some Oxy- Contin they got from a friend who stole it from his mom. Across the country, the most affected group com- prises 18- to 25-year-olds. Among these young adults, one out of five has used an illicit drug during the past month, based on a survey from 2005. Overall, during the past year, one in 10 Americans used marijuana -- and more than one in four young adults did the same. Nationally, more than seven million peo- ple used cocaine, most of them young adults. More than 14 million people abused a prescription drug, with teen-agers and young adults experiencing much higher rates of use than other age groups. “As long as there is a demand for illicit drugs, you can be sure that someone will be willing to supply them,” said Ryan Thorpe, director of admissions at Narconon Ar- rowhead, one of the country's leading drug education and rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Okla. “This war will be won,” he said, “by educating youth on exactly why they should refrain from drug use and effectively reha- bilitating those who have become addicted.” For more information on the rehabilitation and educa- tional services of Narconon Arrowhead, phone (800) 468- 6933 or visit www.stopaddiction.com. clined from 111 during ‘04 to 103 in ‘05. Twelve more women died by homicide in ‘05 than in ‘04. *Robbery/burglary ac- counted for 8 percent of homicides. *Of the 555 suicides, 440 (79 percent) were males, and 115 (21 percent) were female. 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