YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1937
Illinois Valley News
Wednesday, January 11, 2017, 1 Section, Volume LXXIX No. 43
$1.00
Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley
AARP offers tax
preparation aid
Anita R. Savio
IVN Contributing Writer
Illinois Valley residents of all ages will soon be
able to take advantage of free, local tax preparation
services offered by the AARP (American Association
of Retired Persons) Tax Aide program. The Illinois
Valley program starts Feb. 4 and continues through
the end of tax season. The service is provided by
IRS volunteer counselors at the offices of the Illinois
Valley Family Coalition on Wednesdays from 9:30
a.m. to 2 p.m. Counselors are trained and IRS
certified each year to keep abreast of revisions to the
tax code.
According to district coordinator Kathie
Saunders, the Tax Aide program is designed for low
and moderate income taxpayers, and most types of
returns are “in scope.”
“However there are a few exceptions. For
instance we can’t do farm income returns, or
businesses with a depreciation write-off.”
Saunders said that last year Illinois Valley Tax
Aide counselors assisted with 187 federal returns and
190 state returns, with refunds totaling $311,000. In
the county as a whole, over 2600 taxpayers received
$3.5 million in refunds.
Returns are filed electronically, with direct
deposit of refunds.
Saunders has been with the Tax Aide program
since 1985 and said she is most proud of the large
number of people helped every year. She added
that counselors are often able to help taxpayers take
advantage of benefits they were unaware of.
“A lot of taxpayers don’t realize that
by contributing to an Individual Retirement
Arrangement (IRA), and combining that with the
Retirement Savings Credit, the tax saving can
actually equal the expense of the IRA contribution.
This works especially well with lower income folks
because the credit only applies up to certain income
levels.”
“Another thing we often see is that people
haven’t been using the most beneficial filing status,
for instance they file as single rather than head
of household. Or they haven’t been taking all the
dependents they’re entitled to.”
Saunders suggested that blended or multi-
generational families make joint appointments for
the whole family, because that can help counselors
identify and maximize certain benefits.
“Another thing we see is that people are
sometimes being paid as self-employed individual
when they should be paid as an employee. We
can help them correct that, and their taxes may be
halved.”
Saunders noted that, by using Tax Aide,
taxpayers avoid unnecessary preparation fees and
pitches for high-interest refund loans.
Appointments can be made via the website,
www.joco-freetaxes.com, or by calling the following
starting in mid-January:
• Illinois Valley Family Coalition – 541-592-
6139.
(Photo courtesy of the IVFD Media Dept)
IVFD Division Chief Kamron Ismaili assessing his situation on Caves Hwy. Monday, Jan. 2.
2017 New Year’s Storm is
one for the record books
Annette McGee Rasch
IVN Senior Contributing Writer
The 2017 New Year’s Storm came
in waves: A foot of the white stuff piled
up Jan. 2; then another foot; and a few
days later, another six to 10 inches fell
- and in some locations, even more! The
schools never opened last week. Many
businesses and the Siskiyou Community
Medical Center were closed much of the
week as well. Phone lines went down
and 6,497 Illinois Valley households lost
power at the storm’s peak.
“The Valley was the epicenter for
this storm and was much harder hit than
other areas,” said Tom Gauntt, Pacific
Power public information officer.
Spending several silent days - and
nights - in the dark, thousands listened
for snow-weighted branches snapping
off and hoped falling trees would miss
their structures and vehicles. While many
got lucky - invariably, many didn’t. And,
with most people snowed in, it’s been all
hands on deck to dig everyone out.
“We’ve been going at it full steam,
working till four in the morning, sleeping
for a few hours and then getting back
out there,” said Barbara Howard, who
with her husband Don, loaded up their
Caterpillar excavator and high-track
loader to pitch in. After posting an offer
to help on a community Facebook page
she said, “Our phones just blew up with
over 100 messages, so we’ve been trying
to triage, to get to the most needy of
folks: the elderly and those with medical
needs, or those without food, water,
wood or propane. And we didn’t charge
those who can’t afford it.” To work
efficiently, the Howards, who own the
Pomeroy gated community, networked
with CJ Patrol, and Gary Ryder Sauer
(another Good Samaritan with a tractor).
Howard said that while out helping
others, Sauer’s 100-year-old barn
collapsed, and she hopes the community
will “come together to help him build a
new one.”
“It’s been chaotic,” said Marty
Hertler, of Marty’s Tree Service.
“I’ve pulled some trees off of houses,
but mostly, I’ve been hauling my cat
around. I’ve dug 60 people out so far.”
Hertler networked with other local
heavy equipment operators, including
Mark Camp, Dave Anderson and Kyle
Beairsto. “We’re calling each other to
figure out who needs help first, like when
folks need to get medications.” Hertler
has charged less than his normal fee and
3 Rivers Chorale celebrates Mother Earth
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
3 Rivers Chorale will perform
“Missa Gaia, in Celebration of Mother
Earth” Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. The concert
will take place at Immanuel United
Methodist Church, 200 Watkins St.
in Cave Junction. Admission is by
donation.
Much of the original 1981
recording of Missa Gaia was
improvised by members of the Paul
Winter Consort, including Jim Scott,
Paul Halley, Oscar Castro-Neves and
Kim Oler.
“At the invitation of James
Morton, Dean of the Cathedral of St.
John the Divine in New York City,
these innovative creators brought their
music together with nature and some of
her strongest singers (humpback whale,
Alaskan tundra wolf, the common loon,
and baby harp seals as well as various
songbirds),” according to 3 Rivers
Chorale music director Kate Campbell.
The entire Missa Gaia is a blend
of gospel, jazz, classical, African and
Latin folk genres and rhythms. The 3
Rivers Chorale presentation offers both
written score and musical instincts of
all the players involved.
In addition to the choir and
soloists, four members of Oregon Little
Big Band will take part, including
Tim Wallace on soprano sax and flute,
Michelle LeComte on guitar, John
Trujillo on bass and Tom Freeman on
percussion, along with pianist Heidi
Shepard, Abigail Wilensky on violin
and Teresa Northcross on cello.
Gaia is the ancient Greek name
for Mother Earth. The concept gave
rise to the “Gaia hypothesis,” which,
according to scientists James Lovelock
and Lynn Margulis, proposes that “the
entire range of living matter on earth,
from whales to viruses, and from
oaks to algae, could be regarded as
constituting a single living entity.”
“If the ‘Gaia hypothesis’ is
about synergy, then the process of our
creation of Missa Gaia/Earth Mass is
truly a manifestation of Gaia. For what
developed was an interweaving of
creative ideas from all the members of
the Consort; and our process was self-
balancing, by virtue of the common
instincts of taste we share in our
little musical tribe. While no one of
us knew all the threads with which
we would weave the Earth Mass,
together we found we did know,”
according to Paul Winter’s album
notes.
In addition to Missa Gaia, songs
in Hebrew, Swahili, Zulu, Latin
and more, will also be performed.
“We are honored to partner with
our co-sponsors, the Illinois River
Valley Arts Council and Siskiyou
Field Institute. The joining of the
arts and science is a natural one, in
my mind. As I have heard it said,
science is actually just an organized
form of wonder. It’s all related,” said
Campbell.
Campbell concluded with, “3
Rivers Chorale has also received
a generous grant from Josephine
County Cultural Coalition, whose
parent organization is the Oregon
Cultural Trust. We are grateful for
the support of our community and
look forward to creating our musical
performances in cooperation and
collusion with our audiences.”
said he’s not pleased that some plowing
services from Grants Pass came into the
Valley and charged “double their normal
rates just because they could. I’m not
saying that everything has to be a charity
case, but they shouldn’t be coming to our
Valley to make money off this situation.”
Once people finally made it to town
Tuesday, they lined up at the Chevron gas
station for propane and shopped at Shop
Smart by flashlight. “Customers had to
line up and wait for a store employee to
walk them through,” said store manager
Jessica Clark. “My employees were
awesome; some were out of power for
five days and still showed up for work.
You don’t see that kind of dedication
everywhere.”
The Illinois Valley Fire District
(IVFD) normally gets about 100 calls
for assistance per month; but according
to IVFD Chief Dennis Hoke, they
received around 85 calls for help in five
days. “We’re doing whatever we can.
Everything from power line problems,
structure fires, medical problems, car
wrecks and vehicles off the road. We
called in the Applegate FD and Rural
Metro. They brought trucks and people in
to help us.”
SEE STORM ON A-10
Changing of the
guard at City Hall
(Photo by Dan Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
Ryan Nolan (left) swears in Councilor Mark
Dillinger, Councilor Lindsey Gillette and Mayor
Daniel Dalegowski at City Hall Monday, Jan. 9.