Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2017)
Page A-2 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, January 18, 2017 Letters to the editor I would have preferred that Illinois Valley News welcomes letters to the editor. Please e-mail them to dan@illinois-valley-news.com POLICY ON LETTERS: ‘Illinois Valley News’ encour- ages letters to the editor provided they are legible and not libelous or scurrilous. All letters must be signed, including name, address and telephone number. The latter need not be published, but will be used to verify authenticity. The “News” reserves the right to edit letters. Letters are used at the discretion of the publisher. *** (Editor’s note: Views and com- mentary, including statements made as fact are strictly those of the letter writers.) Recent weather broadcast media coverage News of the Illinois Valley is sadly lacking. FYI: 15,000 plus residents in the I.V. – 86,000 plus in Josephine County. It is not helpful to hear broadcast on our battery powered radio – “Go to our website for information.” We were without power for days. When I was able to telephone I was told, “We wait to hear from callers in an area and yours was just the second call this week.” We were without phone for days! Are there no reporters with contacts in the I.V. or common sense! this letter would have reached you sooner but 3 plus feet of snow prevented us from leaving the house. I will close before I start to wax poetic on the sound of a dial tone. Sincerely, Sharon Reasor S’no one cares? As a citizen of the Illinois Valley for almost a quarter century I have witnessed many actions, and inactions, good and not so good, by my fellow residents, and public officials. It is the latter that I’ll focus on because the last storm has made clear to me that the welfare of our residents is very low on their priority list. It might be an unwillingness to communicate between agencies or the narrow focus on their own little kingdoms that prevents them from working with each other. The agencies I believe need examining include Josephine County public works, the department of the interior, (namely BLM), and possibly the U.S. Forrest Service and Pacific Power. And I’m not talking about the crews, but their leadership. This weather event could well have spelled disaster for many elderly and disabled, as well as younger children of modest means, because not all parents have access to a 4-wheel drive vehicle, and even they were lucky to get through. It’s scary to think what might happen in our area if a major earthquake hit. The County, in my observation, was lax, late, and as I was told by a neighbor, underequipped for this weather emergency. He said it’s not that they didn’t have money for equipment, but that plow- blades were purchased for light trucks instead of the heavy dump trucks that may have had a better chance of clearing the snow that was allowed to accumulate and pack to an icy mess on most secondary roads. Maybe this paper could verify or disprove this assertion. My neighborhood, known to some old timers as Sherwood Forrest is at the “end of a county maintained road” known as Thompson Creek; the next 2 miles of access is by a BLM road (not up to county “standards”). This BLM road leads to two county roads that are maintained by a few of the inhabitants, (also not up to county standards). These roads used to connect to Forrest Creek road, (another unmaintained, not up to county standards, county road). Long before I moved here 24 years ago the bridge connecting these roads collapsed and has never been replaced. My point is; I/we (most of us anyway) pay property taxes, income taxes and additional levies (when they pass). Profits were taken from this land from public and private logging operations. Some of these operations even jeopardize our properties, our access and egress by clear-cutting steep hillsides that could, and often do slide onto roads and into watersheds. My point here is: Due to the lack of action and coordination between these agencies people were stuck for many days without power. The power company was unable to access problems in our area for four days; and then only because I happened to run into a guy from the power company while I was working on the 2 miles of BLM road with my little tractor. He told me the major problem was at the very end of Briar Lane, (where that aforementioned county bridge existed decades ago and the power- lines still crossed the creek), but that his crews couldn’t get to the mess of downed trees and wires due to the three plus feet of snow at the end of Briar and the missing bridge from Forrest Creek. Now, my neighbor and I had gone almost all the way down Briar (over a mile) earlier that day to help another neighbor who had to get out to get supplies for his elderly mother but there was still a few hundred yards to go to the problem area. So I went down there to clear the way which I was happy to do. But I couldn’t help but wonder why the above mentioned agencies could not coordinate with each other for the greater good of all. Power was restored 19 hours later. We here in my neighborhood went without power for five days; not bad for healthy people, with alternative heat and water. But what about people with medical devices that require power, or those without alternative heat? One result of the outage was the loss of land lines. Due to not so good actions of a few, the phone company cannot use solar panels to keep lines operational in extended outages due to constant theft of the panels. Cell service is spotty on a clear day so options for calling emergency services were slim to none. I’d like to thank the tree and power crews and emergency services and volunteers that did their best in these conditions. I’d like to wag a finger at the healthy people that did little or nothing to help the situation. In fact, some young, apparently healthy men asked my neighbor, who is over 60, to shovel their driveway for them! Incredible. I feel the county, and the BLM should share responsibility for the many citizens in areas like ours. After all, they let people build or buy residences in this area, taxes are collected, timber profits are realized but I have yet to see a county maintenance crew in our area. However, BLM did plow the road ONCE about 10 years ago when conditions were not half this bad. I can’t remember exactly why; they must have been logging at the time! As for Ms. Vigils’ letter of 1/11 about integrity, I must disagree. I believe integrity and trust can be regained. It isn’t at all like regrowing a hymen. People can change and prove it by their actions. Let’s hope it becomes a “trending” thing with those in positions of leadership and the citizens of our country. Maybe president-elect Trump will catch on. Robert Miller Selma Obituaries Rebecca Rose Moran Bevins, 40 , of O’Brien, died Jan. 2, 2017 at her home. Rebecca was born Nov. 10, 1976 in Sandpoint, Idaho to James & Ruth Moran. As a child, she moved with her family to the Illinois Valley. She attended Evergreen Elementary, Lorna Byrne Middle School and Illinois Valley High School. She moved from the area, but returned to O’Brien four years ago. Rebecca was a very unique artist doing beadwork, leather work and woodburning. Her hobbies included hiking, reading, writing, hunting and drawing. She loved her dogs and being in the outdoors. She is survived by her children, Lee Thunder Redmoon of Grants Pass, Swift River Bevins of Roseville, Calif. and Shimmering Rain Bevins of O’Brien; her companion, Dustin Dalton of Grants Pass; her mother, Ruth Moran of O’Brien; two sisters, Carol Christeena Darnell of Wash. and Virgie Mae Moran of O’Brien; and four brothers, James G. Moran of Klamath Falls, Jason J. Moran of Idaho, John T. Baker of Wash. and J Paul Lightfoot of Ariz.; and many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins. She was preceded in death by her father, James Moran in 1983; a sister, Roxanna in 1983; and her Baker and Moran grandparents. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends and all who knew and loved her. A memorial service will be held in Spring 2017. Illinois Valley Funeral Directors are in charge of arrangements. Please visit the obituary and sign the guest book at www.since1928hull.com. I llINoIs V alley F uNeral D Irectors www.since1928Hull.com 541-592-4110 Save the date Jan. 21 Jan. 28 Feb. 4 & 5 3 Rivers Chorale will per- form “Missa Gaia, in Celebration of Mother Earth” Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. at Immanuel United Methodist Church, 200 Watkins St. in Cave Junction. Admission is by dona- tion. Visit www.3riverschorale.org or phone 541-479-6577 for further information. Illinois Valley Health & Well- ness Fair will be held January 28th, 2017 from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM at the Illinois Valley Senior Center. FREE! Local health and wellness providers share their knowledge, demonstrate services, and sell their goods. Win door prizes, scavenger hunt-top prize is a $25 Shop Smart gift card, lunch and snacks for pur- chase, giveaways and more! Whirlwind 24-Hour Play Fes- tival returns! “Out of Hibernation” February 4-5 at the Takilma Com- munity Building 6 p.m. Saturday: Play-makers arrive to write, direct, and/or perform new, locally-made plays in 24 hours, start to finish. Email mkellyngross@gmail.com for more details or to register (all ages, no experience needed). 6 p.m. Sun- day: Audience arrives for showtime. Everyone invited! Jan. 23 The Josephine County Board of Commissioners will be hosting a Town Hall Community meeting in the Illinois Valley. The meeting is scheduled for Jan. 23, 6:30 p.m. at Cave Junction County Building, 102 South Red- wood Hwy. Cave Junction, Oregon All county residents are invited to attend. Illinois Valley News Published weekly by W.H. Alltheway, LLC Daniel J. Mancuso, Publisher Jan. 28 Come join the fun!! Arts and Craft class: Last Saturday of each month at 1 p.m. at Valley Evangeli- cal Free Church, 498 Laurel Road, Cave Junction with Sharon and Ron Margason. For questions call the church at 541-592-6160. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to P.O. Box 1370, Cave Junction, OR 97523 Illinois Valley News is published at 221 S. Redwood Hwy., Cave Junction, OR 97523 Telephone (541) 592-2541 Since 1937 periodicals postage paid at Cave Junction, OR 97523 P.O. Box 1370 USPS 258-820 Feb. 11 Child Care Business Class- a FREE introductory class Feb. 11 from 10 a.m. - noon Illinois Valley Library: 209 Palmer St., Cave Junction, call to register: 541-956-7400. Become a paid child care provider. Learn the legal rules, listen to successful care providers, get business skills and SUBSCRIPTION RATES One year in Josephine County - $35 One year in Jackson and Douglas counties - $36 One year in all other Oregon counties and out-of-state - $43.00 Illinois Valley News does not refund subscriptions. Remainder of subscription will be donated to the charity of your choice. low interest loans. This introductory class is free. Some of the next-step classes such as infant CPR, have fees. Help with costs is available. Continuing *The I.V. Senior Thrift Store is under NEW MANAGEMENT and is looking for new volunteers. Join the crew and make new friends. You don’t need to be a senior citizen to join the store. Call us at 541-592- 6630. Open Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. *The C.J. Substation hours are changed. We are now open on Mon- days, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays (closed Wednesdays) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The phone number at the Sub is 541-592-5151. We are look- ing for more volunteers to expand the hours; applications to become a volunteer can be picked up at the News - Dan Mancuso dan@illinois-valley-news.com Editor -Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com Classified Ads -Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com Circulation - Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com Advertising / Composition - Dan Mancuso dan@illinois-valley-news.com Mailroom - Millie Watkins Substation. *Cave Junction Patrol, LLC is looking for volunteers. CJ Patrol is a private citizen volunteer orgnaniza- tion dedicated to effectively address- ing heretofore-unchecked property crime in our city and neighborhoods. The primary mission of CJ Patrol is to prevent, interrupt, report and de- crease property crime in the city of Cave Junction. Call 541-592-9665, cjpatrol.org. Monthly meetings are first Thursday at 6 p.m. at Wild Riv- er Pizza, 249 Redwood Hwy. * Committee Meeting STATE OF JEFFERSON Josephine Coun- ty 1st Thursday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Black Forest Restaurant, Grants Pass and 3rd Thursday of each month at 6 p.m., Wild River Pizza in Cave Junction. DEADLINES: News, Classified and Display Ads, Announcement and Letters 4 P.M. FRIDAYS POLICY ON LETTERS: ‘Illinois Valley News’ encour- ages letters to the editor pro- vided they are legible and not libelous or scurrilous. All let- ters must be signed, including name, address and telephone number. The latter need not be published, but will be used to verify authenticity. The ‘News’ reserves the right to edit letters. Letters are used at the discre- tion of the publisher.
