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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need not be published, but will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.