Happy Birthday Laura Michelle Smith!
Illinois Valley News
Wednesday, February 1, 2017, 1 Section, Volume LXXIX No. 46
$1.00
Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley
Bringing levity
Bill to tackle
employer
drug testing
Jason McMillen
IVN Contributing Writer
A Senate Bill entitled 301, filed by the Oregon
legislature, will prevent most employers from
screening their staff for the presence of substances
legal under the laws of Oregon, most notably THC,
which is the primary active compound in marijuana.
SB 301 amends ORS 569A.315 which protected
workers’ rights to smoke tobacco. The following
is the law as proposed and the words in brackets
represent the current version of the law.
“659A.315. (1) It is an unlawful employment
practice for any employer to require, as a condition
of employment, that any employee or prospective
employee refrain from using [lawful tobacco
products] a substance that is lawful to use under the
laws of this state during nonworking hours, except
when the restriction relates to: (a) A bona fide
occupational [requirement.] qualification; or (b) The
performance of work while impaired.”
Bona Fide, latin for “good faith,” is defined
according to Law.com as signifying honesty, the
“real thing,” and in the case of a party claiming title
as bona fide purchaser or holder indicates innocence
or lack of knowledge of any fact that would cast
doubt on the right to hold title. What “bona fide”
will mean to employers has yet to be elaborated
upon by a credible source but it will likely mean
that professional drivers and other jobs that can be a
public safety hazard will still be able to screen their
employees for any and all substances that were used
at any time, including off work hours. Furthermore,
the bill states that, “This 2017 Act being necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace,
health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist,
and this 2017 Act takes effect on its passage.”
The changes were introduced, first read, and
referred to the president of the Senate’s desk as of
Jan. 9. On Jan. 17 it was, according to legiscan.
com, “Referred to Judiciary.” However, at this time
there are no meetings currently scheduled for further
discussion. It is unclear if the changes will apply to
businesses that operate at a multi-state level but if
it’s anything like current marijuana laws it will likely
override federal law. The following are the members
of the committee in charge of this bill: Chair Senator
Floyd Prozanski, Vice-Chair Senator Kim Thatcher,
member Senator Michael Dembrow, member Senator
Dennis Linthicum, and member Senator James
Manning Jr.
SEE BILL ON A-10
(Photo by Dale Sandberg, IVFD Media Dept)
Illinois Valley Fire District’s Jamie Paul (left) receives an award for her questionable sense of humor with
Deputy Chief Jeff Gavlik and Chief Dennis Hoke during the annual awards banquet held Jan. 28.
Public safety workshop held
By Laura Mancuso
IVN Staff
“We are all paying for the lack
of law enforcement,” said Jean Ann
Miles at the workshop “Solutions to
Public Safety” at the annual Illinois
Valley Health and Wellness Fair held
at the Illinois Valley Senior Center Jan.
28. This workshop included a panel
discussion with local public safety
advocates and community input. Miles,
a participant at the workshop wanted
everyone to remember that we were all
sacrificing each and every day without
law enforcement.
The workshop began with Healthy
U’s health fair coordinator Lindsey
Gillette collecting written questions
and feedback regarding public safety
solutions from the audience and then
Healthy U’s Executive Director Nicole
Rensenbrink asked all the public safety
advocates a series of questions before
opening up a commentary segment to the
audience.
The panel consisted of Sergeant
Webb from the Josephine County
Sheriff’s Department; Illinois Valley
Fire District (IVFD) Chief Dennis Hoke;
Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance
Executive Director Chris Mollette;
Jimmy Evans, co-founder of CJ Patrol;
and station manager Keeeth of KXCJ
Radio with Rensenbrink moderating the
workshop and close to 30 participants in
the audience.
All the panelists agreed that the
Illinois Valley was a beautiful place to
live with great people in its community
but had many challenges that included
public safety and the lack of law
enforcement.
Sgt. Webb expressed how he feels
that one of the main challenges is not
having a budget and proper staffing and
said, “We are unable to be proactive,
we have to just go from ‘call to call to
call’ and not doing things to prevent
crime; only responding to crime.” When
Rensenbrink asked him what an example
of what they [sheriff’s office] could do
to prevent crime was, he responded,
“If we were able to go to troubled
neighborhoods and patrol that would be
one way we could be proactive. We don’t
have the staff to patrol … today there is
only three deputies to serve the whole
county.”
SEE SAFETY ON A-10
Gender-based violence sees decrease
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
The National Coalition against
Domestic Violence (NCADV) has
reported that the Violence Against
Women Act’s (VAWA) 25 grant
programs, which were created to
reduce sexual assault, domestic
violence and dating violence, have
been extremely effective.
Since VAWA’s passage in 1994,
gender-based violence has decreased
nationwide by almost two-thirds.
Here in the Illinois Valley, the
I.V. Safe House Alliance (IVSHA)
has been able to employ VAWA
funding to increase the number of
sexual assault survivors accessing
services from 4 percent to 14 percent
in 2016, according to IVSHA
Executive Director Chris Mallette.
During 2016, programs,
shelters, advocates, law enforcement
and other public and nonprofit
entities received almost $453 million
to combat gender-based violence.
In a related development, officials
of the new Women’s Foundation of
Oregon released a report last week
titled, “Count Her In” which is the
first comprehensive look at Oregon
women and girls in nearly two
decades.
According to this report,
Oregon women have the nation’s
highest rates of reported depression
and heavy alcohol use.
Over half say they’ve
experienced sexual or domestic
violence, one of the worst rates in
the country.
“When you read this list, it’s
just irrefutable that Oregon has
a problem with gender equity,”
said Sue Hildick, president of the
Chalkboard Project and the board
chair for the new foundation.
The report was created by
analyzing surveys and federal
and state reports. Nearly half of
respondents say they’ve experienced
a childhood traumatic event such as
abuse or neglect and nearly a quarter
say they have been raped.
The IVSHA was formed in the
Illinois Valley in 2000 as a result of
two assault survivors who contacted
like-minded community members.
And by 2002, the organization began
providing direct services to victims
of sexual and domestic violence.
Currently, IVSHA’s services
include crisis intervention, safety
planning, emergency shelter, food
and transportation, assistance
obtaining protection orders, public
benefits including SNAP and TANF
and crime victim compensation.
SEE VIOLENCE ON A-10
Kerbyville Museum gets help from Cow Creek
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
The Cow Creek Umpqua
Indian Foundation (CCUIF)
recently awarded a grant
of $7,500 to the Kerbyville
Museum to help fund a new
roof for the main building.
In addition to applying
for grants, the museum board
has been actively raising
funds for over six months
toward the Roof Project,
which is projected to cost
$42,000.
Individual cash
donations and in-kind pledges
for the Roof Project from 82
people and businesses have
already amounted to over
$10,500. This means around
$18,000 still needs to be
raised by the end of summer
2017.
In an interview,
Kerbyville Museum
board secretary Dennis
Strayer stated, “The roof
is deteriorating and I don’t
think we’re going to make
it through another winter,
especially if we have another
winter like this one!”
Strayer is also the
curator of the Kerbyville
Museum’s 50,000 item
collection.
“The roof is failing in
a number of areas,” Strayer
said. “Standing in the parking
lot, you can actually see the
diagonal pattern where the
plywood under the shingles is
buckling. Water is leaking into
the felt layer and also staining
the ceiling. The most recent
re-roofing project was about
20 years ago.”
Strayer pointed out that
the plywood roof should have
been replaced during that
re-roofing project 20 years
ago, but there wasn’t enough
money for the added expense.
The project was
funded at the time by the
Illinois Valley Community
Response Team (IVCRT).
The IVCRT later became the
Illinois Valley Community
Development Organization
(IVCDO).
“This time, the Roof
Project will include replacing
all the plywood and we’re
also using better shingles. All
these new materials will have
a 50 year guarantee,” Strayer
said.
In response to the award,
Kerbyville Museum Board
President Linda Butler stated,
“We are so grateful to the
Cow Creek Umpqua Indian
Foundation for their support
in granting $7,500 toward
the new roof. Without the
support of the community
and organizations such as the
CCUIF, we would not be able
to complete this vital repair
work.”
SEE ROOF ON A-10