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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2017)
Page A-10 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, October 11, 2017 6WDUWLQJRU*URZLQJD%XVLQHVVLQ,OOLQRLV9DOOH\" 1HHGPRQH\" 0LFUR%XVLQHVV/RDQ)XQGLQJ$OZD\V$YDLODEOH 6WDUWXSH[LVWLQJKRPHEDVHGRURWKHU EXVLQHVVHQWHUSULVHV PLQLPXP WR PD[LPXP $SSO\DWWKH,9&'2RIILFH&DYHV+Z\ 4XHVWLRQV"3KRQH SFI ... Continued from A-1 0108 A week after SFI converted to solar energy, 33 middle school students from Josephine County schools plus some students from as far away as Portland attended SFI’s first-ever solar energy camp to learn how the sun’s energy can empower technology. A collaborative partnership of the College and Career 4 All/ STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) hub, which includes partners Rogue Community College, Southern Oregon Educational School Districts and local communities, provided scholarships for the kids to attend. Oregon SolarWorks owner Kirpal Khalsa spoke to the students about how the SFI system was installed and explained the inverter control box that converts alternating current to direct current. Students studied the sun’s layered atmosphere and learned about the August 21 solar eclipse. Each received a pair of eclipse safety glasses for viewing the sun. Students made solar ovens and cooked solar S’mores in them. Solar site design and model houses educated them about applying solar angles to maximize efficiency in house and solar installation planning. Students constructed their own MILLIE ... Continued from A-1 Compounding the problem, the only living family member that the City knows about has not responded to notification. However, even if they did get in contact, it’s not likely the relative will want to take possession of the property because it would immediately be foreclosed upon by the city, said Kelly. According to Patton, prior to the owner’s death the water had been turned off, the sewer was capped and the city had placed a lien on the property because of non- payment. Kelly estimates that the property is only worth $3,000 to $5,000 after adjusting for the cost of the cleanup. According to Patton, the cleanup is solar system pocket models in scale with interplanetary distances. SFI Ropes Course exercises had children imagining what it would be like to live on planets with varying season lengths, such as Saturn’s seven-year –and Mars’ seven month seasonal cycles. The moon also inspired learning with the study of lunar phases and moon craters exercises in which moons were constructed with flour and then cocoa powder was dropped on them to simulate craters. The Grants Pass Astronomy Club set its digital telescope on the sun and students were able to view coronal loops. As night approached, they looked at the Milky Way and learned to identify constellations. In addition, local astronomer Joe Stodola talked about careers in geophysics. Allie Rosenbluth from RogueClimate presented a program on climate and how climate change may impact Rogue Valley communities and local climate action plans that are currently being considered and enacted in Ashland and Talent. A final Solar Science Symposium gave parents a chance to see their children shine with newly acquired solar knowledge as they presented their projects. Khalsa received his own solar education through San Juan Community College in Farmington, New Mexico. After several years in sales with Energy Outfitters in Grants Pass, Khalsa went to work for Kerry Whitehead, former owner of Renewable Energy Systems, LLC. Since becoming a licensed solar technician in 2010, he has continued to be active in solar industry-wide education. When Whitehead retired in 2014, Khalsa purchased the business and renamed it Oregon SolarWorks. As Blue Sky representatives cut the ribbon on SFI’s new solar project, the 19- year-old institute enters a new era for outdoor education. SFI’s Executive Director Robin Hartmann stated, “At our Deer Creek Center, we want our facility operations to align with SFI’s conservation and education mission. This project, and our recent insulation improvements, will allow us lead by example. We’re looking forward to engaging students from our community in learning how the power of the sun can be harnessed and how science, math and an understanding of our environment can be put to work to improve our future.” In conclusion Hartmann said, “The savings that SFI will reap from this renewable energy project can be used instead on adult and youth educational programs, including on our Siskiyou Outdoor School -- a four-day, science-based residential camp offered each spring and fall for every fifth or sixth-grader in the Illinois Valley and beyond.” mandatory for anyone who buys the property. It includes hazardous and expensive removal of asbestos. However, there is good news. Kelly reported that there’s potential headway in the near future because, at his request, a judge assigned the estate a personal representative who now has the power to sell the property. Jason Hayward, the attorney who volunteered to take charge of the estate, will reimburse the city with the proceeds. Although the role can be assigned to anyone, the advantage to assigning it to a licensed attorney, Kelly said, is that they won’t have to secure a great deal of bond money since attorneys have malpractice insurance. Kelly holds that skipping that process will save weeks of time and effort. Unfortunately, there’s a 30- day waiting period in which the daughter of the deceased can object to Hayward being declared the estate’s representative. Because of this waiting period, Kelly said that he doesn’t want to start marketing or selling the property prematurely. Using the time to get a head start to things, Hayward will bring realtors in to evaluate the property. This new development comes following a series of recent and redacted legal proceedings in which the city, and Kelly, took steps that it thought correct to acquire the property. Believing that the property was legally in their possession, they found a buyer but later had to rescind the offer when they found out they went down an invalid legal avenue. “As it turns out I could not execute against the deceased … It was my error,” Kelly said, “I absorbed the cost of the first failure.” DOLLARS ... Continued from A-1 One meeting with Medicare answers. One year with peace of mind. Grants Pass AllCare Health Office, Community Room A 1701 NE 7th Street Wednesday 10/25/17 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday 11/02/17 10 a.m. to noon Thursday 11/16/17 2 to 4 p.m. Medford Medford Library, Large Room 205 S Central Avenue Thursday 10/26/17 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday 11/09/17 Wednesday 11/29/17 10 a.m. to noon 2 to 4 p.m. Counties that opt out of growing cannabis are disqualified from the half of the calculation involving available grow canopy while those who opt out of wholesaler, processor, or retailer licenses will get nothing in the second half of the calculation. For example, if a county does not allow cannabis to be commercially grown and also does not allow either wholesaler, processor or retailer licenses, they will not get a single dollar from the state. The distribution formula for all tax dollars allocated to cities after July 1, 2017, will now be based on population (75 percent) and the sum of grower, wholesaler, processor and retailer licenses (25 percent). Only cities that allow all license types will be eligible for a portion of the 10 percent allocated to cities. Krawczky wrote that $17 million will be distributed to cities and counties across Oregon along with $34 million to the State School Fund, $17 million to the Mental Health, Alcoholism and Drug Services Account, $12.75 million to the Oregon State Police and $4.25 million to the Oregon Health Authority. Though the county commissioners were questioned as to how much Josephine County has and will in the future receive, what this additional source of income will be used for and how it might affect the political landscape, they have so far made no comment. According to the Daily Courier, the commissioners have potentially discussed state level cannabis dollars Oct. 10 along with potential changes to the Rural Planning Code which will limit the growth of commercial cannabis on Rural Residential land. However, there was no mention of it on their agenda. Unfortunately, the meeting was just after the Illinois Valley News’s press deadline. Rest assured that the topic will be reported upon as it develops.
