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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2018)
Page A-2 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, August 1, 2018 Letters to the editor 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 The latter need not be published, but will be used to verify authenticity.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.) Chief calls out response time comment In response to the article about IVFD in the July 25 edition of the Illinois Valley News, I would like to clarify the comment about response time to the Beebe Dr. Fire. The homeowner alleges that it took one hour for IVFD to arrive. This is untrue. The Computer Aided Dispatch system shows the first unit was on scene in 20 minutes and the first engine arrived in 26 minutes. The property was in remote area above the Holland Loop store with a driveway that is inaccessible for fire apparatus. Road and driveway standards are in place for emergencies just like this one. When standards are not met, the result is a delayed response. The owner admitted he had a fire the night before and thought he had put it out. If the owner would have called 911 to report the original fire, we would have used thermal imaging cameras to detect hot spots and/or smoldering, and there’s a good chance the house would still be standing today. The loss of a home and contents is regrettable, especially when there is no insurance. Most insurance companies will not insure when minimum standards are not met. While this fire was preventable, the fact remains that we passed a much closer fire station that has no volunteers assigned. People are quick to assign blame, but I have not seen their application to become a member of the Illinois Valley Fire District. Dennis Hoke Fire Chief, Paramedic, EFO Illinois Valley Fire District What National Security? Somehow the term “National Security” has now been distorted to pour bluster and billions into ineffective border security instead of real threats to our citizenry. What brings fear to your heart: a wall of flame at the end of your driveway or a Guatemalan refugee holding an infant in her arms? Let’s get real here. Couldn’t the 25 to 50 billion dollars be better spent on hundreds of high-tech fire retardant aircraft rather than 2,000 miles of border wall? How about flood control structures in Maryland or new tunnels under the Hudson? Are we going to be content with the “new Normal” as our neighborhoods become bonfires or lakes while the national treasury gets squandered on endless no win wars and an ill conceived 30 foot high “Great Wall” to keep out the Guatemalan refugees. Robert Hirning Takilma Kudos to the Chief With regards to the recent letter to the editor by Fire Chief Dennis Hoke: WELL DONE! Chief Hoke could not have more plainly put the focus where it firmly belongs; on the shoulders of the citizens of the Illinois Valley. SEVEN active volunteer firefighters?!? One career firefighter on per shift? And people are complaining that it took firefighters not more than a few minutes to attend to the Smoking Duck restaurant fire in Selma recently? Wow. This community needs volunteers to make it work. The library, our city government, the safety patrols that support the Sheriff’s office, the Fire Department, the food bank and meals programs, Boys and Girls Club, our community radio station and many more organizations need your help. Pick one and step up today. Make the community what you want it to be. Stop depending on everyone around you to do it for you. Thank you Firefighters of the Illinois Valley and beyond! You do a stellar job! Iris Chinook Cave Junction A Community Response Team Many I know in the valley, especially since the 70s, carry an informed and avid concern for the safety of our community regarding wild fires. We have seen the consistently unpredictable weather changes accelerated, the effects of global warming and fire prone logging practices. The reality folks, our inconvenient truth, veiled by corporate faith based science rhetoric, is a steeply expanding course of uncertainty and insecurity. What will the future bring, and, at what cost? That is if we remain unprepared. The Krauss Fire, that occurred Aug. 8, 2015 starting at Rough & Ready mill was the largest threat, in Oregon at the time, to a rurally populated subdivision ordering an evacuation of 120 homes. In 2016, the Selma Fire consumed two homes and a few other buildings, then the wild park lane fire, etc. The Chetco Bar fire, Hope Mt. and others fires last year, 2017. Not to mention the devastating unprecedented fires in California, of which our little fire district sent a unit to. The FFs said they’d never seen anything like it. The closest fires, today, is the Klondike fire, Garner Complex, and Natchez. There is the Klamathon fire, 30 homes lost. And the recent Car Fire, in Redding, 50 homes, a devastating loss from a flash fire storm. I hope you see the pattern, because frankly we’re next. Ripe for a rural devastating fire. Look at the drought stricken sappy dyed up conifers ready for tinder. There is a solution, but at least a few people are needed, in your neighborhood, to turn the tide by uniting our community before an incident reaches BAR, Beyond Available Resources. That means all possible resources, private sector and our public services need to rally. Small fires require small resources, but with many tentacles. Do you and your neighbors have a fire plan? Fire Season Safety meetings are held every Monday, at Wild River Pizza in Cave Junction at 5:30 p.m. Make one and bring a neighbor. It’s time to count on our community as a resource to help our firefighters. We are responsible for the safety of our family and community. Guenter Ambron Cave Junction Obits are on A-9 this week. I llINoIs V alley F uNeral D Irectors www.since1928Hull.com 541-592-4110 Save the date Aug. 4 & 5 WHIRLWIND PLAY FESTIVAL: BREAK DOWN Aug. 4 – 5 Southern Oregon Guild Gallery & Art Center & RCC Kerby Campus 24353 Redwood Highway, Kerby, OR INTRODUCTIONS: Saturday, Aug. 4, at 6 p.m. PERFORMANCE: Sunday, Aug. 5, at 6 p.m. $5-$100 pay what you can / no one turned away A WHIRLWIND PLAY FESTIVAL is a festival in which people (no experience necessary!) come together to create several short plays within 24 hours, culminating in a performance for the community. Participants meet at 6 p.m. Saturday night for introductions. Then everyone goes home to sleep except the writers, who will stay up late, each writing a 10-minute piece. Directors and performers rehearse the plays all day Sunday. at 6 p.m. Sunday, the plays will be performed in front of a live audience! TO REGISTER: Email or call Lindsey (lindseybgillette@gmail.com or 816-769-7287) Aug. 21 – Sept. 30 Native Plant Sale: Online Pre-orders Aug 21t – Sept 30, 2018, Wildflowers – Shrubs – Trees – Bulbs Order Online: Rogue Native Plants.org. Plant Pickups: Oct 6, 2018, Cave Junction & Medford, Rogue Native Plant Partnership & Illinois Valley Conservation District Sept. 11 – Nov. 3 Land Steward Short Course, Fall 2018 for Josephine County, Learn how to manage Illinois Valley News Published weekly by I.V. News LLC Daniel J. Mancuso, Publisher your property’s natural resources more effectively with this new course blending online and field instruction. Brought to you by Oregon State University (OSU) and OSU Extension. Questions? Contact: Max Bennett, Forestry & Natural Resources, OSU Extension,541-776-7371, max.bennett@ oregonstate.edu. Class details: Classroom: Tuesday, Sept. 11, 6-9 p.m., OSU Extension, 215, Ringuette Street, Grants Pass; Weekly online lessons (self-paced) beginning Sept. 17; First field session: Saturday, Oct. 13, 9 a.m -4 p.m.; and Second field session: Saturday, Nov. 3, 9 a.m. -4 p.m. Course Fee -Early bird registration by Aug. 17: $125; By Sept. 7 registration deadline: $150; Scholarships and payment plans available by arrangement; and for online registration visit: https://pace.oregonstate.edu/catalog/land- steward-short-course. (Registration opens July 30) Summer Reminder *You could win $500, $300 or $200 for creative recycling of “junk.” Spend your summer making a piece of furniture out of junk to enter in the third annual Upcycle Furniture contest sponsored by the Southern Oregon Guild. Judging will be Friday, Sept. 28, 3:30 p.m. at the CJ Farmer’ Market at Jubilee Park. Your work will be judged on CREATIVITY!!! So have fun making it! For more information pick up a flyer at the community booth at the CJ Farmers’ Market Friday afternoons 4-7 p.m. 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 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. Continuing Couples nights starts at the Golf Course Friday, 5:30 p.m. and will continue every Friday until Aug. 31. Call the golf course for more info. at 541-592-3151 *The I.V. Senior Thrift Store: Join the crew and make new friends. You don’t need to be a senior citizen to volunteer at the store. Call us at 541-592-6630. Open Monday – Sat- urday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. *Illinois Valley Democrats meet the 2nd Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the I.V. Family Coalition, 535 E. River St. in Cave Junction. Join with like-minded people for camaraderie and to plan actions in support of the Democratic agenda. Call Anita 541-592-3073 to confirm meeting days. Check us out on FB! *Public Health Clinic- Location: I.V. Family Coalition, 535 E. River St., CJ, 1st Thursday of every month. Services offered STI Testing/Treatment, Women’s Health Ex- ams (Annuals/Problem Visits), Birth Control (All Methods Available), Pregnancy Testing, Pre-pregnancy counseling. 3rd Thursday of every month: STI testing/treatment, birth con- trol counseling (methods limited), Pregnancy Testing, Immunizations. Call 541-474-5329 for an appointment, and make sure to tell the receptionist to schedule you in CJ. Walk-ins welcome! Hours: 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. editor -Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com copy editor - C.J. Schatza classified ads - Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com circulation - Laura Mancuso laura@illinois-valley-news.com *The Sheriff’s Office Substation in Cave Junction is now open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays 10 to 2. Volunteers are still needed to staff additional days. Applications are available at the substation or online at http://www.co.josephine.or.us/Files/Volun- teer. For information call 541-474-5123. *Cave Junction Patrol, LLC is looking for volunteers. CJ Patrol is a private citizen volunteer organization dedicated to effective- ly addressing heretofore-unchecked property crime in our city and neighborhoods. The pri- mary mission of CJ Patrol is to prevent, inter- rupt, report and decrease property crime in the city of Cave Junction. Call 541-592-9665 or visit cjpatrol.org. *Committee Meeting STATE OF JEF- FERSON Josephine County 1st Thursday of each month at 5:30 p.m. 3rd Thursday of each month at 6 p.m., Wild River Pizza in Cave Junction. *FIRE SEASON SAFETY Meetings, Every MONDAY, 5:30 TO 7 p.m.., AT WILD RIVER PIZZA, in Cave Junction, back room. Includes: Fire Preparedness handouts, latest updates on conditions, building local resourc- es and current networking efforts. Also “Era of MegaFire” presentation. Join us for pizza and root beer. Contact Guenter ivwatch541@ gmail.com 541-415-1929 for an emergency preparedness packet or assistance with a Neighborhood Fire Plan. DEADLINES: News, Classified and Display Ads, Announcement and Letters 4 P.M. FRIDAYS advertising / composition - Dan Mancuso dan@illinois-valley-news.com mailroom - Millie Watkins 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.
