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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need not be published, but will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.