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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021
Her life in
the Valley
of Riches
by Laura Mancuso,
editor
So far 2021 has been a
very interesting year and I hope
all of you are being safe in these
turbulent times. I just wanted to
pass on some information that I
learned from an Illinois Valley
News subscriber. If you are ex-
pecting a check from the U.S.
Department of the Treasury
due to the COVID-related Tax
Relief Act of 2020, don’t be
surprised if it comes as a credit
card that you need to activate.
I’ve heard this has been confusing for some,
and thought I should warn you so that you do
not chop it up, like so many do with potential
scams or credit card solicitations.
The letter may be addressed from the
“Economic Impact Payment Card (EPIC), PO
Box 247022, Omaha, NE 68124-7022.” The di-
rections on the letter tell you to read a “Summa-
ry of Terms and Fees printed on the back, your
full Cardholder Agreement and Fee Schedule at
EIPCard.com.” It also gives a number to call to
activate your card and tells you that you need to
set up a 4-digit PIN, sign the back of your card
and keep it in a safe place.
The ways you can access your money in-
clude: 1) Transfer to a personal bank account;
2) cash withdrawal at a bank branch; 3) make a
purchase in a store, online or by phone and; 4)
get cash at a surcharge-free ATM.
The phone number listed for activation is
1-800-240-8100 and for hearing impaired it is
1-800-241-9100. For information you can visit
EPICard.com.
I am hoping the New Year brings us good
news soon. Thank you for picking up this
week’s paper.
us, not us beating it. Every two weeks the data
is evaluated to determine the category for Jose-
phine County. Vaccinations are happening, just
maybe not as quickly as we hoped. As of Jan. 8,
Josephine County vaccinated 744 people.
City Hall is still closed to the public. Water
and sewer bills need to be mailed or put in the
drop box. Call for an appointment if you need to
see someone in person.
Jan. 7 two new councilors, Tina Casey-
Jones and Jesse Dugas were sworn in and I was
sworn in for a second term as mayor. Also, Jan.
7, the Parks and Recreation Commission held
a workshop to update their bylaws. Their next
regular meeting will be Jan. 20 to review and
approve the by-laws. The commission is look-
ing for at least two new members and possibly a
high school student.
The city expended all the state COVID
money allotted to it by the Dec. 31 deadline. We
were excited to help the new Food Pantry set up
and get running at the Seventh-day Adventist
Church and assist our local radio station, KXCJ
105.7 FM, with installation of an emergency
generator.
Be on the lookout for the announcement
of the Downtown Lighting Project, to increase
lighting for pedestrian safety and security of
downtown businesses. The IVCanDO will be
managing the project and facilitating the plan-
ning process that will be reviewed and approved
by the city council and county commissioners
prior to implementation. Completion is estimat-
ed by the end of April 2021.
The city council will hold a Zoom work-
shop Monday, Jan. 25 to discuss what projects
we want to take on and see implemented in
2021.
From the mayor’s desk: by Meadow Martell
Welcome to the New Year, 2021. I hope ev-
eryone had a safe and enjoyable holiday. At this
point, 2021 does not look a whole lot different
than 2020. I learned two things in 2020 that I
hope will help carry me through 2021- the first
is how to Zoom and the second is how to cherish
small, intimate gatherings.
Based on data from Dec. 20, 2020 to Jan. 2,
2021, Josephine County is still in the “Extreme
Risk” category. During that two-week period, we
had 330 confirmed cases. That is equivalent to
over 380 positives per 100,000. If we drop that
number down to 200 per 100,000 we would be
in the “High” category. That would mean limited
indoor dining and limited opening of indoor rec-
reation and fitness establishments. I, for one, am
really missing occasional indoor dining! If we all
work together, it is a possibility. Five other coun-
ties have done it. Right now, this virus is beating
Wayne’s World:
2020 was a year of stress on an
all new level and trying to cope has
led to some extreme examples of
confrontation. Being forced to curtail
personal interaction over the holidays,
with all interactions relegated to vir-
tual experiences, we were SO looking
forward to this new year. However,
turning a page on the calendar didn’t
suddenly erase all our difficulties or
make any of our lives easier. But there
is a surefire way to deal with a stress-
ful situation.
My sweetheart gifted me a
Grateful Dead Spring Tour ‘77 shirt
for Christmas. I told her I actually
was at those shows because when I
lived in Sacramento, the Dead always
played three shows, Friday, Saturday
and Sunday, at the State Fairgrounds
Poor ole 2020:
Poor ole 2020 - as you tick away,
soon to become history, I feel a need
to stick up for you. Everybody’s go-
ing on like you came upon the world
determined to mess us all up:
“2020 is a dumpster fire!”
“2020’s the worst year ever!” “Can’t
wait till 2020 is over!!” “2020
sucks!”
Like 2020 is something that
happened TO us. Covid, wildfires,
hurricanes, racial strife and riots, eco-
nomic chaos ...
Huh.
Is it just me, or does anybody
else discern the common denomina-
tor?
2020 wasn’t bad luck. It was
by Wayne Lee
in mid-June and I was at every one
because over three nights they never
played the same song twice. Spending
three to four hours just dancing my
butt off each night left me the most
stress free individual you would ever
hope to meet. World about to end?
Hey, no problem.
That’s when it dawned on me.
My most stress free days I’ve ever
experienced were from dancing to the
Grateful Dead. I went to YouTube and
searched for Grateful Dead concerts
and they were plentiful. So spare me
the in-home exercise mirrors, station-
ary bikes, devices and other assorted
fitness products. If I can’t sleep, I’ll
find a Dead show and dance until I
drift off to a happy place of rest and
relaxation. And no, mind altering sub-
stances were not involved.
And it doesn’t need to be a Dead
song. Listen to whatever music moti-
vates you to get up and move. Shake
that booty until the the memories
cause smiles to return and you realize
you’ve got the energy to face another
day because it will eventually get bet-
ter. Repeat as necessary. Doctor’s or-
ders. You’re welcome.
how quickly conversation turns away
from root causes like factory farms,
wet markets and global deforestation.
Nobody wants to spend much time
lurking about the barnyard of human-
ity’s chronic mistreatment of both do-
mestic and wild animals. Still, these
creatures’ silent screams have come
audible as Covid-19 rings the bell.
Let 2020 be remembered as an
awakening - the fateful days that fi-
nally forced us to make crucial choic-
es - big and small - that can save at
least some of this precious biosphere
from humanity’s folly!
Let 2021 mark the moment
when critical numbers of us - from
blue-collar workers to presidents
- started taking meaningful respon-
sibility, promoting bio-regionalism,
renewable energy, green technology,
humane food sources, local gardens,
and heavens be, more planet-wide
birth-control!
Mother Earth & Father Time
are giving us this slim chance to hang
onto our beautiful beautiful world.
Our Only Earth.
by Annette McGree Rasch
simply a reaping of what humanity’s
sown. Until we take collective and
cooperative responsibility for our
treatment of each other, our fellow
creatures, and critically, our actions
upon environment and climate, well,
these wildfires, hurricanes, riots and
Covid-19 are just the foreshadow.
We’ve been barely teased by the
truth.
Imagine a pandemic with the
contagiousness of Covid-19 and the
deadliness of Ebola. Imagine super-
storm cycles that never really stop,
regularly producing F-5 tornadoes
and giant floods. Or how about hur-
ricanes taking out the entire eastern
seaboard? And out west? Inescapable
wildfires! Countless meteorologists
say warming oceans fueled by climate
change are driving the big storms;
they also say new flood terminology
is needed - as ‘100-year’ events have
become too commonplace. And the
wildfires? Ask anybody who lives in
the western USA, Brazil, or Australia
how horrifying that growing threat
is.
Earth is talking to us. Dishing
out some hard love. But is everybody
listening yet?
How soon millions forgot about
the Bird Flu epidemics of 1997, 2005,
and the H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic
of 2009 - all of which were noth-
ing if not shots across the bow. Note
~~~~~
Annette McGee Rasch is a free-
lance writer living in Southern Or-
egon. She’s also a canine behaviorist,
animal advocate, science nerd, avid
gardener, hiker and over-all nature
lover.
Save the date
Jan. 20
Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2021 *Cris Mat-
thew’s would like to invite anyone interested in
toasting President Biden’s victory and inau-
guration to meet at Forks Park at 9 a.m. Masks
and social distancing suggested. Bring your own
Champagne or beverage. Let’s celebrate!
**Register for SUN School Winter
and Spring sessions! Grades 1-8. Online. Free.
Winter sessions are the four Fridays of February
(Winter theme: Constellations!). Spring sessions
are four Fridays in April (Spring theme: A Trip
Around Our Natural Neighborhood). Visit our
Facebook page for the registration links: facebook.
com/SunSchoolinIV or contact the SUN School
Coordinator, Kaci Elder: SUNSchoolAtRusk@
gmail.com, 541-363-8806. This is the sixth year
Illinois
Valley
News
Published weekly by
I.V. News LLC
Daniel J. and Laura M.
Mancuso, co-publishers
of SUN School, a program of Rusk Ranch Nature
Center in Cave Junction. Donations are always
(greatly) appreciated.
Tuesdays
Food Pantry New Hours: Tuesdays 9 a.m.
- 1 p.m. Cave Junction Seventh Day Adventist
Church Reopens its Dorcas/Community Services
Center, 265 South Old Stage Road in Assistance
to everyone, with no church attendance required.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, all food will be
pre-boxed. After this crisis, the food pantry staff
hopes to return to a “shopping model,” where cli-
ents may select the foods they prefer. In the future
the CJSDA Community Services Center will also
offer clothing, houseware and hygiene items. Peo-
ple wishing to make contributions to this effort, as
volunteers or in donations to feed local people, are
encouraged to contact Patti Delk at patti47delk@
POSTMASTER: Please send
address changes to P.O. Box 1370,
Cave Junction, OR 97523
Illinois Valley News is published
weekly except the first week of
January at 219 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
gmail.com or to send a check to the Cave Junction
Seventh Day Adventist Church marked “food pan-
try” to PO Box 330, Cave Junction, OR, 97523.
Wedensdays
Community Grieving Circles will be a week-
ly recurring gathering, every Wednesday starting
at 4p.m. we hold space for eachother; to speak our
grief and sorrows. We come together, via Zoom,
innon-judgment and respect as we uniquely and
authentically honor loss in itsmany shapes and
forms. By gathering in community, we can make
space for ourselves and each other to process and
transform our individual grief, together. This will be
co-lead by Angela and Michael Franklin, of Cross-
roads Community DeathCare. We will be utilizing
various exercises incorporating meditation, story
and ritual. If you would like to participate or have
questions please email:crossroadsdeathcare@
gmail.com. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.
zoom.us/j/81729740383?pwd=blhUSGV6SnhlQ
WpLZ1JzVFJVaWpJUT09Meeting ID: 817 2974
0383, Passcode:508391. Donations welcome, but
not required.Paypal email: crossroadsdeathcare@
gmail.com.
Ongoing
** The Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance
after-hours Crisis Line can be reached at 541-415-
9367. The new local crisis line will be answered
any hours the Safe House is closed. The line will
be answered by an advocate who will be able
to respond locally, also recognizing the barriers
that may come up due to our rural location. For
more information contact the Illinois Valley Safe
House Alliance 541-592-2515.
editor -Laura Mancuso
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