Author: Annette McGee Rasch

Fire season starts June 1!

“Even though we’ve had all this rain and snow we’re still expecting a normal fire season in Southern Oregon,” said Natalie Weber, Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Southwest Oregon District Public Information Officer. “While we’re thankful for the winter we’ve had, now is not the time to drop our guard.[Read More…]

AllCare brings new health provider to the Valley!

The AllCare Medical Group’s clinic in the Illinois Valley has recently added board-certified family nurse practitioner Kate Belfakih to its growing staff and she brings a compassionate message about the importance of getting timely medical care.Before becoming a nurse practitioner Belfakih spent 10 years working as a floor nurse in[Read More…]

Will this winter ever end?

Annette McGee Rasch – IVN Senior Contributing Writer Has this past winter been one for the record books? Not really. Not in terms of actual precipitation totals for much of southwest Oregon – though it’s been another story in California.Still, it’s been an “unusual” winter throughout Oregon, said National Oceanic[Read More…]

Wind storm was a record breaker

It was the night after Christmas when the wind started blowing. Renea CooperSmith and her husband David Smith were in bed, but sleep didn’t come.“We’re native Oregonians, so the weather doesn’t shock us much,” CooperSmith said. “But in 42 years of living in the Illinois Valley this was the biggest[Read More…]

Another year; another impressive Gingerbread Burn!

A unique tradition that’s taken hold in Takilma is the annual New Year’s Eve Gingerbread Burn. Come rain, snow or moonshine, community members and visitors gather at the Dome School for live music, dancing and the year’s imaginative gingerbread displays.At midnight each year the gingerbread creations are taken outside, lovingly[Read More…]