A surprisingly varied educational and professional background make Adult Nurse Practitioner Mary Lou Alonso a very interesting new addition to the staff at Siskiyou Community Health Center in Cave Junction. For 30 years she worked as a registered nurse, while holding at the same time a Master’s in education.But then[Read More…]

Close call with chainsaw averted by safety gear! ‘Tis the season to make firewood, do some brushing and cut Christmas trees. That means the chainsaws come out. But in just a split second a chainsaw accident can change lives forever.That’s what almost happened to one Cave Junction family. However their[Read More…]

Nearly one month has passed since the Aug. 15 lightning storm that ignited multiple fires in the Smith River Complex – and the blazes, with a footprint that’s grown to encompass over 86,000 total acres (with about 10,000 on the Oregon side of the state border), are now 21% contained.On[Read More…]

Rain! Almost every living thing in the Illinois Valley surely felt relief when the wet stuff came at the end of last week. While not enough to erase the threat from the Smith River Complex fires, rain, cooler temperatures and higher humidity brought a substantial reprieve from the hazardous levels[Read More…]

“We’re preparing now and so should you,” Warner said. “We have this favorable weather window in these coming days, but that may not last.” Dean Warner, fire behavior analyst With a change of wind direction expected to bring improvement in the hazardous smoke conditions that have plagued the Illinois Valley[Read More…]

DON’T WAIT to make plans to evacuate your animals! These are unstable and unpredictable times with wildfire on our doorstep and if the Smith River Complex – or any other fire – comes knocking, you may have little time to react.“By level 2, you should be loading those animals and[Read More…]

This originally ran in the June 14 edition without the jump. Those following the progress of the eight California condors released by the Yurok Tribe in the Redwood National and State Park last year can talk to a condor exert at the annual Hathkapasuta River Celebration. The event will be[Read More…]

Those following the progress of the eight California condors released by the Yurok Tribe in the Redwood National and State Park last year can talk to a condor exert at the annual Hathkapasuta River Celebration. The event will be held – rain or shine – at the Illinois River Forks[Read More…]

Annette McGee RaschIVN Senior Contributing Writer Illinois Valley Wellness Resources, a local nonprofit organization with a mission of helping senior and disabled individuals stay comfortably in their own homes, is giving away new air purifiers to those who qualify.Illinois Valley Wellness Resources Programs Director Laura Mancuso submitted a grant application[Read More…]

“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…]