By Richard Emmons I met with Don Scott on Sept. 16. He wanted to show me one of his $350 pine caskets, which he sells to individuals and local funeral homes. You can see his ad on page 20. I told him that folks should buy a casket now and use it to store firewood or grandkids’ toys until needed …
Back in August, Republicans were excited to learn Christian Drazan would attend the Josephine County Fair for a meet and greet. One Republican leader suggested we form a circle around Christine to protect her from overzealous Republicans. That was a needless worry. Christine heard strong, informed and sometimes heated concerns about the SB 762 Wildfire Risk Map and other hot …
The Board of County Commissioners faces challenges on funding the Sheriff’s Office, preventing wildfires, expanding housing opportunities in the county and running county operations at a time of leaner resources. So, what do we need in our new commissioner? An effective county commissioner requires a combination of leadership and management skills and experience. This is very different from school boards …
By Ron Strom and Mary Lou Thomason Editor’s Note: This column first appeared in the Eagle in 2021. It has been updated for today’s ongoing debate over homelessness in Grants Pass. The Grants Pass Gospel Rescue Mission has helped people leave homelessness behind and become contributing members of our community since 1984. Today, we are fully committed to continuing this …
The proposed sales tax is like the Rogue River. On the surface the Rogue River is beautiful to look at and float down on a raft. Yet beneath the surface the fast-moving currents are risky. Hidden boulders can seriously harm anyone who gets knocked out of a raft. Likewise, the proposed sales tax appears simple. Just add 3 cents to …
By Bob Hart It seems like wildfires during the summer have become a way of life in Southern Oregon. But an unexpected “wildfire” was lit in the summer of 2022 with the arrival of letters to thousands of property owners informing them that they were high or extreme risk for wildfires as shown on a newly published map from the …
By Brettani Shannon I was a public-school girl, myself, but once in middle school and high school, it wasn’t healthy for me. I ended up a teenage parent, dropping out of school and was lost for many years. Over time, I did what my mother did and turned lemons into lemonade. I used my experience in abusive relationships to advocate …
By Julie Niles-Fry I found out about SB 762, the fire map debacle law, through Facebook. I checked my mail pile for “the letter” from the Oregon Department of Forestry and read the dreaded word: “Extreme.” My first thoughts came rapid-fire: “Our property is the poster child of fire safe”; “what were the thoughts that created this punitive bill?” “what …
By Richard Emmons In Pixar’s 1998 animated film “A Bug’s Life,” the ants worked hard and served the grasshoppers. One day a single ant questioned the order of things. The grasshopper in charge saw where this might lead: “If you let one ant stand up to us, then they all might stand up to us. The puny, little ants outnumber …
By Richard Emmons As the editor of the Josephine County Eagle, people often seek me out to share story ideas, complain about local problems, or ask me to do a major journalistic investigation into something that affects only a handful of people in Josephine County. Sometimes an idea seems too good to be true yet intrigues me enough to sit …