Bill Meyer Show Podcast - Sponsored by Clouser Drilling www.ClouserDrilling.com - 01-13-25_MONDAY_8AM

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

Dr. Dennis Powers Where Past Meets Present profiles the Almeda Fire, plus the fire map letters are going to thousands of property owners...Appeal? How to do it? Is it worth it? What does it all mean...way more questions than answers on this topic.

The Bill Myers Show podcast is sponsored by Clouser Drilling. They've been leading the way in Southern Oregon well drilling for over 50 years. Find out more about them at clouserdrilling.com. We're past meets present coming up here with Dr. Dennis Powers. Whatever happens to be on your mind, we've got a few minutes here. Elaine Kirby writes to me this morning because I was just talking about having spent $9.78 yesterday for 18 eggs. And Elaine says, Bill, go to Sherm's.

12 good eggs for $4.58. Okay, yeah, so about 38, 39 cents. That's where I got the eggs here, Elaine. They were Willamette eggs. Willamette eggs, $9.78 for 18. It's probably the most I've ever paid for eggs in my life. Now, I saw the other eggs here. Now, Elaine, you may laugh at me, all right?

I like the eggs that you're talking about. The eggs that you were talking about was like Eggland's best eggs over at Sherman. I think they were like under $5 for 12, right? I think at $4.85, like what you mentioned. Maybe they were medium, maybe they were large. That could be. Here is the problem. Those are those nice healthy eggs, right?

The healthy eggs they always talk about, they have more omega-3 acids in them or whatever it is and all that kind of stuff. Linda hates them. You know why? Because they have really, really orangey yolks. She hates those things. She says, I look at those eggs, and those eggs just look like blood eggs to me.

And I said, honey, they're actually more healthy and more nutritious for us. I can't stand looking at them. And I said, all right, honey, just put on some blinders. I mean, can I give you some glasses for it? Because I don't mind eating the healthier eggs. I really don't. And that's just it. I mean, am I wrong about that, guys?

Anybody else have that sort of situation where somebody in your family hates the look of the healthier eggs? The brighter, more orangey things? She prefers the pale ones. You know, the pale face eggs. That'll come from a lemon. But they were more expensive. They were like $10, almost $10 for 18. For the 18. I don't know.

First world problems, right? We're supposedly first world. Are we still first world now? I don't know. Hey, Dave, how you doing this morning? What's on your mind, huh? Well, I'm just really ticked off because people of Los Angeles

voted those clowns in that are burning the world down. And, you know, it's going to happen to 6Q County because, hell, they removed our legs with the money they were supposed to build reservoirs with. You are right about this. This was California's Proposition 1, a water bond that voters voted for. Gosh, it was 11 years ago. Yeah, 2014.

2014. And $250 million in dam removal costs was paid for in part by California's Proposition 1. Isn't that great? Oh, isn't that great? Yeah. You know, and then they let palisades burn to the ground. And, you know, there's a lot of. Well, being being a communist or a Marxist means never having to say you're sorry or even having to be confident, confident.

You know how that goes. Well, I just think that these people should be, you know, go to the showers and uh except have no water i'm just at the point here you know how donald trump's uh deal about making america great again you know that right make america great again i think it is the wrong i think it's the wrong theme i think it needs to be turned into make america competent again because so much about what has made america-great is because America is not operating in a competent fashion. Okay? Well, there's no common sense. Well, yeah. Well, that's part of competency.

No competency. Make MACA instead of MAGA. MACA. Make America competent again. Which means meritocracy and brains and common sense all combined in it. But you look at what has gone. Everything that has happened in America,

everything which we find ourselves challenged with right now, is essentially Marxism in the controlling organs of society, whether it is the education, whether it is the bureaucracy, whether it is the bureaucracy, you know, all this kind of stuff.

In fact, there was a story. Where was this story? I saw this. I think I have that story here about a woman who quit a school board. Oh, here we go. Crook County School Board member. This came from the Road Valley Times. I think it actually came out of the Ben Bulletin, but you know they're all part of the same company.

Crook County School Board member resigns, citing woke mob. Crook County School District Board member Cheyenne Edgerly has announced her resignation from the board, citing threats made against her and her family in a woke mob slander campaign. Edgerly was the lone school board member to vote no on the ouster of Superintendent Melissa Skinner from the school district at a January 9th board meeting. Edgerly writes, I respected the views of this community, even if they differ from my own personal. More importantly, I respect the rule of law.

I refuse to sweep under the rug complaints ignored by the previous board. In my opinion, the most dangerous place for children is the current version of public education. Yeah, she's the one who quit. Yeah, she's one of the smarter ones, apparently. Edgerly was one of three conservative candidates elected to the school board in 2023 on a platform that alleged sexualization of materials and attitudes in schools jessica brumble one of the others elected in 2023 resigned from her seat in december before being named director of transportation for the district the school board will meet next monday it must be today where it will announce vacancies for brumbles and edgerly's seats in other words the good ones quit because it just got too hot we're going to attack them and slander them

this is what happens with marxism in control yeah we can't uh we can't say we don't want perverted books in your school library that's bad that's censorship that's censorship all right yikes hi good morning who's this welcome bill brad here good morning. Who's this? Welcome. Bill Brad here. Good morning to you. Morning, Brad. So we've all seen what's going on down in L.A. Let me tell you what's going on here in the gigantic metropolis of Jacksonville and see if you think it's any more efficient than what might be going down there. Is that okay?

Okay. Does this have to do with the fire department? Yes. Because I've had problems with the issues when I lived in Jacksonville for many, many years, lived there for many, many years, and I was always concerned that they were way too concerned with building a little fiefdom for the fire laddies than actually providing very affordable fire coverage, because you could have just, you know, had an outpost of Fire District 3.

It would have been a lot less expensive than what they're doing there. But just me. So the fire chief that was there now is not there. And the guy that's there now, here's what he does. So he worked with the city manager, Jeff Alves, to make sure that there's enough water. I believe they've got 3 million gallons of water storage. The town goes through about a million gallons a day, so it's got three, and that's with irrigation and everything. And so the city manager always knows the situation, how much water storage they have, how much they have available. The fire chief has his firemen

go around, and on a regular schedule, they make sure that all the fire hydrants are tested for function and capacity. So they go around, and they make sure that all the fire hydrants are tested for function and capacity. So they go around and they make sure that all the fire hydrants work. They also have a plan for every part of the city. They also work with the citizens. They call it a firewise neighborhood, but they work with them on fuels reduction. Anytime anybody has a question on what they can do, anything, they respond to that. So they know the condition. They know how much water they have available. They know how the hydrants work. They have a plan to get to every house that's in their area. That's in the little tiny community of Jacksonville with only 2,800 people in it. Would any of those things be helpful down in L.A. to

know how much water you have, to know which hydrants work, how much water the hydrants have available. And that the, and that the, and by the way, he doesn't get paid $275,000 a year to do that. Oh, no, there are people down in LA, they're getting four to $500,000 a year to run the fire department. Oh yeah. Yeah. And they don't know how much water they have and they don't know how much water they have and they don't know how much water they have available and they don't know which hydra i mean it just it just seems like maybe maybe our little community of jacksonville can teach those guys how to do their jobs a little bit better well let me just ask a brief question here because one of the issues that i had with jacksonville they may have a very competent

uh competent fire department i'm not questioning that okay is it sustainable and when i talk about sustainable financially sustainable because i mean what are you paying uh are you paying what 100 bucks a month before you even get one drop of water to support the fire and police department in Jacksonville? Yeah. So what you're talking about is it's the utility connection fee that the city uses to finance their police and fire response. And probably the main answer to that, Bill, is that before the city adjusted those whole things, they had a series of town meetings that I'm seeing like over a year. They had this – anybody wants to show up, tell us what you think. And they said, do you want us to keep the costs the same or do you want – which we can afford without raising the fee?

Do you want us to keep the coverage, what we can afford, or do you want full-time coverage? And the people overwhelmingly that came to the town meeting said, we want full-time coverage. We want the Cadillac plan. If we have to pay an extra $20 a month to get it, we're willing to pay it. That's what the overwhelming number of citizens told the city council. Okay, so I guess there are no poor people in Jacksonville now, huh? Well, I think they've run most of them out, Bill. I don't... Yeah, they would have to. They would have to be, because I remember when we looked at that water bill coming in from the city

of Jacksonville, before you even got one drop of water, and we've been out of there eight years, you know, at that point. It was an insane amount of money each month. It makes the Medford utility fee look damn affordable by comparison, in my opinion. Yeah. Well, the people that live there, they're the ones that showed up at the town council meetings and said, this is what we want. If we have to pay more for it, we're willing to pay it. Most of the time, though, what is the fire department doing most of its calls on, though, honestly? So most of the calls for any fire department are not fire-related.

Most of them are medical assistance calls. So in Jacksonville, for instance, there's Pioneer Village, which is the assisted and independent living facility. And then right next to that is the Royal Mobile Home Estates where a lot of older people live. All right. Now, you see, that's an example. See, this is the great way that the fire departments of Oregon have kind of forced their expansion and getting more firefighters, very expensive firefighters. I love firefighters. I think they do great work. But the vast majority of their work is medical. I think that's true.

Are we getting the right amount of money for, are we spending the right amount of money for most of the time a bunch of people who are doing medical calls? Well, public safety budgets are the budgets that bankrupt cities. For instance, the city manager that Medford just hired came from, I think it was San Bernardino he came from. I think you're right. And, of course, that went bankrupt, yeah. Right. Well, all the cities that have had to file bankruptcy in the United States,

whether it's San Bernardino or I can't remember all now, it's always the public safety budget that bankrupts them because those are the budgets for the union. And the union tells the city council, this is how much you're going to have to pay this year and they have to do it i get it well the reason you see where i'm going with this though you could probably cover the pickup grandma who fell out of bed calls for a lot less than hiring 100 to 120 000 it's probably 120 000 a year plus for each fire laddie wouldn't you say well um so the answer to your question is yes but the other part of your answer is is if you're going to have a 24 hour a day uh

365 day your response team it's the people that you need to provide the service and unfortunately with those guys the vehicles that they use to provide the service are their fire engines, which are expensive to operate. Yeah, like I'm saying, you know, you could contract with Mercy Flights for a lot cheaper than having your own fire department take care of every medical call. And frankly, I never understood. You see, to me, this is, of course, maybe this is the way, though, that Jacksonville is able to keep itself very exclusive. They make it so expensive to live there that regular folks can't live there. That could be it. I can tell you that the fire chief at Jacksonville has, he places cards extremely welcome.

If you want to compare his budget to a lot of other budgets, he really does a great job of getting grants and running his department as efficiently as possible. But it is, it's a full-time, it's a legitimate full-time... Yeah, for 2,800 people. See, that's what I'm getting at. For 2,800 people. Okay, well, I guess if they want to tax themselves for that, that's fine, I guess. But I have to tell you, I just would have seen,

if you were truly wanting to run Jacksonville efficiently, you would have contracted with Fire District 3. You would have done that. You would not have built the new earthquake-proof place, you know, up there. There are all sorts of ways that you can handle. Okay, you want to have your police department? Okay, I guess so, so that they can, you know, wave at people as they go by and catch the speeders going through town above 20 miles an hour. You know, that kind of thing. Yeah, so the fire chief is Wayne Painter.

Sit down and have a cup of coffee with him one time, and I think you'll be surprised at all the ways he actually saves money. I think you'll be surprised. Okay, I would really love that. And, of course, when someone says they get grants, all that means is other taxpayers paying for Jacksonville's firefighting. That's what that means. Remember? Grant stream funding, right? That might be true.

I can see the day coming where the firefighting services price themselves out of being an individual town function, and it's going to end up being a county function someday. But what I can tell you is that in the city of Jacksonville, he knows every single fire hydrant is going to operate. If they need the water, the water is there. They have a plan for every home and every neighborhood, and you are never going to see the kind of fire event in Jacksonville that we're seeing down in L.A.

It never happened. Okay. Thanks for the call, Brad. 770-5633. 770-KMED. This is the Bill Myers Show. KMED, KMED, HD1, Eagle Point, Medford, KBXG, Grants Pass. Got a mess with the IRS or a tax state with the state?

You may need representation. Day 52, Wednesday and Thursday. You know, I might have to stand corrected on Jacksonville with the cost of their fire department. I just had a father of a Jacksonville firefighter says starting wages there, $41,000 for a Jacksonville firefighter. Hmm. Maybe what needs to be done then is that we take Jacksonville fire

and expand it to cover the city of Medford and everyone else. Because I'd be willing to bet you Medford fire is probably a lot more than that because the fire department always ends up spending a lot of money lobbying the city council for raises. It could be a little bit of that going on, right? You know, well, it's kind of like, you know, one hand polishes the apple of the other's hands. And a lot of political donations come from the fire world in there. I know it's something which is necessary to have. I get it. It's just that it is some of the most expensive public service going on.

And what Brad was talking about is right. What is bankrupting public service? Or what is bankrupting cities, Public services and their pensions. Just saying. So, gosh, if we could get... So if $41,000 a year is the starting wage for a Jacksonville firefighter, that means that that is the wage of a firefighter. What is it in Medford?

I'll have to take a look. I'll bet it's a little bit more than that. Anyway, we can talk about that and other things. Dr. Powers will be joining me here in a couple of minutes, all right? Jay Austin and company Gold and Silver Buyers never bent the knee to the COVID mob. Good people to know. Markets have been a little challenging as of late. Values are kind of at nosebleed levels.

I don't know maybe uh maybe things will be just fine and we'll continue to uh be able to just go higher and higher and higher into the trump administration one can never know but uh when it comes to inflation i think when you look at the disasters and the various other challenges inflation is going to be baked into our economic cake good idea to have some physical gold and silver from Jay Austin and go in there today. Talk with him about it. 482-3715. Better yet, drop by 1632 Ashland Street in Ashland, 6th and G in downtown Grants Pass. And if you're looking at $2,700 gold and saying, hey, I could sell for that,

maybe you have some scrap gold, they'll buy that too. Either way, the buying or the selling, they are the recognized experts. Talk to Jay Austin today. Ashland and Grants Pass, fortunereserve.com. This hour of the Bill Myers Show is sponsored by Fontana Roofing. For roofing gutters and sheet metal services, visit fontanaroofingservices.com. Oregon Truck and Auto Authority is your work truck and van headquarters. Proudly offering Adrian Steel interior shelving packages, partitions, and the

best ladder racks in the business. Integrated bed slide or decked drawer system to boost your efficiency. Also featuring the largest selection of commercial fiberglass and metal truck canopies from leading manufacturers such as ARE, SmartCap, Century, and more. Come see Oregon Truck and Auto Authority today and take your efficiency to the next level. This is Sophia. Hello. Sophia is our newly appointed, what's your title? Executive Princess in charge of glitter.

Okay, Princess, so why should people shop at Garrison's Outlet? Because I said so. Well, we also have deep discounts on remarkably nice furniture. Yeah, that too. We rarely turn a profit on this furniture. Are we done? I got work to do. Like what? Duh, glitter. For dazzling discounts and deals for days, visit Garrison's outlet in Medford. Garrison's.com. Kim Commando is sponsored locally by Tech Nomad, your trusted local computer repair expert service done remotely by drop-off or they'll come to you.

Visit mytechnomad.com. The Los Angeles fires are bringing out what I like to call true colors. Here KMED in Krantz Pass on 105.9, K290AF Rogue River. In South Jackson County on 1067, K294AS Ashland. Before Dr. Powers joins us for where past meets present, and we'll be talking about fire then, the Olmedo fire in this particular case is part of our historical profile. Hey, Devin, you wanted to weigh in on the Jacksonville fire deal that Brad had talked about here earlier. What do you think of it? Yeah, I think the guy is just a little out of touch. You know,

Jacksonville is a whole different ballgame compared to these other counties. You know, there's a lot of big money there. You know, and people just can't afford the extra fire protection. I think he said, what, $100 a month just for their fire protection. Well, I think that also includes the police, too. I just remember when I was living in Jacksonville, I was astounded at the amount each month that was coming. And of course, it comes on the water bill and you can't say no to it. You know, one of those kind of things, you know, it's either that or you don't have water. And that's, of course, the new way of funding cities because taxpayers are saying, hey,

we've had enough. But, you know, the cities decide to give you what you don't necessarily ask for good and hard. But from the sounds of it, though, people showed up and they like that. So I guess, you know, if they like it in Jacksonville, I suppose that's fine. Yeah, I guess it works for there. Yeah. Yeah, as far as I say, something like the Los Angeles fires isn't going to happen around there. I think we're one big wind event, you know, like we did in Labor Day a few years back. I mean, I think we see some serious damage around here. I think when it comes to wind events, you have a 60 to 80 mile an hour wind event like

you were having with the Santa Anas. And it probably doesn't matter how many firefighters you have at that point. There are just certain things that are going to overwhelm any standard kind of action because you lose your air support. You can't do air support in big winds like that, right? You can't do anything like that and um when it's a firestorm even no matter how big your hose is you're still spitting into a firestorm right you're that kind of thing i don't know exactly yeah appreciate the call thanks for that devin we go to dr powers hey doc how are you doing this morning welcome well welcome and my pleasure uh, and another very eventful weekend, of course.

Yeah, a lot of talk about fire, of course, and I'm glad you brought up for the profile this week of the Almeda fire, and least we not forget, lest we not forget. And it's something to keep in mind, and with all the talk even coming out of L.A., climate change, we heard climate change here, too, five years ago with the Alameda fire. But that was an arson-started fire, wasn't it? Just like everything else. That's right. And the thing about it, very quickly, is that that was over four, almost four and a half years ago that the Almeda fire started. And I live on the side that's above where the Asante Ashland Community Hospital is.

And within, oh, I'd say seven minutes of all of a sudden seeing some smoke, I had seen that fire already whipping down along Bear Creek, Cape Greenway, heading up I-5, and that was just in about, let's say, 10 minutes. And we all know what happened there, but the thing is, is that when we look into it, you know, we had, you know, three deaths. You had 2,600 structures burned down. You had, for example, in town, a third of that town was gone, and people were staying up at that night because they didn't know if the wind directions would change and come back. You know, fire hydrants had gone dry, depressurized by the fire,

rupturing thousands of gushing pipes. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you have a firestorm come through. We were talking a lot about that. And one thing that I've been a fan of is maybe the talk of those automatic shutoffs for homes to maybe kind of keep the hydrants pressurized a little bit so if the neighborhood burns down, it doesn't just let all the water leak out. But that could be a conversation for another time. Well, no, but you know, you're absolutely right, because as we all found out here, even though for all of us who were there, it was a once-in-a-lifetime event, actually, for those who were not only lost homes in that fire, but also friends of mine who were caught outside in Medford trying to get back to their homes in Ashen with the congestion, snarled traffic, smoke arising, fires ripping past them. And the other aspect of this is that I know that there wasn't a lot of information, good

information available because, you know, it's kind of like, where could you go? Where was the safe space? There really wasn't a safe space in many places to head to there. You know, in our valley, our compact valley, you know, compressed into the hills. You don't know again now? That's very true, Bill. You're absolutely right about that. And then when we look at the difference between Alameda and what's happening in Los Angeles,

you know, there's in one way, although I'm very empathetic to what we went through remembering and seeing those flames, you have Los Angeles with almost 15 times as many structures going down, multimillion dollar homes. It's still going on. But the question that hits me, my friend, is what is the reaction? What is the reaction to all this? And we see the politicization by Galvin Newsom. But here, one of the things that we have received up here in Ashland on this side of the Ashland Community Hospital is actually a lawsuit that's in the guise from the Department of Forestry that is designated ourselves in terms of a high hazard zone. Oh, this is the, you got your fire map letter, in other words, right?

Yeah, but you see, what's interesting about this fire map letter is that it's more than that, because of the fact, my friend, is that there's nothing there, Bill, that says what the state will do, which is going to be continuing to help the illegal immigrants, the homeless and things like that, and cut down in terms on fire treatment, roads and things like that. But here, when people receive it, and they're going to be receiving it all throughout your listening audience, because we did hear those, I'm sure, that were classified as within both a high hazard zone and a wildland urban interface are going to be getting these. You have 60 days to answer, and there's a lot of legalese in there. And it's actually where the state of Oregon through the forestry department is going to take control of what you can do with your property. And it's based on, Bill, weather, climate, climate, topography,

vegetation type. We have no control over that. And guess this, get this, whatever actions that your listeners have taken who have had this designation, it will not affect the designation that you have. So when I talk to neighbors and people down towards the community hospital, they said, well, gee, it looks like my fire insurance is going to go up again. And people have been getting canceled on this side. And so the Californication of Oregon by Salem to where we are the second state underneath Gavin Newsom has already started. That's not – you're not wrong about that here, Dr. Powers. Dr. Dennis Powers is with me this morning because that fire map put out by ODF is not going to put out one fire. It's not going to put out one federal fire, for sure. And the part that doesn't really get talked about very much is how the vast majority of the fires which spread onto our landscape through the WUBI,

they always bring up the wild urban, wild land, you know what it is, the interface, that kind of thing, the wooey. Most of it is from public land. Most of the fire comes onto the private lands from the public land. You're absolutely right. That's the reality of it. And, you know, as long as you still have half of this state controlled by, about half of the state, and probably more of Southern Oregon controlled by the state, which is utterly incompetent about dealing with such things, especially the federal government,

we're supposed to, in essence, pay for the sins of the federal government. That's really what we're being asked to do. That's how I see this whole thing with the fire map. Yeah, and you see what's happening on this is the fact that it is one of those things where the state is saying, it is your fault as a landowner, and here's what you've got to do, and we can come onto your property. That's another story. And tell you what you've got to do with your property, and what we do is up to us. You know, I was talking with Dr. Carroll.

Earlier this morning, Doc, I was talking with Dr. Carol Lieberman. And, of course, she's a Malibu psychiatrist. And she evacuated from her fire. Her fire burned in the 2018 or her home was damaged in the 2018 Malibu fires then. And she still hadn't completely rebuilt from that yet. And now she had to evacuate again. And she starts talking about uh you know the talk that is done in la is kind of some of the same stuff we were getting here in southern oregon too about

direct energy weapons global conspiracy this and that and the other oh it's absolutely correct and you have and you have to and you have to wonder if there actually is a covert attack on certain areas because the solution always seems to be you don't live here anymore am i wrong to to kind of look that this seems to be the solution because that's ultimately what they're doing by uh you know with the uh the fire map situation they'll make it so difficult so onerous to live outside of a city, that you either leave or you go into the stack-and-pack, climate-friendly, equitable community in downtown Ashland and Medford. And you see, the problem is it continues to give a lot of divisiveness all the way throughout. And what's happening is that people who, let's say, live in Portland, for example,

in that city that would like to get out, no, you're there. You won't be able to get out. But the thing is that owners of homes that are in a low-risk area or not designated on that wildfire map, they'll say, oh, that doesn't really concern us. Well, yeah, and who are the only people who are low risk? Now, even my home out by Foothill is considered moderate, right? But you cross Foothill, and then all of a sudden you're on Roxanne, and then that's high. Yeah, but you see, the difference between moderate and high is not that comfortable a distinction, Bill, because in moderate, they can still come in

and change rules and come in with the supermajority they have and say, okay, Bill, and the other folks that are living in moderate zones, you will need to do this. And when you take a look, it's talking about sighting, it's talking about all these different things you'll need to do. If you go in for a permit, such as a permit, if you will, to put on a deck, these things will come in. And so the control affects all of us. And what's amazing to me is when you go through, trees have got to be spaced. They say not more than 10 feet from a structure, a house. Or they can't be closer than 10 feet, right?

That's right. Yeah. That's right. Moderate can see if you have a fire that happens two blocks away from you, you can better believe that the insurance companies are going to get in. And moderate is going to be really another problem because of the fact that they can come in, buy this, and they can come in and say, okay, guys, gals, here's what it is. This tree comes down. Now, this is taking away property rights. I would think that as these notices go out, and they're doing it in sections, and they're doing it in different ways, because there's no question of the way that this has been mapped out. And of course, our representatives are certainly not going to help. And what you're seeing here is, remember, recall, my friend, as to what we had

on the original map, the big argument is saying, well, you've got houses in there that really shouldn't be designated as a... Because the houses were actually pretty well cleared out and they were pretty fire-hardened home. Well, guess what? Now, all of them on the street, regardless of the condition of the property and where, is now looked upon as high risk. You're right. Dr. Power is with me this morning. And, of course, today's profile that I'm going to post there, I'll meet a fire,

but it's all kind of connected into this fire stew that we've been talking about off and on this morning. 7705633. Hey, Doc, can you hang on? We'll do another segment or so about this. Sure. I'm happy to do it wherever you want to go. Let me grab this call before we go to the break here and say, hi, who's this? Good morning.

Welcome. Good morning. Bismarck. Hey, Bismarck. What do you want? What's up? Well, my parents have property over here on Old Stage Road. Welcome. Good morning, Bismarck. Hey, Bismarck. What do you want? What's up? Well, my parents have property over here on Old Stage Road. Yeah.

And there's a fire hydrant on Earline Way. Most people think fire hydrants are all pumped by the pressure. Actually, the fire hydrant off of Earline Way is run off of the Medford Irrigation District. So when there's no water in the irrigation canal above here on Old Military Road area, there is no water in all of these fire hydrants. I didn't know that. The only time a fire hydrant can be used is during the spring into the fall when the canal is running. And here's the scary part. Go back five years to the big planned fire. They turned off our irrigation on and off during the summer for whatever purposes. So we'll go two weeks with

water, a week without water. Well, during the fire, the day before the fire, we had no water, which means the fire hydrants out here were all shut off until a day later, then the water came back on. It's interesting. I did not know that, and thanks for sharing that. Wow, that kind of puts it in perspective, doesn't it too, Doc? A fire hydrant isn't always a full fire hydrant from the looks of it. I didn't know that. That's interesting.

Yeah, that's a good point, and that's part of the disinformation that's going on, not only by Oregon, but also by Gavin Newsom and Californication. I love that. Californication, it's more than just a good Red Hot Chili Peppers song, okay? Hang on, Doc. We'll be right with you, okay? You know, speaking of the fire and the fire insurance, and a lot of people have got in touch with me because maybe they got cancellations or a big boost in their homeowner insurance. Steve Dancy at Sky Park Insurance, who's the sponsor of the program, is a big help, at least goes to work and tries to shop many, many different companies to find that coverage for you. Whether you're looking for fire insurance or home insurance or business insurance

or real estate insurance or rental property insurance, life insurance, all that kind of stuff, call Steve today, 261-5444, and get a quote and see if he can help you out. 261-5444. And on the Medicare side, there is Lynn Barton, who has now joined the Sky Park team. Her number, 499-0958. 499-0958. Skyparkins.com. At Skypark, we make insurance easy. At Pressure Point Roofing, we're dedicated to delivering top quality year-round roofing solutions while creating positive experiences for our customers. With our seasoned year-round crews, now is a great time to book your roofing project. Have questions about roofing in the winter? Need financing options? Book a consultation today and see how our year-round roofing team can bring you peace of mind sooner.

Why wait? Visit PressurePointRoofing.com and let us take care of your roof, no matter the season. Rain is synonymous with the Pacific Northwest. While we love the rain for many reasons, your home may not. That's where Terra Firma comes in. Pooled or standing water is a breeding ground for mold and rot, compromising the very structure of your home. But the water doesn't have to do damage to your home this year. Terra Firma foundation systems are your waterproofing experts.

If you notice wet basement walls, musty odors, or sweaty windows, call Terra Firma and schedule a free evaluation today. Visit GoTerraFirma.com. That's GoTerraFirma.com. CCB 173547. The email of the day on the Bill Myers Show, sponsored by Central Point Family Dentistry. See all they have to offer at CentralPointFamilyDentistry.com and call for an appointment. Dr. Steve Nelson and his staff are next to Mazatlan Mexican Restaurant, just off Pine in Central Point.

Hi, it's John at Wellburn's Weapons. The only thing better than shooting is shooting with a suppressor. Wellburns is Southern Oregon's suppressor headquarters, stocking models from Silencer Code, Dead Air, Griffin Armament, Rugged, Q, Thunder Beast, and many more. And we can order practically any suppressor on the market. Check in with us for monthly incentives to save on suppressors, too. Come see the suppressor experts. Wellburns Weapons on Crater Lake Highway,

just south of White City. This is News Talk 1063 KMED, and you're waking up with the Bill Myers Show. Dr. Powers, we're past meets present. Hey, Doc, we have Susan who's online here, and she just got her fire map letter. How you doing? Or is it Swan, right?

Swan, pardon me. That's okay, yes. I just received the official letter. It looks like notice of proposed action, final order, hazard zone assignment, and wildland urban interface designation, and it's regarding our personal property here. Right. And we have 60 days, and I don't even know where to start

because we need to go to court over this. Our home is very much hardened, and I don't know what kind of hand we have in this game, but any advice would be great. Doc, you know, Swan has this issue. She's one of many here in Southern Oregon who have received a letter like this, I'm sure. Okay, a couple of things. First of all, we in the neighbors, including different streets that are involved, are getting information.

We just got this on Saturday. But a couple of things. What's amazing about this is that you can't put in on appealing your hazard value, and it's in the appeal form. See, what they're doing is saying if you don't appeal from this order, then it's done. And there it says right in this form, completion of defensible space, home hardening, proximity to a fire station, and non-agricultural related irrigation cannot be considered in calculating the hazard values. So we're looking. We have 60 days. It comes, and that's even a little weaselly, too, with the way they did it, because they say it runs from the date that's on the letter that was sent,

but then they send it by certified mail, and that's when you learn it, so you've already lost some days but the important thing is is that i'm looking and trying to find the name of an attorney who is affected that is looking at how to handle this in terms of let's say a class Now, I'm not going to get involved on that, but the whole thing is that it is an absolute Californication of what we're doing because there's no promise by the state. I guess the point is, though, what you're telling me, though, and what, according to Swan, saw Swan's reading of this, is that you better appeal because if you don't appeal, then it's just whatever the state says.

Is that pretty much the result of this? That's correct. And then when you read the – actually, in the matter of hazard zone assignment, in terms of ethical law, they have all these different things that are in there that you are entitled to appeal. But once you do, this is an administrative hearing before an administrative judge, and you're getting into a situation where none of us know what's going to happen there. Okay, all right. Now, let me just try to be practical, though, about with SWAN here. Now, we're not giving legal advice. We can't do that. All right. But we can make some suggestions or look at it. Do you have to have a lot of information in the appeal, from what you understand? Or do you just say, hey, I wish to appeal we've had two days of talking to each other to find out.

To answer the question on that is the fact that when you get through and read through all this, you're finding it is so legally oriented that you'll probably want to have an attorney look at it before you do it, especially given the fact that once this happens, we know our fire insurance is going to be either stopped or completely, like in California, increased. I've even had people that I've talked to already, which is what to do, is talk and get the information. Yes, you need, according to what we've read, is you need, it's a one page that you've got to send in. But in there, it just straight jackets you because it says required information. Do you intend to retain an attorney? You check that box or not. You've got to see a copy of it, Bill,

in terms of doing this. The other thing is indicate while you are appealing. Now, what they say here is that you can't appeal on the factors that they have put in, which includes climate control. You mean climate change? Climate change, climate control, you betcha. But the important thing here is that, according to this, if you don't, you have the classification. But the odds are that the way that they have structured this is they're going to rule against you anyway. And if you come in there and they send a notice, now, I am now hypothecating. Yes.

If what happens is that, which I will be doing and all of us will be doing, is putting the appeal in, and then you'll get a letter, a form letter that says, okay, here's where, this is what we think. We don't know. Is that then we'll get a letter that says you must appear here for a hearing at such and such a date and such a time. Now, if you don't, then they just say, done. Well, it's just like any other court appearance, except this is an administrative court, which, of course, is a fake court, in my opinion. But that's the difference is the fact that they have already gone ahead and said that if you don't go ahead into this, which is a little different from administrative rules, is they said, you don't have a chance to talk about this rule if you don't appear the rule applies

to you. That's very, very different. Yeah, really, really odd. So, Swan, it would seem to me that you might want to find an attorney that could help you out on that. Fair enough? Well, I think, Bill, if I may be so bold, I think what's important is for everyone to start networking with others who are similarly

situated. And you see where this is really monstrous is that they're picking off those in the fire map. Well, those who are not so designated will probably say, well, it doesn't affect me. I'm not going to worry about it. But it will. All right. We go to line four. Hi, this is Bill. Dr. Powers here.

Good morning. Hello. Bill Allen DeBoer, how are you? I'm fine. How are you doing, Senator? Good. Hey, Bill. How are you doing, Allen?

I'm doing good. Hey, the new fire maps, you've got to ask yourself, why did we need to create a fire map? And people are, you know, they're determined. Years ago, they did the flood mapping. They did it by LIDAR. And so we had a huge property that was in the flood zone, and it wasn't really. But our insurance company called and said, you're in a flood zone. They raised our rates.

I had to hire people to come and prove it wasn't in the flood zone, and it wasn't. And then everything went back to normal. So now we have all these fire maps that are going to cost. And the state legislature, I don't know if they actually passed it, but I think they did. Well, 762 ended up up. This is the Jeff Gold and Pam Marsh bill. That's what, you know, these are the two, the senator and the state rep, which ended up bringing this.

They ended up sponsoring this bill and carried this bill, right? And so I honestly think that this is really about getting firefighting coverage out of the general fund. Do you agree with that or not? I don't. You don't? I think it's about electing people that try to fix a problem after it occurs, as opposed to electing people that fix a problem before it occurs. Well, but I'm saying that the result of this map, though, is going to be about getting the firefighting funding off of the state legislature. I think that's what's going on here. I don't think you're smart, but that other problem with this is...

Well, I'll agree with you about that. They're passed a lot. I believe it's passed. what's going on here anyway i don't think you're smart but that other problem with this well i'll agree with you about that so they're they're passed a lot i believe it's passed that no insurance company in oregon can rate the property depending on the fly it met the fire map and what's going to happen and i think it's already happening that some companies are not writing in oregon yeah that's that's all it's going to be it's the same thing it's already happening some companies are not writing in oregon yeah that's that's all it's going to be it's the same thing it's like they're they'll just uh write it using the fire map and then they can say well we're just not going to cover oregon and i can't help but think senator that this is part of the uh the plan of depopulating the rural lands only

wealthy people will be able to afford it come on of my opinion. Thank you very much for the call there. I've got to roll on here. Doc? Bill, I might say very quickly, I think Senator DeBoer Allen has made some very good points because in this hearing, if you make the appeal, it's an evidentiary type of proceeding where there are opening statements, the department presents its evidence, you've got to do your evidence. So that's correct.

The other thing is that the reaction of people I talk to, and he's absolutely right about this, is that they just said, I don't know if I'm going to be able to afford this because I've already had increases on my fire insurance just because the fact of another thing is with the Californication and what's happening in LA, they're going to raise the rates here. So this is an immediate problem. All right. Right back with Dr. Powers and of course your call 770-5633. This hour of the Bill Myers Show is sponsored by Fontana Roofing. For roofing gutters and

sheet metal services, visit fontanaroofingservices.com. Hi, this is Cassie from Clouser Drilling. Drill, baby, drill is a statement that might conjure images of gushing oil, and almost everyone could agree we could use more of that. But at Clouser Drilling, we think of the liquid essential for life, flowing water. So while we can't help with the cost of fuel, we can help you source water for your family, garden, and livestock for years to come.

For a new well or underperforming wells, call Clouser Drilling for a no-obligation assessment and estimate. And drill, baby, drill. Find out more at clouserdrilling.com. Oregon Truck and Auto Authority is your tonneau cover source. Tonneau covers are a great way to secure and protect the cargo in your bed from the elements. Styles from truck gear, back industries, undercover, and more. Oregon Truck and Auto Authority, your one-stop accessory and protection shop. from the elements styles from truck gear back industries undercover and more oregon truck and

auto authority your one-stop accessory and protection shop hi there it's jeff with quality tree service as we look forward to spring now is the time we offer our best rates of the year winter is also a great time to prune your trees because they're dormant and waiting to wake up and grow in a healthy way so give us a call and get a no-obligation quote. I think you'll be impressed with how affordable it is to get your tree shaped up for spring. Quality Tree Service offers senior and military discounts, too. Find us at qualitytreeservicemedford.com. If your home computer has issues, call Tech Nomad.

Tech Nomad is your locally owned and operated computer repair and tech support. They help with annual diagnostics, tune-ups, software updates, removing viruses, installing antivirus, upgrading hard drives, and more. TechNomad offers remote diagnostics by phone, pick-up and drop-off, or in-home service. Phishing scams are sophisticated, so an innocent click may be damaging your computer performance or compromising your privacy. Call your IT department. Tech Nomad. Visit mytechnomad.com. This is Sophia.

Hello. Sophia is our newly appointed, what's your title? Executive Princess in charge of glitter. Okay, Princess, so why should people shop at Garrison's Outlet? Because I said so. Well, we also have deep discounts on remarkably nice furniture. Yeah, that too. We rarely turn a profit on this furniture.

Are we done? I got work to do. Like what? Duh, glitter. For dazzling discounts and deals for days, visit Garrison's Outlet in Medford. Garrison's.com 30 years ago, American Industrial Doors specialized in industrial doors for warehouses, shops, barns, airport hangers, and the like. But soon after, they began offering residential garage doors and openers.

They thought about changing the name to include residential, but too late now. So if you need to move anything on wheels from inside to out, from a golf cart to an airplane, please remember American Industrial Door is Southern Oregon's premier door company, including residential, with locations in Medford, Grants Pass, and Klamath Falls. The Bill Myers Show is on. News Talk 1063 KMED. We have about five minutes left with Dr. Powers. We're talking about the fire situation with the fire map and the letters, certified letters have been coming out there and let me go to ed ed you're with dr powers go ahead well i did a lot of research into this during the initial

uh phase of when they were you know putting this bill through and doing the the thing but uh administratively i looked at it and and I think that people need to understand, we have to question who prepared the map. has a fiduciary obligation of duty when they do something to contract with a an appropriate group to prepare things when they go into something like this now to cut to the chase here ed because we don't have much time this time would be i had to set that format yeah i get that but that but that would be essentially you had the oregon university system do the fire map right that's what that's what happened and it's volunteer students that did this basically for extra credit yeah yeah he he and you see dr powers that is laughing and that's the appropriate response to this but it's serious as a heart attack but you see it is serious but but the administrative rules.

What was that, Doc? Go ahead. Ed is totally correct on this, because even though in the certified letter, they state that, oh, it was the Oregon Department of Forestry with, and Oregon State University developed the statewide maps, and then they give the only four factors there as to what they developed it on, and you can't appeal on that. Ed has an excellent point. So it sounds to me, Doc, is that aren't we talking about just getting together a class action suit on this?

It's almost like you're going to have to sue the state. I don't know how you get around this. Am I wrong? Or right? By the way, thank you, Ed. Appreciate that. Yeah, thanks, Ed. And you're right. By the way, thank you, Ed. Appreciate that. Yeah, thanks, Ed. And you're right.

It will be uphill. It's going to have to be someone who is affected and is an active attorney and also understands Salem that can start this to a certain extent. Because this is just the start of the camel's nose in there affecting using this map to get in and control everyone's property. There we go. Let me talk to Ryan. Ryan, on the fire map, you're on with Dr. Powers. Go ahead. Hi. So I live out in Eagle Point. I own 60 acres. I'm in the high risk or whatever. I have not received my letter yet. What if I do nothing? Do not respond, do not appeal, do not even acknowledge

I got it? What happens? Well, according to what I've read here and have gone through, it states that they automatically will go ahead and state that the designation is now valid from now on and it's and in the considerations on this quote administrative hearing uh it is an evidentiary process i mentioned to senator deborah but if you don't according to this send in and we're still talking to get all the information, that what happens is you're done. So, in other words, you're silencing... Take my property? Are you going to take my property? Well, it's not take your property.

They can come on it anyway, right? In other words, if you don't appeal this, you are, in essence, if you don't appeal the fire map ruling here, Doc, you are consenting to... It's classification. It's classification. But what's going to happen, though? Are they going to come up to me and say, I need to cut that tree down? Like, what are they going to do?

We don't know yet. In reality. My suspicion is, but we don't know specifically, that once they have gotten enough in in terms of where this map has been confirmed as to those that are in both the high hazard zone and the wildland urban interface my suspicion is that they're going to send people around and they're going to come in and they have in this packet in this packet you will find out all the things that they feel you'll need to do. The question is, is when they will do it. So, yeah.

So I hope they come up because I will walk their freaking butts out to the BLM behind me and show them the real problem. Hey, you won't get any arguments from me on that, Ryan. I'm about ready to freaking leave this state because of this. I'm so pissed right now. I think there are a lot of people joining you on this, Ryan. Appreciate the call. Thanks for that. Let me grab one more here.

Francine, you have an idea. We're all looking for an idea, but go ahead. Well, this is small in the big picture, but, you know, basically what's going on here, as we all know, this is like a legal, financial, physical, and psychological attack on individual property owners. And so when people have to go to an appearance, you know, go before a board or in a court or whatever, I think if a bunch of other homeowners showed up just as, you know, as support and also, you know, to show unity, also to witness what is going on. In other words, you're looking at the emotional support of crowds. I'm almost out of time.

Otherwise, I don't mean to scurry you along, but thank you for that. Doc, is there a point to that? Or do most of these hearings, are they pretty much closed and quiet? How do those work usually? Well, it's supposed to be quote-unquote closed, but that's on your specific question. The more people that go ahead and get involved in terms of protesting up in Salem, the better. Okay, maybe we just leave it at that right now. We're going to have to continue the conversation tomorrow on this. All right, Doc?

And I appreciate you at least raising the issue because, you know, in the backdrop of the L.A. fires, Alameda fire, everything else, it's worthy of conversation, the attack on southern Oregon, actually the whole state. It's 8.58 and change the email bill at BillMeyersShow.com. We will catch you tomorrow morning. This is Brent with Home & Built Deck & Fence. Many customers in the Rogue Valley ask why winter is a great time for

deck, fence, and siding projects. The answer? Faster.