The latest Klamath Falls News around the Klamath Basin from Wynne Broadcasting’s KFLS 1450AM/102.5FM, BasinLife.com and The Herald & News.
Friday, October 4, 2019
Klamath Basin Weather
Today
Partly sunny, with a high near 54.
Saturday
Sunny, with a high near 65.
Sunday
Sunny and 71 degrees. Low of 37.
Monday
Sunshine and 75 degrees.
Today’s Headlines in Klamath Falls…
Oregon Main Street announced its 2019 “Excellence in Downtown Revitalization” award winners yesterday at the awards event from Tillamook, Oregon. Klamath Falls was one of the winners.
The awards event kicked off the Oregon Main Street Conference which runs through today. A total of twenty businesses, projects, and people were recognized, including Klamath Falls Downtown Association’s Klamath Piano Project for Best Placemaking Project.
In May of 2019, The Klamath Piano Project placed pianos at six locations throughout Downtown Klamath Falls and six artists transformed the pianos into visual arts pieces. The pianos were left in place with instructions for anyone who happened to walk by to sit down and play if the mood struck.
Since installation, many downtown visitors and residents have been observed playing the pianos or enjoying someone else playing them. Professional pianists have also been scheduled periodically.
If you’re heading out to the woods this weekend The Chiloquin Ranger District plans to conduct the North II Prescribed Underburn beginning today.
Favorable weather conditions have created a window of opportunity to successfully treat up to 2900 acres on the North side of Sprague River Hwy and West of the Williamson River road. Ignitions are expected to continue until weather conditions change or the planned acres are met or approximately 10 days.
The primary objective of the prescribed burn is to safely reduce the buildup of dead/down and live surface fuel to a historic fire-adapted ecosystem. The area will also be less susceptible to severe impacts from future wildfire. Smoke may be visible during and after ignitions for 10 to 15 days.
Signs will be in place on Forest roads during fire operations.
Work is currently under way on the City’s Geothermal Mainline Replacement Project located in the alley between Klamath Avenue and Walnut Avenue.
Next week crews will be working in the block between 5th Street and 6th Street and across 5th Street. That alley and the City parking lot adjacent to the alley on the corner of 5th Street will be closed to traffic during construction activities. Motorists can expect 5th Street between Walnut Avenue and Klamath Avenue to be restricted to 1 lane of traffic beginning Monday, October 7th and will be fully closed through Thursday, October 10th.
Parking along 5th Street between Klamath Avenue and Walnut Avenue will also be closed due to the traffic closure.
The Oregon Health Authority has lifted the recreational use health advisory issued for Upper Klamath Lake in Klamath County.
Water monitoring has confirmed that the level of cyanotoxins (harmful algae toxins) in Upper Klamath Lake are below recreational guideline values for human exposure. Only a fraction of Oregon’s lakes and streams are monitored for cyanobacterial blooms.
People and especially small children and pets should avoid recreating in areas where the water is foamy, scummy, thick like paint, pea-green, blue-green or brownish red in color, if a thick mat of blue-green algae is visible in the water, or bright green cells are suspended in the water. If you see these signs avoid activities that cause you to swallow water or inhale droplets, such as swimming or high-speed water activities.
For health information or to report an illness, contact the Oregon Health Authority at 971-673-0482.
An informational meeting on the Klamath County Museum’s Amtrak docent program will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the museum at 1451 Main St.
Anyone interested in becoming a docent on the train is invited to attend. Docents provide an interpretive program for passengers on the Coast Starlight route between Klamath Falls and Eugene. The route passes through the communities of Chiloquin, Chemult and Oakridge, crossing the Cascade Mountain range near Willamette Pass.
Volunteer docents board the train around 8:00 a.m. in Klamath Falls and make the four-hour trip to Eugene, providing narration about features such as lakes, forests, wildlife, historic sites and geology. Docents usually have a four-hour layover in Eugene before boarding a southbound train for the return to Klamath Falls, arriving around 10:00 p.m.
For more information call the Klamath County Museum at (541) 882-1000.
A guided history hike in the Klamath River Canyon on Oct. 12 will explore early wagon roads that were among the earliest transportation routes in Klamath County.
The hike is rated as difficult and is cosponsored by the Klamath County Museum and the Bureau of Land Management Klamath Falls Resource Area. The all-day event is free, but space is limited and preregistration is required. Wagon roads ascending the east side of the Klamath River Canyon were constructed in the 1870s and ’80s, then abandoned following construction of the current Topsy Grade Road in the 1890s.
The hike will begin at the rim of the Klamath River Canyon, and descend about 1,000 feet over a distance of about 2 miles on an old wagon road. The hike back to the top will be on a different abandoned road For more information or to register for the hike, contact the Klamath County Museum, 1451 Main St. in Klamath Falls, at (541) 882-1000.
…For complete details on these and other stories see today’s Herald & News. Wynne Broadcasting and the Herald and News…stronger together to keep you informed.