The latest Klamath Falls News around the Klamath Basin and the state of Oregon from Wynne Broadcasting’s KFLS News/Talk 1450AM/102.5FM, BasinLife.com and The Herald & News.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2019
Klamath Basin Weather
Monday Patchy freezing fog before 10am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 42. Overnight, cloudy with a low around 26 degrees.
Tuesday A 10 percent chance of rain after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 43. Overnight, rain mixed with snow at around 4800 feet. Little or no accumulation expected.
Wednesday, New Year’s Day 2020 Rain and snow likely during the day. Snow level 4500 feet rising to 6200 feet. High near 44. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. Overnight low of 33.
Thursday A chance of rain and snow before 10am, then a slight chance of rain. Snow level 4200 feet rising to 5600 feet in the afternoon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. Showers overnight.
Friday Rain and snow likely. Snow level rising to 4700 feet in the afternoon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 45.
Road Conditions
Traveling? Check our cameras below for the latest road conditions from BasinLife.com.
Lake of the Woods Hiway 140
Greensprings Drive at Hiway 97
Doak Mountain looking east
Chemult, Oregon
LaPine, Oregon
Bly, Oregon
Medford at I-5 -Biddle Road & Crater Lake Parkway
Today’s Headlines
The Klamath County Public Health Air Advisory is Yellow until noon today.
A man accused of killing a Klamath County resident for $10,000 appeared in court Friday. Corey Nicholas Agard, 31, with ties to Portland and Klamath Falls, faces a string of charges including aggravated murder and abuse of a corpse in the killing of 36-year-old Pedro Richard Padilla Jr. Agard is accused of conspiring with Tori Devon Hill, 58, of Malin to kill Padilla and hide the body according to court documents filed Friday in Klamath County Circuit Court.
Between November 22 and December 23 Hill allegedly paid Agard $10,000 cash to kill Padilla according to court documents. The sheriff’s office alleges that Agard shot Padilla at Hill’s home then intentionally disposed of Padilla’s corpse in a body of water. Padilla’s body was wrapped in a white plastic material then weighed down in the water with heavy objects. Police did not identify the body of water.
Agard and Hill are being held in the Klamath County Jail without bail after their Christmas Eve arrests. Both will be back in court on January 3rd.
Starting Wednesday single-use bags will be banned in all grocery stores and restaurants in Klamath County as well as statewide.
It’s old news for some parts of the state as Portland banned the bags in July 2011, Corvallis banned them one year later in July 2012 and Eugene passed a ban in October 2012. Now the ban has gone statewide. House Bill 2509 was passed in the 2019 Legislative session.
Klamath Falls grocery stores have signs posted informing customers of the switch and reactions have been mixed. People can skip the cost of buying paper bags by using their own carrying vessel whether it be a reusable shopping bag, a plastic bag from home or a backpack.
Crater Lake National Park is increasing its entry fees for the new year by $5 to help cover local and national deferred park maintenance and other projects.
Starting Wednesday it will cost $30 per vehicle and $25 per motorcycle to visit the park. Annual park passes will cost $55. The National Park Service announced in 2018 that it would incrementally increase entry fees at park sites across the nation to help cover a more than $11 billion nationwide maintenance backlog. This is the last scheduled price increase for Crater Lake and other parks around the nation as part of that plan. The Park Service estimates the new fee structure will increase annual revenue by about $60 million nationally.
Crater Lake Superintendent Craig Ackerman said extra revenue would go toward deferred maintenance at the South-Central Oregon park as well as projects like improving trails.
Boy Scout Troop 71 in Klamath Falls is offering their 16th annual Christmas tree pickup this Saturday, January 4th.
Interested persons should call 541-850-9217 or 541-884-5317 to arrange pickup. The Scouts are raising funds for summer camp and other Scout activities. They ask for a minimum $5 donation. Trees are recycled for biofuel and feed for goats.
Mt. Ashland Ski Area is open despite what has been a challenging start to the ski season across the Pacific Northwest.
Mt. Ashland has the deepest natural snow base in Oregon alongside Timberline at 34” and remains the only ski area in Oregon to be 100% open, running all lifts, and all 220 acres of terrain. This includes the famous “Bowl” that offers lift-serviced steep chute skiing. Lifts are running daily through January 6th, after which the ski area will run their normal operating schedule Thursday through Monday 9 am – 4 pm. Twilight skiing starts January 9th and will be available Thursdays and Fridays through mid-March.
Around the state of Oregon
Authorities have suspended the active search for a woman last seen with her boyfriend a week ago outside of Portland, Oregon.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday that it would continue to investigate Allyson Watterson’s disappearance but it had exhausted all physical leads after scouring 1,600 acres of rural land near North Plains over the past week.
The 20-year-old woman was first reported missing on Dec. 23 by her boyfriend’s father, Don Garland, who claimed Watterson and Benjamin Garland were hiking when the couple became separated in the woods.
…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.