Lions Club to sell Sees Candy for fundraiser for the Klamath-Lake County Food Bank. Read more below.
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, FEBRUARY 3, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
Today Mostly sunny, with a high near 32. Overnight clear with a very low temp of 12 degrees.
Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Wind chill values as low as zero. Overngiht clear with a low of 27.
Wednesday Mostly cloudy, with a high near 47.
Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 50.
Friday Sunny, with a high near 51.
Road Conditions
Traveling? Click and check these cameras below for the latest road conditions.
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 Green until noon today.
Sage Community School in Chiloquin announced Saturday that it was closing its doors due to staffing issues after an employee became sick and tested positive for mold toxins.
A mold test was conducted on the building that returned negative, according to the school, meaning kids and staff were not exposed to dangerous mold in the building. The employee’ sickness, however, meant the employee would need several weeks off. Friday night the school’s Board of Directors met to discuss what this meant for the institution and concluded that there was no other option than to close the school.
The Klamath County School District released a statement saying, “With the closure of Sage Community School, the Klamath County School District is planning a meeting for parents on today to provide options and answer questions. Chiloquin Schools administrators will be working on plans for a smooth transition and staff will not be available to register students until tomorrow. The location and time of the parent meeting will be announced by noon on today on the district website. Parents also will be notified through their One Call system”.
District administrators are meeting on Monday to best determine how the Klamath County School District can meet the needs of Sage students. The kindergarten through 8th grade school had been operating in Chiloquin for 12 years as a charter school.
What makes America great? As our country faces daunting political divisions and social challenges, it is refreshing to hear answers to that question, which was the topic of the 2019-2020 Voice of Democracy national audio-essay competition for high school students, sponsored annually by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The winning answer from Klamath’s VFW district came from Julianna Amenkowicz, a senior attending Klamath Learning Center in Klamath’s City School District. She was honored Jan. 18 by the VFW in Malin. Amenkowicz’s essay focused on freedom, the Constitution that declares freedom as an inalienable right, and the people who have defended that right.
“The question shouldn’t be what makes America great; it should be who made America great,” wrote Amenkowicz, naming Founding Fathers and military heroes, then calling on every citizen to continue their work:
The Klamath Falls Lions Club will sell See’s Candy for Valentine’s Day, and collect food for the Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank.
Candy sales and food collection will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays at Turn Thom Point S tires at 2052 Washburn Way.
The food bank can use donations of canned fruit and vegetables, peanut butter, canned meals, baby food, pasta, rice and beans. Valentine’s Day candy sales support the club’s sight and hearing projects.
Friday evening Josephine County 911 received a call of a reported shooting in the area of SW 9th and SW H Streets.
Officers responded and determined one male had been shot and was deceased. Several individuals were detained and have been transported to the Grants Pass Police Department for interviews.
Officers and Detectives were on scene for most of the night processing the scene for evidence. The Oregon State Police Crime Lab has been requested to assist with the scene. Josephine County District Attorney Josh Eastman has also responded.
The name of the deceased male is being withheld at this time pending notification of next of kin.
Resulting from the shooting investigation, detectives with GPDPS arrested and lodged 68 year old Steve Daniel Cox for second degree murder. The 37 year old shooting victim was positively identified as Joshua Wilson Wright. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges may follow. Detectives, along with the Oregon State Police Crime Lab, are still actively working the crime scene.
Anyone with further information is asked to call the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety at (541) 450-6260.
A western Oregon man has been sentenced to just under 29 years in prison for shooting a Salem police officer.
39 year old Jaime Lee Jimenez received the sentence Friday in Marion County Circuit Court. He was found guilty of premeditated, attempted aggravated murder in December following a stipulated facts trial before Marion County Judge Thomas Hart. Salem Police Officer Michelle Pratt pulled Jimenez over in April and was shot in the left arm, both legs and her back. Her ballistic vest stopped the bullet that hit her back.
Jimenez fled but was arrested a few hours later at an apartment complex. Jimenez also pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree assault, illegal possession of a firearm by a felon and dealing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a school.
Portland police say a woman drove her self to a hospital after she was shot while waiting in a restaurant drive-thru line.
Police say the woman was shot in the shoulder early Sunday. When officers arrived at the northeast Weidler Street restaurant, the woman was already gone. The woman was treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Police say it’s likely she wasn’t the intended target. Police are looking to interview anyone who might have information about the shooting
On Saturday morning Oregon State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to a two vehicle crash on Interstate 5 northbound near milepost 251.
Preliminary investigation revealed that a Chevrolet Silverado pickup, operated by Eduardo Mendoza (29) of Salem, was traveling northbound on I5 when for unknown reasons the Silverado left the travel lane and struck a Chevrolet S-10 pickup, operated by David Thaler (67) of Lebanon, that was travelling slowly on the shoulder. The impact sent both vehicles off the roadway and onto the grass shoulder.
Thaler sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Mendoza was not injured.
One lane of I5 northbound was closed for approximately six hours.
Maps, ownership, and orientation are increasingly important in today’s complex world. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Oregon and Washington is excited to announce a new publicly available data library that allows access to geospatial data sets for such diverse land management programs as: wildland fire, hydrography, minerals, range, vegetation, wildlife, and much more.
Also available is an interactive data viewer that will help the public to determine if they are on BLM land and will also help determine the correct township/range of an individual location. This interactive data viewer will assist in finding out details about BLM-managed lands and allow the public to print custom maps for their needs.
In addition to releasing geospatial data for Oregon and Washington public lands, the BLM is also releasing free maps associated with the Dingell Act (Public Law 116-9) designation of approximately 200 miles of wild and scenic rivers in the Coos Bay, Medford, and Northwest Oregon Districts. Oregon now has 34 of the 81 wild and scenic rivers managed nationally by the BLM, or over 1,010 miles of roughly 2,700 total miles across the country.
All these resources are now online and available for download!
GIS Data:
Interactive Mapping Data Viewer:
Wild and Scenic River Maps:
Wild and Scenic River Video:
-BLM-
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The agency’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. In fiscal year 2018, the diverse activities authorized on BLM-managed lands generated $105 billion in economic output across the country. This economic activity supported 471,000 jobs and contributed substantial revenue to the U.S. Treasury and state governments, mostly through royalties on minerals.
…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.