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.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
Today Mostly sunny, with a high near 36. Wind chill values as low as zero. Overngiht clear with a low of 27.
Wednesday Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46.
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.
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality plans to issue Conditional No Further Action determinations for each property within the residential area of the North Ridge Estates Superfund Site, where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency completed asbestos contamination cleanup from 2016 to 2018.
DEQ also plans to certify completion of all actions required between DEQ and Kenneth Hess and by Consent Judgment between DEQ and Klamath County. Public comments are being sought until Tuesday, March 3 at 5 p.m. regarding a no-further-action proposal for North Ridge Estates. The residential area of the North Ridge Estates Superfund Site is the site of the former Marine Recuperation Barrack facility.
Improper disposal practices during demolition of the barrack buildings performed in the late-1970s left large and widespread amounts of asbestos and contaminated materials in the soil, posing a health risk to residents following construction of homes on the site. DEQ will consider all public comments received before making a final decision on the planned actions.
DEQ will provide written responses to all public comments received.
Five firefighters from Klamath County Fire District 1 drove over from Shasta Way’s Station 3 to spend time with the hardworking students named Students of the Quarter at Mills School.
Firefighters ate and chatted with the students during lunchtime, then took the six winners for a ride on their truck — siren, lights and all. The winning students, one from each grade level, had been nominated by their teachers in recognition of good behavior and attendance. All other Mills students have two more quarters to earn a ride for themselves.
Fremont-Winema National Forest is seeking volunteers to serve as campground hosts for the 2020 summer recreation season at one of three locations. The locations are located on the Bly, Chiloquin and Chemult Ranger Districts.
Lofton Reservoir Campground has 26 campsites and is located approximately 22 miles southeast of Bly. Williamson River Campground, located seven miles north of Chiloquin, has 20 campsites. Digit Point Campground, featuring 64 campsites near Miller Lake, is located approximately 12 miles west of Chemult. Applications are being accepted through Thursday April 30. Hosts are expected to be in place at Lofton Reservoir and Williamson River Campgrounds as early as mid-May, but no later than Memorial Day weekend. Digit Point Campground will likely start closer to mid-June.
Hosts are needed through Labor Day weekend. The schedule is Thursday through Monday, including holidays. However, recreation managers note the work week and season length may vary based on the needs of the individual campground.
The United Way of the Klamath Basin is seeking 16 or more volunteers to help allocate the funds raised in its annual community campaign among its 15 member agencies.
Sheri Hargrave, chairperson of the citizen review process said they normally have between 30 to 40 volunteers take part which includes up to six youth and college students. According to Hargrave volunteers will contribute about 15 hours starting on March 19th and concluding on May 12th.
Don’t forget the Klamath Falls Lions Club is now selling 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.
Klamath Basin Blood Drives continues in the area with the Red Cross.
In response to a critical shortage of supplies, in particular Type O, the American Red Cross blood drive is on this month of February. Type O positive blood is the most transfused blood type and can be given to Rh-positive patients of any blood type.
All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license, or two other forms of identification, are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.
Donors of all blood types – especially types O positive and O negative – are urged to make an appointment to give blood or platelets at www.RedCrossBlood.org, calling 800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767), or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.
Klamath blood drives
Noon to 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10 at Cerulian Inn, 100 Main St.
8:30 am. to 2:30 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 12 and 13, Klamath Union High School, 1300 Monclaire St.
For more information visit www.redcross.org.
Around the state
The numbers are in and Oregonians loved playing the Oregon Lottery’s newest game, Scoreboard, over Super Bowl Sunday.
The NFL’s final game of the season brought in more than 90,000 wagers through the Lottery’s Scoreboard sports betting app. Those wagers accounted for more than $2 million, with the average wager coming in at approximately $21. For the big game, there were more than 18,000 unique players. Players took home the largest share of dollars wagered, translating to approximately $150,000 in gross gaming revenue.
The game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, also prompted more than 2,700 new registrations over the weekend, and more than 4,000 during the week leading up to the big game.
Scoreboard players had more options than picking which team they felt was going to win the game. Oregon Lottery offered more than 200 “proposition bets,” or novelty bets, where players could wager everything from the number of yards specific players would earn, to if there would be special teams or defensive touchdowns. In fact, there were more than 1,900 coin toss “prop bets,” and more than 1,300 wagers on what color the Gatorade would be, that was poured on the winning coach.
“We are pleased so many players enjoyed using the Scoreboard app during the Super Bowl,” said Oregon Lottery Director Barry Pack. “This game reaches new players and keeps sports betting dollars in Oregon for important state programs.”
Since the Oregon Lottery began selling tickets on April 25, 1985, it has earned more than $12 billion for economic development, public education, Outdoor School, state parks, Veterans services and watershed enhancements. For more information on the Oregon Lottery visit www.oregonlottery.org
If you’re heading to the Coast today the National Weather Service issued a sneaker wave warning for the southern Oregon through tonight.
The warning applies to Douglas, Coos and Curry counties, which is basically the Oregon coast south of Florence. Sneaker waves are unexpected surges of water that often come during stormy conditions on the coast. It’s easy for people on the beach to get caught up in the waves, which can drag people into the ocean or trap them under large logs and heavy pieces of driftwood.
The weather service said people should stay off beaches, jetties and rocks near the water while the warning is in effect.
Diego Sanchez-Lopez, 25, of Clark County, Washington, known locally as the “Froggy Robber,” was sentenced today to 97 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release for armed bank robbery.
According to court documents, between November 2017 and April 2018, Sanchez-Lopez stole more than $87,000 from the following six banks in Oregon and Southwest Washington:
- On November 27, 2017, $9,710 was stolen from the Albina Community Bank located at 2002 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Portland.
- On December 27, 2017, $26,000 was stolen from the Wells Fargo Bank located at 8699 SW Main Street in Wilsonville, Oregon.
- On January 11, 2018, $11,580.99 was stolen from the Wells Fargo Bank located at 6785 Beaverton Hillsdale Highway in Beaverton, Oregon.
- On January 30, 2018, $6,720 was stolen from the U.S. Bank located at 52313 Columbia River Highway in Scappoose, Oregon.
- On February 12, 2018, $15,400 was stolen from the Wells Fargo Bank located at 1800 Main Street in Vancouver, Washington.
- On April 30, 2018, 33,357 was stolen from the Wells Fargo Bank located at 7200 NE Butler Street in Hillsboro, Oregon.
During sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Mosman ordered Sanchez-Lopez to pay more than $119,000 in restitution.
Previously, On August 5, 2019, Sanchez-Lopez pleaded guilty to six counts of bank robbery. As a non-citizen and lawful permanent resident, this conviction will subject Sanchez-Lopez to removal from the U.S. by immigration authorities.
This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by John C. Brassell, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
The Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) collaborated with SeektheWorld, LLC recently who created a video, along with community partnerships with the Regional Resource Center on Deafness (RRCD) and RRCD Sign Language Assessment (RSLA) at Western Oregon University and the Oregon Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services (ODHHS), to give insight into the work being done in Oregon to bolster the partnerships between law enforcement professionals and those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
To view video click on link: https://youtu.be/nyH59GnvtOQ
The partnership between the Oregon Association for the Deaf (OAD), the Public Safety Subcommittee of the Oregon Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Advisory Committee (ODHHS), and DPSST began in 2018 and resulted in the creation of visor and wallet cards to serve as a tool to assist with communications between individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and law enforcement officers.
The partnership has resulted in a complete review and update to the basic police curriculum used to train newly hired city, county, state, tribal and university law enforcement officers including the use of deaf and hard of hearing role players who participate in both classroom and scenario-based training at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem.
DPSST’s Director Eriks Gabliks said “we are very proud of the partnership we have with the Oregon deaf and hard of hearing community. Sadly, we know there have been some tragic interactions around the nation involving law enforcement officers and individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. The visor and wallet cards were designed to serve as a tool to assist with communications between individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and city, county, state, tribal and university law enforcement officers around Oregon. Since 2018, more than 10,000 visors and wallet cards have been distributed around the state by law enforcement agencies and the deaf and hard of hearing interest groups and various community partners.”
Gabliks said “the video illustrates the updated training curriculum, and specifically the scenario-based training now offered at the Academy. Oregon understands the importance of this topic and we want to ensure that our law enforcement officers have the tools needed to have positive interactions with those who are deaf or hard of hearing.”
Past President of OAD and current Director of the Regional Resource Center on Deafness (RRCD) and RRCD Sign Language Assessment (RSLA) at Western Oregon University, Chad A. Ludwig, said, “It takes a village’s effort to promote public safety, awareness, and communication. The goal of this video is to increase awareness of a successful community partnership that resulted in providing training that minimizes barriers in the field and allows each member involved in any type of law enforcement related incident to build rapport. The communication card is not intended to replace trained, certified and qualified sign language interpreters in the criminal justice system.
This move is a positive step that improves safety for individuals who are Deaf, Deaf-Blind, Hard of Hearing and those with additional disability as well as law enforcement partners across Oregon.”
…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.