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 10, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
Today Sunny, with a high near 52. Clear overnight with a low around 26.
Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 53. Cloudy overnight, low of 28.
Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 52.
Thursday A chance of rain and snow between 11am and 5pm, then a chance of rain after 5pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 50. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Friday A slight chance of snow. Partly sunny, with a high near 42
Today’s Headlines
The Klamath County Public Health Air Advisory is Green until noon today.
Late friday 911 received a report of a tan four-door sedan driving erratically west bound towards Keno. The Klamath County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police were notified.
As 911 was dispatching the traffic complaint over the radio a deputy was confronted with the 1999 Hyundai as it traveled recklessly into the traffic lane of the deputy’s patrol vehicle.
The deputy was forced to take evasive action to avoid a head on collision. A traffic stop was attempted on Highway 66, but the vehicle continued to elude the deputy before stopping at Keno Elementary School on Keno Worden Road.
Keno Elementary School initiated lock out procedures and within minutes of the vehicle stopping, the occupants were detained.
A man, 30 year old Codee Leon Mitchell of Keno was arrested by the Klamath County Sheriff’s deputy and is lodged at the Klamath County Jail on charges including attempt to elude a police officer, reckless driving, and reckless endangering.
Pacific Power Regional Community Manager Todd Andres will soon add the company’s northern California region to his area of responsibility, as Monte Mendenhall, regional business manager for Pacific Power, retires March 9 after 40 years with the utility.
Mendenhall introduced Andres to the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors February 4th and noted that Andres will manage the new areas while continuing to reside in Klamath Falls. Andres, who also serves on the Klamath Falls City Council, detailed Tuesday that he’s currently in charge of managing Lake and Klamath counties for Pacific Power.
When Mendenhall retires, Andres will assume responsibility for business and community management of Pacific Power’s service area in Siskiyou, Modoc, and a small part of Shasta County as well. Andres has been with Pacific Power for six years and has worked alongside Mendenhall the entire time.
He is already familiar with the northern California area because he managed it in his first year with Pacific Power, before Mendenhall assumed the role.
People who have gone “above and beyond” for Klamath’s city schools will be celebrated at the district’s fifth annual awards event Wednesday at 7:45.
Nominated by their peers October to December, 16 individuals and eight units will be honored as Everyday Heroes or Key Innovators. Klamath Basin Behavioral Health will be named the district’s Community Partner of the Year and, new this year, a Community Person of the Year Award will be presented to longtime city school board member Bill Jennings.
All are welcome to join Superintendent Dr. Paul Hillyer in recognizing outstanding work on behalf of city school students.
Every Native American student in Chiloquin Junior-Senior High School’s 2019 senior class received a diploma in 2019, pushing the school’s graduation rate for their student group to among the top in the state and nation, according to a news release from the Klamath County School District and the Klamath Tribes.
In the last three years, on-time graduation rates for Native American students at Chiloquin Junior-Senior High School have jumped more than 33 percentage points from 66.7 percent to 100 percent. Overall, the school graduated 95 percent of its 2019 senior class, a jump of nearly 27 percentage points from 2017.
Chiloquin teachers and administrators attribute the increasing graduation rate to an improved school culture and an overall effort that focuses on the needs of individual students.
Small grants that often make a large difference in ensuring arts access for Oregonians, especially in rural areas, have been awarded to 101 statewide arts organizations by the Oregon Arts Commission for FY2020.
Awarded to arts organizations in virtually every region of the state, Small Operating Grants are designed to provide operating support to arts organizations with budgets under $150,000. Eligibility is limited to organizations who have operated as an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit for two years or more and provide ongoing, sustained artistic programming and outreach programs. Each organization received $1,494.
For the volunteer Inland Northwest Musicians, who travel Northeast Oregon presenting orchestral concerts, that $1,494 literally puts gas in the tank. At the Coquille Valley Arts Association, a FY2019 Small Operating Grant award transformed a barren art room into a bustling creative center where community members produce pottery to benefit the local food bank.
“This grant program was developed to increase the Arts Commission’s support of Oregon’s small arts providers,” said Arts Commission Chair Anne Taylor. “These organizations frequently represent the only arts presenter for remote and underserved regions of the state.”
Among the grants awarded locally were:
Klamath Film, Klamath Falls
Pelican Players, Inc. DBA Linkville Players, Klamath Falls
The Oregon Arts Commission provides leadership, funding and arts programs through its grants, special initiatives and services. Nine commissioners, appointed by the Governor, determine arts needs and establish policies for public support of the arts. The Arts Commission became part of Business Oregon (formerly Oregon Economic and Community Development Department) in 1993, in recognition of the expanding role the arts play in the broader social, economic and educational arenas of Oregon communities. In 2003, the Oregon legislature moved the operations of the Oregon Cultural Trust to the Arts Commission, streamlining operations and making use of the Commission’s expertise in grantmaking, arts and cultural information and community cultural development.
The Arts Commission is supported with general funds appropriated by the Oregon legislature and with federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust. More information about the Oregon Arts Commission is available online at: www.oregonartscommission.org.
Around the state
Oregon National Guard troops aboard two helicopters airlifted 21 people to safety on Saturday, and authorities reported a 62-year-old woman who lived in one of the areas hit by floods was missing.
Waters covering roads in flood-hit northeastern Oregon were starting to recede Saturday, allowing residents who spent the night in shelters to return and assess the damage, a Red Cross official said. Residents in the foothills of the Blue Mountains in northeast Oregon had to be airlifted by from their flooded homes by helicopter and even were taken out in a front-end loader as rain and melting snow caused rivers to crest their banks. Lower-income neighborhoods in Pendleton, a town of 16,000, were hit, damaging mobile homes, authorities said.
…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.