The latest news stories in the Klamath Basin and around the state of Oregon from Wynne Broadcasting’s KFLS News/Talk 1450AM/102.5FM, BasinLife.com and The Herald & News.
TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
Today
Mostly sunny, with a high near 65. Overnight, cloudy with a low around 40 and gusty winds.
Wednesday
A 50 percent chance of rain after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 59.
Thursday
Sunny, with a high near 60.
Friday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 65
Today’s Headlines
The Klamath County Public Health Air Advisory is Green until noon today.
Klamath County Public Health officials reported three new cases of COVID-19 in the community yesterday bringing the total to 33.
The total includes 14 active cases and 19 recoveries. In addition to these positive lab results, there have been 1,349 negative tests in Klamath County It is important that community members continue to stay home, practice social or physical distancing of six feet, disinfect surfaces, and frequently wash their hands.
With COVID-19 in our community, these actions are urgent to prevent further spread. COVID-19 has claimed one more life in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 75, the Oregon Health Authority reported yesterday.
Oregon Health Authority also reported 47 new cases of COVID-19 as of Monday morning, bringing the state total to 1,956.
The new COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Benton (1), Clackamas (10), Douglas (1), Klamath (1), Lincoln (1), Linn (2), Marion (13), Multnomah (6), Polk (1), Umatilla (1), Washington (9), and Yamhill (1).
Republicans in the Oregon Senate are pressuring Governor Kate Brown to lift coronavirus restrictions on rural Oregon counties, exemplified in a statement issued by Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger, R-Grants Pass, on Monday.
In early March, Republicans signaled support for the sort of measures that Governor Brown had implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19, with Sen. Baertschiger saying that leaders “are and should be taking measures that have never been taken before.” Since then, and with the virus’ spread demonstrably slowed by those measures, the pressure from businesses and workers struggling under the restrictions has been building.
Last week Governor Brown introduced her “framework” for loosening coronavirus measures, which largely touched on state benchmarks that needed to be reached before any such steps would be taken.
Though Brown said that she would be taking input from local leaders and workers from impacted industries, the plan did not touch on a county-by-county rollback of restrictions.
Republican lawmakers have particularly taken umbrage with Brown’s announcement of the Western States Pact, an agreement to work with leaders in California and Washington state to make decisions in consultation with one another. Especially in the counties along the Oregon and Washington border, cases have often straddled state lines.
The Klamath chapter of Project Linus, which has donated over 17,000 handmade blankets to children over the past 13 years recently shifted from making blankets to making face masks for essential workers.
Over the past four weeks, the group has donated more than 4,750 face masks to sites including the Klamath Falls city schools, Klamath’s local fire departments, Sky Lakes Medical Center and Klamath Open Door.
Kerns also launched the chapter’s Facebook page, which has been vital during social distancing for sharing information on mask requests and drop-off sites. Emails from chapter coordinator Suzy Field also keep the group’s 200 members connected and able to share patterns and sewing tips. Field also notes the generosity of My Little Quilt Shop and JoAnn Fabrics in Klamath Falls and Tater Patch Quilts in Merrill.
All three have donated supplies and are serving as mask drop-off sites. She also notes that the Rocky Point quilt group has made at least 768 masks and that 885 Trim Shop has made over 1,300 for front-line workers, including the county school district.
Blue Zones/Healthy Klamath is the current distribution site for Project Linus masks. Community groups or businesses in need of masks for essential workers may contact Suzy Field at suzyfield57@gmail.com.
The Oregon Public Utility Commission has confirmed that utilities it regulates across the state have taken steps to ensure that customers have continued access to essential utility services during the COVID-19 health crisis.
The regulated energy utilities that have confirmed discontinuation of service disconnections and late payment fees include Portland General Electric, PacifiCorp, Idaho Power, NW Natural, Avista, and Cascade Natural Gas.
Similarly, the state’s two largest landline telecommunications carriers, CenturyLink and Frontier Communications, as well as smaller landline companies, have confirmed these same customer protections are in place.
Regulated water utilities, including Avion, Cline Butte, and Running Y have also stepped up to protect their customers during this time. Although these efforts help ensure continuation of utility services during this unprecedented time, they do not relieve customers from having to pay their utility bills.
Individuals having trouble making utility payments are encouraged to contact their utility service provider directly to learn about bill payment options. For bill payment assistance information, visit www.211info.org.
The PUC will continue to work with the utilities they regulate to ensure continued access to utility services for Oregonians. If customers receive notification that their utility service will be disconnected for non-payment, or if future bills indicate late fee penalties, please contact the PUC’s Consumer Services office by email at puc.consumers@state.or.us or call 503-378-6600 or 800-522-2404.
From the Klamath Water Users Association
Dozens of organizations have urged the United States Supreme Court to accept review of decisions of lower Courts in the long-running “takings” lawsuit (formally Baley v. United States) concerning the re-allocation of Klamath Project irrigation water to endangered species in 2001.
A month ago, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit petitioned the Supreme Court to review the case, explaining that the lower courts had misunderstood and misapplied western water law and bypassed state authority over adjudication and administration of water rights. April 16 was the deadline for “friend of the court” briefs from parties who agree that the Court should accept the case for review.
“The consistent theme of these briefs is that the case is important throughout the western United States,” say Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) Executive Director and Counsel, whose law firm filed the petition for review along with Supreme Court expert Tim Bishop from Chicago.
The case was filed in late 2001, the year there was an announcement that no water would be available for Klamath Project irrigation from Upper Klamath Lake. The plaintiffs claim that if the water is taken under the Endangered Species Act, the fifth amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires payment of compensation for the water right, a form of property, that has been taken.
Last November, a federal appeals court ruled that the dedication of irrigation water to suckers in Upper Klamath Lake and coho salmon in the Klamath River did not take irrigators’ water rights because there were superior tribal water rights to water in at least amounts to the water provided under the Endangered Species Act.
“It’s not surprising that water organizations from Washington to New Mexico showed up to say this is not the way water law works,” said KWUA President and farmer Tricia Hill. The Oregon Water Resources Congress led a briefing effort joined by the Klamath Falls-based Family Farm Alliance, the National Water Resources Association and many water groups. “They’ve done a great job of explaining how state water adjudication and regulation was bypassed in the decision.” The Association of California Water Agencies, whose members deliver 90 percent of the water used by cities and farms in California, also chimed in, championing the need to protect water stored in reservoirs for authorized purposes.
Local farm crop protection company businessman Bob Gasser said that there was strong regional support for the water users’ petition. “Klamath County, Siskiyou County, and Modoc County all joined in to say the Court needs to step in and set things straight, and that is appreciated.” Gasser also noted that many producers upstream of Upper Klamath, outside the Klamath Project, joined in that brief, which was filed by Pacific Legal Foundation and Roseburg attorney Dominic Carollo. “The folks up there have big problems of their own, and they stood up for western water principals and the Project in their filing,” said Gasser.
Farm and ranch organizations also weighed in. “When you have the American Farm Bureau, a national organization, step up, that’s a big deal,” according to KWUA Vice President and farmer Ben Duval. DuVal said that state farm bureaus across the west, also joined the filing. “We appreciate the California and Oregon Farm Bureaus bringing this to the national organization and to states from Washington to Arizona to Hawaii, as well as state cattlemen’s associations who joined.”
The Supreme Court will decide whether to accept the case for review in June, after receiving a response from the federal government. If it accepts the case, further briefs and oral argument would occur later this year.
Around the state of Oregon
The Oregon National Guard will distribute about 400,000 surgical masks and other pieces of protective equipment to long-term care facilities in Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown said Monday.
She said the rapid distribution of masks, gloves and face shields will reach all of the state’s nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. The rapid deployment of gear is designed to prevent more workers and residents of such facilities from catching COVID-19.
About half of the coronavirus deaths in Oregon to date have been among nursing home residents. The material being provided to Oregon’s long-term care facilities includes about 177,000 surgical masks, 127,000 gloves, 55,000 N95 masks, 33,000 face shields, and 2,500 gowns, Brown said. Members of the Oregon National Guard began deliveries of this equipment Saturday.
Until Monday, Oregon was the only state that allowed nonunanimous jury convictions. The U.S. Supreme Court ended that in a decision involving a murder conviction in Louisiana which, until 2019, had also allowed nonunanimous jury convictions.
The Oregon District Attorneys Association said it is reviewing the opinion for its immediate impact on pending and closed criminal cases. State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum had warned the U.S. Supreme Court that the criminal justice system would be “overwhelmed” if it ruled that nonunanimous jury verdicts are unconstitutional.
She wrote in a brief to the court last August that the ruling could invalidate hundreds or even thousands of convictions.
On Friday, Oregon State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to a two vehicle crash on Hwy 36 near milepost 1.Preliminary investigation revealed that a tan Nissan PU, operated by a 17 year old female from Florence, was westbound when it crossed into the eastbound lane and struck a blue Chevy Cavalier operated by Tara Ross (34) of Florence.
Ross sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased. Two juvenile females in the vehicle were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The operator of the Nissan PU was transported to the hospital with minor Injuries.
On Saturday, April 18, 2020 at approximately 2:47 A.M., Oregon State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to a single vehicle crash on Hwy 18 near milepost 15.
Preliminary investigation indicates that a vehicle, believed to be an unknown color, early 2000’s (possibly 2004) Dodge Caravan was westbound on Hwy 18 when it left the roadway, struck a tree, and caught fire.
The operator was pronounced deceased.
OSP was assisted by Polk County Sheriffs Office, Grand Ronde Police Department, and West Valley Fire Department. As of this time the operator of the vehicle has not been identified and the vehicle registration is not able to be determined.
Last week the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety (GPDPS) Police units responded to an alarm at Red Eye Hut, 220 SW 6th Street. It was discovered a burglary had occurred with windows broken and items were taken.
The suspects had fled the scene, prior to arrival. Later that morning, another downtown business burglary or attempted burglary was located at Siskiyou Sun Grown.
In between the two burglary calls there was an Unlawful Entry to a Motor Vehicle incident reported in the 600 block of SW Leonard Street.
GPDPS Officers were able to determine all three of these cases involved the same suspects from investigative leads. Officers were able to confirm the identities of four juvenile male suspects involved in the incidents. They are from 14 to 16 years-old and local residents. GPDPS Detectives responded and assisted Officers with locating the suspects. Interviews were conducted after they were placed in custody. Two of the juveniles were lodged at the Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) and the other two will have charges referred. The charges for all three cases are as follows.
20-16522 – Burglary 2, Theft 3, Criminal Mischief 1
20-16537 – Unlawful Entry to a Motor Vehicle, Theft 2
20-16578 – Attempted Burglary 2, Criminal Mischief 2
There are more cases of Unlawful Entry to Motor Vehicles still being investigated and there could be more charges in the near future. If anyone has any information related to any of these incidents or other anything similar, the GPDPS would ask you to please call (541) 450-6260. We would like to thank our citizens for their continued support.
When Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act three weeks ago, the bill included some much-needed economic support for Main Street.
For millions of Americans that is coming in the form of Economic Impact Payments of up to $1,200 for qualified individuals and additional dollars for households with children.
The first waves of these payments are being issued to people who have direct deposit information on file with the Internal Revenue Service or Social Security Administration.
Other qualified Americans will receive hard copy checks over the next several months.
While almost $150 billion has already landed in the hands of working families, not all eligible consumers have received their funds.
The delay is caused by an overwhelming volume of payments for the U.S. Treasury to distribute, and the effective dates the Treasury set on the payments. For example, while the Treasury announced the first wave of payments would be deposited into accounts April 13, the effective date set was April 15. The Treasury processed another wave of payments Friday, but the funding won’t likely post to consumers’ accounts this Monday, because the effective date is not until April 22.
The confusion between when payments are issued, vs. when the funds are actually posted to consumers’ accounts is frustrating. But the good news is, the payments are coming.
Consumers expecting Economic Impact Payments should verify the funds are indeed posted to their accounts before they attempt to spend the money.
…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.
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