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.
SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
Today
Sunny, with a high near 71. Overnight, mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. Windy at times to 20mph.
Monday
Partly sunny, with a high near 63. Light southwest wind becoming west 8 to 13 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. Calm wind.
Wednesday
Partly sunny, with a high near 72.
.Thursday
A slight chance of showers after 11am. Snow level 7400 feet lowering to 6700 feet. Partly sunny, with a high near 61.
Today’s Headlines
Klamath County Public Health officials report three new cases of COVID-19 in the community on Thursday bringing the total to 36, which still stands as of Sunday. The total includes 13 active cases and 23 recoveries.
In addition to these positive lab results, there have been 1,506 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. Now that COVID-19 is in the community, these actions are urgent to prevent further spread.
COVID-19 has claimed one more life in Oregon on Saturday, raising the state’s death toll to 87, the Oregon Health Authority reported today.
Oregon Health Authority also reported 76 new cases of COVID-19 as of 8 a.m. today bringing the state total to 2,253 as of Sunday morning.
The new COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Benton (1), Clackamas (5), Coos (4), Deschutes (1), Jackson (1), Jefferson (3), Linn (4), Marion (15), Multnomah (27), Polk (4), Umatilla (3), Washington (8).
Oregon’s 87th COVID-19 death is a 59-year-old man in Lane County, who tested positive on April 14 and died on April 23 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield. He had underlying medical conditions.
Red Cross supplies have run dangerously low. If you are healthy and looking for a tangible and safe way to help your community, please consider donating blood. The Red Cross has implemented sanitizing and social distancing policies to ensure you’re safe while making a lifesaving donation. Schedule an appointment today.
Klamath County’s offer to buy the Eternal Hills cemetery has been accepted by the bankruptcy court trustee and is now in the 26-day comment period before the sale is approved.
The county’s offer of $59,000 includes $14,840 for the 14 acres of land in the northeast corner of the property that was available as an option in the sale.
The sale to the county will go through on May 17 unless the court trustee receives a bid higher than the county’s offer by $116,000 or receives objections to the sale.
The Klamath County Board of Commissioners offered to buy the cemetery in an effort to rehabilitate the dilapidated property before selling it to a mortuary business to operate the cemetery. The cemetery has been for sale since December of 2019, and Commissioner Derrick DeGroot said that if the county didn’t step in, the trustee was looking to abandon the property that began involuntary bankruptcy proceedings in 2017.
The cemetery saw one other offer in March that was withdrawn after numerous community members voiced concerns over the connection between the potential buyer and a former owner.
DeGroot said he’s looking forward to starting a new chapter for the cemetery that is home to so many of Klamath County’s loved ones.
“I’m very excited for the community,” he said. “It is something that has plagued our community for way too long.
Jackson County Public Health said that it had received no new positive test results for COVID-19 for the seventh consecutive day leaving the countywide total at 48 cases.
The last confirmed case was announced last Thursday. For the first time, the County reported the number of cases that have fully recovered as of this week. Of the 48 cases in the area, 33 have recovered while 15 are still being monitored by public health staff.
The Bureau of Reclamation released the Interim Operating Procedures and 2020 Operations Plan for the Klamath Project yesterday. The Klamath Project delivers irrigation water to approximately 230,000 acres in southern Oregon and northern California.
The annual Operations Plan is based upon the expected hydrologic conditions from the April 1, 2020 Natural Resources Conservation Service inflow forecast and current reservoir elevations. The 2020 Operations Plan outlines the annual Project water supply available to irrigators. The Plan provides increased water flows in the Klamath River for Endangered Species Act-listed coho, as well as Chinook salmon, and maintains Upper Klamath Lake elevations important for endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers.
As of April 1, the surface elevation of Upper Klamath Lake was 4,142 feet, which is equivalent to approximately 448,495 acre-feet of stored water. The NRCS April 1 forecast for inflows to Upper Klamath Lake from April 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020, is 290,000 acre-feet, which is about 60 percent of average inflow for this time period. Under these conditions, the Project supply from Upper Klamath Lake for the 2020 irrigation season is approximately 140,000 acre-feet.
This volume is approximately one-third the historical irrigation demand of the Klamath Project.
Governor Kate Brown announced late last week that she will be lifting the order that has postponed all elective and non-emergency medical procedures in the state due to the COVID-19 crisis.
If health care providers can prove that they have met new requirements for COVID-19 safety and preparedness they will be able to resume all other procedures starting May 1. This includes hospitals, surgical centers, medical offices, and dental offices. Most routine procedures at medical and dental facilities were put on hold in order to preserve PPE and hospital surge capacity as coronavirus cases began to mount in Oregon over the beginning of March.
During the week of April 12 to April 18, the Oregon Employment Department received 36,700 initial claims for unemployment benefits. Since public health measures began the week starting March 15 Oregon has received about 333,700 initial claims for unemployment insurance.
The Employment Department continues processing initial and ongoing unemployment benefits claims at a record pace, resulting in $119 million in benefits paid to Oregonians during the week of April 12 to April 18. The agency continues expanding capacity for taking claims, with 520 employees now dedicated to taking unemployment claims, and additional contact center facility planning underway.
Employment Department efforts also continue toward launching the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. Once open, the PUA program will provide the self-employed, contract workers, and gig workers not already eligible, along with those not usually eligible due to too few hours or earnings, and those who were going to start work but could not, with benefits never before available.
Programming, testing, and staff training for the PUA program are in progress. Upon successful testing, the Employment Department expects to open the program for applications by the end of April.
Several auto insurance companies have been working with the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation to provide auto insurance premium refunds and credits to Oregonians.
The refunds and credits are due to the reduced risk of auto accidents because of Gov. Kate Brown’s Stay Home, Save Lives executive order. The division encourages all carriers to consider providing refunds that reflect the reduced risk of auto liabilities due to the emergency order. This includes taking steps to reclassify vehicle usage, and properly adjusting any mileage-based policy metrics.
Last week, the division provided guidance to insurance carriers for issuing the refunds to help process the filings and get money to consumers as quickly as possible. In addition to the premium refunds, the division has asked all insurers to provide temporary private passenger auto insurance coverage for drivers delivering food, prescriptions, and other products for their employers.
If you have questions about your auto insurance premium refund or about your insurance coverage, contact your insurance company.
Earlier this week, an Oregon State Police Trooper from the Grants Pass Area Command contacted a 2019 Dodge Ram Pickup for a traffic violation on Interstate 5 near milepost 63.
The driver provided the Trooper with a counterfeit identification. The Trooper developed probable cause to search the vehicle and during the search located $62,649 in U.S. currency and 17.1 grams of Cocaine. The driver was later identified as Rey David Aguilera-Limon and the passenger Luis Fernando Herrera-Limon. Both were lodged in the Josephine County Jail for Unlawful Possession of Cocaine, Identity Theft, and Money Laundering.
A Henley High School senior who coordinates a program to help food insecure students has been named 2020 Klamath Country Volunteer of the Year, the top award given by the United Way of the Klamath Basin for volunteerism.
18 year old Andrea Malakar has volunteered with Hunger: Not Impossible for the past three years, and since 2019, has served as coordinator, donating more than 300 hours to train student volunteers, raise funds, and coordinate efforts with the Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank and local educators. Judges selected Malakar as the top volunteer from a pool of 31 nominees.
The annual award ceremony and volunteer recognition event was canceled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leroy Cabral, executive director of the local United Way, instead notified the winners.
Klamath County has welcomed Myles Maxey as the new Director of the Developmental Disabilities department, according to a news release.
Maxey was born and raised in Southern New Mexico. He has worked across social service systems in three different states over the past several years. Maxey began his collegiate journey at New Mexico State University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Family and Child Science. During his undergraduate education, he worked in an adolescent treatment facility with at risk youth that transcended the juvenile justice, drug court, and behavioral health service systems.
Maxey has been actively involved with the Disability Family Networks in Utah and Oregon, both as a parent and a disability advocate and professional. He serves as chair of the Families with Disabilities Focus Group for the National Council on Family Relations. He enjoys spending his downtime with his family and refereeing high school football and basketball.
Firefighters say they’re seeing more and more grass fires as we inch closer to warmer months. One of the main causes for fires in Southern Oregon during this time of year are private burns that get out of control.
Oregon Department of Forestry is asking rural residents to hold off on burning because of our current dry and warm conditions. Although it has not been declared to be fire season for Southern Oregon the conditions are right for fires to spread quickly. The problem is that spring is usually one of the few times for property owners to clear underbrush and burn fire fuels, creating defensible space around their homes. Ballou says it’s still a good idea to create burn piles and clear underbrush, they are just suggesting you wait until fall to burn.
According to Ballou, if you start a fire that gets out of control you could be help financially responsible for firefighting costs. As we do get closer to fire season and firefighters warn of an early season, fire agencies are working to solve another problem; fire-fighting during a pandemic.
COVID-19 has caused some changes for structural firefighters already and right now multiple agencies are working to identify ways to best protect firefighters, not only from the dangers of their job but also the dangers of the virus.
…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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