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, MAY 19, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
Today Mostly sunny, with a high near 57.
Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 61. West wind 6 to 8 mph.
Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 61.
Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 60.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 68.
Today’s Headlines
Late Monday night, the Oregon Supreme Court stayed a lower court ruling that invalidated Governor Brown’s recent stay at home executive orders.
As a result, the Governor’s executive orders remain in place until further consideration by the court. These orders impose certain requirements and limitations aimed at slowing the spread of the disease according to Brown.
Earlier in the day, a county judge has effectively suspended Governor Kate Brown’s stay-at-home order while presiding over a lawsuit brought by Oregon churches and other individuals.
The Baker County Circuit Court judge approved a request from the plaintiffs for a preliminary injunction on the order, denying a request from state attorneys for a stay on the decision. The lawsuit itself comes from at least 10 Oregon churches and multiple individuals who argue that Governor Brown’s orders are not consistent with the state constitution or legal statutes.
They are represented by attorney Ray Hacke of the Pacific Justice Institute. Brown’s lawyers requested a 48-hour hold on the judge’s Monday decision, but the Baker County judge denied the request.
According to Hacke, this makes Brown’s coronavirus orders “null and void.” Governor Brown’s legal team immediately filed an emergency motion with the Oregon Supreme Court for a stay of Monday’s decision, which the liberal court acted on on the Governor’s behalf. Stay tuned.
Today is Election Day in Oregon. The May primary has arrived. While it’s too late to mail your ballot in, boxes will be available at many locations to drop off your vote through 8pm tonight.
Local races include two Klamath County commissioner positions up for grabs. Donnie Boyd is the incumbent and is being challenged by Kassandra Harding, Ryan Wheelock, Gary Powless, Kenneth DeCrans and Derek Kimbol.
Position 3 has Derrick DeGroot as the incumbent, with Jesse Withers, Rod Davis, and Dennis Vader challenging.
A highly visible three man challenge awaits the Sheriff’s position. Incumbent Chris Kaber is challenged by Daren Krag and John Mogle.
After 30 years in office, Congressman Greg Walden is retiring and has many challengers on both sides of the ticket. Remember, polls close at 8pm sharp.
COVID-19 has claimed one more life in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 138, the Oregon Health Authority reported yesterday.
No new cases were reported once again in any southern Oregon counties, including Klamath.
Oregon Health Authority reported 62 new confirmed cases and two new presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 8 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 3,687.
The new confirmed and presumptive cases are in the following counties: Benton (3), Clackamas (5), Clatsop (1), Deschutes (5), Jackson (1), Lane (1), Malheur (2), Marion (16), Multnomah (12), Umatilla (5), Union (1), Washington (10), Yamhill (2). Oregon’s 138th COVID-19 death is a 69-year-old man in Marion County, who tested positive on May 16 and died the same day at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center. He had underlying medical conditions.
By county in Southern Oregon the coronavirus cases currently stand as this:
Klamath County 41 cases, 33 recovered
Jackson County 50 cases, 43 recovered.
Josephine County 21 cases, 20 recovered
Douglas County 25 cases, 23 recovered
Curry County 4 cases, 4 recovered.
Earlier this month the Klamath County Commissioners returned $776,539.69 of unspent funds from the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office 2018-2019 budget to the road reserve fund, which has been funding patrol for the law enforcement agency for the past several years.
Although not all of the returned funds were savings from patrol specifically, Commissioner Donnie Boyd said they broke from the tradition of returning unspent money from the sheriff’s office to the county’s general fund and returned the entire savings to the diminishing road fund. Last year the sheriff’s office received about $1.8 million from the road fund for patrols. About $300,000 of that savings was personnel savings, Sheriff Chris Kaber said, due to positions the department is still working to fill. Kaber said they budgeted to fill the positions, which he said is a tough task due to the KCSO competing with other departments across the state to recruit new deputies.
Job losses in Oregon are at a record 266,600
Public health measures implemented in March to combat the rapid spread of COVID-19 are having an unprecedented economic impact on Oregon and the United States. April provides the first full month of data measuring the initial impact on businesses and the unemployed.
“Today’s release shows that 266,600 jobs were lost in the first two months of this pandemic and the unemployment rate has reached 14.2 percent. While these numbers make for shocking historical records, they cannot totally capture the economic trauma so many Oregonians are experiencing at this time,” said Anna Johnson, Senior Economic Analyst with the Oregon Employment Department.
Oregon’s unemployment rate rose from a near-record-low 3.5 percent, as revised, in March to a record-high 14.2 percent in April, as COVID-19 business closures shut down a large portion of the economy. This is the highest rate and the largest over-the-month increase in the history of the series (comparable data are available back to 1976). The number of unemployed Oregonians rose by 227,530, to reach 300,420 in April. These sharp increases reflect the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it.
The U.S. unemployment rate rose from 4.4 percent in March to 14.7 percent in April.
Oregon’s payroll employers shed 253,400 jobs in April, following a loss of 13,200, as revised, in March. In April, one out of every eight jobs in Oregon was idled or lost.
Leisure and hospitality took the brunt of the impact of pandemic-induced closures. The industry lost more than half of its jobs (-54.6%) in one month. Job losses were widespread throughout the economy though. No sector in Oregon gained jobs in April.
Other industries that were hardest hit in April were health care and social assistance (-26,800 jobs), retail trade (-22,500), professional and business services (-19,200), government (-13,100), other services (-12,900), construction (-12,000), and manufacturing (-11,600).
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the April county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Wednesday, May 27th, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for May on Tuesday, June 16th.
The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has left many Oregon families without resources to pay rent, buy food, make utility payments, and provide other necessities.
OHCS’ COVID-19 Rent Relief Program provides much needed rent assistance for people who have experienced a loss of income and are at risk of homelessness due to COVID-19.
Many Oregonians are struggling to pay rent, and low-income Oregonians and communities of color are more likely to be rent burdened than their white counterparts. OHCS allocated these funds through a needs based formula to regional Community Action Agencies (CAAs). The formula weighed severe rent burden data, poverty data, homelessness data, and unemployment claims. The $8.5 million was allocated statewide to local communities.
The local organization dispersing the funds is Klamath/Lake Community Action Services (KLCAS) who received $196,738 from the program to distribute locally.
If you are in need of rent assistance or want more information, call (541) 882-3500
The administration of Southern Oregon University (SOU) reacted on Saturday following the discovery of a hate symbol carved into a campus residence hall.
SOU president Linda Schott wrote an address to students and staff on Saturday, saying that she was “angry and very sorry” to report the discovery of a large swastika carved into the panel of an elevator in the Shasta Residence Hall. A staff member reportedly found the hate symbol on Friday and immediately reported it to the campus Housing Administration, prompting an investigation by Campus Public Safety and the Office of Equity Grievance. The vandalism was also reported to Ashand Police, which documented the evidence and created a case file.
The swastika was buffed out of the elevator panel so that it is no longer visible, Schott said. There have been several incidents of this type of vandalism on the SOU campus this year.
Youth-detention numbers are down by nearly a quarter across the country, according to a recent survey.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation polled facilities in 30 states – including Oregon – and finds the number of young people in detention centers fell by 24 percent in March. That’s the same drop that occurred nationally over seven years from 2010 to 2017. Lisa Kay Williams, supervising attorney for the Portland-based group Youth, Rights and Justice, says the coronavirus outbreak is providing an opportunity for jurisdictions to reconsider their juvenile-justice policies.The researchers note the data is significant, but only a snapshot of juvenile-justice systems nationwide. So far, there have been no reported cases of youth or guards at detention centers testing positive for COVID-19 in Oregon.
Following guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local public health authorities, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is increasing recreational access in Oregon.
The BLM is working with federal, state, and local public health authorities to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and using a phased approach to increase access on a case-by-case basis.
Visitors should expect differing levels of services and available facilities across Oregon. Updates on affected Oregon BLM facilities can be found online or by calling your local BLM office:
The BLM states that the health and safety of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners continues to be paramount. Across the state, our operational approach will be to examine each facility, function, and service provided to ensure those operations comply with current public health guidance. We continue to work closely with the Department of the Interior and are following CDC guidance to ensure public and employee spaces are safe and clean for visitors, employees, partners, and volunteers.
…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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