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.
FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
This Afternoon Sunny and hot, with a high near 96. Overnight low of 58.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 84.
Sunday A slight chance of showers between 11am and 2pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm, with a high near 63. Sunday night a chance of showers or thundershowers, low of 45.
Monday Mostly sunny, with a high near 72.
Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 79.
Today’s Headlines
During a special meeting held Wednesday the Tulelake-Butte Valley Fair Board of Directors voted unanimously to restructure the 2020 Tulelake-Butte Valley Fair in order to comply with current and projected social distancing and mass gathering directives from the CDC, State of California and Siskiyou County Health Department.
The current plan for reopening California makes it impossible to economically and operationally host a traditional fair which would be enjoyed by their valued patrons and community members. The Tulelake-Butte Valley Fair’s beloved carnival, food concessions, commercial vendors, entertainment, grandstand events, still exhibits, open livestock show and other public aspects have been cancelled for 2020.
The 2020 Fair will be reduced to a junior livestock market animal evaluation and grading followed by a livestock auction. This will provide local community members the opportunity to support the 4-H, FFA and Independent Market Exhibitors who have invested their time, money and hope in quality livestock projects. These events will not be open to the general public and will follow all applicable social distancing guidelines. Due to the fluidity of the current situation, the details and schedules will be communicated directly with club leaders, advisors and exhibitors as they are confirmed.
Klamath County Public Health (KCPH) officials report seven new cases of COVID-19 in the community on Thursday, June 25, bringing the total to 111, according to a news release.
Of the 111 cases, 52 have recovered. There are 59 active cases in Klamath County. As of this morning, 4,931 tests have been processed for Klamath County. Contact tracing and active monitoring are important tools that public health uses to limit further spread of disease. Effective contact tracing aims to identify additional cases related to close contact exposure and provides guidance on isolation and quarantine to prevent further spread of the virus.
It is vital that members of our community continue to practice all recommended personal actions at work, in public, and in social circles. It can be easy to feel more secure and protected when with family and friends, but we all must be mindful about developing a false sense of security in these settings.
Oregon reports 124 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 2 new deaths
COVID-19 has claimed two more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 197, the Oregon Health Authority reported as of Thursday afternoon. Oregon Health Authority reported 124 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 7,568.
The new cases reported today are in the following counties: Benton (6), Clackamas (8), Clatsop (1), Coos (2), Deschutes (2), Klamath (13), Lake (3), Lane (5), Linn (2), Malheur (2), Marion (4), Morrow (1), Multnomah (29), Polk (2), Umatilla (8), Union (10), Wasco (1), Washington (24), and Yamhill (1).
Oregon’s 196th COVID-19 death is an 83-year-old woman in Marion County who tested positive on June 18 and died June 24, in her residence. She had underlying conditions.
Oregon’s 197th COVID-19 death is an 83-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on June 18 and died June 23, in his residence. He had underlying conditions.
The Klamath Tribes Health and Family Services Incident Management Team confirmed that two employees of the tribe tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. These are the tribe’s first reported cases. Along with Klamath County Public Health, KTHFS staff are conducting contact tracing to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the two confirmed cases. Both the KTHFS administration building on S 6th Street and the Youth and Family Guidance Center on Main Street closed on Wednesday for sanitizing, to be reopened on Thursday. Any Klamath tribal member or tribal employee suspecting they have COVID-19 can be tested at the tribe’s Wellness Center in Chiloquin, according to the release. The drive-through testing center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Appointments can be made by calling 541-882-1487.
The campgrounds and day use areas along Copco and Iron Gate reservoirs on the Klamath River in Siskiyou County, Calif. are available for both camping and day use. This aligns with guidance provided by California and Siskiyou County on COVID-19 for reopening recreational facilities and the overall phased reopening approach in California. In Oregon, Keno Campground, on the Klamath River near Keno, Ore. will open for overnight camping and day use on Monday, June 29. Pioneer Park, at J.C. Boyle Reservoir, and the Link River Trail in Klamath Falls, Ore. will remain open. These openings align with guidance provided by the State of Oregon for recreational facility reopening. These openings follow on the heels of similar actions by the Oregon and California parks departments to open select state parks. It was important that these recreational facilities be available for public use prior to the July 4th holiday weekend. Visitors are able to access campgrounds, boat ramps, and day use areas, but COVID-19 social distancing measures will remain in force. Restroom maintenance and personal hygiene supplies may be limited in both day use and camping areas and visitors are encouraged to be prepared with their own supplies. Camping is limited to single household parties of eight people or less at all campgrounds.
AROUND THE STATE OF OREGON
Homecide Investigation in Grants Pass
On June 24, 2020, at approximately 4:00 P.M., Josephine County law enforcement responded to the area of Pinecrest Drive and Tiffany Way for a homicide investigation.
The deceased has been identified as Theodore Homer Robison (55) from Josephine County.
Investigators are asking for the public’s assistance. If anyone in the area of Pinecrest Drive and Plumtree Lane has video surveillance cameras, they are asked to contact investigators. The Oregon State Police are the lead investigators and are being assisted by the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety, Josephine County Sheriff’s Office and the Josephine County District Attorney’s Office. If anyone has any information they are asked to contact the Oregon State Police Dispatch Center at 541-664-4600. Reference case number SP20-173329.
New modeling of the COVID-19 virus shows that COVID-19 is spreading more rapidly in Oregon, according to the latest model released today by the Oregon Health Authority and the Institute for Disease Modeling.
The model, which is based on data through June 18, offers three projections — optimistic, moderate and pessimistic — predicting that daily case levels could rise as much as 20 percentage points.
The modeling assumes that hospitalizations from COVID-19 remain stable and testing remains at its present level of approximately 4,000 a day:
- The optimistic scenario with those assumptions suggests the previous modeling increase of June 11 was the result of higher testing and that case counts would remain stable at about 180 per day over the next month. This is the least likely scenario to occur because it assumes diagnosis of all new cases and presently about one-third of new infections cannot be traced to a known source.
- The moderate scenario suggests the rise in cases in the last modeling report was due to increased transmission and expanded testing — and that daily infections of COVID-19 could rise over the next month to more than 900 per day, with daily hospitalizations rising from 8 to 27.
- The most pessimistic scenario suggests the rise in cases in the last modeling report was due entirely to increased transmission and not expanded testing — and that infections could rise to more than 4,800, and hospitalizations could increase to 82 per day.
“We know that COVID-19 is in our communities,” said Dean Sidelinger, MD, Oregon state health officer. “This latest model provides us with a sobering reminder that we all need to guard against continued spread, especially as we continue to reopen and the weather gets warmer.”
Dr. Sidelinger said, “Think hard about your choice of activities, especially as we get close to the Fourth of July holiday. Ask yourself: how can I reduce my risk and the risk I might pose to people around me?” Do what you can to suppress the virus: Stay 6 feet away from other people. Wear a mask. Avoid large gatherings, and if you are in a group setting — like a holiday barbeque — stay outside, keep your distance and use a face covering when you’re not eating. Wash your hands frequently and stay home if you’re sick.
OHA uses this modeling for data analysis and planning purposes and releases it on a bi-weekly basis. The entire report can be found here.
A cell phone tax that died during a Republican legislative walkout last year is on a fast track during this week’s special session. Senate Bill 1603 shifts the burden of financing rural telecommunications services from the dwindling number of landline subscribers to a broader pool of wireless phone customers. It would use the new money from the tax to finance broadband projects in rural parts of the state, where many residents and businesses cope with agonizingly slow internet connections. Legislative support from the bill comes largely from urban and suburban Democrats, though, with rural Republicans uniformly opposed to the tax hike in a committee vote Wednesday. The bill now awaits votes by the full House and Senate, both led by Democratic supermajorities. Oregon has the lowest cell phone taxes in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation, which says the state’s residents pay just one-sixth of the national average. Advocates say the new tax would increase typical cell phone bills by $4 a year, raising $5 million for rural broadband.
The Marine Board, marine law enforcement from 18 county sheriff’s offices, Oregon State Police, and five Oregon U.S. Coast Guard Stations will be participating in Operation Dry Water during the weekend of July 3-5, as part of a nationally coordinated effort to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities related to Boating Under the Influence of Intoxicants (BUII). Many marine officers have completed specialized training to recognize alcohol and drug impairment. This includes prescription drugs, alcohol, inhalants, marijuana, or any other substance that impairs a person’s ability to make sound judgments and to safely operate a boat. The effects of drugs and alcohol are also amplified on the water with the combination of sun glare, wind, waves, and other environmental stressors. Alcohol also dehydrates the body making sudden immersion into cold water at an even greater risk for drowning. Impaired boaters can expect to be arrested or face serious penalties. In Oregon, the consequences of being convicted of BUII include the possibility of jail time, $6,250 in fines, loss of boating privileges and a one to three-year suspension of the boater education card and potentially being court-mandated to take another boating safety course. Marine officers can arrest boaters on observed impairment and can legally obtain blood, breath or urine if a boater fails field sobriety testing. Officers have already arrested three people for BUII this year and at least two fatalities appear to have involved alcohol or drugs.
If boaters changed two things; wear life jackets and abstain from impairing substances, accidents would be rare,” says Henry. “We’re facing a high number of boating fatalities already this year just from cold water and life jackets not being worn. We really want to keep alcohol and drugs out of the mix, or we’ll be at record high fatalities for 2020. We want to ensure that boating remains safe and fun.”
Henry goes on to say, “The public is our ally in safe boating. If you see an impaired operator or someone who is operating in a way that threatens others’ safety, call 911 and report it. That’s how we can work together to save lives.”
For more information about Operation Dry Water, visit www.operationdrywater.org.
Governor Kate Brown announced on Thursday that she has commuted the prison sentences of 57 “medically vulnerable” inmates in the state corrections system due to the ongoing spread of coronavirus. Brown requested earlier this month that the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) provide her with a list of prison inmates who might be eligible for release from custody and could be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Eligible inmates had to be identified as particularly vulnerable to coronavirus based on DOC medical staff assessments, could not be serving a sentence for a “person crime,” must have served at least 50 percent of their sentence, must have a record of good conduct over the past year, must have options for housing and health care needs, and must not present a major risk to the community. According to Brown’s office, three of the people suggested by the DOC were not offered a commutation because they were already scheduled for release within the next seven days. Another inmate was not scheduled for release until 2025, and the Governor decided that a commutation would be “premature.”
A building at the University of Oregon will no longer be named for an early white settler who supported slavery and who helped draft the state’s constitution which barred Black people from living in the territory. After years of pressure from student activists, the university’s board of trustees decided Tuesday to rename Deady Hall. The university’s first building, it was named for Matthew Deady, who was president of Oregon’s constitutional convention in 1857, a federal judge and leader of the university. University President Michael Schill had commissioned a report on Deady in response to demands by students during a 2015 Black Lives Matter protest. The report, published in 2016, determined Deady was a racist. Deady helped shape Oregon’s constitution that contained a clause prohibiting Black people from residing in Oregon. It was not repealed until 1927.
Members of Oregon’s congressional delegation have introduced legislation to rename the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic in Bend after World War II veteran, Medal of Honor recipient, and Bend native Bob Maxwell. Maxwell passed away in May of 2019. Before his death, Maxwell was the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient in the nation — one of only four remaining World War II veterans to have been awarded the medal. U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Greg Walden (R-OR-2) led the push for renaming the clinic, with Senator Ron Wyden and Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3), Peter DeFazio (D-OR-4), and Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5) supporting the bills.
According to a letter written by the lawmakers and addressed to the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Maxwell was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on September 7, 1944, near Besancon, France. Maxwell led a small group of soldiers, armed only with .45 caliber handguns, in defending an observation post against overwhelming odds.
Oregon’s minimum wage rates are set to increase beginning on Wednesday, July 1st. The amount of the increase — and the resulting pay — is different in each of the state’s three “wage regions.”
Following the increase, minimum wage will be $13.25 in the Portland metro area, $12 in the state’s “standard counties,” and $11.50 in non-urban counties. The highest minimum wage only exists within Portland’s urban growth boundary between Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties. The state’s northwestern counties, plus Jackson and Josephine counties, fall within the “standard” wage. The non-urban wage covers almost the entirety of eastern Oregon, plus Douglas, Coos, and Curry counties. This is the fourth yearly rate increase since 2016, and minimum wage rates are set to increase each year until 2023 — after which they will be indexed to inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a figure furnished by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
ACCESS is now accepting applications from Jackson County human services agencies for $805,000 in Federal CVRRP-CARES COVID-19 funding. These dollars are a portion of an award ACCESS recently received from Oregon Housing and Community Services. CVRRP-CARES COVID-19 funds are to be used to provide rental assistance for Jackson County residents who have experienced a loss of income, compromised health conditions, are at risk of losing their housing, or diagnosed or exposed to COVID-19, and/or displaced or unstably housed as the result of public health measures taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The period for expending funds is March 1, 2020, to December 30, 2020. The program will provide $684,250 in Homeless Prevention assistance and $120,750 for Rapid Re-housing to people who have an “intent to rent” document.
Applications may be obtained by contacting Jackie Agee, ACCESS Grant Administrator, by email: jackieagee@accesshelps.org or by telephone 541-774-4330. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m., Friday, July 10, 2020. Awards will be announced no later than the end of July.
…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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