Caldwell fire pictured above near Lava Beds National Park, estimated at only 25% contained this morning.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
Today A 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Widespread morning haze with the nearby fires. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Slight chance of showers or thundershowers overnight.
Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 94.
Thursday Sunny, with a high near 92.
Friday Sunny, with a high near 86.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 87.
Today’s Headlines
Caldwell fire continues to burn hundreds of acres of land
The communities of Tulelake and Tionesta continue to be threatened by fire near the Lava Beds National Park, as the Caldwell Fire tripled in size to at least 43,749 acres by Monday afternoon. The “July Complex” of fires in the area was only at 20 percent containment at the end of the day. Due to unstable weather, winds and extreme fire activity, there is now a MANDATORY EVACUATION for the community of Tionesta in addition to the existing evacuations near Tulelake and the Medicine Lake Recreation Area.
Growth in all directions has brought it close to homes in multiple communities from Tulelake to Tionesta. On Friday, fire officials estimated the Caldwell Fire at less than 7,900 acres, underlining the fire’s tremendous growth over the weekend. The Forest Service said thunderstorms caused winds that contributed to rapid spread of that fire, which threatened the community of Tulelake. Evacuation orders were made for residents on the following roads in the Tulelake area south of Highway 139:
- County Road 120 to 124 and County Road 121 to 124, as well as all residents with property bordering the forest or lava beds from 120-124.
- On Sunday an evacuation order was issued for Medicine Lake Recreation Area.
Other area fire updates: Firefighters have made significant headway against the Ben Young Fire near Paisley. According to the South Central Oregon Fire Management Partnership, the wildfire was at 1,250 acres and 75 percent contained as of Monday morning. On Sunday, firefighters paroled and secured perimeter, and on Monday that work would continue. Crews will also begin hauling unneeded equipment and supplies from the fire to assist in other locations.
The Gold Fire, located south of Adin, has grown to 21,870 acres in size since it sparked July 20 and is currently at 55 percent containment.
The Hog Fire, located near Highway 44 at Hog Flat, had grown to 9,545 acres and was at 60 percent containment. Two structures have been destroyed by that fire as of Monday.
Klamath County Public Health (KCPH) officials report two new cases of COVID-19 in the community on Monday, July 27, bringing the total to 181. As of this morning 6,871 tests have been processed for Klamath County.
Nearby Jackson County has 11 new cases and in Josephine County, it’s 8 new cases, with the county’s total number of cases to 91. 19 in Josephine are currently presumptive and 72 are confirmed.
The state of Oregon’s death toll from COVID-19 is unchanged from yesterday and remains at 289.
Oregon Health Authority reported 340 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of yesterday, bringing the state total to 17,088.
The new cases are in the following counties: Benton (2), Clackamas (7), Columbia (1), Coos (1), Crook (1), Deschutes (11), Douglas (1), Harney (1), Hood River (1), Jackson (11), Jefferson (9), (Josephine (8), Lane (8), Lincoln (1), Malheur (8), Marion (26), Morrow (4), Multnomah (119), Polk (9), Umatilla (47), Wasco (1), Washington (61), and Yamhill (9).
To protect yourself from Covid-19, keep your distance by maintaining six feet of social or physical distancing between yourself and others. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, utilizing hand sanitizer when washing facilities are not available. Sanitize surfaces that are often touched. Avoid gatherings of any size where social or physical distancing is not possible. To protect others around you, cover coughs and sneezes. Stay home when sick. Wear a clean mask in public spaces, including outdoors when six feet of social distance cannot be maintained.
Six candidates from local schools are running for Potato Festival Queen. The festival will be held in Merrill on October 17.
Zoe Hill Sparks is Klamath Falls born and raised and attends Klamath Union High School. She is the daughter of Jeff Sparks and Amy Hill and has a younger sister, Zia.
Jennifer Ibarra-Barajas is a senior at Mazama High School. She was born and raised in Klamath Falls by parents Evelia and Jose Ibarra. She is the oldest of her three siblings.
Gabby Haskins of Lost River High School is the daughter of Norma Lou and Brent Haskins, and the granddaughter of Margaret and Vergil “Mud” Haskins and Betty Lou and Norman Ryckman.
Grace Nyseth is the candidate from Henley High School. She is the daughter of Christie Cahill and Ryan and Rhonda Nyseth of Malin. She has a younger sister, Samantha Nyseth.
Annette Chavez is representing Tulelake High School. Annette’s parents are Alejandra and Javier Chavez. She has two younger siblings, Quetzalli and Jireh.
Tayla Berry is the candidate from Bonanza High School. She was born in Gresham and raised by her grandparents Danny and Tena Mays. She is an only child and spent all four years attending Bonanza High School.
Bonanza Junior/Senior High School students will return this fall to remodeled and updated locker rooms thanks to the hard work of administrators, custodians, and a generous donation from the Bonanza Booster Club.
Principal Jordan Osborn, along with counselor Andy Davis and new vice principal and athletic director Sergio Cisneros, decided to update the locker rooms this summer as part of their overall commitment to improve the culture and climate of the school. Osborn, Davis, and Cisneros started the project, spending a full day ripping out the old lockers. The plan was to repaint and install unused lockers that were in storage and in the elementary school. Head custodian Adam Patterson served as project lead, joined by custodians Buddy Downing, Leonard Morgan, and Billy Simmons. Downing painted the walls and ceiling. Patterson did the floor paint and new base trim. Patterson, Morgan and Simmons installed the new lockers, white board and custom-made benches.
The Bonanza Boosters paid $1,300 for six benches, custom-made at cost by Daniel Mendez at Local Creations Co. New stalls also will be installed in the bathrooms.
Around the state of Oregon
In Ashland, Southern Oregon University will pivot to a fall academic schedule in which most classes will be delivered remotely. The shift is due to the continued spread of COVID-19 in southern Oregon and statewide.
The university updated its safety and health protocols, including strict capacity standards for indoor spaces and a requirement for face coverings both inside and outside where adequate social distancing is not possible. SOU is working with Oregon’s other public universities, community partners and Jackson County Public Health to plan for and respond to positive COVID-19 cases when they occur.
An Albany man drowned Sunday after falling from a tube while floating the Santiam River, deputies say. A witness reported seeing the man fall off a tube and go under the water, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The witness said the man resurfaced, tried swimming against the current and went back under the water. The incident unfolded about 30 feet from the shoreline in a section of river near Interstate 5, deputies said.
22 ARRESTED, FACING FEDERAL CHARGES AFTER WEEKEND PROTESTS AT FEDERAL COURTHOUSE IN PORTLAND
U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams announced today that 22 people have been arrested and are facing federal charges for their roles in weekend protests at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland.
According to court documents, since May 26, 2020, protests in downtown Portland have been followed by nightly criminal activity including assaults on law enforcement officers, destruction of property, looting, arson, and vandalism. The Hatfield Federal Courthouse has been a nightly target of vandalism during evening protests and riots, sustaining extensive damage.
U.S. Marshals Service deputies and officers from the Federal Protective Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection working to protect the courthouse have been subjected to nightly threats and assaults from demonstrators while performing their duties.
Six people have been charged for alleged criminal conduct during a protest beginning July 23, 2020 and continuing into the early morning hours of July 24, 2020. Carly Anne Ballard, 34, and David Michael Bouchard, 36, are charged with assaulting federal officers; and Josslynn Kreutz, 28, Dakota Eastman, 30, Ezra Meyers, 18, and Mark Rolycanov, 28, are charged with failing to obey lawful orders.
On July 24, 2020, agents from Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested Ronald Bernard Hickey, 44, a Canadian National, for harassing and stalking federal employees assigned to assist the Federal Protective Service with ongoing civil unrest in Portland. Hickey used his Twitter account, @TawasiSoce, to knowingly release personal information of these employees in an attempt to threaten, intimidate, or incite violence against them.
Eight people have been charged for alleged criminal conduct during a protest beginning July 25, 2020 and continuing into the early morning hours of July 26, 2020. Rebecca Gonzales-Mota, 37; Stephen O’Donnell, 65; Thomas Johnson, 33; Nathan Oderdonk-Snow, 21; Joshua Webb, 22; Pablo Avvacato, 26; and Doug Dean, 34, are charged with assaulting federal officers. Richard Lindstet, 33, is charged with operating a drone in restricted airspace.
Seven people have been charged for alleged criminal conduct during a protest beginning July 26, 2020 and continuing into the early morning hours of July 27, 2020. Michael Stephenson, 23; Caleb Willis, 29; Noelle Mandolfo, 30; Travis Williams, 27; Patrick Stanford, age unknown; Coree Jefree, age unknown; and Tyler Gabriel, 22, are charged with assaulting federal officers.
All defendants, unless noted, are presumed to be local residents. These cases are being jointly investigated the U.S. Marshals Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Federal Protective Service. They are being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon. Criminal complaints and informations are only accusations of a crime, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
A group of military veterans is joining the ongoing protests in Portland now into their 60th night. The group showed up to Saturday’s protest and formed a protective wall around the demonstrators, standing with their hands clasped behind their backs. Some of them held signs in support of the Black Lives Matter movement as they stood in front of the federal courthouse. They joined groups of moms and dads forming a wall of protection from tear gas cannisters and the advance of federal troops.
The Oregon State Marine Board held a virtual work session on July 22 and their quarterly Board meeting on July 23, live-streamed from the agency’s Salem office. The Board denied three petitions and directed staff to draft rules for the Lower Willamette River in downtown Portland and North and South Twin Lakes in Deschutes County.
The Board reviewed a citizen petition to amend the Waterway Access Permit (WAP) expiration date to a full year from the date of purchase. Under current rules, the permit expires on December 31 of the year purchased for annual permits, and December 31 of the second year for two-year permits. The Board denied the petition for the following reasons: amending the permit expiration dates would create misalignment with other Oregon outdoor permits, enforcement would be more difficult for our law enforcement partners and the current rules were adopted less than one year ago. Public comments were sought, and public hearings held, prior to the adoption of the current rules.
The Board considered a second petition which proposed rules requiring all paddlecraft operators wear personal floatation devices (PFDs) when on the water between September 15 and June 1. This petition was denied; however, the Board directed staff to facilitate a more robust discussion via a work session in January 2021 to look at Oregon incident and fatality statistics, life jacket awareness campaigns, and options to improve life jacket wear for all boaters.
A third petition proposed the removal of towed watersports zones in the Newberg Pool on the Willamette River to allow all water activities and require wake surfing to occur in the middle of the river in an upstream direction only. Again, all 3 were denied at this time.
The Bonneville Power Administration has announced the selection of John Lahti as its vice president of Transmission Field Services.
Lahti will lead roughly one-third of BPA’s workforce responsible for field operations, emergency response, and construction and maintenance of BPA’s roughly 15,200 circuit miles of transmission lines in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
“John is the right person at the right time to lead this vital component of BPA’s Transmission Services organization,” said BPA Chief Operating Officer John Hairston. “Transmission plays a critical role in the value that BPA provides to the region. John has shown himself to be highly effective in leading groups that are dedicated to preserving and expanding the availability of that transmission and doing so in a cost-effective manner.”
Every Child’s My NeighbOR, a statewide initiative that launched in March to help meet the pressing needs of foster families and youth in foster care, is expanding to help more Oregon families. My NeighbOR will now invite community members to also meet urgent needs for families caring for children before they enter foster care and once children have returned home. Every Child works in partnership with the Oregon Department of Human Services.
“While the work continues to recruit more loving foster families in Oregon and to support and appreciate foster parents to improve retention, we know that outcomes for children are improved when children can remain safely at home. This effort aligns with the work of Child Welfare to expand community collaboration and find upstream solutions as we build a strong child safety system in Oregon,” Child Welfare program director Rebecca Jones Gaston said.
To safely slow the tide of children into foster care and to stabilize families’ post-reunification, Every Child is growing My NeighbOR to mobilize the community to meet the emergency and tangible needs of families of origin involved with Child Welfare, beginning today. Families of origin include those who have an open Child Welfare case and those who have been reunified with their child.
“When COVID-19 hit, Every Child launched My NeighbOR to meet emergency needs for Oregon’s vulnerable children and foster families. It worked. You stepped up. Launching today, we are expanding to serve more than 13,000 children who are at risk of entering foster care or who are currently in care,” Ben Sand, CEO for The Contingent, Every Child’s parent organization, said.
The Salmonberry Trail Intergovernmental Agency (STIA) will meet virtually to discuss the proposed Salmonberry Trail corridor from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. on August 7. The public can view the proceedings on Youtube at https://bit.ly/stiavideo.
Items to be discussed include updates on the Salmonberry Trail Foundation and status of the current River and Canyon Segment planning study. The proposed Salmonberry Trail is an 86-mile corridor that follows the Port of Tillamook Bay Railway connecting Tillamook and the city of Banks in Washington County.
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