The latest and most comprehensive coverage of local News, Sports, Business, and Community News stories in the Klamath Basin, Southern Oregon and around the state of Oregon from Wynne Broadcasting’s KFLS News/Talk 1450AM / 102.5FM, The Herald & News, and BasinLife.com, and powered by Mick Insurance.
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
Today Widespread smoke much of the day. Sunny, with a high near 95.
Thursday Sunny, with a high near 92.
Friday Sunny, with a high near 86.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 87.
Today’s Headlines
Firefighters working the Caldwell Fire outside Tulelake are beginning to get control of the wildfire although it has burned over 70,000 acres. It is estimated to be about 35% contained at this time.
A mandatory evacuation remains in place for the community of Tionesta and the Medicine Lake Recreation Area. The Lava Beds National Monument remains closed. Highway 97 (west) is currently closed at Highway 139. Highway 139 remained open as of Tuesday morning. Evacuation orders were lifted for the following roads in the Tulelake area south of Highway 139:
- County Road 120 to 124
- County Road 121 to 124
- All residents with property bordering the forest or lava beds from 120-124.
Evacuation warnings were lifted for all Copic, Panhandle and Peninsula areas south of the highway as well.
Klamath County Public Health (KCPH) officials report three new cases of COVID-19 in the community, bringing the total to 184. As of today 6,882 tests have been processed for Klamath County.
Around the state, COVID-19 has claimed 14 more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 303. There were 342 new confirmed and presumptive cases overnight, bringing the state total to 17,416.
The new confirmed and presumptive cases are in the following counties: Benton (3), Clackamas (15), Clatsop (3), Coos (3), Crook (2), Curry (1), Deschutes (7), Douglas (2), Harney (1), Jackson (10), Jefferson (9), Josephine (9), Klamath (3), Lane (6), Linn (5), Malheur (15), Marion (40), Morrow (7), Multnomah (74), Polk (13), Umatilla (75), Washington (31), and Yamhill (9).
OHA Director Pat Allen said: “As we surpass 300 deaths related to COVID-19, including the 14 deaths reported today, I wish to extend sincere condolences on behalf of everyone at OHA to the families who have lost a loved one to this disease. It is a stark reminder of the work all Oregonians need to do to bring this pandemic under control. Together we can slow this disease and prevent this terrible loss of life.”
Today, OHA testing experts Melissa Sutton, MD and Tom Jeanne, MD, will take questions from the public via Facebook Live on COVID-19 testing from 1:30 – 2 p.m. From who can should get tested, how to find a testing location and beyond, the doctors will help demystify testing in Oregon.
Meanwhile, Governor Kate Brown and officials from Oregon’s education and health agencies held a press conference Tuesday to discuss the new coronavirus metrics for schools throughout the state — guidelines that will determine whether individual districts can move forward with in-person classes this fall.
Brown, unable to make a complete decision on schools, discussed the metrics saying that both county and statewide COVID-19 data would determine “when it is safe for in-person instruction to resume,” or when schools will have go online-only.
Among the metrics announced yesterday is a requirement for the rate of positive COVID-19 tests to remain below 5 percent at both the state and county level. The state dipped below that level just last week following three weeks in a row above 5 percent, according to the weekly testing report from the Oregon Health Authority.
Gov. Brown and leaders from the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Education shared new guidance about schools and how they might operate this fall saying there’s no simple, statewide answer for every school in Oregon. It is important to get students back to class, but how that is done that depends on a number of important factors, such as: prevalence of the virus, availability of testing, the capacity of the local health care system to provide quality care and the readiness of the public health system to work with schools to contain any outbreaks.
Oregon’s Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance outlines three learning options for Oregon schools:
- On-site: Students attend in person full-time.
- Hybrid: Students attend in person part time and do distance learning part-time.
- Comprehensive Distance Learning: Students learn remotely, experiencing daily interaction with teachers who will guide the student’s full educational experience. This option will provide additional supports for mental, social and emotional health, as well as family engagement.
Oregon public health officials evidence-based metrics is to help school boards and school districts make local decisions based on local conditions, to determine how they can safely reopen school. The guidance offers some exceptions to address that communities across Oregon are dealing with a variety of circumstances and no one solution fits all. It also prioritizes in-person learning for kindergarten through third grade.
Schools need everyone in the community to help students safely return to the classroom and keep them in school. We can suppress COVID-19 and return to levels where we can safely reopen schools if we all do our part.
- Wear a mask or face-covering.
- Maintain physical distance.
- Avoid large group get-togethers.
For everyone, 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.
The embroiled court battle for ownership of the Eternal Hills Cemetery on Highway 39 is not over, despite an auction last week to settle a bidding war between Klamath County and previous owner Robert Gordon.
Gordon won the auction with an offer of $230,000, according to Klamath County Commissioner Derrick DeGroot. DeGroot called that outcome “devastating.” However, Gordon’s high bid could mean the beginning of another legal battle over the property.
DeGroot said Klamath County is in talks with the Department of Justice to challenge the legality of Gordon owning the cemetery, because the bankruptcy settlement on the property stripped Gordon of his mortuary license and prohibited him from owning one in the state of Oregon. The process of getting in front of a judge could take months, DeGroot said, but the auction was a necessary step in the attempt to disqualify Gordon as a buyer.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory for Klamath County due to smoke from wildfires in Northern California. DEQ expects the air quality advisory to last until at least Friday.
The air quality monitor in Klamath Falls showed unhealthy air quality Tuesday morning, and the monitor in Chiloquin showed air quality that was unhealthy for sensitive groups. Smoke can irritate people’s eyes and lungs and worsen some medical conditions. Young children, adults over 65, pregnant women, and people with heart disease, asthma or other respiratory conditions are most at risk.
Klamath County Public Health officials reported the air quality index was in the hazardous range at 7 p.m. Monday night in Klamath Falls. The infiltration of wildfire smoke from the Caldwell Fire and others in California is creating a health risk for the community.
The Klamath County Fair Board confirmed this week that next month it will lay off five of its seven fairgrounds employees.
With the Klamth County Fair and all events canceled and tourism down due to COVID-19, the Klamath County Fairgrounds’ precarious financial situation led to the layoffs. In the meantime, county and fairgrounds leadership are working to find other ways to keep those people employed within Klamath County.
Events and large gatherings across the country have been canceled to help slow the spread of COVID-19. The Klamath County Fairgrounds have not been immune and has lost revenue from canceled events. In addition, reduced travel has led to a reduction in the transient hotel room tax, which is a key funding source for the facility.
Still, Klamath County Commissioner Derrick DeGroot said the fairgrounds aren’t going anywhere — that these are necessary steps to ensure the doors will reopen when it’s safe.
Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have announced that the Crater Lake – Klamath Regional Airport will receive nearly $4.3 million in federal grants to improve taxiways, storm drains, guidance systems and more.
John T. Barsalou, Airport Director, Crater Lake – Klamath Regional Airport said in a press release: “This is great news for the Crater Lake – Klamath Regional Airport! The infrastructure project by this grant is an immediate need and will advance safety, generate jobs and provide other economic benefits for our local community. Taxiways B1 and D are used extensively by the U.S. Forest Service and the Oregon Air National Guard respectively on a daily basis and are nearing the end of their useful life. All airport users utilize Taxiway D as the main runway access route to and from the Fixed Based Operator – Century Aviation, Precision Aviation, Rocky Mountain Construction Aviation, and all west side general aviation hangars. It is my understanding that the CARES Act provides 100% funding for this project – so no local match is required. I’d like to thank Senator Wyden and our congressional delegation for their continued support of this project, the City of Klamath Falls and the Crater Lake – Klamath Regional Airport.”
Of the nearly $4,300,000 federal investment in the Crater Lake – Klamath Falls Regional Airport, $3,877,509 was discretionary funding directed from the U.S. Department of Transportation Airport Improvement Grant Program, $150,000 was entitled funding from the same program and an additional $268,500 was directed from CARES Act funding.
Ross Ragland Theater reminds families of their BIG Screen Summer Movie Series of Friday Night Flicks and Saturday Family Matinees.
Friday Night Flicks starts on 7/31 at 7:00pm w/ “E.T.”
Showing at the Ross Ragland Theater. Tickets are $9.00 w/ military, senior and student discounts.
8/7 @ 7:00pm “JAWS”
8/14 @ 7:00pm “Breakfast Club”
8/21 @ 7:00pm “The Big Lebowski”
8/28 @ 7:00pm “Alfred Hitchcock’s, The Birds”
Saturday Family Matinees is this Saturday 7/25 at 2:00pm w/ “Beethoven”
Showing at the Ross Ragland Theater. Tickets are $9.00 w/ military, senior and student discounts.
8/1 @ 2:00pm “Trolls”
8/8 @ 2:00pm “Kung Fu Panda”
8/15 @ 2:00pm “Land Before Time”
Adult book clubs restart online in August at the Klamath County Library
The adult book clubs at the downtown Klamath County Library are restarting in August, and meeting online! Pick up your club’s book today at the library’s Information and Reference desk.
The Memoir Book Club will meet Tuesday, August 4th at 6 pm to discuss If All the Seas Were Ink, Ilana Kurshan’s memoir told through anecdotes from the Talmud, and her daily studies with Rabbinic Judaism’s central text.
The Adult Book Club will meet on Thursday, August 13th at 4:30 pm to discuss Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing. The New York Times bestselling novel follows Kya, a girl left alone to fend for herself in the North Carolina marsh, and the conflict she encounters interacting with the outside world.
Both clubs will meet online via Zoom teleconferencing. Please email Charla at coppenlander@klamathlibrary.org to pre-register – we’ll send the invite link to the group chat a couple of days before the meeting. For more information about any of our book clubs, please visit the Information and Reference desk at the downtown library, or call 541-882-8894.
Around the state of Oregon
It’s official this morning: Federal agents who have clashed with protesters in Portland, Oregon, will begin a “phased withdrawal” from Oregon’s largest city, Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday morning.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement the plan negotiated with Brown over the last 24 hours includes a “robust presence” of Oregon State Police in downtown Portland.
“State and local law enforcement will begin securing properties and streets, especially those surrounding federal properties, that have been under nightly attack for the past two months,” Wolf said.
The federal agents will begin leaving the city’s downtown area on Thursday, Brown said.
The U.S. Marshals Service and Department of Homeland Security had been weighing this week whether to send in more federal agents. The marshals were taking steps to identify up to 100 additional personnel who could go in case they were needed to relieve or supplement the deputy marshals who work in Oregon, spokesman Drew Wade said.
The nightly Portland protests began after George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police and have grown to include the presence of federal agents in Portland and other Democratic cities. They often spiral into violence as demonstrators turn to rioters causing destruction, targeting the U.S. courthouse in Portland with rocks, fireworks and laser pointers. Federal agents haven’t backed down, responding with tear gas, less-lethal ammunition and arrests. Now Governor Brown and Mayor Ted Wheeler will be saddled with figuring out how to calm down the protests and stop the ugly violence that has been ongoing for 62 nights.
Protesters have tried almost every night to tear down a fence erected to protect the building, set fires in the street and hurled fireworks, Molotov cocktails and bricks, rocks and bottles at the agents inside. Authorities this week reinforced the fence by putting concrete highway barriers around it. Demonstrators who became the usual rioters early this morning near the federal courthouse were met with plenty oftear gas, pepper balls and impact munitions fired by agents.
The Oregon Department of Human Services has received approval by the federal Food and Nutrition Service to continue in August to provide increased food benefits and waive the interview requirement for new applicants – making it faster and easier for Oregonians to access benefits.
This will result in an additional $30 million to eligible Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients in August 2020.
“As the pandemic continues, access to food has worsened greatly,” said Self-Sufficiency Programs Deputy Director Claire Seguin. “Providing another month of emergency assistance will help ease the threat of chronic hunger in Oregon.”
SNAP households will automatically receive the additional allotment in the same way they receive their current benefits. For most customers this is an EBT card. The additional benefit amount will be disbursed on the schedule below to all eligible SNAP households.
Learn how to apply for SNAP and other benefits online or by phone at https://www.oregon.gov/DHS/COVID-19/Pages/Home.aspx.
SNAP customers can contact their local SSP or AAA office for more information. Find a local office at: oregon.gov/DHS/Offices/Pages/index.aspx
A Bend man accused of confronting and harassing a DoorDash delivery driver in a restaurant has been charged with a bias crime.
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel described as a person of color entered the Red Robin Restaurant in Bend June 28 while working as a delivery person for DoorDash
Hummel said Monday the driver picked up the delivery food bag from the bar when a customer, identified as Jeremiah McBride, confronted him with a hostile attitude and called him a derogatory term. The delivery driver walked to his car, but McBride pursued him, kicking the car and causing damage, Hummel said. The driver got out of his car and then McBride shouted and shoved him, Hummel said.
As a crowd formed, McBride got in a car and drove off. Hummel said the driver took a photo of the license plate and notified police, who contacted McBride.
On Monday, McBride was charged with a bias crime, harassment and criminal mischief. He’s scheduled to make his first court appearance on August 25. It wasn’t immediately known if McBride has a lawyer to comment on the case.
Though this summer may feel different than summers past, one thing remains constant: The need for blood donations to help save lives. The American Red Cross is urging healthy individuals to give blood to restock the shelves for patients battling disease and facing the unexpected.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, people across the country have stepped up to help by giving blood with the Red Cross. Blood donations from healthy individuals are just as essential now to meet patient needs, and those who gave this spring may be eligible to help again.
Donation appointments can be made for the coming days and weeks by calling 1-800-RED CROSS. As a thank-you for helping ensure a stable blood supply, those who come to give Aug. 1-Sept. 3 will receive a $5 Amazon gift card.
The Democratic mayor of Portland is still calling for an immediate meeting with acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and other top officials at the department to “discuss a cease-fire” and the removal of federal officers sent there to quell protests. And that may happen just to let Wheeler try to protect is own city and federal property.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a tweet Monday night that both he and Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty are calling for a meeting with Wolf and top DHS officials on the ground in Portland “to discuss a cease-fire and the removal of heightened federal forces from Portland.”
The email shows Customs and Border Protection offices being asked for teams of about 20-25 personnel. Specifically, the agency is looking for agents of a special unit that has received tactical training and can be called upon to deploy immediately when needed. The email also calls for agents from another Border Patrol unit that provides search and rescue response and intelligence personnel.
Wheeler has sought to de-escalate tensions in the city between residents there protesting racial inequality and police brutality, and federal agents, who were sent there earlier this month by President Donald Trump in an attempt to protect federal property.
U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams announced today that Edward Thomas Schinzing, 32, has been charged by criminal complaint with using fire to maliciously damage or destroy the Justice Center in downtown Portland on May 29, 2020.
Multnomah County and the City of Portland own the Justice Center building located at 1120 SW 3rd Avenue in Portland. The facility houses the Multnomah County Detention Center jail and the Portland Police Bureau headquarters.
According to court documents, Schinzing was marching with a group of protestors when he arrived at the front of the Justice Center shortly before 11:00 p.m. on May 29, 2020. A few minutes later, several people broke windows near the northwest corner of the Justice Center where the Corrections Records Office is located. They subsequently entered the secured office through the broken windows.
Among those who entered the Justice Center, Schinzing was identified by a comparison with a jail booking photo and a distinctive tattoo of his last name across his upper back. Schinzing spread a fire that started near the front of the office by lighting additional papers on fire and moving them into a drawer of a separate cubicle. Schinzing made his first appearance in federal court today before a U.S. Magistrate Judge and was ordered detained pending further court proceedings. Arson is punishable by up to 20 years in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years.
…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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