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March 28, 2024

Klamath Basin News – Wednesday, 8/26 – Oregon Reports Seven Covid-19 Deaths

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, August 26, 2020

Klamath Basin Weather

Today: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Patchy smoke. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 84. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 91. Northwest wind 3 to 5 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 92.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 83.

Today’s Headlines

COVID-19 has claimed seven more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 427.

Oregon Health Authority reported 247 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of yesterday, bringing the state total to 25,391.

There are 18 new cases reported in nearby Jackson County in the Medford area. 

The OHA report has no cases listed for Klamath County in the last 24 hour period. The ratio of positive coronavirus tests to negative results remains almost level for the third week in a row, dropping slightly,  based on the latest weekly testing report from the Oregon Health Authority.

Oregon’s statewide test positivity rate is one of the metrics established by Governor Kate Brown, OHA, and education officials for schools in the state to fully reopen with in-person classes. In order for any school to bring grade 4-12 students back into classrooms, the state’s positivity rate must fall below 5 percent and stay there for three weeks.

The employment recovery slowed dramatically in both Klamath and Lake counties in July, following much stronger job growth earlier in the summer.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 11.0 percent in July, in Klamath County, down from 12.2 percent in June. The unemployment rate is much higher than before the COVID-19 crisis; it was 5.8 percent in March 2020. The jobs recovery slowed in Klamath County in July, following more dramatic improvement in June. Total nonfarm employment rose by 150 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis in July after a gain of 370 in June.

Klamath County shed around 2,600 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis, or roughly 11.5 percent of total nonfarm jobs. As of July around 540 of those jobs have been added back, representing roughly 21 percent of the jobs lost. The hard hit industries remain largely unchanged with employment down significantly over the past year in leisure and hospitality (-800 jobs); professional and business services (-450 jobs); public education (-260 jobs); and manufacturing (-140 jobs).

Jackson, Klamath, and Lake counties are now under an “air quality advisory” from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) due to smoke creeping north from wildfires in California.

At this time, the advisory will last through at least Wednesday, according to the DEQ. In Klamath County, air quality has already reached “Unhealthy” levels under the DEQ’s air quality monitoring system, with Lakeview listed as “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.” Public health officials say that wildfire smoke contains a mixture of air pollutants that are harmful to human health. Exposure to those pollutants can irritate the lungs, cause inflammation, alter immune function, and increase susceptibility to respiratory infections. Some recent scientific studies have suggested that air pollution can worsen COVID-19 symptoms and outcomes.

Klamath Outdoor Science School is offering a Family Campout Sept. 19-20 for families with children 5 years and up.

The camp will run from 9 a.m. Saturday through lunch on Sunday and will be held in Sun Pass State Forest, adjacent to Kimball State Park.

Each family will have the exclusive use of KOSS yurts or tents, or families may bring their own. Bunks have mattresses, but families will need to provide their own bedding. Outdoor meals will be provided, from dinner on Saturday through lunch on Sunday. Families should bring their own lunches for Saturday.

Campers will explore forest and aquatic habitats through art and science activities, games, an evening program and a night hike led by experienced outdoor educators. There will be activities for parents and kids together, with other activities just for kids and just for parents.

Parents can expect to gain some outdoor education tips and tools, including a nature activities booklet.

The remembrance event marking the 75th anniversary of the tragedy at Mitchell Monument, planned for Saturday, September 19, has once again been postponed as a result of COVID-19.

See the source image

The event is now being planned for spring 2021.  A new date has not been set. The remembrance event was originally scheduled for Tuesday, May 5, the actual anniversary date.

Members of the Bly Community Action Team, Standing Stone Church of the Christian Missionary Alliance, Green Diamond Resource Company and the Fremont-Winema National Forest began planning the event last fall.  In March, as restrictions went into place regarding meetings and events, the planning committee decided to postpone the event until September. 

Given the current situation and out of concern for the health and safety of those who would be traveling for the event, the planning committee determined it would be best to postpone until spring 2021.

The Ross Ragland Theater will be holding open auditions for their winter production “31 Seasons: A Celebration of the Ross Ragland Theater’s Community.”

The show will comprise of songs and medleys from various musical theatre composers. Performances will be on October 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th, 2020. Direction/Music Direction by Ryan Michael Adams. Auditions will be held Sunday and Monday, August 30th & 31st, 2020 at 6:30pm. Ragland Cultural Center, 218 N 7th Street. Please enter through the Cultural Center doors. Audition Registration begins at 6:00pm (doors will not be open until this time).

Looking for 2-4 men, and 4-6 women (8 performers, total). Because this will be a review show, it will be built around the cast, to some extent. All must be soloists, who can also individually maintain harmonies in a chorus. Storytelling is essential.

For more information contact the theater at 541 884-LIVE.

Around the State of Oregon

Highway motorists will get to drive through the new Oregon 140 roundabout beginning this morning near White City. 

Drivers will need to watch for traffic control changes. No turns will be allowed. Drivers should slow down and use caution when traveling through this still active work zone. Night time/early morning traffic should watch for flaggers and up to 20 minute delays through early Thursday morning.  Contractors are working on transitions from the existing highway onto the new roundabout.

For the next month this configuration will be in place until both Atlantic Avenue/ Foothill Road legs of the roundabout are complete. All paving, permanent striping and signing in place when the full roundabout opens to traffic.

Once the roundabout is complete, ODOT’s contractor will move east to the nearby Kershaw Road intersection to modify it over several nights to eliminate the highway crossing.

Boaters rescued 11 people from the Columbia River after two boats crashed near Astoria, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The collision was reported at about 9 a.m. Monday near the mouth of the Columbia on the Washington side of the Astoria-Megler Bridge Initial reports said a 20-foot boat collided with a 6-passenger boat, and both sank. Eleven people ended up in the water and other boaters in the area rushed to help, officials said. While officials didn’t know the current conditions of the boaters, they said everyone was rescued.

Bail is set at 260-million dollars for a man accused of assaulting another man during a protest in downtown Portland.  

A judge set bail for Marquise Love yesterday after agreeing to postpone his arraignment until September 2nd.  A viral video of the assault on August 16th allegedly shows Love and several other people kicking and punching a man until he falls unconscious.  Court documents show Love told police he’s received death threats since being named a suspect in the case.

Thousands of Oregonians, many of them for the first time, are now receiving unemployment benefits.

See the source image

The Oregon Department of Revenue wants to remind recipients that these benefits are taxable, and they should consider having tax withheld from their benefits to avoid owing taxes when they file their federal and Oregon income tax return next year.

By law, unemployment benefits are taxable and must be reported on a 2020 federal and Oregon income tax return. Taxable benefits include any of the special unemployment compensation authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, enacted this spring.

Withholding is voluntary. Federal law allows any recipient to choose to have a flat 10% withheld, and Oregon law allows recipients to choose to have a flat 6% withheld from their benefits to cover part or all of their tax liability. To do that, fill out Form 1040WHAuthorization for Tax Withholding, and send it to the Oregon Employment Department. Don’t send it to the IRS or the Oregon Department of Revenue.

If a recipient of unemployment benefits doesn’t choose withholding, or if withholding is not enough, they can make quarterly estimated tax payments instead. The payment for the first two quarters of 2020 was due on July 15. Third and fourth quarter payments are due September 15, 2020 and January 15, 2021, respectively. For more information, including some helpful worksheets, see Publication OR-ESTIMATE, available on www.oregon.gov/dor.

Unemployment benefit recipients who return to work before the end of the year can use the Oregon Personal Income Tax Withholding Calculator to determine if they’re having enough tax taken out of their paycheck. This online tool can help any worker or pension recipient avoid or lessen their year-end tax bill or estimate the refund they want.

In January 2021, unemployment benefit recipients should receive a Form 1099-GCertain Government Payments, from the Oregon Employment Department, showing the amount of unemployment benefits they received during 2020 in Box 1, any federal income tax withheld in Box 4, and Oregon income tax withheld in Box 11. Recipients will report this information, along with their Form W-2 income, on their 2020 federal and Oregon income tax returns.

For additional resources and more information about applying for unemployment benefits, visit unemployment.oregon.gov.

In Portland, Dakota Kurtis Means, 20, a resident of the city, has been charged by criminal information with forcibly assaulting, impeding, and intimidating a federal employee near the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse on August 24, 2020, announced U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams.

According to court documents and information shared in court, at approximately 5:30 am on August 24, 2020, an employee was walking to work at the Hatfield Federal Courthouse when Means allegedly began following the employee, yelling obscenities. Means was carrying a black colored paintball rifle and yelled “it’s a paintball gun now, but it’s going to be an AR later,” seemingly referring to an AR-15 assault rifle. Means was arrested a short time later near the courthouse by U.S. Marshals Service deputies.

Means made his initial appearance in federal court on August 24, 2020 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. He pleaded not guilty and was ordered released to a residential re-entry center pending a one-day jury trial scheduled to begin on October 27, 2020. Forcibly assaulting, impeding, and intimidating a federal employee while engaged in or on account of the performance of their official duties, a Class A misdemeanor, is punishable by up to one year in federal prison.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and Federal Protective Service. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon. A criminal information is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Klamath Falls News from partnership with the Herald and News, empowering the community.

…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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