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, September 2, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
Today Sunny, with a high around 92.
Thursday Sunny, with a high near 94.
Friday Sunny and hot, with a high near 97.
Saturday Sunny and hot, with a high near 96.
Sunday Sunny and hot, with a high near 97.
Labor Day Monday Sunny and hot, with a high near 97.
Today’s Headlines
Governor Kate Brown announced on Tuesday that she has extended her state of emergency declaration for coronavirus in Oregon for another 60 days, until November 3.
This emergency declaration serves as the legal underpinning for all of Brown’s coronavirus-related executive orders and the Oregon Health Authority’s health and safety guidelines that create more specific requirements. The state of emergency survived a legal challenge months ago, after a Baker County Circuit Court judge temporarily rendered it “null and void.” The Oregon Supreme Court threw out the Baker County ruling, siding with Brown’s ability to issue and continue such a declaration for the COVID-19 public health emergency.
COVID-19 has claimed six more lives in Oregon raising the state’s death toll to 465, the Oregon Health Authority reported this morning. OHA reported 243 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 26,946.
While no new cases were reported in Klamath County, around the state the new cases are in the following counties: Baker (4), Benton (4), Clackamas (26), Clatsop (1), Deschutes (1), Douglas (1), Hood River (2), Jackson (10), Jefferson (4), Josephine (4), Lane (9), Lincoln (2), Malheur (10), Marion (39), Morrow (2), Multnomah (50), Polk (4), Umatilla (15), Union (1), Washington (42), and Yamhill (12).
All six deaths were victims that had underlying medical conditions, according to the OHA report.
Once again today, the South 6th Street westbound right-hand lane from Martin Street to Stiles Street will be closed each day from 7:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Charter/Spectrum is adding overhead lines to existing utility poles.
Also today, Pacific Power will be replacing a power pole in front of 125 Riverside Drive. To accomplish this, the northbound lane will need to be closed, resulting in one lane of traffic for northbound and southbound traffic. Flaggers will be present to control the flow of traffic.
Every year, Mike and Sandy Connelly award scholarships to students who perform at their best despite facing numerous challenges. 2020 was no exception.
The scholarship fund, created in 2011, is collected in a copper pitcher Mike found at a thrift store. The pitcher sits on the top of the bakery case at the downtown eatery Green Blade. It fills up with donations all year. At the end of the year, they are paired with funds from the Connellys and distributed to worthy individuals nominated by local residents each spring.
But this year, without as much interaction with students due to COVID-19, the owners and operators of Green Blade Bakery looked for a new way to help.
But he and Sandy decided to distribute the funds — about $2,500 in total — to 4-H participants who raised small animals at this year’s Rotary auction in early August. The Connellys distributed $500 in additional funds for goats and $1,995 for poultry and rabbits
Around the state of Oregon
For the first time since June, the rate of positive to negative coronavirus tests in Oregon has dipped below 5 percent, a positive sign for schools that are beholden to both state and county metrics.
According to the latest testing summary from the Oregon Health Authority, test positivity fell to roughly 4.4 percent for the week ending with August 29 after beginning to stabilize earlier in the month.
Under Oregon’s school guidelines for coronavirus, the statewide test positivity rate must be 5 percent or lower for three weeks in a row for any school district to have a full return to in-person classes — namely applying to older kids. Kids in grades K-3 are able to attend in-person classes if county metrics are favorable enough.
Most southern Oregon counties have met those local metrics, with the notable exception of Jackson County. OHA continues to report issues with testing supplies from manufacturers around the nation, which is slowing the turnaround for test results.
In Portland, more than 200 protesters marched to the Pearl District condominium tower where Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler lives to demand his resignation.
The demonstration quickly turned destructive as some in the crowd lit a fire in the street, then placed a picnic table from a nearby business on top of the fire to feed the blaze. People shattered windows and broke into a ground-floor dental office took items including a chair, also added to the fire, and office supplies.
The 16-story building contains 114 residences — but the fire didn’t appear to spread and was quickly extinguished. Police used crowd-control munitions and released smoke into the air as they pushed the crowd west. They ultimately arrested nearly 20 people. Police later said arson investigators were looking for the person who started the fire.
Lonnie Vantewa Albert, 55, of Portland, has been charged by criminal complaint for allegedly assaulting two Federal Protective Service officers with a sport utility vehicle on August 30, 2020, announced Billy J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
According to court documents, in the early morning hours of August 30, two Federal Protective Service officers deployed to Portland in support of ongoing federal law enforcement operations departed the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in a rental vehicle en route to their hotel. Both officers were wearing their government-issued uniform with visible police patches and a badge.
While driving east on Interstate 84 approaching Interstate 205, one of the officers observed a gray sport utility vehicle passing on their left. The officer observed the other driver, later identified as Albert, glance toward him. Albert then turned sharply, nearly hitting the officers’ vehicle. The driving officer made several attempts to change lanes and pass Albert, but Albert swerved in either direction to block their vehicle. After positioning his vehicle to the officers’ left, Albert turned sharply to the right, striking the officers’ vehicle and causing his own vehicle to spin before coming to a stop.
When one of the officers got out of the vehicle to see if Albert was injured, Albert drove toward the officer, veered left, and fled the scene. The officers briefly pursued Albert to collect his license plate number and other identifying information. Albert then exited the freeway and stopped his vehicle near Adventist Health Portland, a hospital on SE 100th Avenue. When the officers pulled into the hospital parking lot, Albert pursued at a high rate of speed and struck the officers’ vehicle a second time.
Shortly thereafter, Portland Police Bureau officers placed Albert under arrest. The FPS officers’ vehicle sustained visible dents, scratches, and other damage. Albert made his first appearance in federal court on September 1, 2020 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. He was released on conditions pending further court proceedings. If convicted, Albert faces a maximum sentence of eight years in federal prison. This case was investigated by the FBI and Federal Protective Service. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
If you’ve missed the flair and feel of a county fair, a trip to Lakeview may be in order this weekend for the annual Lake County round up. Friday September 4th beginning at 9am is the ranch rodeo, with tickets are $10. Saturday September 5th gates open at 3pm, kids events start at 4:30 and a PRCA rodeo at 6pm. Sunday September 6th is the same thing. Tickets are $25 for section 1-2 and $20 for section 3. Tickets are ONLY available online at our website http://www.lakecountyroundup.org. The attendance is capped at 250 spectators per section for a total of 750 spectators total. All COVID and social distancing guidelines will be in place and enforced.
Longtime Lake County resident John Flynn is now chairman of the Oregon Beef Council. Having been involved with cattle all his life and overseeing a cattle operation that includes a ranch in Plush, irrigated pasture lands in Beatty and property in California’s Tehama County, Flynn is invested in and knowledgeable about the beef industry. Flynn was appointed to the Beef Council by Oregon’s Secretary of Agriculture in 2013. Each member serves time on the board and moves up through the ranks before serving as chair, he noted.
Eight people serve on the Oregon Beef Council from all different facets of the ag industry. One of the members is a Portland-based chef. The council keeps track of happenings in the beef industry throughout the state and collects money through the Beef Checkoff program, which authorizes a collection of $1 per head of cattle at the time of sale. Fifty cents of each dollar goes to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board while the remaining goes to the Oregon Beef Council.
The Trump administration plans to lift endangered species protections for gray wolves across most of the nation by the end of the year, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday.
The administration also is pushing ahead with a rollback of protections for migratory birds despite a recent setback in federal court, she said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service last year proposed dropping the wolf from the endangered list in the lower 48 states, exempting a small population of Mexican wolves in the Southwest. It was the latest of numerous attempts to return management authority to the states — moves that courts have repeatedly rejected after opponents filed lawsuits.
Shot, trapped and poisoned to near extinction in the last century, wolves in recent decades rebounded in the western Great Lakes region and portions of the West, the total population exceeding 6,000.
Two Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) adults in custody died recently. Both passed away while on hospice care. As with all in-custody deaths, Oregon State Police have been notified.
Johnny Eugene Hayes, Jr. died August 31, 2020. Hayes was housed at Snake River Correctional Institution. He entered DOC custody on June 27, 2014, from Washington County with an earliest release date of January 13, 2021. Hayes was 50 years old.
Robert Simms Goin died August 30, 2020. Goin was housed at Two Rivers Correctional Institution. He entered DOC custody on November 23, 2016, from Columbia County with an earliest release date of September 26, 2026. Goin was 76 years old.
DOC takes all in-custody deaths seriously. The agency is responsible for the care and custody of 14,000 individuals who are incarcerated in 14 institutions across the state. While crime information is public record, DOC elects to disclose only upon request out of respect for any family or victims.
DOC employs 4,500 staff members at 14 institutions, two community corrections offices, and several centralized support facilities throughout the state. The agency is responsible for the care and custody of approximately 14,000 adults sentenced to more than 12 months of incarceration, and direct or indirect supervision of 32,000 offenders on felony supervision in the community. DOC is recognized nationally among correctional agencies for providing adults in custody with the cognitive, education, and job skills needed to become productive citizens when they transition back to their communities.
Housing prices in Central Oregon have increased dramatically partly due in part to the growing price of lumber. Average home prices in Bend are up 5.7% to about $475,000 compared to this time last year, according to data compiled by Zillow. In Redmond, Oregon, the average price of homes has increased 6.3% to about $340,000.
Demand for lumber increased substantially after widespread stay-at-home orders implemented as a result of the coronavirus pandemic have increased the number of home projects, The Bulletin reported. The price has more than doubled this year, said the National Association of Home Builders.
As demand for lumber increased, production from mills across the country dipped with labor and social-distancing requirements slowing production. Lumber is one of the key components of home building.
The Oregon State Police are requesting the public’s assistance in locating the subject that shot an elk near the corner of Huntington and South Century Drive near Sunriver. On September 1, 2020 Oregon State Police were notified that an unknown subject had shot an elk, on private property. The shooting occurred between 7:00 A.M. and 7:30 A.M.
The elk was wounded but left the area and was not able to be located.
OSP Fish and Wildlife Troopers request that if you have any information regarding this incident to please contact the TIP Hotline: 1-800-452-7888 or *OSP(677) or TIP E-Mail: TIP@state.or.us (Monitored M-F 8:00AM – 5:00PM) – Senior Trooper Creed Cummings is investigating.
** Report Wildlife and Habitat Law Violators**
The TIP program offers preference point rewards for information leading to an arrest or issuance of a citation for the unlawful take/possession or waste of big game mammals.
Preference Point Rewards:
* 5 Points-Bighorn Sheep
* 5 Points-Rocky Mountain Goat
* 5 Points-Moose
* 5 Points-Wolf
* 4 Points-Elk
* 4 Points-Deer
* 4 Points-Antelope
* 4 Points-Bear
* 4 Points-Cougar
Or the Oregon Hunters Association TIP reward fund also offers cash rewards for information leading to an arrest or issuance of a citation for the unlawful take/possession or waste of Bighorn Sheep, Rocky Mountain Goat, Moose, Elk, Deer, Antelope, Bear, Cougar, Wolf, Upland Birds, Waterfowl, Furbearers, Game Fish and Shellfish. Cash rewards can also be awarded for turning in people who destroy habitat, illegally obtain licenses/tags and for the unlawful lending/borrowing of big game tags.
CASH REWARDS:
* $1,000 Bighorn Sheep, Rocky Mountain Goat and Moose
* $500 Elk, Deer and Antelope
* $300 Bear, Cougar and Wolf
* $300 Habitat Destruction
* $200 Illegally Obtaining License/Tag(s)
* $200 Unlawful Lend/Borrow Big Game Tags(s)
* $100 Upland Birds and Waterfowl
* $100 Furbearers
* $100 Game Fish and Shellfish
How to Report a Wildlife and/or Habitat Law Violation or Suspicious Activity:
TIP Hotline: 1-800-452-7888 or *OSP(677)
TIP E-Mail: TIP@state.or.us (Monitored M-F 8:00AM – 5:00PM)
Yreka, California—A road paving project for FS 70 (46N10) on the Goosenest Ranger District, Klamath National Forest, is scheduled from August 31 to September 18, 2020. The project is approximately two miles long and is located between Burnt Camp and Shasta Meadows. From September 1 to 11 the road will be partially closed from 7am to 7pm. Travelers should plan on delays of up to two hours. An optional detour is available from Little Shasta Meadows to Lodgepole Station (approximately one hour travel time). From September 14 to 18 the road will be restricted to one way traffic with flaggers at both ends. Travelers should plan on delays of up to 15 minutes.
…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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