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, December 9, 2020
Klamath Basin Weather
Today Partly sunny, with a high near 48.
Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 45.
Friday Partly sunny, with a high near 40.
Saturday A chance of snow before 1pm, then a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44.
Sunday A chance of rain. Snow level 5700 feet. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46.
Today’s Headlines
Three Klamath County residents died with COVID-19, county public health officials announced Tuesday.
The deaths were: An 88-year-old man who died at Sky Lakes Medical Center on December 7. He had underlying conditions. A 72-year-old man who died at Sky Lakes Medical Center on December 7. He had underlying conditions. A 72-year-old woman who died at her residence December 4. She had underlying health conditions. Klamath County’s death toll is now 11.
Klamath County Public Health officials also reported 40 new cases of COVID-19. The local case count is 1,199. This week’s count is 40.
Like most of the state, Klamath County is experiencing a surge in cases.
A revised approach to contact investigations and close contact follow up is part of a statewide plan developed in response to the statewide growth in cases. The approach incorporates a priority structure to ensure those at highest risk receive contact from KCPH first. More than half of the counties in Oregon have moved to this surge protocol, as local and state resources reach capacity in this critical pandemic response.
Webpages have been created for those who have tested positive and their close contacts. Links can be found at the top of the page for them at publichealth. klamathcounty.org/coronavirus page.
Close contacts will not be contacted by KCPH. Those who have tested positive should let their close contacts know of their exposure. A close contact is someone who has been within six feet of a positive individual for 15 or more cumulative minutes, with or without a mask.
Jackson County Public Health reported three more deaths attributed to coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the county’s death toll since the beginning of the pandemic to 44.
Siskiyou County Public Health announced two more deaths from COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the county’s death toll to seven. Citing privacy concerns, the health department didn’t provide any identifying information about the deaths, such as their ages or whether they had any underlying health conditions.
The Oregon Health Authority released the latest COVID-19 numbers in the state, that has claimed 36 more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 1,080, the Oregon Health Authority reported today.
OHA also reported 1,341 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 87,082.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (5), Benton (21), Clackamas (114), Clatsop (12), Columbia (10), Coos (8), Crook (11), Curry (6), Deschutes (34), Douglas (27), Gilliam (1), Grant (7), Harney (1), Hood River (8), Jackson (106), Jefferson (28), Josephine (25), Klamath (40), Lake (7), Lane (109), Lincoln (10), Linn (48), Malheur (10), Marion (116), Morrow (5), Multnomah (286), Polk (16), Tillamook (8), Umatilla (40), Union (9), Wasco (13), Washington (173), Wheeler (3) and Yamhill (24).
After hearing public testimony from members of the Equity Task Force, Klamath Falls City Council voted unanimously Monday evening on a revised resolution denouncing racism, prejudice and bigotry.
The resolution was first proposed in October. Eric Osterberg, assistant to the city manager, helped craft the resolution and presented a detailed presentation before council in November, when council asked for more time and wording changes. Osterberg shared those revisions with council prior to their vote. The new wording declares “that there’s a problem of racism in the community that creates disparities,” and addresses specifically those disparities, he said. Police Chief Dave Henslee showed support for the resolution prior to the vote, calling for its passage.
The YMCA Klamath Falls will offer a series of outdoor walks on four consecutive Saturdays in December.
Each walk will begin at 10 a.m. at the YMCA, 1221 South Alameda Avenue. YMCA volunteer Todd Kepple will lead the walks to explore natural and historical points of interest found within a mile of the “Y”. The hikes are rain or shine. No cancellations except in event of severely inclement weather. No registration necessary just come dressed appropriately for the weather and with an attitude of adventure. Walks will proceed at a moderately brisk pace, socially distanced with brief stops at three or four places along the way. Most walks will take about an hour.
Following is a list of walk routes: Dec. 12, East bank A Canal. Dec. 19, Mills Addition and East Main. Dec. 26, Sutherland Trail and Klamath Speedway. The walks are free and open to anyone interested. For more information call the “Y” 541-884-4149
Klamath Audubon is sponsoring an Advanced Raptor Identification Weekend via Zoom, Dec. 18-19, led by raptor specialist Bill Clark, according to a news release.
In three different Zoom sessions Clark will address species and variation of common and vagrant raptors commonly seen in the Klamath Basin. The fee for this class is $100, to be shared with Klamath Audubon. For more information or to register please send an email to dsamuels@charter.net.
Every year since 2000, the Sherm’s Thunderbird Market family of stores has donated a truckload of food to ACCESS for the holidays.
This year, though the COVID-19 pandemic has changed so much, will be no different. ACCESS says that the Olsrud family will deliver roughly 23,000 pounds of food to the food bank’s warehouse on Friday, now a 20-year tradition. The food bank calls the Olsruds long-time supporters who were instrumental in building the ACCESS Community Kitchen. Over 2020, ACCESS says that more than 38,000 people received food assistance through ACCESS programs. More than 5.3 million pounds of food were distributed through Jackson County’s 24 food pantries.
Downtown Klamath County Library to close at 1pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve
To update a previous announcement regarding the downtown Klamath County Library’s holiday hours: The downtown Klamath County library will close at 1pm on both Thursday, December 24th (Christmas Eve) and Thursday, December 31st (New Year’s Eve).
For the most up-to-date information regarding library hours, please call 541-882-8894, or see the calendar on our website: klamathlibrary.org.
Around the state of Oregon
New small business grant funding available
Governor Kate Brown has announced that $55 million in funding is available for Oregon’s small businesses and nonprofits.
Each of Oregon’s 36 counties is receiving a portion of $55 million in business grant funding. The counties will create grant programs to offer to small businesses. Counties are free to come up with their own approaches and criteria for issuing the grants, as long as it meets some minimum parameters. Some of those parameters are that businesses will have to be located in Oregon, have suffered revenue loss because of the pandemic, and not be behind on their taxes. The business can be for-profit or 501(c)(3).
Information on the grants can be found on Business Oregon’s small business navigator.
A Salem nurse is out of a job after posting a video on TikTok making clear her disregard for COVID-19 precautions and restrictions.
Salem Health hospital officials confirmed yesterday that Ashley Grames is no longer employed with them. It’s not yet clear whether she resigned or was terminated. In the video posted late last month, Grames mocks her co-workers’ reactions to her refusing to abide by health guidelines. She says she doesn’t wear a mask except for at work, still travels freely and allows her kids to have playdates.
Meanwhile, An Oregon doctor who made headlines after saying he refuses to wear a mask while treating patients in his clinic has now had his license suspended. The Oregon Medical Board says it is suspending the license of Dr. Steven LaTulippe. Video surfaced last week of LaTulippe at a pro-Trump rally in Salem last month, saying neither he nor members of his staff wore masks while working at their clinic in Dallas. Members of the medical board voted to suspend LaTulippe’s license for violating a state health order.
People in Portland, struggling financially during the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to try again for a prepaid $500 VISA debit card to cover household expenses.
The application period will open Thursday, Dec. 10, from 3 to 6 p.m. on the city’s PDX Assist website. Unlike past gift card giveaways organized by the city, the cards will not be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis. Instead, 4,000 applications submitted in the three-hour window will be chosen through a lottery. During past lottery rounds, the system has been overwhelmed within minutes. In a virtual press conference Monday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said this application portal was the quickest way to get federal aid money that came to the city through the CARES Act out the door. The city is required to distribute all the federal dollars by the end of the year.
Protesters outraged with the arrests of seven people at a home where a family was evicted in September hurled rocks at officers, sprayed a fire extinguisher at them and damaged police vehicles on Tuesday.
The violence happened in broad daylight. Portland has been the site of frequent protests, many involving violent clashes between officers and demonstrators, ever since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. But most happened at night. A group of activists for months have camped at the home dubbed “Red House on Mississippi” because it is on North Mississippi Avenue — to express their outrage against gentrification and the eviction of the Black and Indigenous family in September. The property’s owner complained that people were trespassing and officers showed up before dawn and made the arrests. TV images showed the clashes Tuesday morning.
More than 200 Oregon Army National Guard Citizen-Soldiers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, headquartered out of Springfield and Gresham, and part of Task Force Kosovo, returned home following their ten-month deployment to Kosovo, Dec. 8, 2020. The Oregon Citizen-Soldiers arrived at the Portland International Airport, Oregon and were greeted by senior leaders before later boarding buses to connect with family and friends at Camp Withycombe in Clackamas and Lane Community College in Eugene.
The Citizen-Soldiers spent two weeks at Ft. Bliss, Texas for mandatory COVID-19 quarantine protocol prior to arriving in Portland. Since earlier this summer, Oregon Army National Guardsmen have been returning home from the second-largest mobilization since WWII. The final group of Soldiers who were deployed in Kosovo is scheduled to return home in the next few weeks before Christmas Eve. The last mobilization of Oregonians this size was in 2009 through 2010.
“2020 dynamic year, both home and abroad for the Oregon National Guard. We are happy to welcome home our team members just in time for the holidays,” said Stephen Bomar, Director of Public Affairs, Oregon Military Department.
State Land Board confirms intent to transfer the forest to Oregon State University, directs continued collaboration on remaining details
SALEM, Ore. – The State Land Board on Tuesday affirmed the Elliott State Forest’s future as a research forest, directing continued collaboration as details are finalized over the next two years.
The Elliott State Research Forest proposal presented by Oregon State University would support research on many topics – such as forestry’s role in mitigating climate change, protecting and restoring endangered species, and supporting economic growth and rural communities – while also creating the Oregon Coast’s largest forest reserve, protecting critical habitat, providing recreational access, and creating learning opportunities for schoolchildren. Read the proposal.
“The only way to generate the knowledge needed for a sustainable Oregon, and for Oregon to thrive, is through research,” said OSU College of Forestry Dean Tom DeLuca in presenting the proposal.
The Land Board in December 2018 asked the Oregon Department of State Lands and OSU to begin exploring the Elliott State Forest’s potential to become a publicly owned research forest. Over the next two years – with input and insight of advisory committees, Tribes, state and local governments, stakeholders, and the public – the research forest proposal took shape.
Work was guided by the Land Board’s vision for the Elliott: keeping the forest publicly owned with public access; decoupling the forest from the Common School Fund and compensating the fund for the forest; continuing habitat conservation planning to protect species and allow for harvest; and providing for multiple forest benefits, including recreation, education and working forest research.
“The Land Board did not charge us with developing a one-dimensional solution; it asked us to do something far more complex—to try and reconcile and significantly advance multiple objectives that for decades have been juxtaposed in conflict. After two years of work, we believe that the proposal before you has the potential to achieve that mandate,” said Keith Tymchuk, reading the Elliott State Research Forest Advisory Committee’s unanimous statement of support for creation of an Elliott State Research Forest. Read the committee statement.
The 16-member committee, which represents a wide variety of perspectives, formed in 2019 to provide input and insight on the research forest idea.
“What we saw yesterday should make Oregonians proud,” said State Treasurer Tobias Read. “The proposal for the Elliott, along with the tireless work of the Advisory Committee, is inspiring. I doubt anyone on the committee would say that this is exactly the proposal they would have crafted had the role fallen solely to them. Yet the group, with true Oregon spirit, emerged with a strong consensus on a path forward that has enormous potential for conservation, recreation, and research. They deserve our thanks and our continued support to help advance this project.”
The hard work and collaboration will continue, said DSL Director Vicki L. Walker, as details are finalized. Work remains on the OSU proposal, including final details of a governance structure to ensure public accountability, and to complete a habitat conservation plan, explore carbon market potential, develop a forest management plan, and establish a framework for decoupling.
The Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division is asking for the public’s assistance with identifying the person(s) responsible for the unlawful taking of a buck deer in the White River Unit.
On Sunday, December 6, 2020 a citizen reported finding a fresh deer that had been dumped near a fence line off of Hwy 30 on United States Forest Service Property approximately 5 miles east of Mosier near Marsh Cut-off Road.
An Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Trooper responded and found a freshly killed buck deer with the antlers removed from the skull along with the hide, legs and a fresh gut pile.
Due to the condition of the head and gut pile left at the dump site it is believed that the buck was recently taken. It is estimated that the deer was killed sometime on December 5, 2020 or December 6, 2020.
Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact OSP Senior Trooper Justin Frazier through the Turn in Poachers (TIP) hotline at 1-800-452-7888 or *OSP (mobile).