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.
Monday, January 4, 2021
Klamath Basin Weather
Today Rain mixed with snow at times today, high of 35 degrees. Snow level 5500 feet lowering to 4600 feet. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Overnight, rain and snow showers with a low around 24. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Tuesday Partly sunny, with a high near 39. Snow at times overnight with a low of 29.
Wednesday Rain and snow likely, becoming all rain after 1pm. Snow level rising to 5100 feet in the afternoon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Thursday Partly sunny, with a high near 40.
Friday A chance of snow before 1pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40.
See Road Camera Views:
Lake of the Woods
Doak Mtn.
Hiway 97 at Chemult
Hiway 140 at Bly
Hiway 97 at GreenSprings Dr.
Hiway 97 at LaPine
Today’s Headlines
COVID-19 has claimed eight more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 1,500, the Oregon Health Authority reported on Sunday.
Oregon Health Authority reported 1,421 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of this morning, bringing the state total to 117,745.
OHA recorded 3,430 doses of vaccine administered, raising the state’s total number of first vaccine doses administered to 48,725.
This figure is based on preliminary reports of 1,717 doses administered yesterday, as well as 1,713 administered on prior days that had not been recorded. All vaccinations occurred at Oregon hospitals, long-term care facilities, emergency medical service (EMS) agencies, urgent care facilities and Local Public Health Authorities (LPHAs).
To date, 190,500 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
Oregon trails 40 other states for its slow pace of getting coronavirus vaccine shots in arms, federal data show, leaving the vaccine deployment lagging as the state’s death toll hit 1,500 Sunday.
Oregon has given 48,725 vaccine shots since the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved Dec. 11. But Oregon has received 190,500 doses, meaning that about 141,000 doses are still sitting in boxes as the virus continues spreading and mutating. The state health authority said 1,700 doses were given yesterday and another 1,700 shots were recorded from earlier days.
At a pace of 3,400 shots a day, it would take until May 2024 to vaccinate all 4.2 million Oregonians. Stay tuned.
In Klamath County, though a surge in COVID-19 cases following Thanksgiving didn’t quite materialize, Sky Lakes Medical Center reported a spike in hospitalizations related to the disease late last week.
In response, the hospital has postponed elective surgeries and will expand its COVID-19 unit.
While the hospitalization rate correlated with the county’s recent surge remained fairly steady at an average of 15 COVID-19 patients occupying hospital beds per day, a record 21 patients had the disease at Sky Lakes by the middle of this week.
Of those patients, four were on intensive care unit status (needing the most support), six were on progressive care unit status (needing more support than normal) and 11 were on medical (needing average support).
Public Information Officer Tom Hottman said that, as of 8 a.m. Thursday morning, the hospital had 16 COVID-19 patients — four in ICU, five in PCU and seven medical. While the overall number of hospitalizations declined, Hottman said the number of patients requiring respiratory support increased from nine on Wednesday to 10 on Thursday. Sky Lakes President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Stewart said modeling data predict a possible doubling of COVID-19 hospitalizations during the first three weeks of January.
A man who robbed the Silver Lake gas station was killed by police Friday after a standoff in Lake County. Isaac Matheny, 37, was shot and killed by police about 10:45 a.m. following a brief standoff.
According to Lake County District Attorney Ted Martin, Lake County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched at 10 a.m. on Jan. 1 for a report of a man who had brandished a firearm and threatened to kill people before taking cash from the register at Silver Lake convenience store.
According to police, the man fled the scene in a compact car with Nevada plates. Law enforcement soon located the suspect near Paisley, heading south toward Highway 395. Officers deployed spike strips on the suspect’s car on Highway 31, north of Valley Falls, about 10:45 a.m. Friday. According to police, Matheny refused to comply with commands and was shot and killed by police. The weapon used in the robbery was found to be a replica of a rifle, which he had at the scene when he was killed, according to police.
Members of the Klamath County Major Crime Team, including members of both the Klamath County sheriff’s office and Klamath Falls police, will investigate the shooting.
It may be off the I-5 corridor and currently lacking in commercial air service, but that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from setting its sights on Klamath County as multiple film productions consider shooting in the region in 2021.
One film titled “Dark Woods,” tentatively scheduled to film next fall, tells the story of a Crater Lake National Park Ranger who turns vigilante following a child kidnapping. The film will shoot in and around Crater Lake National Park, as well as in Klamath Falls. The film is slated to be the feature-length directorial debut of Martin Hilligoss, a recent USC film school graduate who grew up in Ashland and had two short films showcased at the 2020 Klamath Independent Film Festival.
Klamath Film, a Klamath Falls-based nonprofit that among its many efforts coordinates Klamath Independent Film Festival, was tasked as being the film liaison office for Klamath County, aiding production planning by scouting potential film locations and connecting film producers with local contractors, businesses, individuals and organizations that may aid in the film’s production. The organization also provides aerial and underwater drone services, video production, and has been active in 2020 with livestreaming events in Klamath and Lake counties.
Klamath Falls patrons rang in the New Year Thursday night with food and drinks on the patio of Fable PNW, formerly known as Mr. B’s Steakhouse.
The restaurant’s owners, the Mason family, were celebrating 2021 as well as the grand opening of their farm to table restaurant, after a year that saw the closure of the classic Klamath steakhouse. Fable — a play on the phrase “farm to table” — is sourcing sustainable foods from local farms, growers and wineries in the region — if they aren’t making it themselves. The family plans to have a rolling menu of foods that are in season and available locally. What Fable doesn’t source in the area, they plan to make. That includes, sauces, buns and tortillas. They also plan to eliminate waste in the restaurant with a compost garden.
Business partner Pat Schacht said that the pandemic inspired a need to collaborate with businesses to get through tough times. They’re hoping their business model can help sustain others in the area, from bakeries to wineries to vegetable farms. The local selection will dictate the menu, with plans to offer a variety of food styles from American classics to Korean barbecue to Mexican food.
Three days of performances by Klamath Basin teens will take place on the Ross Ragland Theater stage in January with PUFFS – a Harry Potter-inspired play that has no direct affiliation with the iconic stories and films, according to a news release.
The performances, slated for Feb. 4-5 at 6 p.m., and a daytime performance on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m., culminates the Ross Ragland Theater’s Teen Theater program. While Ross Ragland events are prohibited presently under current COVID-19 protocol mandates, youth enrichment activities are still permitted in full compliance and cooperation with the Oregon Governor’s office.
The play is a comedy that follows the “Puffs” – fellow students at a certain wizard school that attended at the same time that a certain famous wizard was also there and eventually conquered evil. The play is a familiar adventure for those immersed in the Harry Potter lore, taking a different perspective as events play out by following three potential heroes who are just simply trying to make it through a magic school that has proven to be quite dangerous for children. Alongside them are the Puffs, a group of well-meaning, loyal outsiders with a thing for badgers who are lovable and relatable. The play is directed by Heidi Neill.
For many years Diamond Home Improvement has provided the Kiwanis Club of Klamath Falls with space for the Club’s annual candy sale booth. The club raises funds with See’s candy sales for nearly twenty community projects each year that primarily serve children and is fortunate to have Diamond Home Improvement’s support for these many projects. The 2020 booth was protected with Plexiglas shields and Kiwanis members manning the booth all wore face masks. Despite the pandemic restrictions, the club had record sales. Kiwanis Club wishes to thank both Diamond Home Improvement and all local residents and businesses that supported the project. Many local businesses and clubs placed advanced bulk orders, which added to a very successful sales year.
Great Decisions 2021, a program of the United States Foreign Policy Association hosted by the Klamath County Library, will discuss foreign policy issues for eight weeks on Thursdays at 1 p.m. starting Feb. 4th. The group will be holding all discussions via Zoom. Since this is the first time the group is meeting online, we also ask that participants join us for a “technology check” meeting on Monday, Feb. 1 at 1 p.m. to make sure everyone can connect appropriately. The topics for 2021 are more relevant than ever in a world changed by COVID-19: how global supply chains interact with national security; issues in the Persian Gulf; how “Brexit” affects the European Union and the United Kingdom; struggles over the melting Arctic; China’s influence in Africa; issues on the Korean Peninsula; the roles that international organizations have to play in a global pandemic; and globalization.
New Year, same story. A gathering of people in downtown Portland on New Year’s Eve quickly erupted into violence, with people tossing Molotov cocktail-style firebombs and other projectiles at law enforcement officers, setting off commercial grade fireworks and setting multiple fires, police said. People began to gather near the federal courthouse and Portland Justice Center, the location or destination for most anti-police violence demonstrations throughout 2020, at approximately 7:45 p.m., according to a news release from the Portland Police Bureau The violence ultimately prompted Portland police to declare a riot before midnight, according to a Portland police statement on twitter. Police said few people in the crowd complied with orders to leave the area and some continued to throw “dangerous objects” at officers. Law enforcement did not use tear gas but did deploy “inert smoke” and some impact munitions, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
Oregon State Police Detectives are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the remains of an individual discovered in rural Lincoln County.
On December 10, 2020, Investigators were summoned to the H.B. Van Duzer Forest State Scenic Corridor for a death investigation. At this location, investigators found the remains of a female child.
The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office estimate the deceased’s age to be 6.5 to 10 years old. She is approximately 3’10” to 4’6” tall, and had long hair that is dark brown or black. Her race or ethnic origin has yet to be determined, but DNA analysis is not complete.
Due to the condition of the remains she had likely been deceased at least 30 days before she was discovered. The Oregon State Police released this sketch today of the child that was found in Lincoln County on December 10, 2020.Sketch was provided with assistance of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
If you have any information that might help investigators in identifying this child, please call 800-442-0776 or *OSP (*677).
On Sunday, January 3, 2021 at approximately 11:50 A.M., Oregon State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to a three vehicle crash on Hwy 26 near milepost 77.
Preliminary investigation revealed that a Dodge Ram 1500, operated by Ryan Ranson (33) of Lake Stevens, WA., was eastbound when it sideswiped a westbound Toyota Highlander, operated by Michael Becker (45) of Beaverton, and then collided with a westbound Ford F-350 pickup operated by Michael Nehring (33) of La Center, WA.
Ranson sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased.
Becker and his three passengers were not injured.
Nehring and his four passengers were not injured.
Hwy 26 was closed for approximately five and a half hours for the investigation.
On Thursday, December 31, 2020 at approximately 10:27 A.M., Oregon State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to single vehicle crash on Interstate 84 near milepost 238.
Preliminary investigation revealed that a Freightliner CMV, operated by Chauncey Rife (41) of Midvale, Utah, was eastbound when it left the roadway.
Investigators believe Rife possibly had a medical event before the crash.
Rife was pronounced deceased.
On Thursday December 31, 2020 at approximately 2:41 P.M., Oregon State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to a two vehicle collision on Hwy 18 near milepost 10.
Preliminary investigation revealed a Honda Pilot, operated by Julien Doudna (35) of Mill City, was crossing Hwy 18 from the North Van Duzer rest area to the South Van Duzer rest area and collided with a Toyota Land cruiser, operated by Scott Brady (49) of Salem, which was eastbound on Hwy 18.
Honda Pilot passenger Brandy Doudna (44) of Mill City sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased.
Julien Doudna along with three juveniles were transported to Salem Hospital. Another juvenile passenger was transported by Lifeflight to Legacy Emmanuel Hospital in Portland.
Brady and two passengers were not transported. A juvenile passenger was transported to North Lincoln Hospital.
What better way to say goodbye to 2020 than to win $1 million in 2021.
The Oregon Lottery’s 19th Raffle game, with its $1 million top prize, is on sale now.
The Raffle game features over 1,800 cash prizes and with only 250,000 available tickets, Raffle players have the best odds of winning $1 million than any other Lottery game. Each Raffle ticket costs $10.
Prizes for the Raffle include:
- One $1 million top prize
- 300 prizes of $500
- 1,500 prizes of $100
The Lottery will release the winning numbers at 5 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day, Wednesday, Mar. 17. To check the winning Raffle numbers, players can use the Lottery’s mobile app, go to www.oregonlottery.org or visit a participating Oregon Lottery retail location.
The Lottery’s mobile app can be found on the Apple or Android app stores. Lottery games are not available for purchase on the mobile app.
The $500 and $100 prize winners can claim their prizes at any Oregon Lottery retail location. The $1 million prize winner must come to the Lottery office in Salem to claim their prize.
Overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 138.8.