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.
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Klamath Basin Weather
Today Patchy freezing fog before 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 49. Overnight low near 31 degrees.
Friday Partly sunny, with a high near 50.Cloudy overnight with a low near 29.
Saturday Patchy fog between 11am and 2pm. Patchy freezing fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 48. Light east southeast wind.
Sunday Mostly sunny, with a high near 52.
Monday, M.L.King Day Sunny, with a high near 47.
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
Klamath County Public Health officials reported 32 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. The local case count is 2,352. This week’s total is 93. The reporting week runs from Sunday through Saturday.
Oregon Health Authority reported 1,346 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, bringing the state total to 129,109.
In the latest report from the Oregon Health Authority, there are 41 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 1,708 as of this morning.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (16), Benton (29), Clackamas (105), Clatsop (10), Columbia (13), Coos (9), Crook (19), Deschutes (89), Douglas (25), Gilliam (1), Grant (8), Harney (2), Hood river (6), Jackson (58), Jefferson (23), Josephine (64), Klamath (32), Lake (2), Lane (98), Lincoln (3), Linn (50), Malheur (24), Marion (97), Morrow (9), Multnomah (307), Polk (28), Tillamook (11), Umatilla (52), Union (7), Wasco (13), Washington (110) and Yamhill (26).
Vaccinations in Oregon: Today, 14,722 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 9,071 vaccine doses were administered on Jan. 12 and 5,651 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Jan. 12.
Oregon has now administered a cumulative total of 129,782 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. All vaccinations were administered by Oregon hospitals, long-term care facilities, emergency medical service (EMS) agencies, urgent care facilities and Local Public Health Authorities (LPHAs).
To date, 321,225 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. These data are preliminary and subject to change. OHA’s dashboards provide regularly updated vaccination data.
COVID-19 hospitalizations: The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 434, which is 31 more than yesterday. There are 103 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is 10 more than yesterday. The total number of patients in hospital beds may fluctuate between report times. The numbers do not reflect admissions per day, nor the length of hospital stay. Staffing limitations are not captured in this data and may further limit bed capacity.
Locally, Sky Lakes Medical Center reached capacity Monday night, as staff and providers struggled to attend to everyone needing immediate care along with patients in the COVID-19 isolation and intensive care units.
Klamath County currently falls under the most restrictive “extreme risk” category under OHA’s latest risk level guidance framework announced early December.
On Monday night, after weeks of flirting with reaching hospital capacity, there just weren’t enough staff to handle any new patients. During the past two weeks, Sky Lakes has consistently had between 15 and 20 patients in its COVID-19 unit, which has been expanded twice since November.
Until the county’s case metrics improve, indoor dining is prohibited, fitness establishments must close and residents of long-term care facilities cannot host visitors indoors, according to OHA. Gyms and indoor dining would be allowed to reopen at minimal capacities under the next lowest risk level, should the county reach it.
Sky Lakes CEO Paul Stewart says the hospital fully supports local businesses and is sympathetic to how shutdowns have devastated them. He added that he hopes those choosing to reopen will strictly follow CDC guidelines, but that observations of the safety practices of various establishments in the county concern him.
The structure of Klamath County government will not change after Commissioners Kelley Minty Morris and Donnie Boyd again opposed Commissioner Derrick DeGroot’s proposal to consolidate departments heads from the current number, around 24, to just 4 or 6.
Minty Morris and Boyd repeated concerns they voiced last week when DeGroot first presented his plan last week that would include just five department heads: public works, health and human services, legal and corrections, and administration.
Boyd was concerned about the cost associated with giving some department heads additional responsibilities and the morale of those who currently lead departments but who would then report to a new boss. Minty Morris doesn’t feel that adding more layers of management and administration during a pandemic when so many are unemployed and frustrated with government is a good move. Still, she said she sees the need for improvement.
DeGroot has proposed changing the county structure for the last three years in various different forms and called this latest approach a step toward his ultimate vision. He doesn’t plan to give up the task.
With a closed campus for students, Klamath Union High School welcomed all ninth through 12th grade students back to the school grounds this week for hybrid learning for the first time in 10 months.
Principal Tony Swan said students and staff are excited to transition back on campus for two days of in-person learning, in addition to distance education, and that the school is following all protocols necessary to remain a safe place for students and staff while they are on campus. The decision to open the school was part of a unanimous decision by Klamath Falls City Schools and Klamath County School District, who held a joint school board meeting last week to discuss liability concerns related to COVID-19.
Eagle Ridge High School started hybrid learning this week, too, with 85 to 90 students enrolled in online education and roughly the same amount enrolled in in-person learning at the Klamath Falls charter school.
Excitement levels have been high for students and staff alike this week at Eagle Ridge.
Students have the option to take their classes online in the mornings or they can actually come into the building in the afternoons.
According to Nikki Sampson of the Klamath and Lake County Food Bank, they want to thank Sherm’s Thunderbird Market in marking the 21st year they’ve been helping with the January Santa Claus. Every January Sherm’s Thunderbird delivers about 35,000 pounds of food (an entire semi-trailer full) which helps so much during winter months.
This gift fills the gaps of products we may not get enough of during holiday food drives. Food drives have been practically non-existent during the 2020 COVID-19 year. “This truck means more than anyone could ever know”, says Nikki.
“Sherm & Wanda Olsrud and their son Steve have always done so much for so many throughout the decades. We lost Sherm Olsrud in 2019. All who knew him were blessed to have had the privilege of knowing him. Others who mean the world to us include Bob Ames, Dack Doggett and our local store manager Jim Dillon. ALL of these individuals are exceptional human beings.” The truck will pull in about 11:00 today.
Around the state of Oregon
Josephine County announces deaths of COVID-19 patients
Two Josephine County individuals have died from complications relating to COVID-19 infections.
An 89-year-old man tested positive for COVID-19 Dec. 11, 2020, and died Dec. 17, 2020, at a long-term care facility. He had underlying conditions.
A 94-year-old woman tested positive for COVID-19 Dec. 28, 2020, and died Jan. 11 at a long-term care facility. She had underlying conditions.
Josephine County now has a total of 32 COVID-19-related deaths. Of those patients, 31 died from complications relating to COVID-19 infections.
The Phoenix-Talent School District has welcomed students in elementary through 8th grade back into the building.
Each building has different hybrid models in place, but Superintendent Brent Barry says only about half of students are in the building at any given time making social distancing easier.
Barry says they have been planning this for months. The school district was exempted from the metrics early due to the impact the Almeda fire had on the community.
He says seeing students back in the building yesterday made all the planning and hard work well worth it.
He says the school district has safety protocols in place to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, this includes parents screening their children before they come to school. Teacher are also trained for visual screening. The schools also use different doors when entering or exiting a building.
Finally Gov. Kate Brown is working to get the most vulnerable Oregonians vaccinated. Yesterday Brown said the state will expand its COVID-19 vaccination plan to include everyone who is 65 and older beginning January 23rd.
That’s the date more vaccine shipments are expected to begin arriving from the federal government, the governor’s office said. And on that date, seniors can get vaccinated along with child care providers, plus early learning and K-12 educators and staff.
Brown said they will detail plans on Friday for “the rapid deployment of vaccines to health care providers and mass vaccination sites across Oregon.” Many of her critics say the 23rd will come and go without much progress because as usual, she’s not really prepared with a plan for much of anything it seems.
The National Guard is in fact already helping with coordination at sites administering vaccinations in some spots around the state.
Brown asked for patience, especially since this information from the federal government came without notice.
“Please, do not call your doctor’s office or health care provider with questions about when you can be vaccinated,” Brown said in a statement. “Oregon health care providers are working as fast as humanly possible to shift their vaccine distribution plans to meet this sudden change in national guidance.”
The governor also said she remains determined to make sure those disproportionately affected by the coronavirus have access to the vaccine — “Oregon’s Black, Indigenous, tribal, Latino, Latina, and Latinx, Pacific Islander, and communities of color.”
And reaching educators and seniors in these communities is critical, she said. Stay tuned.
Gov. Brown has activated the Oregon National Guard because of possible violence at the state Capitol in Salem and elsewhere following the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol last week by a pro-Trump mob.
The Oregon State Police said in a statement Wednesday the guard would be used as necessary and their deployment locations wouldn’t be made public. The Oregon Legislature convenes Tuesday.
The Capitol in Salem, Oregon, has seen near weekly protests since November’s elections, and some have turned violent. Federal authorities have warned of possible unrest in all 50 state capitols this weekend and into next week.
On Monday afternoon in Grants pass, Detectives with the Rogue Area Drug Enforcement (RADE) Team, with the assistance of the Oregon State Police SW Region Marijuana Team, Oregon State Police and Grants Pass DPS Narcotic Detection K9, arrested Migueal Angel Jauregui-Hernandez.
Jauregui-Hernandez is part of a drug trafficking organization (DTO) who was bringing large quantities of methamphetamine into Josephine County via California. The investigation into this DTO has been ongoing by RADE for several months. Jauregui-Hernandez was stopped after being followed coming into Oregon from California. During the stop, GPDPS’s Narcotic detection K9, Match, alerted to the vehicle having illegal controlled substances. During a subsequent search of the vehicle, detectives located 15.9 pounds of crystal methamphetamine. Jauregui-Hernandez was taken into custody and lodged in the Jackson County Jail. DTO’s are described as being complex organizations with highly defined command-and-control structures that produce, transport, and/or distribute large quantity of illegal controlled substances; in this case, methamphetamine. Anyone with information or questions can contact Det. Sgt. Doni Hamilton with RADE at 541-450-6370 or dhamilton@grantspassoregon.gov
House Speaker Tina Kotek is calling for Rep. Mike Nearman to resign after surveillance footage showed him letting demonstrators into the Oregon State Capitol during a protest that turned violent back in December.
She’s also sending him a $2,000 bill to cover the costs to fix the damage that resulted after he let the demonstrators inside. On Dec. 21, Oregon lawmakers were holding the third special session of 2020, which sought to address COVID-19 and wildfire relief. A protest, organized by the far-right group Patriot Prayer, was there in opposition to statewide COVID-19 mandates.
Security footage showed Nearman leaving the building around 8:30 a.m. and letting protesters inside.
On Wednesday, January 13, 2021, at approximately 10:45 A.M., Oregon State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to a vehicle incident on Hwy 26 near milepost 32.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Portland General Electric (PGE) employees were repairing damaged power lines on the north side of Hwy 26. A PGE truck, operated by Joshua Rinard (41) of Sandy, was being repositioned when it backed into, Brenda Stader (50) of Portland, who was working as a flagger to assist with traffic control.
PGE was utilizing flaggers contracted through Northwest Traffic Control.
Stader sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased.
The Mega Millions jackpot has soared to $750 million — making it the second highest jackpot in the lottery game’s history.
No ticket matched all six numbers Tuesday night, meaning the next chance for a lucky winner to score the prize is Friday, the lottery said. The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350 in the 45 states where it’s played, plus Washington and the US Virgin Islands, Mega Millions says on its website.
The highest amount won by a Mega Millions ticket was $1.537 billion in October 2018. This is the first time since then that the jackpot has been over $600 million.
January is a big month for Mega Millions winners — 16 jackpots have been awarded during the month of January since the start of the lottery game in 2002, according to the Mega Millions website. That includes two of the top 10 Mega Millions prizes — $451 million on January 5, 2018, and $437 million on January 1, 2019.
ANGLERS REMOVE MORE THAN 100,000 PREDATORS FROM RIVER SYSTEM DURING THE PANDEMIC
The Bonneville Power Administration and its partners report that in 2020, for the 23rd consecutive season, the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program met its annual goal to remove 10% to 20% of pikeminnow, 9 inches or longer, in the Columbia and Snake rivers that prey on juvenile salmon and steelhead.
- Fish removed 103,114
- Registered anglers 2,450
- Average angler catch 6.5 fish/day
- Total paid to anglers $839,461
- Top angler
- Fish removed 5,579
- Total earnings $48,501
The program, funded by BPA and administered by Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and the states of Oregon and Washington, has run for 30 years, typically from May 1 through Sept. 30. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak last spring, governors in Washington and Oregon closed or limited fishing in some areas and curtailed access to some boat ramps. Those facilities were reopened later in May and the sport reward program began 11 days later than usual. To help make up for the delayed start, the season was extended to Oct. 11, 2020.
“The COVID-19 pandemic presented some unique challenges for implementing a sport-reward fishery that relies on recreational angler participation,” said Eric Winther, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Columbia River Predator Control Program project leader. “We realized in the spring that circumstances would require some flexibility in how we operated the registration stations and that many of our return anglers might have to rethink their own recreation plans. All things considered, despite the late start to the season, anglers were able to spend a full five-month season on the rivers and remove thousands of pikeminnow for the program.”
When the season opened May 11, registered anglers again had the opportunity to make $5 to $8 for each northern pikeminnow at least 9 inches long, and specially tagged northern pikeminnow were worth $500. Program managers temporarily increased the reward to a flat $10 per fish late in the season to spur angler participation – which was a bit lower than normal due to the pandemic – and to take advantage of favorable river conditions during the season’s 11-day extension in October. However, the program will resume its pre-pandemic bounties when the northern pikeminnow season kicks off again in spring of 2021.
(Salem) – Jan. 1 marked the beginning of the 2021 Medicare Advantage open enrollment period for Medicare beneficiaries with an existing Medicare Advantage plan. Beneficiaries who take advantage of this open enrollment period will have coverage that starts the first day of the month after the enrollment action.
Before March 31, beneficiaries who already have a Medicare Advantage plan can:
- Change to a different Medicare Advantage plan, either with or without drug coverage.
- Enroll in a stand-alone Part D (prescription drug) plan, which returns the beneficiary to Original Medicare.
“This is a helpful time period for beneficiaries that are not satisfied with the new Medicare Advantage plan they chose for 2021 or for beneficiaries currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, but who missed the annual Dec. 7 deadline to compare and change plans,” said Lisa Emerson, program analyst for the Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance (SHIBA) program.
Beneficiaries can make only one change during this enrollment period and cannot change from one stand-alone Part D prescription drug plan to another stand-alone Part D prescription drug plan.
Other enrollment opportunities if someone missed the Dec. 7 deadline:
- Oregonians have one five-star plan through Kaiser Permanente that will accept enrollments at any time throughout the year.
- Anyone affected by COVID-19 or Oregon’s wildfires may still have time to enroll in a plan under a four-month special enrollment period, which begins the date affected. There are other guidelines to qualify.
- Anyone affected by nonrenewing plans (e.g., Moda Med-Advantage) still has time to choose a plan.
Oregon’s SHIBA program is available to help beneficiaries understand their options. To find free, local Medicare counseling help, go to dcbspage.org/SHIBALOCAL or call 800-722-4134 (toll-free) to speak to a state-certified Medicare counselor.
SHIBA counselors can help Oregonians navigate the Medicare.gov Plan Finder tool to enter prescriptions and compare the cost and benefits of individual drug plans, provide enrollment guidance, and answer any other questions related to Medicare benefits. All of these services are available remotely statewide to ensure the safety of both clients and counselors.
Pacific Power restores electric service to more than 25,000 customers overnight in wake of windstorm
A fast-moving blast of wind and intense rain hit the Northwest Jan. 12-13 causing power outages from Crescent City, Calif. to the upper reaches of the Yakima Valley in central Washington. Working overnight, Pacific Power crews and contractors totaling about 200 individuals restored 25,000 of the 28,000 customers who were out at the peak of the storm.
As of 4 p.m. today, 3,000 customers are in the process of being restored. A majority of these customers are expected to have service restored by 8 p.m. The communities with the largest remaining outages include:
- Willamette Valley (Albany, Corvallis, Lebanon, Stayton), 1,700
- Crescent City, Calif., 750
- Yakima Valley, 150
- Coos County, 100
“Our crews are continuing restoration work with the goal of getting all service restored by this evening,” said Allen Berreth, vice president of operations. “We appreciate the patience that customers have shown during this outage and we want to remind everyone to stay clear of any down lines you may see. Assume they are live and dangerous and give us a call to report them.”
Pacific Power encourages customers to report outages by calling 1-877-508-5088 or text OUT to 722797. Text STAT to 722797 to check the status of your outage.