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.
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Klamath Basin Weather
Today Partly sunny, with a high near 47. Overnight low of 27.
Wednesday A slight chance of rain and snow after 5pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 45.
Thursday A slight chance of morning snow before 11am, then rain in the afternoon with a high near 45. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Friday A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 42.
Saturday Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41.
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
There may be light at the end of the tunnel- again. Klamath County Public Health officials reported nine new cases of COVID-19 Monday. The local case count is 2,689. This week’s total is nine.
The reporting week runs from Sunday through Saturday. It is anticipated that in Tuesday’s news release from the Governor’s Office that Klamath County will move from “extreme risk” to “high risk” in the statewide risk level framework.
If the county moves into a “high risk” level, restaurants and bars would be allowed to reopen indoor dining at a maximum of 25% capacity or 50 people, whichever is smaller. Indoor gyms, pools, theaters and museums — currently limited to six customers total if they’re larger than 500 square feet and one customer total if they’re smaller than 500 square feet — would be able to open at 25% capacity or 50 people, whichever is smaller.
Outdoor dining capacity would increase from 50 to 75 people. Outdoor capacity at places of worship would be increased to 200 people, and funeral home capacity both indoors and outdoors would increase by 50 people. Outdoor gardens would increase from 50 to 75 people, and outdoor social gatherings of eight people instead of six would be allowed.
In the previous two weeks, Klamath County had 131 cumulative cases.
There is one new COVID-19 related death in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 2,024, the Oregon Health Authority reported Monday.
Oregon Health Authority also reported 305 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 Monday, bringing the state total to 147,419.
On Monday, OHA reported that 18,255 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry. Oregon has now administered a cumulative total of 572,400 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. To date, 734,950 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon. The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 221, which is nine fewer than Sunday.
There are 55 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit beds, which is two more than Sunday. Monday’s case count is the lowest since Oct. 19, when OHA reported 266 confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 in Oregon.
A Klamath Falls man died Sunday when his motorcycle crashed downtown. John Manuel Sarabia, 68, was driving a motorcycle through the intersection of 5th Street and Main about 2:30 p.m. when it crashed into the side of a Dodge Dakota. Sarabia died at the scene.
According to Klamath Falls Police, the pickup, which was traveling down Main, had a green light at the time. The pickup driver was uninjured and remained on scene until law enforcement arrived, according to KFPD. “The speed of the motorcycle may have been a contributing factor,” stated a KFPD news release. “At this point it is unknown if alcohol was involved.”
The investigation is ongoing. Klamath County Fire District 1 and the Oregon State Police assisted KFPD.
Lance Corporal Hayden Staub of Tulelake graduated from Marine boot camp as “Company Honorman” at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego on Jan. 28.
Son of Brad and Dori Staub, Hayden attended Tulelake High School and transferred to Hosanna Christian Academy, class of 2017, and was active in basketball, baseball and football.
He attended George Fox University where he competed in football and played as a cornerback.
Persevering effort and standout performance earned Staub the title of “Company Honorman,” the highest accomplishment for a Marine to achieve while undergoing recruit training.
One interesting challenge Staub overcame during recruit training was shooting a rifle with his opposite hand. During basic training recruits are required to shoot right-handed. In Hayden’s case, being a left-handed shooter, that presented a difficulty. Despite the obstacle, Staub earned the third-highest shooting score in Bravo Company.
A Klamath Falls, Oregon man pleaded guilty yesterday for sending cards to former coworkers containing a white powdered pesticide threatened to be anthrax, announced U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams.
Kelly Michael Burns, 71, pleaded guilty today to eight counts of mailing threatening communications.
According to court documents, on or about December 19, 2019, Burns mailed four Christmas cards, postmarked in Medford, to former coworkers containing a white powder pesticide later identified as carbaryl. The cards were addressed to the victims’ workplace and contained violent threats such as “Merry Anthrax (obscenity)! Eat (obscenity) and die more to come.”
Three people at Burns’ former workplace were exposed to the carbaryl, forced to undergo an extensive physical decontamination process, and were administered a high-dose antibiotic. One of the victims exposed was ten weeks pregnant at the time of exposure. As a result of the contamination, law enforcement ordered company employees out of the building and the company was closed for further decontamination.
Later, on February 13, 2020, Burns again mailed cards containing carbaryl to the same four victim recipients. This second wave of cards also contained violent statements with added threats directed at the victims’ families.
On February 26, 2020, an FBI laboratory completed a chemical analysis of the powder found in the December cards and confirmed that it was carbaryl, a known pesticide toxic to humans. A few days later, FBI handwriting analysts presumptively matched the handwriting on the envelopes and cards mailed in December to Burns’ own handwriting obtained from a job application and recent tax documents.
In March 2020, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Burns’ residence. They found handwritten notes in which Burns threatened to kill a former coworker, sabotage his former workplace, and conduct a drive-by shooting. Agents also recovered several books including, “The Poisoner’s Handbook,” “The Joy of Cold Revenge,” “U.S. Army Guide to Boobytraps,” and “Silent Death.”
On March 5, 2020, Burns was charged by criminal complaint with mailing threatening communications and false information or hoaxes. Later, on January 15, 2021, he was charged by criminal information with eight counts of mailing threatening communications.
Burns faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years’ supervised release. He will be sentenced on May 6, 2020 before U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane.
As part of the plea agreement, Burns has agreed to pay restitution in full to his victims as identified by the government prior to sentencing and ordered by the court.
This case was investigated by the FBI. It is being prosecuted by John C. Brassell, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
Around the state of Oregon
This Monday marks the beginning of Oregon opening coronavirus vaccine eligibility to seniors age 80 and older, but vaccine providers on the local level say that they won’t immediately be able to serve this new group.
Asante representative Lauren Van Sickle said on Monday that the healthcare provider — one of the largest recipients of vaccines in Jackson and Josephine counties — is not able to vaccinate people in the 65 or older group right now, as efforts to vaccinate Phase 1A, childcare workers and school staff remain underway.
Van Sickle also underlined that the upcoming vaccination events at the Expo and the Josephine County Fairgrounds are still limited to second doses for the same groups that received their shots in January.
Governor Kate Brown and Oregon Health Authority director Patrick Allen reiterated the schedule for expanded eligibility to seniors — also providing a new, optimistic prediction that 75 percent of all eligible groups, including seniors, would be able to receive their first doses by early April.
A distraught father continues to search for his daughter who was last seen in Grant Pass nearly 8 months ago after leaving her home in Dexter, Oregon to visit friends.
John Frey said he last heard from his 45-year-old daughter Fauna Frey on Sunday, June 28 when she called him from a hotel phone. He said she had taken the trip as a way to cope with her brother’s death and noted that he was surprised to hear that she had picked up a hitchhiker near Wilderville.
Frey said that he and the police interviewed the hitchhiker but did not receive any information about her whereabouts. He said his daughter left just 10 days after her older brother, Dallas Frey died. He said the two were very close as each other’s only sibling. Frey said Fauna Frey is familiar with the Southern Oregon area because she lived there for many years prior to moving north. He also said she was accustomed to the outdoors and would hike on a regular basis.
The U.S. Justice Department intends to immediately appeal a Seattle judge’s order Monday releasing a member of the far-right group Proud Boys from custody as he’s prosecuted in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida rejected the DOJ’s argument that Ethan Nordean should be detained pending trial because he poses a risk of flight and a danger to the community.
But after Assistant U.S. Attorney Jehiel Baer said prosecutors in Washington, D.C., would be filing an appeal, Tsuchida agreed to delay Nordean’s release to give a judge in the District of Columbia a chance to review the order. Tsuchida said he would release Nordean anyway if the appeal wasn’t filed by 3 p.m. Pacific time Monday. Tsuchida did not explain his decision to order Nordean’s release pending trial.
The Proud Boys are an extremist and male-chauvinist organization known for brawling with “antifa” demonstrators. At least eight defendants linked to the group have been charged in the Capitol riot.
From Umpqua Bank
In honor of Safer Internet Day (February 9), here are three ways you could make your online banking experiences more secure.
Safer Internet Day, a global event every February 9, serves as a good reminder that, when it comes to using the Internet, it’s on all of us to practice good “cyber-hygiene”—because doing so can help protect against online fraud that targets our money, identities, and other valuable sensitive information.
Unfortunately, fraud continues to be a major global challenge—and appears to be getting worse.
The numbers don’t lie
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), consumers claimed to have lost more than $1.9 billion to fraud in 2019, a sharp increase from 2018’s reported figure of $293 million. While 2020’s stats aren’t yet available, they’re likely to be even higher due to pandemic-related scams; the FTC reported last April that, in the first three months of 2020 alone, Americans had lost over $13 million just to COVID-19-related scams.
It’s time to protect your money
“Given how statistics are showing that fraud losses continue to increase across the globe, it’s a good reminder as to just how susceptible we all are to online fraud,” says Ousama Lakhdar-Ghazal, Chief Privacy Officer at Umpqua Bank. “Ultimately, the criminals are after money—or sensitive information, like bank account or credit card details, on which they can capitalize. That’s why I think we should all be especially cautious and thoughtful about how we do our banking online—because that’s where fraudsters are lurking.”
Due to the pandemic, if you’re banking more on digital platforms rather than in person, be sure you’re taking the right steps to secure your activity and protect both your money and your valuable sensitive information.
Below are three tips to consider anytime you’re banking online:
1. Strengthen your account’s login security.
Whether banking through an app or via a website, you should ensure your account’s login is as secure as possible. For example:
- Passwords: Use only complex, hard-to-guess passwords that contain a healthy and lengthy mixture of letters, numbers, and symbols (as opposed to basic passwords, like “Password1”). Don’t share your passwords with anybody and update them regularly.
- Username: Create a unique username to use only with your bank accounts—nowhere else. Doing so could make it that much harder for a cybercriminal to guess your login credentials if they learned what you use for other websites and apps.
- Authentication: Add an extra step to your login experience by implementing multifactored (or “two-factored”) authentication. Doing so requires an added step, like entering a code sent to the account holder’s mobile phone via text message, in addition to a password in order to verify the person logging into an account is more likely to be its owner. This feature is likely available through your bank account’s online settings menu.
- Logging off: As convenient as it is to store your account’s password on your computer or mobile device’s browser so that you can log in quickly, a criminal accessing such a device with saved credentials could be extremely dangerous. Hence, consider logging out of your online bank account—whether you’re using a website or a mobile app—whenever you don’t need to access it.
2. Use a trusted Internet connection.
Whether you’re using a banking app or signing into your account from your bank’s website, do so using only a trusted, private Internet connection. That’s because connections like free public Wi-Fi available at spaces like cafes, airports, and hotels aren’t always secure. They may be susceptible to cyberattacks that give remotely connected criminals real-time access to users’ browsing activity—a potentially costly misstep if you’re viewing banking information in such a scenario.
When using a trusted Wi-Fi connection, consider also using a virtual private network (VPN) while online banking. Or, if using a phone or tablet, consider using its data network to access your bank’s mobile app to help create a potentially more secure connection.
3. Ensure you’re using the latest versions of both your operating system and Internet browser.
With Apple’s recent call for users to update their devices to the latest operating system, it’s a good reminder that, no matter what device you’re using to do your online banking, you should have the latest versions of both its operating system and Internet browser (as well as any anti-malware software your device uses).
That’s because researchers (and cybercriminals) continuously test operating systems and browsers for vulnerabilities that could in turn be used to exploit unsuspecting victims’ online activity (e.g., stealing login credentials, remotely accessing devices and/or accounts without detection). Updates typically contain new fixes to help protect against newly discovered vulnerabilities, meaning they could help provide a more secure experience.
Regularly check for and download updates directly from the vendor as they become available.
Don’t let up
The above tips could help you protect your online banking activity, but it’s not a comprehensive list. Talk to your bank about other ways you could potentially further secure your online banking experience. But don’t let up and assume that a few small steps mean you never have to worry about the security of your online banking.
“Unfortunately, we see all too often criminals who are relentless in attacking unsuspecting victims’ online banking activities,” says Lakhdar-Ghazal. “The criminals don’t let up in their efforts to steal peoples’ money, so you should never let up trying to do all you can to try to protect it. Your diligence could really make a difference.”
OREGON STATE POLICE IS REQUESTING PUBLIC’S ASSISTANCE LOCATING THE PERSON(S) WHO WOUNDED A DOE FAWN WITH AN ARROW – DESCHUTES COUNTY
The Oregon State Police is seeking public assistance in identifying the person(s) who shot and wounded a doe fawn with a broadhead arrow near Parrell Road and Chase Road in Bend.
Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) staff located the injured doe fawn at approximately 4:00 P.M., on Friday, January 29, 2021 near the ODFW office in Bend.
ODFW staff tranquilized the fawn and were able to surgically remove the broadhead arrow. After broadhead arrow removal and sedative recovery, the fawn was released.
It is likely the fawn was shot sometime on Friday, January 29, 2021.
Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to contact the Oregon State Police TIP number at 1-800-452-7888 or *OSP and leave information for Senior Trooper Creed Cummings.
Information can also be provided at the following website https://www.oregon.gov/osp/programs/fw/Pages/tip.aspx
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)