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, your local health and Medicare agents.
Monday, December 20, 2021
Klamath Basin Weather
Today A chance of rain and snow after 4pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 43. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch. Overnight, a mix of rain and snow flurries with a low near 25. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Wednesday Snow likely before 1pm, then rain and snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. South wind 7 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.Overnight, and snow likely with an accumulation of 1-2 inches, low of 26. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Thursday Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible, with an overnight low of 21.
Friday Snow likely, mainly after 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35.
Saturday, Christmas Day Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. Overnight, snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 18.
Sunday Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 31.
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Today’s Headlines
A California couple was arrested Thursday and charged with the 2018 murder of Jack Hasbrouck in Klamath County. Jeremy Milton Lacy, 43, and Eileen Gay Lacy, 51, a married couple, were living in Willow Creek, Calif.
Last week, a California Highway Patrol officer located Jeremy Lacy driving on Highway 299, east of Eureka. He was taken into custody without incident.
Eileen Lacy was located a short time later and taken into custody without incident. The Lacy’s were transported to the Humboldt County Jail where they were lodged on the warrants stemming from a November 2021 indictment by a Klamath County grand jury.
Hasbrouck’s body was discovered on March 21, 2018, in a wooded area north of Beatty.
According to police, it was immediately apparent Hasbrouck “had died as the result of homicidal violence.” The Klamath County Major Crime Team was activated to investigate the murder. Investigators followed up on multiple leads for years until they developed suspects, according to police. The Klamath County Major Crime Team consists of the Oregon State Police, the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office, the Klamath Falls City Police Department, Klamath County Community Corrections, and the Klamath County District Attorney’s Office.
Forty Bonanza area families received gifts and holiday food boxes last week thanks to the efforts of Bonanza Junior/Senior High School and community partners, Bonanza Cares and Living Springs Fellowship Church.
Bonanza Principal Jordan Osborn, Vice Principal Sergio Cisneros, and Counselor Andy Davis loaded up the gifts and food on Friday morning for delivery to families who may need an extra hand this season.
This is the third year the Bonanza Junior/Senior High School leadership team has led a drive to get gifts and food to families in their small, rural school communities. Bonanza Cares sponsored 15 student families, providing gifts and holiday dinner baskets. Donations from school staff and the Living Springs Fellowship Church provided for 25 additional student families. This year, the school’s leadership team customized the food baskets for families. For example, some baskets included traditional Hispanic foods instead of the usual turkey or ham holiday meal.
Sky Lakes Medical Center is at capacity today. Our COVID-19 inpatient numbers are trending upwards again.
Today 17 total patients are hospitalized with Covid-19 at Sky Lakes. Three of those are in the ICU. None of the 17 patients are vaccinated. For information on vaccinations, see the Sky Lakes main website, or conquercovidinklamath.com.
Around the state of Oregon
Oregon reports 1,941 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 3 new deaths
There are three new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 5,534. Oregon Health Authority reported 1,941 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 bringing the state total to 407,153.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (9), Benton (41), Clackamas (212), Clatsop (21), Columbia (27), Coos (37), Crook (3), Curry (4), Deschutes (161), Douglas (57), Gilliam (1), Harney (2), Hood River (6), Jackson (106), Jefferson (15), Josephine (60), Klamath (13), Lane (140), Lincoln (16), Linn (110), Malheur (2), Marion (123), Morrow (2), Multnomah (390), Polk (17), Sherman (1), Tillamook (29), Umatilla (10), Union (1), Wasco (6), Washington (266) and Yamhill (53).
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 352, which is 11 fewer than yesterday. There are 101 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is unchanged from yesterday.
There are 82 available adult ICU beds out of 663 total (12% availability) and 288 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,137 (7% availability).
State health officials are hoping to get COVID-19 booster shots into the arms of one-million Oregonians by the end of January.
The Oregon Health Authority announced the goal late last week as part of an effort to combat the new Omicron variant. The agency says it’s adding three high capacity vaccination sites to the current six locations to help reach the goal.
Oregon is also set to receive an additional 140-thousand doses of vaccine from the federal government.
The news from Moderna Says Covid-19 Booster Dose Works Against Omicron Variant in Lab Tests
Booster shot significantly increased levels of immune-system antibodies against Omicron in the experiments, company says.
Moderna Inc. said a third dose of its Covid-19 vaccine increased immune responses against the Omicron coronavirus variant compared with two doses in lab tests, signaling the shot could still offer protection despite the variant’s mutations.
The findings, reported by Moderna on Monday, were the latest positive—though preliminary—results from lab tests suggesting boosters can protect against the worrisome new strain.
Multiple WINTER STORM WATCHES have been issued ahead of our next winter storm.
Several rounds of heavy rain and snow will move through the area this week, once again putting Siskiyou County under the gun. As of now it looks as if Black Butte Pass will be spared this time around, but more snow is poised to make travel treacherous later this week.
If you plan on traveling for the holiday weekend, be sure and plan ahead, keep your eyes on tripcheck.com in the state of Oregon, and particularly if traveling into Northern California, carry chains or traction devices.
Grocery workers in Oregon and Southwest Washington are back on the job following a one-day strike over failed contract negotiations.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 says it reached a settlement agreement with Fred Meyer and QFC over the weekend.
The union says the agreement includes significant wage increases as well as added workplace protections, a secure retirement program and quality healthcare benefits. Union members still need to ratify the settlement agreement through a vote. Employees at nearly 40 stores formed picket lines on Friday, accusing the grocery chains of disregarding federal labor law, engaging in unfair labor practices and failing to negotiate in good faith with the union.
The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) is offering grants for up to $200,000 in matching funds for downtown revitalization efforts in communities participating in the Oregon Main Street Network.
The Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant funds may be used to acquire, rehabilitate, and construct buildings on properties in designated downtown areas statewide.
Funded projects must facilitate community revitalization that will lead to private investment, job creation or retention, establishing or expanding viable businesses, or creating a stronger tax base. Projects may include façade improvement, accessibility enhancement, basic utilities, second floor renovations and more.
Only organizations participating in the Oregon Main Street Network are eligible to apply. Projects must be within approved Main Street areas. Eligible organizations may collaborate with the local governments and private property owners to apply for projects that will have the biggest benefit to the downtown. The grant application deadline is March 15, 2022. In 2019, the second grant cycle, SHPO awarded 30 matching grants worth $5,244,261 to Oregon Main Street Network organizations across the state for building projects that encourage economic vitality.
Projects ranged from façade improvement to housing and awards ranged from $56,731-$200,000. 63% of the requests were funded, with 93% going to rural communities. In 2015, legislation established a permanent fund for the grant and provided an initial $2.5 million of funding as part of a larger lottery bond package. In the 2017 legislative session, an additional $5 million was approved and was funded through the sale of the 2019 lottery bond package. The 2021 bond sale was canceled due to the economic impact of COVID-19, but the Oregon legislature included Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant in the bond packages slated for 2022 and 2023.
On Saturday, December 18, 2021 at about 3:10 PM, Oregon State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to the report of a deceased male in the offramp area of Interstate 5 at milepost 40.
Preliminary investigation revealed the man, who was identified as Marc Edwin Fuller (50) of Central Point, suffered an unknown medical emergency and was located deceased by a local resident at his camp. The southbound offramp was closed for approximately 3 hours while law enforcement investigated the incident. OSP was assisted by the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Josephine County Man Arrested for Theft of Trailers
On December 20, 2021, the Grants Pass Police Department, acting on a lead regarding a theft of a trailer from the day before, identified a suspect vehicle and coordinated a traffic stop made by the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office. At that time Tyler Adair was identified as the suspect.
Police Detectives responded and continued the investigation that led to Adair’s residence on Monument Drive. At the residence, the Grants Pass Police Department and the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office located and recovered six stolen trailers.
Additional stolen property was recovered resulting in a total recovered value of over $10,000.00. At least ten victims were contacted and had their stolen trailer or property returned to them. Tyler Adair was arrested for Grants Pass cases and lodged at the Josephine County Jail on three counts of Unauthorized Use of a Motor vehicle, three counts of Theft in the First Degree, and Theft in the Second Degree. The Josephine County Sheriff’s Office lodged Adair for numerous additional charges.
Anyone having information regarding these thefts is asked to contact Grants Pass Police Detectives at 541-450-6260
Oregon lost 250,000 jobs almost overnight at the start of the pandemic, and the jobs that remained changed dramatically — and indefinitely.
A year and a half later, the vast majority of the lost jobs have returned, but many of the workers who filled those roles have moved on. And the shock of the intervening months has spurred many others to reassess their priorities, often starting with their work.
A historic number of job openings – 107,000 across the state as of the summer – paired with rising wages and the rapid normalization of remote work have made it easier than ever for employees to switch jobs.
While it’s clear more workers are leaving their jobs,, it’s less obvious where they are going next. Some could be leaving the workforce entirely; most are probably going to new jobs, but it’s not clear whether they’re staying in the same industry or moving into a whole new one.
Officials at the National Weather Service say that there is no threat of tsunami after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Petrolia, just southwest of Eureka, California.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake epicenter was 24 miles west of Petrolia, relatively close to the coastline, and at a depth of four miles. It occurred shortly after noon.
The quake triggered the ShakeAlert system, sending out alerts to cell phones of people in the area. USGS indicated that it might have been felt weakly as far north as Brookings or Gold Beach, or Redding in the Northern California interior. Stronger readings would have been limited to the imediate coastline, which is not a highly populated area.
There were no immediate reports of damage, though the Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services said that Caltrans and public works had deployed crews throughout the county to check for impacts to roadways. There were several road closures in effect for rockslides.
One man is dead after his boat capsized off the Oregon coast near Newport.
The U.S. Coast Guard says two men and one woman were onboard the 22-foot boat when it flipped about a mile form the Yaquina Bay’s north jetty Friday morning. Coast Guard crews rescued one of the men and a woman, who showed signs of hypothermia. The second man was pronounced dead after being found unresponsive.