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.
Thursday, April 21, 2022
Klamath Basin Weather
This Afternoon A chance of rain and snow showers before 5pm, then a chance of rain showers, high of 48 today. Snow level rising to 4600 feet. Overnight more rain showers and snow showers likely. Snow level 4800 feet lowering to 4200 feet after midnight . Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Friday A slight chance of snow showers before 11am, then a chance of rain and snow showers between 11am and 2pm, then a chance of rain showers after 2pm, with a high near 50 degrees.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 60.
Sunday Mostly sunny, with a high near 66.
Monday Mostly cloudy, with a high near 66.
Tuesday A slight chance of rain. Snow level 6500 feet lowering to 5900 feet. Partly sunny, with a high near 54.
Today’s Headlines
The Klamath County Fair is proud to announce its Headliner Concert lineup for August 4, 5 and 6 in the John Hancock Event Center.
August 4th, 2022 with gates opening at 6:30 PM, American country music singer and songwriter, Rodney Allan Atkins will entertain Fairgoers.
Tickets go on sale Friday, April 22, 2022 online at www.klamathcountyfair.com.
August 5th, 2022 with gates opening at 7:00 PM, American country music singer-songwriter and record producer, Martina McBride will perform. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride signed to RCA Records in 1991, and made her debut the following year as a neo-traditionalist country singer with the single, “The Time Has Come”. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 22, 2022 online at www.klamathcountyfair.com.
August 6th, 2022 with gates opening at 7:30 PM, American rock band Daughtry is headlined to perform. Chris Daughtry who formed and fronts this band, was a finalist on the fifth season of American Idol. Their self-titled debut album was released in November 2006 and reached number one the Billboard 200. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 22, 2022 online at www.klamathcountyfair.com.
Friday, April 22, is National Earth Day. It’s a day to show environmental support.
Sustainable Klamath invites the public to an award winning documentary called “Kiss the Earth,” narrated by Woody Harrelson, Friday, April 22, at 6:30 p.m. at the Ross Ragland Cultural Center. The event is free of charge.
Brittany Henry was sentenced to the Department of Corrections for fifty-four months for her involvement in three separate criminal incidents. In the most serious incident, Henry assaulted a woman whom Henry believed had being having sex with Henry’s boyfriend.
During the assault Henry slashed the legs of the victim, causing deep scarring. Henry also cut off the victim’s hair and cut her face.
In a second case, Ms. Henry entered pleas to Assault in the Third Degree and Unlawful Use of a Weapon, based on her role in the assault of a woman in front of Stagecoach Pizza.
For these convictions Henry will serve 24 months under the control of the Oregon Department of Corrections, and will have 24-months of post-prison supervision. Henry, before being picked up on the above warrant, had also coordinated with another woman and attacked Ms. Etters, dragging her out of the car and kicking and punching her causing redness, bruising and pain.
Ms. Henry pled to Assault III and will spend 30 months consecutive to the other matter in the department of corrections. In the third incident, law enforcement contacted Henry during an unrelated investigation. Deputies observed signs of impairment and began an investigation for impaired driving. A records check revealed that Henry had outstanding warrants and was taken into custody. During a subsequent search a deputy found a .22 revolver. At the time of this offense Ms. Henry was a convicted felon.
The Klamath County Board of Commissioners has approved a $70,000 allocation from the local share of federal coronavirus pandemic funds for three new basketball and multi-sport courts at the Mike’s Field House sports complex in Klamath Falls.
The board approved the money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for the youth soccer team at its April 19 meeting. It is being allocated to the Basin United Soccer Club, which operates the field house.
The money will be used to help complete fundraising for the new courts, which will be able to host basketball, volleyball, pickle ball and potentially wrestling tournaments and other events, according to county documents.
The total cost of the project is more than $511,000. More than $439,000 has been raised so far for the courts. That includes $110,000 from the Wendt Foundation and $60,000 from the Wetter Foundation, according to county records documenting the grant. Klamath County received $13.2 million in funds from ARPA — the $1.9 trillion federal pandemic relief package passed last year.
Basin United was formed in 2000 via the merger of the Klamath Youth Soccer League and local travel teams. The field house facility is within the Steen Sports Park in Klamath Falls.
Some lava tube caves at Lava Beds National Monument that were closed have reopened while others are closed for the winter.
Park officials said Juniper-Hercules Leg Cave, Labyrinth-Lava Brook Cave, Sentinel Cave and Sunshine Cave are again open. New and pre-existing cave closures include Blue Grotto Cave, South Labyrinth, Ovis Cave, Paradise Alleys, Thunderbolt (gated sections), and Merrill Ice Cave (pre-existing closure due to the impact of the Antelope Fire).
Caves may be closed seasonally or year-round for several reasons. The summer closures are done to protect maternal bat colonies where mothers raise tiny, vulnerable bat pups on the ceilings. In the winter, caves used by hibernating bats that need their energy-saving slumber are closed.
Before entering any Lava Beds cave, people are asked to stop at the Visitor Center to talk with a ranger and receive a Caving Permit.
The recent weather pattern the region has been stuck in for several days improved a bit yesterday, at least as far as road conditions are concerned.
There are improvements in the Cascades of Oregon. All chain requirements were just dropped that remained near Crater Lake and Diamond Lake. You will still encounter areas of slush, snow pack breaking up, and some slick spots. Plows are working to remove the snow from the road surface where needed. Use caution.
Outside of the Cascades, all other areas have bare pavement. That includes I-5. The forecast has unsettled weather in it for the next several days in Southern Oregon and Northern California.
Around the state of Oregon
Oregon’s American Automobile Association (AAA) says gasoline prices are generally steady, though consumer demand and crude oil prices are rising. It says a lowering of gas prices has slowed as crude oil prices moved above $100 per barrel while U.S. demand for gasoline increases.
AAA says Russia’s war in Ukraine and concerns for less Russian oil on the global market are putting upward pressure on gas prices, and “For the week, the national average for regular holds steady at $4.10 a gallon.
The Oregon average ticks up a penny to $4.68.” AAA notes the national and Oregon averages are both lower than their record high gasoline-per-gallon prices set last month when the national average peaked at $4.331 and Oregon’s average peaked at $4.739 on March 11.
AAA says Oregon is one of 25 states and the District of Columbia with higher gasoline prices now than a week ago, and California’s $5.70/gallon makes it the most expensive gas state in the nation as one of three states with an average more than $5 a gallon. AAA shows that the cheapest gas in the nation is in Georgia ($3.71) and Arkansas ($3.72).
AAA notes that while Oregon’s gasoline price is more than a week ago, Oregon is one of 42 states and the District of Columbia with lower prices now than a month ago. It says the national average is 16 cents less and the Oregon average is four cents less than a month ago.
Officials say most of the oil that spilled into Medford’s Bear Creek last week during a fire at a Pacific Pride Fueling Station has been recovered.
More than 20-thousand gallons of various petroleum products were released during the incident. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality reports some oil remains, because removing it would damage nesting areas.
No damage to fish has been found. Some Canada geese and mallard ducks are being cared for by International Bird rescue. NEXGEN Logistics operates the facility, and the company is paying for the wildlife rescue and recovery efforts.
U.S. Forest Service employees encourage everyone planning to visit National Forests this spring to learn more about hazards associated with recently burned areas. Wildfires burned more than 1 million acres of National Forest lands in Washington and Oregon last year. That’s more than in 2020, when multiple “megafires” of 100,000 acres or more burned more than 680,000 acres of national forest and 2 million total acres in the two states. “Fires are a natural occurrence on these landscapes, but residents and visitors may encounter burned areas with greater frequency during the next few years,” Alex Rozin, Burned Area Emergency Response Coordinator for the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest region, said. “Most hazards aren’t unique to burned areas, but the hazards are exacerbated by wildfires. These conditions can persist for many years after a fire while the landscape recovers,” Rozin said. The effects of fire can create hazards in recently burned areas, as well as downhill and downstream.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is renewing a push to increase taxes on the richest Americans.
On Tax Day, Monday, the Oregon Democrat joined the advocacy group Americans for Tax Fairness to promote his proposed “Billionaires Income Tax.” Wyden says: “The tax code is unfairly tilted to benefit billionaires. And, as Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I’m pushing throughout the year to balance the tax system so it’s fair to everybody.”
According to Americans for Tax Fairness 740 billionaires got 70% richer during the two-year pandemic and much of that isn’t taxed due to loopholes in the current system.
Wyden says his plan would tax the wealth earned from investments, like stocks and loans, not just salary – a loophole he calls “Buy, Borrow and Die.” The Senator says, “If they just paid a Capital Gains rate – because this is about evading Capital Gains Taxes – the country would raise more than $550 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. That’ll do a lot to help schools and infrastructure.”
Wyden went on to say he wants people to ve successful but wants to stop the current practice allowing the richest Americans to make even more money without paying what he calls “their fair share.”
The Mt. Shasta Ski Park is seeking public input on the resort’s attempts to add a new chairlift, the Gray Butte, which would service higher elevation, challenging terrain and provide assess to the area’s backcountry.
Adding a new chairlift for downhill skiers and snowboarders has been discussed for years, but not happened. As proposed, the Gray Butte fixed quad lift will be the area’s longest with 14 towers and rise from a base elevation of 6,400-feet to a top elevation of 7,500-feet, an elevation gain of 1,154 vertical feet. The chair, with its 9-1/2-minute ride, will offer a long run of slightly more than three miles and access 88 acres of skiable, intermediate terrain on five new runs.
The project site is in an unincorporated area of Siskiyou County near the base of Mount Shasta, about six miles north of McCloud. Most of the proposed project is on Shasta Ski’s undeveloped property.
The project will be discussed at a public hearing for 9 a.m., Wednesday, April 20, in the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors Chambers, 311 Fourth St., Yreka. Comments can also be made by emailing planning@co.siskiyou.ca.us. For more information email richard@skipark.com.