Klamath Basin News, Wednesday, June 7 – Klamath County Library’s “No Politics Rule” Battle Could Result in Funding Loss from State of Oregon

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Democrats warn of lost opportunities as GOP-led Senate walkout persists

Nearly 300 bills at stake due to Republican-led walkout in the Oregon Senate —- Bills to help wildfire response, expand health care access and prevent homelessness remain in jeopardy as neither side budges

Oregonians have much to lose if the legislative session ends by June 25 without a functioning Senate that can vote on bills, Democrats warned Tuesday.

The GOP-led Senate walkout is preventing votes on bills intended to benefit average Oregonians from urban Portland to rural eastern Oregon. Examples run the gamut: Bills held up by the walkout would reduce the risk of wildfires racing across rural Oregon, address the homelessness crisis as people camp in tents along city streets and keep health care coverage going for some of the 300,000 Oregonians estimated to lose their access to the Oregon Health Plan, as pandemic-era provisions that kept more people enrolled end.

The GOP-led walkout started May 3, preventing the Senate from having its two-thirds quorum needed to conduct business. For now, the question no one seems to know: How will the session end?

Both Democrats and Republicans blame each other for the impasse, and there are no visible signs of progress.

In a press conference on the state Capitol steps, Democratic lawmakers and advocates on Tuesday urged Republican senators to return to floor sessions and vote on bills.

“Oregonians have had enough,” said Rep. Khanh Pham, D-Portland. “This Senate shutdown is a subversion of our democracy.”

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, told reporters that Democratic leaders in the Senate have failed to work in a bipartisan way that upholds the constitution.

“Their ire is misplaced, and the Senate Democrats could have ended this weeks ago,” Knopp said. “They chose not to.”

He said the walkout is a means to hold the Democratic-controlled Senate accountable “because if we don’t, no one will, and we can’t have a lawless Legislature.”

Senate Republicans started the walkout saying bill summaries fail to comply with a state law that requires them to have an eighth-grade reading level. They also have pointed to bills they oppose, including House Bill 2002, which would shore up abortion rights and access to gender-affirming care for transgender people, including children. Another is House Bill 2005, which would raise the minimum age to purchase most firearms from 18 to 21 years old.

Bills in jeopardy– As the impasse continues, Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday urged Oregonians – and their Republican colleagues in the Senate – to consider what’s at stake.

For example, a $70 million rural economic development proposal faces an uncertain fate. That proposal, House Bill 3410, would help small farmers, the fishing industry, outdoor recreation, county fairs and other small businesses, said Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis.

Other bills would aid economic development at the Port of Coos Bay and bring broadband to rural communities, including a proposal that would pull in about $700 million in federal funding to improve broadband services.

But the bills in jeopardy go beyond money and the economy.

“The real question is: Are the Democrats committed to making that happen?” Knopp said. “It appears as though they are so adamant to not have bipartisanship and not have the minority party have a say in what happens that they’re willing to risk the lives of Oregonians.” — (SOURCE)

The Oregonian Reporting Women Found Dead Around Portland Share Potential Connections

At least three of the six women whose bodies have been found in Oregon and Washington in recent months shared similar circumstances and had frequented the same places in the months before their deaths, according to a source close to the investigations.

In particular, investigators are examining potential connections among JoAnna Speaks, 32, Charity Lynn Perry, 24, and Bridget Leann Ramsey Webster, 31, who all had been known to frequent Southeast 82nd Avenue and an area near the Clackamas Town Center, said the source, who is not authorized to speak on behalf of any of the half-dozen police agencies investigating the cases.

The source discounted a statement issued Sunday by Portland police that said the bureau “has no reason to believe these 6 cases are connected.”

“It was premature to state that these deaths are unrelated or related,” the source said. “Investigators always look for commonalities with unsolved homicides.”

Portland police did not respond to a request for comment about whether the bureau’s assessment was premature. The “personal histories” of Speaks, Perry and Webster share similarities, the source said, but declined to elaborate. It remains unclear whether a single perpetrator is linked to the deaths of the three women, the source said.

Speaks died of blunt force trauma in a homicide, investigators have said. Perry and Webster both died under suspicious circumstances, detectives said, but they have not released other information.

All died within about three weeks of each other in April.

Maj. Alex Gardner, who oversees the Oregon State Police Forensic Science & Pathology Bureau, said in an email Tuesday that state police prioritize forensic work and DNA analyses in suspected homicides but offered no timeline for completing them in these cases.

Speaks’ body was found April 8 inside a Clark County barn on an abandoned property in Ridgefield, Washington, about 22 miles north of Portland. Authorities determined Speaks, who lived in Clackamas County, died of blunt head and neck injuries.

Perry’s body was found April 24 by Multnomah County sheriff’s deputies in a culvert at East Historic Columbia River Highway and Northeast Tumalt Road, near Ainsworth State Park in east Multnomah County. The sheriff’s office has not said anything about the circumstances of her death, referring to it only as suspicious.

Authorities have said Perry, of Vancouver, was frequently seen near Southwest Washington Street and Fourth Avenue in downtown Portland at the beginning of March, an area where open-air fentanyl dealing and use has been rampant.

Webster’s body was found April 30 on Harmony Road near Mill Creek in northwest Polk County. Little has been released about the circumstances of her death, though authorities have said it’s suspicious. She was last known to have lived in an apartment in Clackamas County.

Three other women also turned up dead around the same time as Speaks, Perry and Webster.

The body of an unidentified woman was found April 24 near Interstate 205 and Southeast Flavel Street in Southeast Portland’s Lents neighborhood; Portland police said Sunday that foul play was not suspected.

Ashley Real, 22, of Portland, disappeared March 27 in Southeast Portland; her remains were found May 7 in the Eagle Creek area of Clackamas County. Investigators say her death is suspicious. She had previously lived in Clackamas County.

The body of Kristin Smith, 22, of Gresham, was found Feb. 19 in a wooded area near Southeast Deardorff Road and Flavel Street in Southeast Portland’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood. She had been reported missing Dec. 22. Officers and county investigators searched the area for evidence, and the Multnomah County medical examiner has not yet determined a cause of death, police said. (SOURCE)

*From Our Story on Monday 6/5: 6 Women Found Dead Around Portland Within 100 Miles

Police are saying there is no connection between the cases of six women found dead in recent months.

Portland residents are very concerned that a possible serial killer is on the loose as the city deals with this chilling mystery of 6 women who have been found dead within 100 miles of each other in the past 3 months. The bodies have been discovered mostly in wooded, secluded rural areas.

“We want to provide reassurance that the speculation is not supported by the facts available at this point,” police said in a press release on Sunday. “While any premature death is concerning … (the Portland Police Bureau) has no reason to believe these 6 cases are connected.”

Police said there was no immediate need for concern.

“If we learn of an articulable danger, we will notify the public about it,” police said.

The cases of the women, all under the age of 40, are being investigated by the Portland Police Bureau and sheriff’s offices in Multnomah, Polk, Clark and Clackamas counties.

The police bureau said rumors have been flying on social media, stoking anxiety in the community about how the cases may be related.

According to law enforcement officials in Portland, all of the women are believed to have lived in Oregon or frequently have visited the state.

Portland residents are very concerned that a possible serial killer is on the loose as the city deals with this chilling mystery of 6 women who have been found dead within 100 miles of each other in the past 3 months.

The bodies have been discovered mostly in wooded, secluded rural areas.

According to law enforcement officials in Portland, all of the women are believed to have lived in Oregon or frequently have visited the state.

The first body was discovered by authorities on Feb. 19. Authorities discovered the human remains of 22-year-old Kristin Smith in southeast Portland’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood.

The cause or manner of Smith’s death is “so far undetermined per the Medical Examiner,” Portland Police Bureau’s Sgt. Kevin Allen said in a statement.

Just over a month later on April 8, police and firefighters in Clark County found the dead body of Joanna Speaks inside a barn on an abandoned property in Ridgefield, Washington, about 22 miles north of Portland.

According to the county medical examiner, Speaks died of blunt head and neck injuries. Authorities also believe her body was moved to the location where it was found.

On April 24, authorities discovered two more bodies. The body of 24-year-old Charity Lynn Perry was found in a culvert along the historic Columbia River Highway. Authorities cited an ongoing suspicious death investigation regarding Perry’s body.

On the same day, authorities would discover another women’s dead body in southeast Portland’s Lents neighborhood.

Authorities are seeking the public’s help to identify the woman, who was possibly Native American or Native Alaskan and between the ages of 25 and 40.

Six days later, on April 30, officials found the body of 31-year-old Bridget Leann Ramsey Webster in northwest Polk County.

Authorities say she is from Milwaukie and would visit the Portland metro area frequently.

Portland residents speculate that a serial killer is on the loose and remains at large. The question that everyone wants answered is are these murders connected?

Until that mystery is solved, residents remain on edge. (SOURCE)

***** Oregon has a missing person epidemic and there are 100 women reported missing over the age of 20 since June 2020 — that averages 33 that go missing per month – that have never been found. (There are 516 overall that go back further)

Join the Josephine County Missing Person Rally on Friday

FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2023 AT 10 AM – 6 PMJosephine County Circuit Court

https://www.facebook.com/events/197013002742549/?ref=newsfeed

Our intention is to bring renewed awareness to over 30 of the 50 active missing persons cases in Josephine County, Oregon. We will have signs held outside of the courthouse, some will be held by family members of the local missing, others will be held by community volunteers who simply wish to see these cases resolved.

We will have tables of fliers set up for any curious folks who are passing by. There will also be snacks and drinks, though bringing your own provisions is highly encouraged. this is a PEACEFUL demonstration, but peaceful certainly doesn’t have to mean quiet. We need to get loud, and let people know that we will not let our missing be forgotten. We need to demand answers. Too many of these cases hinge on people coming forward with information. Now is the time to let them know they can.  https://www.facebook.com/JoCoMPP

There was just shy of $80 million in legal marijuana sold in May in Oregon.

In total Oregon marijuana stores sold $79,071,330 worth of marijuana and marijuana products. This is slightly less than, but roughly on par with, the $80.7 million sold in April and the $81 million sold in March.

It’s about 6% less than the $84 million sold in May, 2022. This is all according to data released by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC).

Oregon garnered roughly $13.4 million in taxes from the $79 million in marijuana sold in May, based on the state’s 17% marijuana tax rate. This doesn’t include any tax revenue obtained by cities who have established their own local tax.

Total sales-to-date since the start of recreational marijuana sales in October, 2016 now stands at $5.66 billion, resulting in around $960 million in tax revenue.

According to the OLCC, the average price per gram of cannabis is now $3.81, a 62% decrease from the $10.50 average in October, 2016.

The average cost per gram of marijuana extracts is also down substantially; the current cost is $16.55, down from a high of $45.

Oregon’s marijuana law was approved by voters in 2014, although the first marijuana store didn’t open until 2016. Under the law those 21 and older are allowed to possess up to two ounces of marijuana, or eight ounces at home, as well as one ounce of marijuana extracts, 16 ounces of marijuana-infused solids and 72 ounces of marijuana-infused liquids. (SOURCE)

Up To $200 Provided For Safeway Lawsuit Settlement In Oregon

Up to $200 will be provided for the settlement of the Safeway lawsuit. Reports say Safeway was accused of deceiving its Club Card members of a buy-one, get-one-or-two-free deal in Oregon.

In accordance with the Safeway lawsuit, the grocery store owned and managed by Albertsons Companies, Inc. was accused of deceiving its Club Card members. The company reportedly tricked the members into thinking they will get a buy-one, get-one-or-two-free (BOGO) deal in Oregon.

Furthermore, according to Weiss, the Safeway lawsuit states that the company also imposed fees on non-grocery purchases in Portland. This means that the prices on items like beef, chicken, and pork were increased. Safeway customers claimed that this is because of the 1% clean energy surcharge imposed on large retailer revenue in 2019.

Nonetheless, the company decided to settle the Safeway lawsuit with a total payment worth $8.75 million. Every affected customer may claim an equal share of the payments capped at $200 each. Unfortunately, the amount to be received may be reduced depending on the number of claims that will be filed.

According to Wilson, to be able to qualify for the settlement of the Safeway lawsuit, a customer must have purchased certain meat products at the stores located in Oregon. Furthermore, these products must have been offered on a BOGO deal. Most importantly, only those who have used a Safeway Club Card between May 4, 2015, and September 7, 2016 will receive the payments. The deadline to submit a claim is scheduled to be on June 16.

Safeway BOGO Class Action Settlement: https://www.safewaybogoclassaction.com/