Klamath Basin News, Friday, Jan. 5 – Winter Storm On Saturday in the Basin; Tax Kicker Refund Can Be Claimed When Filing Your 2023 Tax Return

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Friday, January 5, 2024

Klamath Basin Weather

Winter Storm Advisory for the Klamath Basin in effect from 4AM to 10PM for Saturday, January 6^th, 2024.

Today’s Headlines

A Winter Storm Warning will be in effect from 4AM to 10PM on Saturday, January 6^th, 2024.

Heavy snow is expected above 2500 feet for areas in Western Siskiyou County, California and the foothills of the Cascades, including Etna, Callahan, Fort Jones, Butte Falls, Prospect, Toketee Falls and portions of Highway 140, Highway 62 and Highway 227.

A Winter Storm Advisory is now issed for the Klamath Basin including Klamath Falls.

The heaviest snow will fall from the early morning hours from 4AM to 10PM on Saturday. Travel could become very difficult with snow covered roads and reduced visibility. Travel is strongly discouraged because of these conditions. If you must travel, keeptire chains, flashlight, blankets, food, water, medication and a fully charged phone and charger with you.

For the Klamath Basin, this Saturday storm could produce 1 to 4 inches of snow for the day.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it is involved with an investigation at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford of recent deaths.

The FBI said it’s aware of allegations and is supporting local police with their work, this after some sources say as many as nine people have died, including the husband of a Klamath Falls resident this past summer. Multiple hospital sources, who declined to be identified, confirmed dozens of patients injured by medication diversion — the act of replacing a medication with another substance. It is believed the fentanyl scheduled to be administered to the patients was then removed from the premises illegally.

Sources allege that a hospital nurse was removing fentanyl from IV bags and replacing it with tap water. Two families shared their stories with the Times, which first learned of the investigation Dec. 23.

Asante issued a statement during the weekend that, “We were distressed to learn of this issue. We reported it to law enforcement and are working closely with them.”

Multiple sources also say that water supplies in the Intensive Care Unit and Coronary Care Unit — which are in an older part of the hospital — are unsafe for use on patients, even for face washing. The hospital made numerous public statements during 2023 pertaining to infections and water quality issues.

Klamath County will submit a $3.6 million request to the state Legislature this year to complete its Crimson Rose Project — a residential care center emphasizing drug and alcohol treatment, behavioral health care and educational services for youths.

Klamath County Juvenile Director Dan Golden presented Klamath County Commissioners at their Tuesday meeting the capital funding request to be submitted to the Legislature. The request was approved.

The KCR construction project is currently underway on the first residential facility that will be used for stabilization of juvenile clients as well as on a new education center that will be offering enhanced services for academic achievement, art and music, gardening, vocational training and recreation. The new buildings at the Klamath County Juvenile Department will replace the oldest juvenile detention building in Oregon.

Golden explained that in 2023, the project was downsized because of increased construction costs to meet the budget, and the decision was made to postpone the building of a second eight-bed transitional residential treatment facility.

The director said architectural and engineering plans have been completed as well as the initial site preparation, grading and utility relocation.

Since 2014, KCR has provided Oregon Youth Authority clients involved with residential care emphasizing drug and alcohol treatment, behavioral health care and educational services. The goal of KCR is to motivate clients from all over Oregon to succeed in returning to their communities rather than being placed in a correctional facility.

Golden is hopeful that the request, which will be fulfilled through the use of an Oregon Lottery grant, will be accepted by the Legislature.

At the meeting on Tuesday, the commission also approved the interim Klamath County IT Director Matt Severns to apply for two cybersecurity grants being offered by Oregon Emergency Management for managing and reducing systemic cyber risk.

One will be used to protect Klamath County from any unforeseen disaster recovery matters while the other will be used to assist the county in domain migration services as the Klamath County website transitions from .org to .gov.

And, the Klamath County Commissioners appointed people to several advisory boards: Del Fox to the Library Advisory Board; Echo Murray and Jennifer Fairfield to the Tourism Grant Review Panel; Janet George, Andre Campbell-Wessel and Brad Royle to the Klamath Vector Control Board; Jeanne Pickens, Shawn Blodgett and Norma Baugh to the Fair Board; Kevin Harter and Kristen Clark to the Planning Commission; Linda Weider to the Roads Advisory Board; Sarah Jones and Christie Wiles to the Local Alcohol and Drug Planning Commission; Jennifer Mayfield and Keith Fournier to the Klamath River Special Road District Board.

The foreign policy discussion group Great Decisions is back at the Klamath County Library.

Registration deadline for a spot in the group is this Friday.

Each participant in Great Decisions must purchase a copy of the 2024 essay book for $35 at the main branch checkout desk.

Great Decisions is open to any interested adult regardless of political or any other affiliations.

Meetings will begin at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25. The group will meet for eight weeks at the library’s main branch, 126 S. 3rd St.

The Klamath Art Gallery presents the art works of Klamath County homeschooled students in their next show. Opening reception with light refreshments is from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Some of the young artists will be in attendance. The exhibit displays the different art techniques that the artists have learned.

The exhibit runs Jan. 7 through Jan. 28. The Klamath Art Gallery is open Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

One of the Basin’s favorites, The Winter Wings Festival, the nation’s oldest birding festival, won’t be taking flight this year in February.

The Winter Wings Festival, which began in 1980 as the Bald Eagles Conference, normally takes place during the President’s Day Weekend in February. The gathering has gained national attention because it has offered field trips, seminars and programs that have attracted birders from around the nation.

Co-directors Anne Wenner and Diana Samuels said the decision to cancel this year’s gathering was made because of multiple factors, including ongoing droughts that have left several areas in the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge complex, including the Tule Lake and the Lower Klamath National Wildfire Refuges, without water for extended periods of time.

In addition, they noted the Klamath Basin Audubon Society (KBAS), which has organized the Festival, is — like other groups — having trouble adding younger members. In the statement Wenner and Samuels noted, “We are facing other challenges to continuing with the status quo besides the water situation. First and foremost is the aging demographic of both our attendees and our volunteers, despite concerted efforts to engage a younger crowd.”

They said the KBAS is seeking new board members, adding in another statement, “Later in 2024 that group will discuss fundraising options. If you have ideas for what a future festival or venue could look like, or would like to volunteer please email Anne Wenner at aewenner@gmail.com or Diana Samuels at dsamuels@charter.net.”

The Klamath County Museum will host a new Free First Friday program today, Friday. Admission fees will be waived all day and extended hours will be offered from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

As part of the First Friday program, a presentation on particular topics of interest will be given on that day. This Friday’s presentation topic is on the history of local food processing and marketing in the Klamath Basin. Presentations will be given at noon, and again at 6:30 p.m.

Examples of local businesses that will be referenced include the Gooding Egg Farm, Bratton Packing and the Crater Lake Creamery.

Local poets and poetry in history will be the topic for presentation for February’s Free First Friday at the museum.

For more information contact the museum at (541) 882-1000.

Around the state of Oregon

This year, the state of Oregon has a record $5.6 billion tax kicker refund for Oregonians that have filed their 2022 personal income tax return. The 2022 return must be filed because that is the amount the kicker is based off.

The tax kicker refund can be claimed while filing the 2023 return. Those 2023 forms will have special instructions on how to claim that money.

Tax kickers are the result of a budget surplus in the state during a given biennium. The $5.6 billion kicker is 44.28% of all personal income tax paid to Oregon in 2022.

In order to calculate a personal kicker, multiply the amount paid for 2022 by 44.28%.

Robin Maxey, a public information officer for the Oregon Department of Revenue, said that in order to get the kicker refund faster, residents should file earlier.

While Maxey urged Oregonians to file early, he also made it clear to not rush the filing too much. Make sure all information needed for tax returns is ready and available before filing.

To put this kicker in perspective, the kicker from the 2013-2015 biennium was only about $400 million. The most recent kicker from the 2019-2021 biennium was $1.89 billion. This biennium’s kicker is just under three times the amount from the 2019-2021 biennium.

Oregon Running Out Of Funds To Plow Major Roads and Highways

As winter weather began arriving in mountain passes, the Oregon Department of Transportation issued a warning: The state was running out of money to plow roads and could “no longer maintain the state’s transportation system at the same level as we have in the past.” Drivers would need to anticipate delays and prepare to be stranded in poor weather.

The outcry was swift, particularly in the snowiest parts of Oregon.

Among those skeptical of the agency’s approach was state Sen. Lynn Findley, a Republican who represents a sprawling, sparsely populated district that covers the entire southeast quadrant of the state. The warning reminded him of scare tactics the National Park Service used when budget cuts loomed, threatening to shut down popular tourist attractions, he told transportation officials at a November public hearing.

The public may have been “snow plowed,” but the tactic worked. By early December, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and legislative leaders, all Democrats, announced plans to boost the Oregon Department of Transportation budget by $19 million to pay for winter maintenance service. Next up? Revamping how the state pays for all its transportation needs.

Across the country, state transportation departments are warning that public safety is at risk if lawmakers don’t overhaul how road maintenance gets funded. Like other states facing shortfalls in their transportation maintenance budgets, Oregon blames declining gas tax revenues from more efficient cars and the wider adoption of electric vehicles, structural funding issues that limit how federal and state highway money can be spent, and inflation-driven cost increases.

States are trying creative new ways to fill the gap, from road use charges to delivery fees. And critics say states must stop prioritizing major new projects over basic maintenance needs.

For Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries, tackling wage theft involves more than just collecting unpaid wages. It also involves deterring wage theft from happening in the first place.

That’s why the bureau may issue penalties to employers who investigators determined have unlawfully denied workers pay.

But actually collecting those penalties has proven difficult for labor officials. While the agency has recovered just 41% of wages and penalties overall in the past eight years, a recent InvestigateWest analysis found, employers pay penalties at a much lower rate.

From 2015 through 2020, employers in aggregate paid less than $1 of every $10 in penalties they faced. In just 11% of claims did employers pay their penalties in full.

Now, the labor bureau said it’s strengthening its enforcement of penalties, assessing certain penalties earlier and more often. It also plans to hold more employers accountable for paying the penalties leveraged on them.

Oregon Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson, who implemented the new penalty policy, wants to disincentivize employers from stiffing workers in the first place, a spokesperson for the labor bureau said.

n years past, Oregon employers have been unlikely to face any penalties for wage theft.

During the six-year period InvestigateWest examined, just 17% of valid wage claims included penalties for the employer.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Oregon’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program distributed $426 million in emergency funds — but skipped “critical controls” when doing so, the secretary of state office said in a news release today. 

“Oregon’s housing agency, Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS), was charged with administering the program under enormous pressure to get millions of dollars out the door as quickly as possible. OHCS was able to distribute $426 million in emergency rental assistance as of June 2023,” the release said. “But according to an audit released today by the Oregon Audits Division, the framework under which this occurred came with substantial risk. OHCS employed limited oversight of the funds and, in its haste, skipped critical controls, including over financial accounting and contract administration.”

This is important, the release said, because money spent without meeting federal guidelines are at risk of being “clawed back by the federal government.”

“Fraud was a major risk for Oregon ERA; according to multiple community action agencies, they denied approximately $37 million requested through 1,813 potentially fraudulent applications,” the release said. “Oregon ERA also suffered from the rushed implementation of new software and a fragmented customer service system, resulting in application processing delays and communications challenges that frustrated consumers and local partners.”

Drops in solar and wind energy production, also known as energy droughts, could potentially last for hours in the Pacific Northwest. New research is aimed at helping grid planners better understand these energy gaps and where solutions, like battery storage, could be best utilized.

A study by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that Oregon and Washington could experience energy droughts, but noted that those hits to energy production could happen less frequently than other parts of the nation.

The team also compared energy demands to identify how often an energy drought could occur when power is needed the most.

As the transition to renewable energy continues and more solar and wind farms are powering homes, researchers want to know where potential gaps in energy production are so grid planners can improve reliability.

Not all parts of the country experienced energy droughts, said Nathalie Voisin, PNNL’s chief regional water energy dynamics researcher.

Energy droughts are not an issue in the Pacific Northwest currently due to an abundance of hydropower, Bracken said, but it’s important to begin to understand where the gaps could be.

Police say the victim fatally shot earlier this week at Horning’s Hideout in North Plains is a member of the owners’ family and a lieutenant with Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue.

The victim has been identified as 47-year-old Carl Horning. His brother, 63-year-old Robert Horning was detained after the fatal shooting on Tuesday morning. He was released several hours later. Police say Robert Horning is still considered as a person of interest in the case.

It’s the end of an era for a longtime discount store in Southeast Portland. Bi-Mart announced it will close its Meadowland store on Sunday, citing underperforming sales. The store opened in July of 1982. Management says employees at the Meadowland store will be reassigned to other Bi-Mart locations in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in its investigation into a fatal New Year’s Day shooting in Mount Angel.

Police say the victim, who has been identified as 42-year-old Brandon Slack was shot early Monday morning along Pershing Street near Marquam Street. The suspect fled the scene before police arrived. Anyone with any information is asked to call the Marion County Sheriff’s Office at 503-584-6211.

Oregon Health Authority’s (OHA) Ombuds Program, which serves as the advocate for Oregon Health Plan (OHP – Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program) members, released a report detailing top concerns from OHP members specific to child and youth mental health.

Established by legislation, the Ombuds Program provides recommendations and additional oversight internally to OHA Medicaid programs, and externally to Medicaid contractors. The program is independent of Medicaid implementation, operations or compliance.

The Ombuds Program also advocates for access to care and quality of care, as well as channeling member experience into recommendations for systems improvement. OHP members come to the Ombuds Program when they cannot get the support they need elsewhere after other avenues have not led to resolution. These issues often represent systemic concerns impacting other members.

The Ombuds 2023 Six-Month Report focuses on Child and Youth Community-Based Mental Health. The report highlights a central member story that illustrates the need experienced by many children and youth in Oregon for better access to local care, as well as data from the Ombuds Program and Oregon Health Authority. Based on these data and case stories, the report makes recommendations to improve mental health services and supports for children, youth and families across Oregon.

Each person who seeks Ombuds Program assistance deserves nurturing and support. The stories they share often illustrate challenges experienced by others. Each story teaches us how we can improve Oregon’s Medicaid delivery system and understand the impact of health inequities on Oregonians who receive or are eligible for the Oregon Health Plan.

The Ombuds Program will formally present its findings and recommendations from the Six-Month Report to the Oregon Health Policy Board Jan. 9, 2024.

Oregon Housing and Community Services announced that the agency’s Down Payment Assistance (DPA) Program has helped 117 Oregonians buy a home.

The state awarded $22 million in down payment assistance to 21 organizations across the state earlier this year. As of Sept. 30, 2023, the organizations had distributed more than $4.3 million to dozens of homebuyers. This amounts to an average of $36,770 per homebuyer for homes across the state that cost, on average, just under $300,000.

To further reduce the racial wealth gap and increase generational wealth, OHCS redesigned the program prior to its 2023 rollout to benefit first-generation homebuyers, a new eligibility category for the program. As a result, 56% of the homebuyers are identified as first-generation and 62% are identified as people of color.

As courts and elections officials in multiple left leaning states reached different decisions about the legality of blocking former President Donald Trump from their states’ ballots this week, a group attempting to keep the Republican front-runner off Oregon’s in 2024 awaits state Supreme Court action on the same question.

Trump has now inserted himself into the Oregon legal battle, which his opponents initiated before the high court early this month. On Friday, his team of lawyers filed a 162-page brief, citing numerous Oregon legal precedents they say should clear his path to the ballot.

Free Speech for People, a national nonprofit that advocates for election fairness and voters rights, appealed a preliminary decision against it by the Oregon secretary of state to the state Supreme Court.

Multiple national political groups have attempted to weigh in on the fight in Oregon. The conservative legal advocacy group Landmark Legal Foundation, which has intervened in several similar challenges in other states, filed a motion requesting permission to submit a brief in favor of Trump. On Friday, the Oregon Supreme Court denied the motion, citing a procedural error.

A 5-year-old girl was hospitalized after she was hit by an unexpected wave — known as a sneaker wave — on the Oregon coast last Thursday.

Bystanders told fire officials that the child was standing on South Jetty Beach in Florence when a sneaker wave carrying a large log struck her, according to Western Lane Fire and EMS Authority spokesperson Matt House. The log hit her in the back of the head and pinned her facedown in the sand.

The child, who was not identified, was trapped until her mother and other beachgoers could get the log off her, House said.

Firefighters rushed to the scene just before noon and found the child sitting away from the dangerous waters. Fire officials helped her on to a LifeFlight helicopter and she was taken to a hospital in Springfield, House said.

A National Weather Service advisory is in effect still today along the coast of southwest Washington and Oregon warning of powerful and unpredictable waves. Sneaker waves can knock people off their feet and quickly pull them into cold ocean waters, according to the weather service.

Horse racing, the popular summer and early fall events in Grants Pass, will be back in this year.

Grants Pass Downs announced its race schedules for the 2024 Summer and Fall season, though it’ll be a little while before it’s warm enough to hit the track.

The summer racing season kicks off June 15, with races every Saturday and Sunday ending on the Fourth of July. The fall season kicks off September 8 with races every Saturday and Sunday.

The final race day will be October 14.

A Coos County mortuary worker is accused of stealing money from a deceased victim’s wallet in Lakeside.

Investigators say early Saturday morning, a Coos County Sheriff’s deputy conducted a welfare check at a man’s residence at the request of out of state family members. The deputy found the man deceased and called a mortuary to have the victim removed from the home. While processing the valuables at the victim’s home, the deputy noticed three-hundred-dollars missing from the victim’s wallet and reported it to his supervisor.

During the investigation, 36-year-old Kyle Robertson of Coos Bay admitted to taking the money. Robertson has been charged with burglary and theft. He remains jailed.

Gasoline price tracker GasBuddy says today average gasoline prices in Oregon are three cents per gallon lower this week than last week, averaging $3.77 per gallon today.

GasBuddy’s says that figure comes from its survey of 1,307 stations in Oregon. It says gas prices in Oregon are 21 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and six cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

GasBuddy’s data show California’s average gas price per gallon today at $4.65. It also notes the national average price of diesel has fallen four cents in the last week and stands at $3.96 per gallon.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the lowest gas station cost in Oregon was priced at $3.07/gallon yesterday while the most expensive was $4.79/gallon, for a difference of $1.72/gallon.  During the past week, the 76 gas station in Florence had a $3.04 per gallon price, while several coastal gas stations from Florence to Lincoln City had gasoline prices at $3.07 per gallon.

GasBuddy says, “The national average price of gasoline has fallen 1.6 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.06/g today. The national average is down 17.3 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 12.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.”

GasBuddy says it’s information includes station-level data which, “updates 288 times every day from the most diverse list of sources covering nearly 150,000 stations nationwide, the most comprehensive and up-to-date in the country.” GasBuddy data is accessible at http://prices.GasBuddy.com.

Starting January 1, a 988 Coordinated Crisis Services Tax will be added to the existing Oregon Emergency Communications (911) Tax. The new tax was implemented by the Oregon Legislature with the passage of House Bill 2757.

The 988-tax rate will be 40 cents per subscriber line of telecommunications or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, or device with access to the 988 suicide prevention and behavioral health crisis system, and 40 cents for each prepaid wireless service or product retail transaction. These are the same transactions subject to the existing 911 Emergency Communications Tax. This tax rate will be effective for all billings or purchase of prepaid wireless service beginning January 1^st,

The new 988 tax does not apply to services provided under the plan of assistance established under Section 6, Chapter 290, Oregon Laws 1987; Oregon Lifeline.

The existing E911 return will be modified to include the 988 tax. The frequency of filing a return and submitting payment will follow the same timelines as the existing 911 schedule and will therefore not change the current 911 schedule.

For more information regarding the Emergency Communications and Coordinated Crisis Services Tax programs and how these tax revenues are used, visit the Department of Revenue’s website.

Questions? Email us at SPA.help@dor.oregon.gov.

Families across Southern Oregon have wrapped up their winter breaks this past weekend, but for winter sports fans there’s no telling when Mt. Ashland Ski area will be opening.

According to General Manager Andrew Gast, the park still needs about two feet of solid snow before they’re able to open. He says the loss of revenue from this holiday break has impacted how the ski area views the rest of its season.

Mt. Ashland General Manager Andrew Gast said, “It will definitely change the dynamics of this season. In the short term, it means that the employees that we hired in November haven’t had a chance to get to work yet.”

Gast says despite the low snowfall so far this is far from the worst year the ski area has seen. He says they’ll be open for the season as soon as there’s enough snow on the ground.

Going into a big election year, staffing at elections offices in Oregon is an issue, according to a study.

Staff-to-voter ratios vary widely between counties depending on their size but average about one staff member per 27-thousand voters statewide. Paul Manson with Portland State University helped conduct the research and says there are warning signs flashing as this election year ramps up. He says it’s a challenge for election offices to find workers in this politically charged environment.

Manson says low pay also makes it hard to recruit and retain people to work in elections offices. He says the county level funding model, which is tied to the real estate market, presents challenges as well.

He also says another pressure on workers is a growing list of public records requests, which offices have deadlines to respond to. He says there are a few ways the state could help election staff.

For Oregon, 2023 was a year of emergencies — from a worsening addiction crisis, to an ongoing housing shortage, to an inability to staff core services like public defense.

That meant that lawmakers wanted immediate action. Many of the most prominent bills passed in the 2023 legislative session were enacted well before Jan. 1, the default date for new policies to take effect.

But that doesn’t mean the new year doesn’t bring some notable new laws. As of New Year’s Day, speed traps might become more common and people who ride a bicycle while drunk could see lower penalties.

Here’s a rundown:

Speed cameras throughout Oregon: Autonomous “photo radar” units have, until now, only been legal in 10 cities in Oregon. But with speeding and other unsafe driving increasing since COVID-19, the Legislature is now letting every city in the state get in on the action. House Bill 2095 eased limitations on when and where speed cameras can be installed, offering them as an option as long as cities foot the bill to run them.

• Changes to DUII law:It’s long been illegal to drive drunk or under the influence of illicit drugs, but that didn’t necessarily encompass some substances that can impact driving ability, such as kratom, a herbal substance that can produce opioid- and stimulant-like effects.
• Tweaks to Measure 110:These days, much of the discussion over Oregon’s pioneering drug decriminalization law centers around whether the state should reverse course as overdoses soar. But during this year’s session,
• New tax breaks for kids:Beginning this year, low-income families can pursue a new tax credit aimed at combating early childhood poverty.
• Laws targeting “paramilitary activity” and “domestic terrorism”:With violent clashes on the streets of Portland in recent years and a spate of attacks on the Pacific Northwest’s power grid, lawmakers were concerned about extremism in 2023. House Bill 2572 allows the attorney general to investigate organized paramilitary activity and to petition a judge to block planned paramilitary activities that aim to intimidate others or infringe on free speech. It also creates a right to sue for anyone injured by a paramilitary group.
• Cracking down on shoplifting:Changes to laws against organized retail theft included in Senate Bill 340 make it easier for prosecutors to charge repeat shoplifters and to seek higher penalties.

Streamlining housing conversions: As Gov. Tina Kotek sets lofty goals for ratcheting up housing production and development in Oregon, lawmakers have been looking for ways to help. House Bill 2984 is one idea. It requires local governments to greenlight the conversion of commercial buildings into housing without throwing up the normal bureaucratic hurdles.

• Insurance immunity for wildfire maps:The state saw intense backlash in 2022 when it released a map showing areas that were most prone to wildfire risk.

A Call for Comprehensive Solutions in Homeless Crisis in Oregon and California

The homelessness crisis in Oregon and California has reached alarming levels, with Oregon experiencing a 12.15% increase in homelessness from 2022 to 2023.

High housing costs and the pandemic have exacerbated the issue, with federal counts suggesting that the true extent may be even greater. This crisis has impacted families, veterans, and youth, with a significant number living unsheltered despite efforts to increase shelter beds and supportive housing. Similar trends are evident in nearby cities and counties, reflecting a broader regional struggle.

California, for instance, faces a substantial homeless population despite significant financial investments, including a $17.5 billion allocation aimed at addressing the problem. However, the persistence of homelessness indicates that funds alone are not enough, and systemic issues remain unaddressed. The economic impact of this crisis on local communities cannot be overstated. In Portland, nearly $1 billion is dedicated to homeless services, underscoring the strain on taxpayer resources.

The latest figures show that for every 10,000 people in Oregon, 48 are without a home. This adds up to 20,142 homeless individuals. Experts believe the real number might be higher. Homelessness in Oregon is a growing problem. Since 2007, the number of homeless people has gone up by 15%, and there was a big increase of 23% during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022.

In Oregon, 65% of homeless people were not in shelters, but in places like streets or cars.

The rate of homeless families with children is 9 per 10,000 residents. The next highest state is Idaho at 4 per 10,000 residents.

Since 2020, the number of homeless families in Oregon went up by 27% to 3,900. Almost 60% of them don’t have a safe place to stay. Both Oregon and Washington have many homeless families, but Oregon’s rate of those without shelter is much higher.

The cycle of homelessness affects local economies by deterring business, reducing consumer traffic, and impacting tourism, which in turn hampers revenue and growth. It also creates social barriers, perpetuating poverty and exclusion, and poses risks to public health systems, environmental resources, and social service capacities.

Long-term solutions require addressing the root causes of homelessness. While initiatives like Project Homekey represent positive steps, the housing shortage and systemic issues persist. To break the cycle and foster economic stability, communities must advocate for preventative measures and invest in inclusive strategies that promote prosperity for all residents. It’s clear that a financial fix isn’t enough; a multifaceted, strategic approach is essential to tackle this complex issue and prevent its economic and social ramifications from spiraling further. (SOURCE)

Oregon DMV Raising Fees In 2024 To Cover Operating Costs

It will cost more to take a drivers’ test next year in Oregon. A number of fees are going up in 2024 under new legislation.

The increases are a result of legislation passed this year (House Bill 2100) designed to help DMV recover costs and temporarily avoid service reductions, ODOT says.

A behind-the-wheel test will increase from $9 to $45. Other fees are going up by a dollar or two.The increases are a result of legislation passed this year (House Bill 2100) designed to help DMV recover costs and temporarily avoid service reductions, ODOT says.

According to ODOT, statutory fees recovered by Oregon’s DMV have not kept pace with the actual cost to deliver services. Most DMV fee increases over the last 20 years have gone to transportation projects at the city, county, and state levels, not to DMV operating costs.

Godfrey encourages people to use the DMV’s website for more of their transactions. She said things like registration renewal are easily done online instead of in person.

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