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 and News, and BasinLife.com, and powered by Mick Insurance, your Local Health and Medicare agents. Call 541-882-6476.
Monday, February 5, 2024
Klamath Basin Weather
Today
A chance of rain and snow showers before 10am, then a slight chance of rain showers after 4pm. Snow level 4400 feet. Cloudy, with a high near 43. Very breezy, with south winds to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. Tonight a slight chance of rain and snow showers before 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27.
See Road Camera Views around the Klamath Basin:
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
Thirty-plus residents in a neighborhood near Mills Addition in Klamath Falls continue to struggle with unexplained flooding under their properties.
After three years of this plight, local government is taking action to remedy the damages affecting residents along Merryman Drive, Wantland Avenue, Reclamation Avenue and Applewood Street.
The Klamath County Board of Commissioners declared the hydrological event a local emergency during a work session last Wednesday.
“If we have a disaster declaration, it’s going to enable state partners and nonprofits to come to the aid of the people being impacted,” Klamath County Emergency Manager Ian Thigpen said during a recent hydrologic event task force meeting with residents and community partners.
Thigpen began organizing meetings to address the flooding issue shortly after he was hired by the county for the position in November 2023.
Affected residents explained their struggles to find anyone to assist with the mysterious flooding to the Herald and News last summer.
Jon Martin and his brother, Tim, were the first residents in the area to notice the flooding under their home.
As the neighborhood runs parallel to Klamath Irrigation District’s A-Canal, the residents feared the earthen canal was leaking under their homes.
The canal ran dry for a long period during some of the worst years of drought since the 2001 water crisis in Klamath County. The return of the flows, residents said, coincides with the unexplainable flooding.
But KID’s multiple efforts to protect the residences from possible canal leaks proved ineffective with water flows returning every summer.
State Senator Dennis Linthicum of Klamath Falls spent part of the weekend in a Portland hospital.
He was giving a speech Friday night in the Portland area and fainted, striking his head.
Wife Dianne Linthicum says he was completely checked out at an area hospital and is doing well and resumed his speech at the Western Liberty Network conference Saturday in the Rose City.
The search for a new district attorney is over. After a 15 month-long search, David Schutt began his appointed term as Klamath County District Attorney Thursday afternoon.
In a courtroom overflowing with community leaders, law enforcement and appreciative members of the public, Janney swore Schutt into office with his vow to uphold the law and serve the community well.
Schutt was hired as a deputy district attorney by a former DA, Ed Caleb, which marked a defining moment in his career, he said.
The district attorney’s office has undergone a lot of changes since the start of Schutt’s career.
The most noteworthy change in recent years, however, is the lack of attorneys working for the DA’s office.
Since 2022, the Klamath County District Attorney’s Office has been operating on a skeleton crew.
That same year, the county lost its former district attorney, Eve Costello, with an unexpected resignation.
Today, the office is down to just two DDAs, Peter Bostwick and Dan Higgins, to fulfill the duties of a 10-person caseload.
During and since his 11 years of service as a prosecutor in Klamath County, Schutt said he’s seen immense progress in the court systems.
He says he has seen the advent of treatment courts and witnessed the miracles that they can work. And as the district attorney my goal is to guarantee public safety for everybody who lives here and to ensure that every single person regardless of background, ethnicity or lifestyle, knows that they’re going to receive fair and even-handed treatment.
Rude awakenings from the blaring horns of trains traveling through town may soon come to an end.
Klamath Falls residents neighboring Crater Lake Parkway have complained to city officials for more than 3 decades about the disturbance.
Due to safety regulations, however, the city has yet to make the neighborhood a designated quiet zone … until now.
According to the agenda for the city council meeting set for Monday evening, council will vote whether to enter a “public highway at-grade crossing agreement” with Union Pacific Railroad.
“Once the city and railroad’s work is completed, the city can file a notice of execution which, after 30 days of the filing, should establish the quiet zone,” the agenda item reads.
The dollar amount budgeted for the project, which will be at the Portland Street intersection, is $575,000 for the duration of the current biennium.
Klamath Early Childhood Development Center makes it a priority to host a family engagement activity each month.
KECDC has hosted creative events in the past year such as a Thanksgiving potluck and a holiday event which partnered with Sunrise Rotary Club bringing gifts to children, along with a popular horse carriage ride.
For January, Start Making a Reader Today visited KECDC for the first time. Several volunteers took a moment, sat on the carpet and sat in a bunch to read to students.
SMART visits students in Klamath County on a weekly basis and serves 29 schools overall, including 1,511 students, stretching out to Gearhart and Bly.
Stork’s volunteer base is between 400 to 500 people. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, SMART was implemented through one-on-one reading but moved to classroom read-alouds.
Books such as, “I Hear with My Ears,” “Gustavo the Ghost,” “It Came in the Mail,” “The Missing Cupcakes” and a handful of Dr. Seuss books, were read to the preschoolers.
KECDC director Teri DeGroot helped bring another element to how students participated in the event with American Sign Language interpreters present. There was also a Spanish reading done by instructor Beatriz Ulloa.
DeGroot’s daughter, a Southern Oregon University student, helped with ASL interpretation.
SMART Reading does not profess to teach children how to read, and ensures the responsibility is left to the countless experienced educators in the community.
Ray Holliday, owner of Holliday Jewelry, along with the bank manager of Washington Federal, took part in reading to a class using a smartboard at Mills Elementary School this past Thursday. The Portland Trail Blazers are also sponsors of SMART.
The Oregon Health Authority has awarded a $623,700 grant to Oregon Tech’s behavior analysis and marriage and family therapy programs.
OIT’s Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis and Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy programs received the grant to help alleviate the behavioral healthcare workforce crisis in Oregon.
The funding provides tuition assistance and stipends for current and incoming graduate students who commit to working in Oregon after graduation, and seeks to diversify the workforce and enhance recruitment, retention and capacity of culturally responsive, specific and rural behavioral healthcare workers.
According to OHA, the shortage of qualified behavioral healthcare workers impacts communities across Oregon because the existing workforce cannot meet increasing demand. Underserved communities, including communities of color, tribal communities and rural areas, face additional challenges due to the lack of culturally specific and responsive services.
The grant is currently supporting seven ABA students and 16 MFT students with tuition assistance and stipends.
Oregon Tech’s MFT is a full-time mental health graduate program that specializes in systems, families and relationships. With a focus on addressing unique challenges in rural areas, the program trains marriage and family therapists to approach assessment, diagnosis, and treatment from a relational and systemic perspective.
The Klamath Falls Lions Club will be selling See’s candy for Valentine’s Day as a fundraiser for their sight and hearing projects.
Purchases can be made at Turn Thom-Point S Tires, 2052 Washburn Way, next to Bi-Mart, beginning Wednesday.
The Lions Club conducts vision screening for most students in Klamath County, as well as provides glasses for students and others in need.
Lions Clubs collect used eyeglasses for recycling, and provide a college scholarship to a graduating high school senior from a local school.
For more information about the Lions Club and how to donate to Lion’s projects, call (541) 591-6483.
Each week, BasinLife.com and KFLS News 1450AM & 102.5FM feature a pet of the Week ready for adoption from the Klamath Animal Shelter.
This week’s pet of the week this week is a dog named ” Melon ” Melon is an 8 month old male Labrador Border Collie mix, he is black with white markings, he weighs around 50 pounds
Melon’s family had to move and the new landlord wouldn’t allow him. His family said that he is started on house training, lived with children 6 months and older, he knows sit, lays down, loves belly rubs, playing with toys and playing with dogs at the dog park
If you are interested in adopting Melon the shelter is located at 4240 Washburn Way, Monday through Friday from 12:00 – 4:00, walk throughs are available, pet meet and greets are by appointment, you can reach the shelter at 541-884-PETS (541-884-7387)
View all adoptable pets anytime online at www.klamathanimalshelter.org
Lake of the Woods is holding a Winter Snow Festival Feb. 10th and 11th.
The Lake of the Woods Winter Snow Festival is open to the public this month with many fun events and activities planned.
Folks can join in on a snow sculpture/snowman building contest, enjoy an outdoor bonfire with music, play cornhole, snowshoe the Ancient Trees walking loop and more. For an additional 10 bucks a person, you can even get in on a horse-drawn sleigh ride.
The Lake of the Woods Kite Fest, which is held on the second weekend of every February, was canceled. George Gregory of Lake of the Woods Mountain Lodge said the cancellation was because the ice isn’t strong enough to support people.
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Around the state of Oregon
Acting on a tip, police busted a group of men hauling drugs into Oregon and seized over a ton of liquid heroin.
Officers learned a transnational organization was moving a large load of narcotics into Oregon. They spotted the suspects’ rented moving truck and a pickup on I-84 and followed it to Tigard. They executed search warrants on the suspects’ hotel room and the vehicles. They found eight 55-gallon barrels in the moving van containing 370 gallons of liquid heroin.
The four suspected drug traffickers were arrested without incident.
On Thursday evening February 1st Medford residents were alarmed with gunfire along a stretch of Poplar Drive near Fred Meyer. Medford Police responded to 911 calls reporting shots fired in the area of Poplar Drive at Progress Drive.
One caller reported that an unknown person was shooting at him as he fled the area. MPD patrol units arrived on scene within several minutes of the first call. Based on evidence at the scene and eyewitness statements, it was quickly determined that gunshots were exchanged between three men associated with a nearby apartment. It was not immediately clear if anyone was actually hit in the gunfire exchange and at least one of the involved suspects was believed to have fled from the scene on foot.
MPD detectives responded to the scene and took two subjects into custody. The investigation continued into the early morning hours and resulted in the arrest of the two suspects listed below. An additional suspect, who has been identified, remains outstanding and the investigation is ongoing. At this time, it is believed that no injuries were sustained during the gunfire exchange and that all three subjects involved have been associated in the past.
The listed suspects were arrested and lodged for violation of parole as both were recently released from prison. At the conclusion of this investigation, it is anticipated that additional felony charges could be added.
Suspect #1: Pierpoint, Matthew Ryan (38-years-old), of Medford
Parole Violation – Felony Strangulation/Domestic Violence
Suspect #2: Wright, Devon James (30-years-old), of Medford
Parole Violation – Felon in Possession of a firearm
Oregon travelers on Highway 126 between the coast and Eugene are continuing to see delays as crews continue clearing debris created by January’s ice storm, and one business owner along the road is growing frustrated with a lasting outage from the aftermath.
Crews of Oregon Department of Transportation staff and contractors have been working to remove downed trees and other storm debris from the roadway and surrounding area. While a lot has been done to clean up the highway and make it safer, an ODOT spokesperson said, with plenty more to be done in the new few weeks.
ODOT says they have a lot of debris and damage near the Knowles Creek Tunnel, which is the starting point for two teams performing the clearing work. One smaller crew is performing work from the tunnel west toward the coast. The other, larger crew is working in increments eastbound on the highway, clearing sections of the road toward Veneta.
The highway itself is clear of limbs, but ODOT’s focus is on cleaning up tree stumps and logs on the edge of the highway to the tree line.
“They’re also having to assess and evaluate all of the trees along that highway for any potential damage or danger,” ODOT said. “So cracked trunks, dangling limbs, trees leaning over toward the direction of the highway that could potentially fall if we got more wind.”
Once the crews are finished, they will do the same work on Highway 36. However, it may take a while before that work gets started.
The work has several more weeks to finish cleaning up the Highway 126 roadway.
Changes are coming to the way Oregonians apply for unemployment benefits.
Starting on March 4, those seeking unemployment insurance will submit claims on a new website called Frances Online. It’s part of the state’s $106 million, multi-year effort to upgrade the Oregon Employment Department’s technology to make it more secure and user-friendly.
The state has been gradually migrating to the new system, and the unemployment insurance claims portal is the last major step in the transition, according to Unemployment Insurance Director Lindsi Leahy.
The old system dates back to the 1990s. Multiple state audits have found that it was unable to handle complicated claims and had trouble incorporating rule changes. Officials acknowledged it lacked streamlined ways for people to communicate with the state about their claims.
Before the new system goes live for users, both the old and new online portals will be down for a few days in preparation for the launch on March 4. Starting at 5 p.m. on Feb. 28, users will not be able to access the sites, including for Paid Leave Oregon. Also, customer service phone lines and online support will be closed starting on Feb. 28 and won’t reopen until Frances goes live.
Officials say to avoid an interruption in benefits, claims must be submitted in the old system by 5 p.m. on Feb. 28. Unemployment insurance claimants will then need to create a new account in Frances after 8 a.m. on March 4, officials say.
Lakeview Town Manager Michele Parry was placed on paid administrative leave Jan. 24 for undisclosed reasons.
Lakeview’s interim Public Works director, Sean Petitmermet, provided a statement that “Ms. Parry will remain on leave until further notice.”
The statement said Petitmermet will provide necessary administrative support during Parry’s leave.”
Petitmermet said the town had “no further comments at this time” when asked who made the decision and recommendation to place Parry on leave.
More than $7,000,000 is going to Oregon fisheries as part of $42,000,000 in federal fishery disaster funding.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced allocation of those funds for recovery from fishery disasters in Oregon, Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and Yurok Tribe fisheries from 2017 to 2022. The federal funding will help ocean commercial fishermen in Oregon recover from significant economic losses in 2018, 2019, and 2020 from declining salmon populations.
For California, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced allocation of $20.6-million to address a fishery resource disaster that occurred in the 2023 Sacramento River Fall Chinook and Klamath River Fall Chinook ocean and inland salmon fisheries. NOAA Fisheries used revenue loss information from the commercial, processor and charter sectors to allocate funding for the disaster.
Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, with U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05), announced today the commerce department’s plan to send Oregon $7,050,722 for declared fishery disaster for 2018, 2019 and 2020 for Chinook salmon ocean commercial fisheries.
The funding makes local fishermen eligible to apply for reimbursement from the disaster assistance funding available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to help Oregon’s coastal economies recover from years of drought, changing ocean conditions and critical habitat loss that have severely harmed salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest.
The Oregon Supreme Court’s Thursday ruling barring 10 state senators who boycotted the Legislature last spring from seeking reelection will ensure significant turnover within the 30-seat Oregon Senate over the next two election cycles and could permanently curtail the already limited power of the state’s minority party.
Political experts predict the ruling will decrease the number of walkouts in future legislative sessions. Walkouts have been one of the few tactics that Republicans, as the minority party in the Legislature, have been able to use in recent years to stall bills pushed by Democrats.
Republican strategists, however, said Thursday’s ruling might not serve as the deterrent many expect. Bryan Iverson, legislative director for the Oregon Senate Republicans, said some lawmakers might be willing to forgo reelection to kill Democratic bills they fervently oppose and that participating in a walkout could help boost the public image of lawmakers preparing to run for higher office. During his run for Congress, U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz emphasized the role he played in a Republican walkout at the statehouse that successfully killed a climate cap-and-trade bill.
Oregon will receive five-million-dollars in a national settlement with a company that marketed several opioid drugs.
Publicis is one of the world’s largest healthcare advertising companies, and handled most of Purdue Pharma’s marketing. The money will be added to the nearly one-billion-dollars the state has received from manufacturers, distributors, and dispensers of opioids. The money will go toward treatment and recovery programs.
A section of Highway 101 between Newport and Depoe Bay continues to slide following heavy rain from the storms in January.
ODOT has covered the area with gravel to stabilize it. The speed has been reduced from 55 to 35 miles an hour. The road will remain graveled until conditions dry out and the slide stops moving, then they’ll pave it.
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