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Monday, May 13, 2024
Klamath Basin Weather
Today
Sunny, with a high near 77. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Overnight, mostly clear, with a low of 44 degrees, light winds to 10 mph.
Today’s Headlines
The allegations of potential nepotism and other ethical violations against Klamath County’s sheriff have been dismissed.
Nine months after county commissioners filed complaints with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, Sheriff Chris Kaber has been exonerated.
In August 2023, Klamath County Commissioner Derrick DeGroot submitted a complaint to OGEC with allegations of nepotism and conflicts of interest.
The complaint was filed shortly after Kaber returned his son, Sgt. Ryan Kaber, to his previously held position as detective sergeant. The duties were assigned in addition to the sergeant’s current duties with the K-9 unit.
In September 2023, county commissioners DeGroot and Dave Henslee also voted to revoke the exception to policy resolution which allowed the sheriff and his two sons to continue working at Klamath County Sheriff’s Office despite their familial ties.
At the Ethics Commission meeting Friday morning, Sheriff Kaber presented his testimony.
Kaber said OGEC staff recommended that the ethics commission rule in favor of the three alleged violations — one for conflict of interest, two for nepotism.
They voted seven to zero, unanimously, to not move forward with any of these complaints.
OGEC investigators had been working on the case since its filing in August, including interviews of the sheriff’s staff.
Sheriff Kaber said, they disputed it all and recognized as well that it was at least partially politically motivated.
Memorial Day celebrations are back on, thanks to a group of volunteering veterans.
When the Klamath Freedom Foundation announced it was disbanding, local vets stepped up to the plate.
Disabled American Veterans Chapter 12 Commander Ray Ramirez is spearheading the project.
Fellow veterans from DAV, CVMA (Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association), Oregon Tech and various other organizations met with Ramirez last week to set up an official committee.
With only a couple of weeks left before Memorial Day — Monday, May 27 — time is limited.
Though the group has already managed to find a number of volunteers, more assistance is needed.
Registration for parade floats is still available online through the Klamath Freedom Foundation website. To register for the parade, visit klamathfc.org/event-registration and submit the online form.
Registrants will gather at the same location as in previous years, along Spring Street on the morning of Memorial Day at 8:30 a.m.
The parade will proceed down Main Street at 10 a.m., arriving at Veterans Memorial Park at 11 a.m.
The annual celebration at Veterans Park will begin then, shortly after the annual Kingsley Airfield F-15 flyover.
For more information, submit emails to klamathfallsparades@gmail.com.
Road Work This Week in the Basin
Please use caution when in these areas and watch for flaggers. If you are able to avoid the work zones, please use an alternate route for your safety and the safety of Klamath County employees and our contractors.
ROAD/LANE CLOSURES
May 13 to August 16
Laverne Avenue (Vicinity of Stearns Elementary School). Daily lane closures.
CITY WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT WORK
May to July
Eberlein Avenue (from Patterson Street to Hilton Drive)
SKINNY PATCH
Maywood Drive, Riverside Drive, Greensprings Drive
Traffic control measures will be in place for guidance. Motorists should use alternative routes possible. In general, flagging stations will be set up at the ends of the work zone and delays will be 0 to 20 minutes for the motoring public. Our goal is to minimize the delay to the motoring public.
Other minor work is occurring through the County but we are only listing the major items in this announcement. There may be adjustments of work schedules due to weather or other items outside of the County’s control (breakdown of equipment, material/resource availability, etc.) Please do not contact the County if you do not see work occurring, it could be finished already or will be rescheduled.
In response to recent wildfires ravaging the Fremont-Winema National Forest, multiple agencies and organizations have partnered to restore the thousands of acres left burned and damaged.
In the last five years more than 650,000 acres of forest have burned in Klamath and Lake counties, having devastating consequences on the forest’s health, the local wildlife and the local community. The communities and the land is going to take a lot of work to rehabilitate, to restore, to get back to some semblance of normalcy.
The collaborative restoration effort laid out in the South Central Oregon Integrated Post-Fire Resilience Strategy will include removal of dead vegetation and flammable brush, as well as the replanting of forest trees in 225,000 acres of the burned forest.
The project does face some struggles with a lack of employees available to fill the nearly 60 job spots created and a lack of seeds available in the market that are needed to completely replant the 250,000 acres.
The employment need will have to be addressed systematically in the industry as well as through outreach. The potential solution for the seed shortage is through farming seeds in an orchard.
Morris said a 60 acre orchard can create enough seeds to fill the need within 10 years, compared to harvesting in the forest that could take decades.
An effort to revegetate the area around the Klamath River’s reservoir is well on its way.
In a post on their Facebook Page the Yurok Tribe announced that the project is off to a “spectacular start.”
Over the winter and into the spring, multiple teams from the Yurok Fisheries Department seeded billions of native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees.
Spring has brought on the green and blooms, and with them swarms of bees and butterflies collecting pollen and nectar.
This month the revegetation crew planted 32,000 narrowleaf milkweed plants, which is the most important host for Monarch butterfly caterpillars.
The Yurok Fisheries Department selected each native plant species based on what historically thrived in the region before colonization.
On Thursday, May 16th at 6 pm, the downtown Klamath County Library will host the latest in the “Lay Person Legal” seminar series: a guide to your rights as a renter – or your responsibilities as a landlord – in Oregon.
Attendees will get a better appreciation of how the legal system works,
particularly if they are attempting to navigate the courts without a lawyer.
Presenter Drew Hartnett is an attorney with Legal Aid Services of Oregon,
practicing, among other areas, in the field of Landlord/Tenant law, focusing
on protecting tenant rights and maintaining safe, habitable and available
housing in the Klamath and Lake County communities. Hartnett is licensed in
Oregon, where he makes his home.
This seminar series is a partnership between the downtown Klamath County Library, the Loyd De Lap Law Library, the Klamath County Bar Association and Legal Aid Services of Oregon. Please note that Lay Person Legal presenters cannot give individual legal advice on any specific case.
No registration is required. For more information, please call 541-882-8894.
They’re Back! Since at least 2020, Oregon farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin and southern and eastern regions of the state have dealt with some of the worst grasshopper infestations in decades, resulting in crop and economic losses in those communities.
To minimize the damage, the Oregon Department of Agriculture will distribute $100,000 each to five of the most impacted counties. Additional funds are also on hand to respond to infestations as they arise.
Several grasshopper and cricket species, like the Mormon cricket — actually a type of katydid — are native to Oregon and much of the Western United States. But years of hot weather and low rainfall can create the ideal conditions for the population of the insects to explode.
Scott White, the general manager of the Klamath Drainage District, said the outbreaks have been getting worse every year. He said when it’s dry, it’s not unusual to see dust clouds coming from the southern region of Klamath County, but last year was different.
It’s why the state’s department of agriculture is allocating $100,000 per county to the most severely impacted areas, Baker, Harney, Klamath, Lake and Malheur counties.
Friends of the Children – Klamath Basin invites the community to its annual fundraising dinner auction, Friend Raiser, presented by Lithia Ford of Klamath Falls, Thursday, May 30th. Doors open at Mike’s fieldhouse at Steen Sports Park at 5 p.m.
“This year’s event theme is ‘You Belong!” because we help children feel the belonging and value they need to develop hope and skills for bright futures,” said Executive Director Amanda Squibb. “Our community health depends on our kids’ well-being, and I’m excited to see everyone come out to support professional mentoring in the Klamath Basin.”
Friend Raiser begins with dinner and cocktail stations, a silent auction, wine and bourbon games, and raffle sales. A seated program and live auction follow at 7 p.m.
To reserve seats, visit friendsklamath.org or https://fckb.ejoinme.org/FR2024. Silent and live auction items will be added May 23rd for preview.
Friends – Klamath Basin was established in 2000 to impact generational change by empowering youth facing the greatest obstacles. It pairs youth with professional mentors for 12+ years, no matter what, and will serve 72 youth this year.
Around the State of Oregon
The Portland bureau of the FBI is investigating an emerging social media scam.
Hackers take over a person’s Facebook account, then post big-ticket items for sale that don’t exist, like trucks, trailers and ATVs. They claim to be selling the possessions of a relative forced to move into “aged care” and can only communicate through online messaging apps. In just one Oregon incident, around a dozen people lost more than $10,000.
FBI Portland Cybersquad Supervisory Special Agent Yaqub Prowell says the first step to protecting yourself is to try to avoid getting hacked….. and, one should start by using strong, unique passwords, as just kind of the basics of cyber hygiene.
Agent Prowell also says you also want to enable multi-factor authentication, wherever that’s available. You want to avoid unsecure wifi networks. Also limit oversharing.. Be mindful of what you post on social media, because personal information can always be used against you.
Jackson County Fire District 5’s Chief Charles Hanley has been put on administrative leave. This comes as an investigation into complaints about Hanley are underway.
The complaints include allegations of general misconduct, bullying and more. They were brought to the attention of Fire District 5 board members by the union that represents the district’s firefighters, back in January. The complaints submitted by IAFF Local 2596 led to a motion filed to put Hanley on administrative leave, in February. Then in March, three out of five board members resigned.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Hanley was placed on administrative leave immediately, pending the outcome of the investigation. Hanley argued that the terms and conduct of his contract were not being followed.
Assistant Fire Chief, Aaron Bustard will take over Hanley’s duties, as Interim Fire Chief.
Gov. Tina Kotek abruptly pulled back this week on a pair of nominations to the board that oversees Oregon forest policy, after blowback from environmental groups over one of her picks.
Kotek had planned to tap two men for the state Board of Forestry who have often been on opposite sides of debates over how much of Oregon’s forests should be open to logging.
One was Bob Van Dyk, a conservationist who formerly spent a dozen years with the Portland-based Wild Salmon Center. The other: Heath Curtiss, vice president of government affairs for Hampton Lumber.
The dual appointment would have left the balance unchanged on a seven-member board that is closely scrutinized for where its volunteer members stand on forest issues.
Van Dyk was slated to take the place of Chandra Ferrari, an environmental attorney who works for the state and recently began a stint in Kotek’s office. Ferrari isn’t attending meetings or taking part in votes while working in the governor’s office.
Curtiss would have stepped in for Karla Chambers, a farmer and board member of Hampton Lumber. Chambers is one of three members with financial interest in the timber industry — the maximum amount that can serve on the board under state law.
But Kotek’s office wound up scrapping both nominations. A lengthy list of board and commission nominees released by the governor’s office Wednesday contained no appointees for the forestry board, meaning lawmakers will not consider them when they meet in confirmation hearings later this month.
Van Dyk and Curtiss separately told OPB the governor’s office told them this week their names wouldn’t be on the list.
The groups also attempted to get Kotek to rethink the balance of the forestry board, writing that Curtiss’s appointment “would also lock in the troubling notion that the Board of Forestry must always have three members who derive income from forest practices.”
“The statute allows for a maximum of three members to derive income for logging related activities, but for too long this provision has, in practice, been used as an excuse to have a minimum of three members with direct conflicts on the board,” the letter said.
There’s less than a month left for Oregon’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program. It closes June 3.
Those drivers in the market for an electric vehicle can get thousands of dollars back on their purchase through the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
This year the fund has just under $8 million to give out with two rebate offers.
First the standard rebate, which is up to $2,500, applies to anyone buying or leasing a new eligible vehicle. Second the charge ahead rebate, which is up to $5,000, is geared toward low and moderate income households.
For the rebates to apply, vehicles must be purchased at a licensed dealership. Applicants have six months from the date of their lease or purchase to apply.
More information can be found on the program’s website.
Tillamook Police Chief Raymond Rau had just learned someone in his department discovered drugs missing from a property storage locker.
He immediately rushed into the office and approached the desk of his evidence technician. But instead of launching an investigation, he made a remarkable confession.
“Yeah, I’ve been taking the evidence and destroying it,” Rau told the technician. “…I’ve been doing it for months.”
A state police audit and investigation obtained by members of the media under a public records request include new details of Rau’s admission and revealed much more widespread instances of evidence tampering than came out in court, as well as actions by Rau to reduce oversight of the department’s evidence area.
Rau, 57, was sentenced in April to 10 days in jail after entering no-contest pleas to two official misconduct charges that accused him of removing drugs from evidence starting shortly after he arrived to lead the department in 2021.
Rau and his lawyer said in court that he destroyed drugs from police evidence storage on only two or three occasions. Rau did it, he explained, to protect the evidence technician who had just returned from maternity leave. He didn’t want her to be exposed to fentanyl, he said.
Gas prices have fallen slightly in the past week, according to a news release from the American Automobile Association.
The national average has dropped two cents to $3.64 a gallon, while Oregon’s much higher gas prices decreased by four cents to $4.46.
AAA of Oregon says falling crude oil prices have helped push pump prices lower. While some refinery maintenance is still underway in the U.S., the seasonal spring run-up in gas prices is settling down. But crude oil prices are still the big wildcard as global conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will continue to keep oil markets volatile.
The national and Oregon prices are still at their highest prices since October, the release said. Oregon is one of 32 states with lower prices than a week ago.
In the Southern Oregon region, these are the average gas prices by county:
Klamath County: $4.417
Curry County: $4.743
Josephine County: $4.552
Jackson County: $4.535
Lake County: $4.524
The Oregon Health Authority is launching a fentanyl awareness campaign on its social media site.
It’s called “Fentanyl Aware” and will post messages on fentanyl risks, harm reduction strategies, and Oregon’s good Samaritan law that provides legal protections for people using Narcan during an overdose. The messages will be posted over the next five weeks.
For the first time, researchers in Oregon have identified a brain syndrome caused by fentanyl.
A man in his 40s was hospitalized after snorting crushed fentanyl. There were no signs he had previously used opioids. An MRI showed inflammation in the white matter of his brain. It’s happened in heroin patients, but this is the first time with fentanyl. Researchers say it can lead to permanent brain damage. The man was hospitalized for nearly a month before going to a nursing home for further rehabilitation. Researchers don’t know how much fentanyl is needed to cause the syndrome..
A new OHSU study finds the use of nicotine and cannabis during pregnancy dramatically increases the rate of infant death.
Researchers evaluated hospital data and vital statistics from more than three million pregnant patients with documented substance use. They found that the rate of infant death was four times higher in users of both cannabis and nicotine compared with non-users, and nearly twice as high compared with users of just one of those. Researchers are calling for more research and patient education for better outcomes. The study is published in JAMA Network Open.
Thanks for reading the the news on BasinLife.com from Wynne Broadcasting.
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