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Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Klamath Basin Weather

Around the State of Oregon

Celebrate State Parks Day with free parking and free RV and tent site camping at all Oregon State Parks June 1 as well as special events at selected parks.

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) will waive day-use parking fees at the 25 locations that charge them and camping fees for all tent, RV and horse campsites June 1.

OPRD will also waive day-use parking fees June 2, to support Free Fishing Days offered by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

State Parks Day has been a tradition since 1998 to thank Oregonians for their support of the state park system over many decades.

Visit the stateparks.oregon.gov event calendar for a list of additional events this summer.

For camping availability, please check oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com

Oregon is on track to see fewer than 40% of registered voters cast their ballot in today’s Oregon Primary, as is customary in years without more than one well-known contender for either major party’s presidential nomination.

As of Thursday, only 14.1% of Oregon voters had returned their ballots to county election offices, the state reported Friday. That compares to the 14.6% who had returned ballots at the same stage of the 2022 primary.

Ultimately, the May 2022 election generated statewide turnout of 37.8%.

That was weak compared to recent years with hot or at least unsettled presidential nomination races. In 2016, for example, when Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were still dueling and Republicans hadn’t fully given up on Ted Cruz’s bid against Donald Trump, turnout in Oregon’s May primary reached 54%.

But in 2018, a non-presidential year in which the major parties’ nominees for governor were largely settled, turnout sunk to 34.7%.

A 49-year-old climber died on Friday after he collapsed while climbing Mount Shasta. 

According to a Facebook post from the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, the man — David Lopez from Campbell, CA — fell while walking towards Lake Helen. This was about 9,500 feet up Avalanche Gulch.

“When Mr. Lopez collapsed, his climbing partner immediately began CPR,” the post said.

The U.S. Forest Service Climbing Rangers and California Highway Patrol’s Air Operations set out to rescue Lopez, the post said. However, the darkness made it impossible for Air Operations to save him.

“While USFS Climbing Rangers made their way towards Mr. Lopez, the SCSO’s Search and Rescue (SAR) Team also responded to help the Rangers transport Mr. Lopez down the mountain,” the post said.

Unfortunately, Lopez did not respond to the CPR and the Climbing Rangers and SAR team took him down to Bunny Flats, the post said.

“A Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Deputy met the rescuers at the trailhead, where he pronounced Mr. Lopez deceased at 10:49 p.m. and notified next-of-kin,” the post said. “At this time, the cause and manner of death are pending an autopsy.”

Two Democratic primaries for U.S. House seats in Oregon could help reveal whether the party’s voters are leaning more toward progressive or establishment factions in a critical presidential election year.

The state’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes much of liberal Portland, will have its first open Democratic primary since 1996 with the retirement of U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer.

Two candidates with similar platforms are leading in fundraising: Maxine Dexter, a doctor and two-term state representative, and Susheela Jayapal, a former county commissioner endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Jayapal is the sister of U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal from Washington state, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

While outside money and claims of Republican meddling have marked the race, national Democrats can safely bet on holding the solidly blue district as they seek to overturn the GOP’s thin majority in the House. Party leaders are more keenly eyeing the state’s 5th Congressional District, which will likely be home to one of the most competitive races in the country.

Eager to reclaim the 5th District after it was flipped by the GOP in 2022 for the first time in roughly 25 years, congressional Democrats are supporting Janelle Bynum. They see her as having a better chance of winning in November than Jamie McLeod-Skinner, the progressive who in the 2022 midterm primary ousted the Democratic moderate who long held the seat and then lost to Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the general election, Gaskins said.

Sections of the Rogue River will be closed to the public during specified times during the Boatnik Races this weekend at Grants Pass.

Races in the huge weekend event run at various times and locations from May 24 through May 27. Members of the community must be off the river in those areas at least one hour before the start of a race.

According to the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol all spectators must remain at least 50 feet away from the water.

Only authorized race officials, law enforcement, and rescue personnel will be allowed on the water during the closures. The sheriff’s office emphasized, “private boats are not allowed to assist with crash or rescue operations for safety purposes.”

Police will be patrolling the waterways during the races and any unauthorized boats may be cited and are subject to a $440 fine.

The Josephine County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a person who may have gone missing while hiking along the Rogue River Trail.

According to the sheriff’s office, on Friday deputies received a citizen report of a backpack and dog leash found on the trail with no sign of a person or dog in the area.

On Saturday, a deputy hiked the trail and found the backpack approximately 1 mile south of the Grave Creek Boat Ramp.

When searching the backpack, its contents suggested the owner was preparing for a multi-day camping trip, but the items were unused.

There was no identifying information inside and police say they believe the backpack may have been there since Wednesday.

Officers searched the area, both on foot and with the use of drones, but were unable to locate the person or the dog.

The sheriff’s office says its concerned the owner may have been injured or is lost. However police say there are no missing persons reports that match the situation.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., revealed major gaps in automakers’ oversight of forced labor in their supply chains—including two companies that shipped cars or parts to the United States this year that were made with parts from a banned Chinese supplier—as part of a two-year Democratic staff investigation released yesterday.

The full report, “Insufficient Diligence: Car Makers Complicit with CCP Forced Labor,” is available here.

Importing goods made with forced labor to the United States has been illegal since the 1930s. Recognizing the systematic, government-sanctioned use of forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in 2021 strengthened enforcement of the law with respect to facilities in Xinjiang and other entities identified as having been complicit in China’s forced labor scheme.

Despite those laws, automakers have been slow to adequately watchdog their supply chains to ensure parts originating in Xinjiang and other identified entities are not used in cars and trucks imported to the United States, the staff report found. In January 2024, Volkswagen disclosed that a shipment of its vehicles intended for the U.S. market included parts made with a supplier banned by the U.S. government under UFLPA.

While the Volkswagen disclosure became public earlier this year, committee staff discovered that BMW imported thousands of vehicles intended for the United States that included parts banned under UFLPA.

Interviews and documents obtained by committee staff show that Bourns, Inc., a California-based auto supplier, had sourced components from Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group Co., Ltd. (JWD), a company added to the UFLPA Entity List in December 2023, and whose goods are presumed to be made with forced labor. Bourns, in turn, provided those parts to Lear Corp., a direct supplier for BMW and Jaguar Land Rover. Bourns notified Lear on January 3, 2024 that electronic components known as LAN transformers had been produced by JWD, and thus were prohibited in vehicles being shipped to the United States.

On January 11, Lear sent letters to BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and VW AG informing them of the banned components. Despite that notification, in April 2024, after the committee explicitly asked both companies whether they ever “directly or indirectly sourced parts from JWD,” Jaguar Land Rover claimed to be unaware of its links to the manufacturer listed on the UFLPA Entity List, and BMW informed the committee that JWD was not on their “supplier list.” However, after repeated questions from the committee, BMW disclosed that at least 8,000 Mini Cooper cars containing JWD components had been shipped to the United States

Bank Robber Arrested

Medford, Or.  – On Friday, May 17^th, 2024, at approximately 1:50 p.m. Medford Police Officers responded to a report of a robbery at Key Bank at 2598 E. Barnett Rd.

The suspect entered the bank and demanded money from a teller. The male suspect stole an undisclosed amount of cash and fled the location in a dark colored Ford Escape. MPD Detectives and local Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agents responded to the scene to assume the investigation. 

Detectives diligently worked on this investigation throughout the night and were able to identify the suspect as 52-year-old Timothy Michael Spencer of Medford.

Today a vigilant MPD Officer located the suspect and the outstanding suspect vehicle in Medford. Timothy Spencer was taken into custody and is currently being detained as the investigation continues. Spencer is being investigated for this robbery as well as the robbery that occurred at a Rogue River bank earlier this week. Charges are pending at this time.

Fatal Alarm Fire Destroys Adult Foster Care Home in Lebanon

Lebanon Fire District was dispatched to the report of a structure fire at an adult foster care home.

BC31 arrived on scene to a two-story home that was well involved in fire. The owners of the adult foster home stated that there was still someone inside the structure. BC31 upgraded the fire to a second alarm fire, requesting additional resources from across the county. The first arriving engine and medic unit forced their way through a locked door to search the room for the missing victim.

The victim was located and removed from the burning building and then emergently transported to Lebanon Community Hospital where it is reported that they passed away. Hot embers from the fire were being blown across the street and started another structure on fire. A single engine was able to quickly extinguish the second fire and return to the original fire. The crews remained on scene for several hours extinguishing the fire. The fire is currently under investigation.

Lebanon Fire District received assistance From Albany Fire Department, Sweet Home Fire District, Tangent Fire District, Harrisburg Fire Department, and Corvallis Fire Department

The owners of the adult foster care home were awakened by working smoke detectors and able evacuate majority of the residents until the the LFD was able to arrive on scene.

Student Protest Encampment at OSU

In a statement released on Thursday, less than a day after student protesters set up at the Memorial Union Quad, Oregon State University officials gave demonstrators until today, Monday, May 20, to pack up their tents or face consequences for student conduct code violations. It wasn’t immediately clear what those consequences would look like.

Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights organization at Oregon State University assembled an encampment Wednesday in the northwest corner of the Memorial Union quad.

Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights said in an Instagram post that the encampment was made in order to gather support for what they said is a stand for OSU to “divest from this genocide.”

The Associated Students of Oregon State University passed Senate resolution SR-83.09, calling for OSU to divest from any organizations funding Israel on May 9. 

OSU also released an encampment statement Wednesday. In it, OSU provides resources and statements for students, staff, faculty and community to read and understand OSU’s official stance on the encampment and what is happening with the people in Palestine.

“We will not accept violence or threats of violence, willful destruction of property, discrimination, harassment or hate speech that incites violence or criminal activity toward community members on the basis of nationality, ethnic identity or religious beliefs,” the statement states. 

In a written response last week, OSU invited protestors to help create new educational resources, and said it will launch a task force this fall to evaluate its procurement policies.

However, the university said the encampment must be gone by this Tuesday, or it will take disciplinary action.

“We will begin using methods available to us to hold participants accountable for violations of policy under the student conduct code and criminal statutes,” officials wrote.

OSU said the encampment violates the campus’ free expression and ground-use rules, while interfering with other scheduled events that have non-refundable contracts.

A Centennial High School teacher is on leave as Gresham police investigate reports of inappropriate behavior towards students.

The behavior was reported to school staff earlier this week, according to the police.

Police ask anyone with information about the case to contact Detective Mark Hawley at 503-618-3199.

Phoenix, Oregon, is the fastest growing city in Southern Oregon, growing at a rate of 5% — or 215 people — from 2022 to 2023.

This is according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This comes four years after the 2020 wildfires devastated the area. 

Behind Phoenix is Talent, which grew 2% from from 2022 to 2023.

Klamath Falls lost 78 residents since the last census, with a city grade population of 21,888.

University of Oregon students are into their week four of camping out on the university campus as part of a pro-Palestine demonstration, and remain committed to their demands, despite university administration urging them to disperse.  There seems to be no backbone from UofO officials as the campus remains a loud mess.

Tensions over the protest encampment on the University of Oregon’s campus are reaching a new pitch after a group of protestors marched and chanted in front of university President Karl Scholz’s home last week in the middle of the night.

Neighbors in Eugene’s Fairmount Neighborhood just a few blocks from the UO campus said the group walked through the neighborhood chanting slogans and making noise at President Scholz’s home at about 1:55 in the morning. Neighbors said the chanting lasted for several minutes before protestors left.

“Wanted” posters were also set up all over the neighborhood with the names of Scholz and the CEO of the UO Foundation, Paul Weinhold.

Last week University of Oregon administrators gave protestors a deadline of May 11th to stop camping overnight, dismantle the encampment, and reserve a designated space to gather during daytime hours through an officially recognized student group. However, as of May 20th, today, protestors say they are there to stay.

Protestors are still having conversations about what their next course of action will be after calling the University’s recent response to their demands “cowardly.” The university told protestors they will not call for a ceasefire or divest from companies protestors have asked them to, as the university does not make decisions based on political views.

To try and compromise, the UO negotiating team said the university will provide more education on the conflict and will increase resources for people to learn about it. They also said they are willing to arrange a meeting, after the encampment has been dismantled, for a select group of students to meet with the president and CEO of UO Foundation, the UO’s senior vice president for finance and administration, and President Karl Scholz to share the university’s approach to investment and to also hear from students.

“Track Town Fever” is already underway in Lane County ahead of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the Olympic Trials in June at Hayward Field.

Of course in Eugene, track and field events are a multi-million dollar industry.

“People come, they stay in hotels, they eat at the restaurants, they shop in the retail stores,” said one official.  Businesses are preparing for the busy summer at “Track Town USA”.

Events like the famous Eugene Marathon will attract12,000-13,000 runners alone, bringing in millions of dollars to the city and businesses.

The NCAA Outdoor track meet is from June 5-8.

The Olympic Trials begin June 21 and run for 10 days.

Busy Wildfire season is on the horizon. The Red Cross says get ready now, prepare and volunteer.

Volunteers are needed to support families affected by continuous disasters.   

Residents of Oregon and SW Washington are anticipating another busy wildfire season as the climate crisis threatens to upend more communities. The best defense during an emergency is to be prepared and the American Red Cross, Cascades Region advises everyone to get ready now. 

“Today, the Red Cross is responding to more large disasters — almost twice as many — than we did a decade ago,” said Priscilla Fuentes, CEO of the Red Cross Cascades Region. “This growing need for help means we need more volunteers trained and ready to support families facing their darkest moments. Plus, it is critical for Oregon and SW Washington residents to make an emergency plan now.” 

The number of billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. has increased 85% in just the last decade as disasters grow in frequency and intensity. People across the country are feeling the impact as an estimated 2.5 million were forced from their homes by weather-related disasters in 2023 — with more than a third displaced for longer than a month. 

LOCALLY:

• In 2020, Oregon experienced the worst wildfires on record, burning over a million acres of land. The Red Cross sheltered thousands of people for months across the state.  
• In 2021, Oregon experienced a heat dome with record high temperatures. Later that summer, we responded to the Bootleg Fire which was the third largest in Oregon history.  
• In 2022, dozens of fires consumed 465,000 acres. The Red Cross opened 10 shelters in one month alone. A wildfire erupted in Clark County in October, an unusually late time in the year.  
• In 2023, the Red Cross started the summer with four times as many wildfire responses than the previous year. Our Cascades Region sent people on over 300 deployments, from Alaska to Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Maui wildfires. 
• In 2024, we are anticipating warmer summer temperatures which can intensify wildfire activity. 

Comprising 90% of the Red Cross workforce, volunteers are continuously providing shelter, comfort, hot meals, health services and recovery support to families in need across the country. We need you! 

VOLUNTEER TODAY The Red Cross is seeking new volunteers who are team-oriented and want to make an immediate difference. Visit redcross.org/volunteertoday to sign up. Free online training will be provided.  

HOW TO PREPARE YOUR HOUSEHOLD With the increasing risk of climate-driven disasters, help keep your family safe by getting prepared today.  

• Build an emergency kit with bottled water, non-perishable food, a flashlight, and battery-powered radio. Also include medications, copies of important papers, cell phone chargers and emergency contact information.
• Make an evacuation plan with what to do in case you are separated from your family during an emergency and if you must evacuate. Make sure to coordinate with your child’s school, your work and your community’s emergency plans — and don’t forget your pets.
• Know how to stay informed by finding out how local officials will contact you during a disaster and how you will get important information, such as evacuation orders.

Plus, download the free Red Cross First Aid app so you’ll know what to do if emergency help is delayed and the free Emergency app for weather alerts, open Red Cross shelter locations and more safety tips. Choose whether you want to view the content in English or Spanish with an easy-to-find language selector. Find these and all the Red Cross apps in smartphone app stores by searching for the American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps. 

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