38.59 F
Klamath Falls
November 3, 2024

Klamath Basin News, Friday, 10/4/24 – Oregon Tech Dental Students Provide Care to Grenada; Klamath Recovery Group Holds “Community Strong Event on Saturday; Removal Completed of Hydroelectric Dams; City of Chiloquin Hosting “Candidates Forum” Monday, Oct. 7

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. Call them at 541-882-6476.

 

Friday, Oct. 4, 2024

Klamath Basin Weather

Red Flag Warning in effect from Friday, October 4, 11:00 AM until October 4, 08:00 PM.

Today
Sunny, with a high near 77. Light and variable west winds 16 to 21 mph. Overnight, mostly clear, with a low around 42. West wind 10 to 15 mph. 

Saturday
Sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 7 mph.
Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 80.
Monday
Sunny, with a high near 80.
Tuesday
Sunny, with a high near 79.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 74

Today’s Klamath Falls Headlines

Eight students and two instructors from Oregon Tech’s Dental Hygiene program in Klamath Falls traveled to the Caribbean country of Grenada to provide dental care to underserved populations in rural areas.

The 2024 student team members were seniors Sierra Avril, Rachel Broskey, Kylie Berg, Maria Corona, Ally Crowell, Cas Harrod, Melissa Lee, and Audrey Vanderhoff.

Faculty instructors Jeannie Bopp and Lois Goeres helped coordinate the trip and traveled with the students. The summer trip was part of the International Externship Program (IEP), which provides students the opportunity to travel outside the United States and deliver dental care in nontraditional settings and within new cultures. Clinics were set up in two different schools in rural areas of Grenada and students provided dental services for eight hours a day for five days.

At Oregon Tech’s Klamath Falls campus, students in the dental hygiene program participate in a yearlong course to provide dental assistance to Klamath County, but the IEP trip expands learning to a diverse cultural setting and a variety of situations including extreme heat, old equipment, and long bus rides to the sites on rough, narrow roads.

The skills learned during the IEP trip benefit students in future work settings such as public health, dental missions, rural health, and mobile dentistry.

 

In the wake of disastrous wildfires and flooded homes, those affected by such sudden, substantial losses need the support of their community.

That’s where Klamath and Lake Long-Term Recovery Group (KLLTRG) steps in. This Klamath-based nonprofit works tirelessly to streamline the process for disaster victims to attain the much needed necessities, streamline access to resources, establish continuous engagement and even offers emotional support.

Executive Director Michelle Crane is the heart and soul of the company, working well into overtime to ensure these neighbors and friends throughout the Basin have what they need to get through.

But even nonprofits need support, and this Saturday the community can join in the group’s humanitarian endeavors by attending its inaugural fundraiser “Community Strong: Actions Through Disasters.”

Starting at 5 p.m., KLLTRG will host a catered dinner, drinks and both silent and live auctions at Klamath Community College, located at 7390 S. Sixth St., in Building 4.

Attend and hear some of the heartfelt stories of all the people KLLTRG has helped in its first years, including testimonials from victims of the recent Copperfield Fire which destroyed eight homes in Klamath County.

Among the residents whose homes were lost is Brandon Fowler, former public information officer for the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office and current vice president project manager for Cal-Ore Communications. Fowler said that, since losing their home to the wildfire, he and his family have been contacted by many people who wanted to help. The problem, he said, is people don’t always know what they need in dire times such as these.

 

KLAMATH COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

MAJOR WORK FOR THE WEEK AHEAD OF OCTOBER 7, 2024

Klamath County will have work crews at the following locations. 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.

Shasta Way – Sidewalk Replacement Madison Street to Patterson Street – Expect daytime travel lane closures with Flaggers

Arthur Street (between Shasta Way and S. 6th St) – Waterline Replacement Expect daytime travel lane closures with Flaggers

Saddle Mountain Pit Road – Bridge Closure Detour route through Switchback Road and Forest Service Road 150

Utility Work with Intermittent Shoulder Closure Old Fort Road – End of Pavement to ¾ mile north

In general, flagging stations will be set up at the end 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.

Klamath County Public Works and the Board of County Commissioners appreciate the motoring publics’ patience during the repair season for our local roads and bridges. If you have any questions regarding work, please contact the Public Works Department at (541) 883-4696.


Klamath River Renewal Corporation says it as completed the
removal of the four lower Klamath hydroelectric dams.

Kiewit, the dam removal contractor hired by the Klamath River Renewal Corporation to complete the construction elements of the project, has finished all work in the river. Following the cofferdam breaches last month, a portion of the Iron Gate cofferdam and a temporary river crossing at Copco No. 1 were left in place to provide access to the far side of the river in order to remove diversion infrastructure.

With all the diversion infrastructure, temporary bridges, and dam materials now fully removed from the river, the dam removal portion of the Klamath River Renewal Project is now complete. 

Restoration and recovery of the river will continue for the coming years. Together, the dams had blocked fish passage and impaired water quality for more than a century.

All four were hydroelectric dams that did not provide irrigation or drinking water and were not operated for flood control. Following decades of advocacy, led by area tribes and supported by conservation advocates, commercial fishing organizations, and the States of California and Oregon, federal regulators approved the removal of the dams in November 2022.

Ownership of the project was then transferred to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), the organization that was created to oversee the removal of the dams and related restoration of the previously submerged lands.

While the dam removal portion of the project is now complete, work will continue for several years restoring the 2,200 acres of formerly submerged lands. As the reservoirs drained in January, native seed mix was applied to the reservoir footprints. This initial round of seeding was intended to stabilize sediments and improve soil composition.

This fall, restoration crews will turn their attention to amending soil conditions and will then perform another round of seeding and planting. Restoration crews will be onsite until vegetation success meets predetermined performance metrics. Restoration work is likely to continue for at least the next several years.

 

A Go Fund Me account has been opened to help offset the costs of funeral expenses for a Klamath Falls woman who died in a house fire last week.

Iris Alvarez lived in a home on Applegate that became fully engulfed and she could not be rescued.  The goal is five thousand dollars according to family.  To donate, please go to Go Fund Me and search for the Iris Alvarez account, opened by Glen Alvarez. The family thanks you.

 

City of Chiloquin and Chiloquin Visions in Progress will host a “Candidates Forum” on Monday, October 7th, beginning at 6 pm in Chiloquin.  Come meet and ask questions of the candidates!

The Candidate Forum will focus on the candidates running for Klamath County Commissioner Position 1 and the position of Klamath County Sheriff.

The candidates attending are Andrew Nichols and Rejeana Jackson for Klamath County Commissioner (Position 1) and Shane Mitchell and Brian Bryson for Klamath County Sheriff.

Hosted at the Chiloquin Community Center, this forum aims to provide a platform for candidates to articulate their visions, address community concerns, and answer questions from the community. The forum will be moderated by John Rademacher, CVIP Board President, who will pose questions submitted by the community.

The forum is sponsored by the City of Chiloquin, Friends of the Chiloquin Library, the League of Women Voters of Klamath County, and Chiloquin Visions in Progress.

 

Klamath County is said to be in dire straits this fiscal year after receiving far less in federal funding that had been expected, a hit that is expected to impact funding for crucial departments such as law enforcement.

Each year, the county receives roughly $900,000 from the Department of the Interior for Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILT. These dollars are provided to counties in which the federal government owns a portion of the land.

The Department of the Interior calculates the PILT total that a county will receive by multiplying the number of federal acres within the county by $3.35 (in 2024 dollars). The total is then “reduced by the amount of funds received by the locality in the prior fiscal year under certain other federal land revenue-sharing programs.”

Among those programs is the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program, of which Klamath County has historically been a recipient.

In an effort to increase Klamath County’s PILT funding, Commissioner DeGroot said he and the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) spent three years working with municipalities to establish a countywide roads district. The idea, DeGroot said, was to “direct the SRS payments to a separate entity,” which, in theory, could’ve allowed for a higher number of PILT dollars to be appropriated to the county — about $2.5 million more than previous years. But when the 2024 PILT funds came in, the amount had not increased.

 

The Klamath County School District and Bonanza Schools will host a grand opening ceremony at 1 p.m. on Friday, to celebrate the completion of a new 16,422-square-foot gymnasium on the Bonanza Schools campus.

The community is invited to attend. The free-standing building features two full-size courts, locker rooms, a concession area, and seating for more than 800 fans.

The school will host its first event, the Antler Classic Volleyball Tournament, in the new facility on Saturday, Oct. 5.  Work started on the new gymnasium in August 2023. The lead contractors on the project were Soderstrom Architects and Kinsman Construction. The district used federal ESSER relief funds to pay for construction.

 

The Klamath County Veterans Service Office will accept nominations for Klamath County’s Oldest Living Veteran.

The Nomination form will be open through October 31, 2024.  To nominate a veteran stop by the Veterans Service Office, 3328 Vandenberg Rd. or call 541-883-4274.

The chosen Veteran will be honored on Monday, November 11, 2024 during the Veteran’s Day Ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park.

 


The Lava Beds is great place to visit during the fall and winter, but there are a few things you should know before you visit.

Starting October 1, the Lava Beds Visitor Center will be open 9:30 am – 4:00 pm daily.  Also starting October 1st, camping will now be $20 per night, per site. At least half of the campground stays open all year, with “B” loop of the campground and the group campsite typically close late-November.

When visiting Lava Beds National Monument, visitors are reminded that a cave permit and an entrance fee are required.  While entrance fees can be handled via a self-pay station outside the visitor center, or online, a cave permit can only be obtained from the visitor center. 

Visitors should arrive within visitor center hours if they are planning to visit a cave. Winter cave closures to protect hibernating bats, typically go into effect on October 15th. During the winter snowy season, the monument’s maintenance staff will keep the main park road open from the northern boundary entrances to Valentine Cave. 

Forest Service Rd 49 going towards Medicine Lake and Forest Service Rd 10 between Lava Beds and Tionesta are not plowed during the winter and can become impassable.

Win-R-Insulation, Inc. wants you to know of a special partnership with EnergyTrust of Oregon where you may be able to qualify for a FREE CEILING INSULATION PROGRAM. 

Click here for full details: https://www.basinlife.com/2024/07/08/win-r-insulation-announces-free-ceiling-insulation-program-click-here-for-info/

 

Around the State of Oregon

The agonizingly slow trajectory of Oregon students’ academic recovery from pandemic disruptions continued for a third straight year in 2024, dashing hopes that the state’s students would finally begin to show substantial rebounds in their math and English skills.

The results, based on tests given last spring and released Thursday by the Oregon Department of Education, show the merest upticks in math for elementary and middle school students and a dispiriting regression in reading and writing for the third straight year.

The data shows that about only 42% of elementary and middle school students scored as “proficient” on Smarter Balanced reading and writing tests, about 9 percentage points below 2019′s scores, which were the lowest in years.

In math, 32% of third through eighth graders ranked as proficient, 8 percentage points below 2019′s similarly low scores.

A “proficient” score indicates that a student has understood and can apply the grade-level skills they need to know in order to eventually be ready for college or the workforce when they graduate from high school.

Middle schools — a make-or-break stretch for many students — made the biggest overall gains in math among last year’s seventh and eighth graders, with those students improving nearly a full percentage point over their 2023 counterparts.

But those same students posted the biggest backslides in reading and writing, an especially difficult problem to address, as middle school teachers adjust to teach the foundational English skills that students are supposed to have mastered by third grade.

 

Art Along the Rogue Starts Today!

This year’s theme for the 21st Annual Art Along the Rogue Art and Music Festival is ‘Unsolved Mysteries.’ Think of Bigfoot, Area 51, D.B. Cooper, and other mysteries.
5th and H Street in historic downtown Grants Pass.
FRIDAY, October 4: 5:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
SATURDAY, October 5: 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, October 6: 9:00 am – 5:30 p.m.
May be a doodle of floor plan and text that says 'OPASING G ST. ART ALONG THE ROGUE HOURS ART ALONG UNSOLVED Mysteries FRIDAY. OCTOBER 4, 5:30 to 9 SATURDAY. AM to SUNDAY, A To 6:15 2024 HISTORIC GRANTS PASS OWL LOT 6, 2024 5 ST. IT HST LIVE MUSIC & PERFORMANCE 10x10 ARTIST AREAS: 3D CRAFT VENDO RS, FOOD TRUCKS 12.12 10x10 BOOTH NAPALOT LOT 8.8 OSPREY LOT YOUTH ST. 6TH CRAFT VENDORS, WILDLIFE IMAGES, CHILDREN'S MUSEUM 6P SALMON PARKING LOT (TWO ADA SPACES, WITH THE REMAINDER RESERVED FOR ARTISTS) と STREET CLOSURES H STREET AT 4T AND 6T STREETS. 5TH STREET AT AND STREETS. ST. ADAPARRIMU'

Follow this link for complete details, including a dining guide, and link to a scavenger hunt: https://www.grantspassoregon.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=3421

May be a graphic of text

A student at Gold Beach Jr./Sr. High School student is no longer enrolled after making a list targeting students.

Central Curry School District 1 Superintendent Eric Milburn told the media that the list targeted other students at the school and one adult not affiliated with the school or school district. The school was placed on a hold on Wednesday, where students were held in their classrooms while Gold Beach Police and designated school personnel searched common areas and lockers for weapons.

No weapons were found on campus. The school district says an investigation and threat assessment conducted by Gold Beach Police and the Curry County Juvenile Department found the student has no access to a weapon. The school district reached out to the students, and families of students who were listed as potential targets of the suspect.

The student who created the list is no longer enrolled at Gold Beach Jr./Sr. High School.

 

A Gervais woman was sentenced to three years in prison for a drunken driving crash that killed her longtime boyfriend in July 2022. 

Oksana Yuriyevna Titarenko, 26, was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and driving under the influence following a bench trial in late August at the Linn County Courthouse.

Titarenko was arrested after a rollover crash on Oregon 226 around 3 miles southwest of Lyons.

Mikhail Ermolenko, 30, of Salem died in the crash. Authorities said Titarenko and Ermolenko were bound for the coast in a 2013 Infiniti G37.

Titarenko was driving 67 mph in 55 mph zone on a curve when she ran off the graveled road onto the right shoulder, briefly overcorrected, and crossed the road before rolling her car, possibly several times.

 

A study of more than 700 counties across multiple U.S. states found a link between childhood leukemia and levels of decaying radon gas, including those lower than the federal guideline for mitigation.

The findings are important because there are few established risk factors for cancer in children and the role of the environment has not been explored much, said Oregon State University’s Matthew Bozigar, who led the research.

Radon, a naturally occurring gas, is a product of the radioactive decay of uranium, which is present in certain rocks and soils. Upon escaping from the ground, radon itself decays and emits radioactive particles that can get within the body and collect in many tissues, where they can damage or destroy the cells’ DNA, which can cause cancer.

Odorless, tasteless and colorless, radon gas dilutes quickly in open air and is generally harmless before it decays, but indoors or in areas with poor air exchange, it can easily concentrate to dangerous levels and is recognized as a significant risk factor for lung cancer.

Radon, measured with small, passive detectors and mitigated through passive or active ventilation in basements and crawl spaces, has not been linked to other cancers, according to the World Health Organization.

But in an 18-year statistical modeling study of 727 counties spread among 14 states, Bozigar and collaborators not only found a connection between childhood leukemia and radon, but at concentrations below the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended guideline for mitigation.

 

A New York man will spend at least 15 years in prison after traveling to southern Oregon where he filmed his sexual abuse of a child.

Court documents show, 26-year-old Brent Johnson Jr. initially contacted the child through an online video game back in 2021. At that time the two exchanged phone numbers and continued communicating via phone calls and text messages.

Later that year, Johnson traveled to southern Oregon where he proceeded to sexually abuse the child while he captured it on video.

Police were contacted by the child’s mother in February of 2022 after she received text messages and images from Johnson. Johnson was later indicted and charged with sexual exploitation of a child, distributing child pornography, and traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

In June of 2024, Johnson pled guilty to the first two charges. The case was investigated through a collaboration between Homeland Security agents in Long Island, New York, and Medford as well as the Rogue River Police Department.

 

The state of Oregon’s 36 counties will need more than an additional $800 million per year to maintain roads and bridges, according to a new study from the Association of Oregon Counties.

The study, presented to the Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee, comes as lawmakers start to craft a multibillion-dollar transportation package over the coming months.

The Oregon Department of Transportation this summer said it needed an extra $1.8 billion annually just to keep up with maintenance — let alone pay for high-ticket projects like a replacement bridge on Interstate 5 connecting Oregon and Washington. 

Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale and a co-chair of the joint committee, summed the main problem up simply in a meeting last week. The interstate highway system built in the 1950s and 1960s has essentially lived out its useful life, Gorsek added, and Oregon hasn’t kept up with maintaining and replacing roads, bridges and machinery, like snow plows and graders.

Lawmakers have seen the struggling road system firsthand on a 12-stop transportation tour this summer. Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, said the tour made clear that local governments were struggling to keep up.

 

The Salem-Keizer School District is being sued by a special education instructional assistant who says she’s being assaulted by students and the district is just ignoring it.

Lauren Eriksen says she’s been bitten and suffered concussions as a result of the students she oversees. The School District says it can’t comment on the case. Previously, Superintendent Andrea Castañeda said the district needs more funding to hire additional teachers.

Oregon OSHA released a report saying more staff is needed at schools to care for students with extreme behavioral issues. Stay tuned.

 

Southern Oregon hosting workplace safety and health conference Oct. 15-17

 A three-day event in southern Oregon will feature a variety of workshops and presentations designed to help employers and workers improve on-the-job safety and health. Topics include fall protection, hazard recognition, safety committees, excavation safety, and injury prevention.

In addition to addressing many standard safety and health topics, the Southern Oregon Occupational Safety & Health Conference – to be held Oct. 15-17 at the Ashland Hills Hotel & Suites in Ashland – offers a professional development workshop on safety culture, leadership, and business; a pre-conference workshop on drug and alcohol reasonable suspicion for supervisors; and first aid and other emergency training.

The conference is a joint effort of the Southern Oregon Chapter of the American Society of Safety Professionals and Oregon OSHA.

The three-day event will feature keynote speaker James Boretti, president and CEO of Boretti, Inc., a professional safety, health, and environmental firm in California that provides technical and business safety solutions. Boretti has more than 33 years of experience with an extensive background in occupational safety and health. He has been a certified safety professional since 1997.

On Wednesday, Oct. 16, Boretti’s keynote presentation, “The Business of Safety: Intersection of Organizational Needs with Safety Values,” will explore the challenges of understanding three key components of all organizations: business, culture, and leadership.

Other conference topic areas include:

  • Construction safety
  • General industry safety
  • Human resources
  • Health, wellness, and industrial hygiene
  • Safety Committee University

Conference registration fees include early-bird pricing and discounts (fees increase Oct. 1), as well as different pricing for workshops and conference days (ranging from $65 to $210). More information, conference options, programs, and registration are all available onlineRegister now. For more information about upcoming workplace safety and health conferences, visit Oregon OSHA online.

About Oregon OSHA: Oregon OSHA enforces the state’s workplace safety and health rules and works to improve workplace safety and health for all Oregon workers. The division is part of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Oregon’s largest consumer protection and business regulatory agency. Visit osha.oregon.gov and dcbs.oregon.gov.

State struggles to recover more than $24 million from people responsible for wildfires

A partial list from the Oregon Department of Forestry shows it has collected $86,000 of $24 million it paid to fight several dozen wildfires that were maliciously or negligently ignited over the last two decades.

The Holiday Fire in 2020 near Eugene
The Holiday Fire in 2020 near Eugene burned more than 173,000 acres and was one of the largest wildfires in Oregon history. The Oregon Department of Forestry is still waiting on the U.S. Forest Service to finish its part of investigating any responsible parties in the wildfire so both agencies can pursue any rightful reimbursement for the costs of putting it out. (U.S. Forest Service)

Each year, the Oregon Department of Forestry responds to about 1,000 wildfires across the 16 million acres of land it protects. It investigates the cause of every fire, and if a person or group is found to have been negligent or malicious in starting or spreading a significant fire, the agency pursues reimbursement for its firefighting costs.

The agency has not been very successful in recouping those costs, according to a report discussed at a March meeting of the four-member Emergency Fire Cost Committee.

The account offered a rare glimpse into the scale of the costs and the efforts to recover them. But it only represented a snapshot of the problem, excluding a full list of all the fires the state is investigating or pursuing for reimbursement, Jessica Neujahr, a forestry spokesperson, said in an email.

“That larger list is not one we can share,” she said, due to ongoing litigation and privacy concerns.

The report showed the forestry department spent at least $24 million to respond to 36 significant fires caused or spread negligently or maliciously by people or groups since 2004, and that in pursuing reimbursement, it has collected just $86,000 from “responsible parties.”

Few people who have started significant wildfires have millions of dollars to reimburse the department and sometimes investigating who is responsible, or trying to collect the money, can become too costly, according to Tim Holschbach, chief of policy and planning with the department’s fire protection division.

In those cases, the department moves on.

“We don’t want the effort to exceed the payback,” Holschbach said. “It wouldn’t make sense for us to spend taxpayer money to pursue recovery from someone who can’t pay.”

With climate change, wildfire seasons are becoming longer and often more destructive, affecting communities, infrastructure and land needed for grazing and farming. This year’s season, which is expected to end this month, scorched nearly 2 million acres across the state, setting a new record. Some of the fires were quickly put out, but others burned for weeks. The primary cause of wildfires this year was lightning strikes.

The agency considers a “significant” fire to be one that costs over $5,000 to fight, with the agency pursuing those it considers to have started or contributed to the blaze either willfully or through negligence, Neujahr said.

The agency listed 36 fires since 2004 that were willfully or negligently set in its report to the committee. It has accepted $86,000 in settlements and restitution for 17 of the oldest fires and is actively trying to recoup at least $15 million for 19 that started since 2011. It is also investigating 21 significant fires that occurred between 2020 and 2023 in an attempt to recover at least some of the $88.5 million spent to snuff them out. Agency officials don’t yet know whether they’ll identify a culprit to pursue for reimbursement in each case, Neujahr said

The Legislature recently voted to send the forestry department $47.5 million in emergency funding to help pay bills from fighting the current fire season, which has already cost the state $250 million.

Deciphering the cause

In investigating fires, state forestry officials first identify the point of origin, according to Holschbach. If they discover a tree slashed with a big black scar, they know the cause was probably lightning, or if a burn barrel used to burn trash is nearby, they know humans were likely involved. But other investigations are more difficult.

If they determine that someone is responsible and identify the party, officials send them a letter outlining the costs and demanding payment. That person has 90 days to respond to the letter before interest on the bill starts to accrue. If the culprit refuses to pay, the forestry department notifies the Oregon Department of Justice to determine other methods of collecting, Neujahr said.

Investigations can take years depending on how many people and federal agencies are involved, or how complex the case is, Holschbach said. The agency’s investigation also has to be able to stand up in court.

“We treat every investigation as if we’re preparing for litigation,” Holschbach said, adding that people have become increasingly litigious.

“We have to be more careful in our documentation, and more complete than we ever have been, and doing that really slows things down. Not that we were reckless before, or didn’t have complete reports, but it’s just more complex,” he said.

Working with federal agencies can slow things down, too.

The agency is still waiting for the U.S. Forest Service to complete its investigation of the Two Four Two Fire in 2020 near the Williamson River Campground in Klamath Falls, which burned more than 2,000 acres. The state agency is also still waiting on the forest service to finish its part of the investigation on the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire near Eugene that burned more than 173,000 acres and was one of the largest wildfires in Oregon history.

Firefighting costs

Every two years, the state sets the forestry department’s firefighting budget. The agency also collects fees from owners of the private land it protects, about three-quarters of the total 16 million acres. Those fees go into the Oregon Forest Land Protection Fund to help defer wildfire costs. It also helps to fight fires on federal land, and pays those costs upfront, but is reimbursed by the federal government.

Emergency fire costs that go beyond the biennial firefighting budget are paid by revenue from two sources, depending on the amount. Up to $20 million of emergency fire costs are split between the protection fund and Oregon’s general fund, which is used for a wide range of expenses and mostly comes from Oregon income taxes. Costs beyond $20 million are paid entirely by the general fund, Holschbach said.

When the department collects reimbursements, most of the money goes back to the general fund.

“The point of cost recovery is to take the burden off the taxpayer – off of Oregonians,” said Neujahr, the forestry department spokesperson. “If we can get that money back to the state, that’s the goal.”

But very little has been reimbursed. Agency officials said they drop investigations that become too complex and costly to pursue or when there’s little hope of recovering the money.

One example is the Sweet Creek Milepost 2 fire that started in Lane County in 2020 and cost more than $4 million to fight. In the end, the arsonist who was charged was only able to pay $154 to the forestry department.

In another fire – that was not included in the March report – the department recovered $200,000 after spending $37 million putting it out. The 2015 Stouts Creek Fire in Douglas County, which spread across 26,000 acres, was started by a guy mowing his lawn during a restricted period of hot and dry conditions. The department only recovered $200,000 because that was the limit on his homeowners insurance policy.

Many fires, like this one, could have been avoided with better judgment, Holschbach said.

“About 70% to 80% of fires are human caused, but most of those are not willful, malicious or negligent,” Holschbach said.

But they’re often expensive to put out – for the department and those found responsible.

Holschbach said those high costs are part of the reason the agency has launched campaigns to make the public more aware of mowing and debris burning restrictions.

“Don’t cause a fire. Don’t go there. Because you may end up paying for it,” he said. (SOURCE)

 

1 in 8 Oregonians Lives Below the Poverty Line

On the flip side of the coin is poverty and, in Oregon, one in eight people live below the federal poverty line.

Lehner says one fact that has stood out in recent years is ‘the number of Oregonians in deep poverty,’ some whose income ‘is less than half of the official poverty level.’ This translates to an annual revenue of $7,000 per person, or $15,000 for a family of four. 

The poverty threshold set by the government is a yearly income of  $15,480 per person or $31,200 for a family of four.

While Oregon’s poverty threshold remains relatively steady, Lehner says there is an increase in people living in deep poverty.

Poverty Has Been Steadily Increasing Among Hispanic and Latino Residents

The biggest change in the racial poverty gap in recent years has been a steady increase in poverty among Hispanic and Latino residents. However, historically low poverty was recorded in 2023 among Black and American Indian population groups. Poverty among Oregon Blacks is close to 25%, more than double the statewide level.

Clackamas County has the lowest poverty rate in Oregon at 6.6%, while Multnomah County, the largest in the state, has the highest poverty level of 12.9% in the metro area. Although Crook County’s poverty is below 8%, it has one of the highest unemployment rates in Oregon.

Overall, the 2023 survey shows that Oregon household incomes are continuing to rise, although poverty rates among some groups, in some locales, are much higher than statewide. (SOURCE)

 

The North Bend Police Department in Coos County (NBPD) recently launched its new virtual policing platform, MyPDConnect, that’s designed to help citizens quickly and easily report certain crimes from the comfort of their computer or mobile device.

According to NBPD’s Police Chief Cal Mitts, MyPDConnect specializes in online reporting for property crimes like theft from vehicles, stolen bicycles, fraud or scams, damaged property, shoplifting, graffiti and more.

Chief Mitts says the app works across all devices and will automatically adjust to any screen size as well as allow users to upload photos and videos directly with their reports. It is hoped the system will help reduce hold times and will aid in law enforcement to focus on urgent needs in the community. Due to the budget shortfall and recent staffing shortages, Chief Mitts says the platform will help ease the jobs of dispatchers.

Another feature of the platform is its real-time heat map technology, which will track down criminal activity throughout North Bend and translates into languages provided by Google translate including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, and Korean and this will also allow the public to communicate with local officers directly.

Chief Mitts says that the public can scan a QR code that is available for quick access to the system from any mobile device and is accessible through the department’s website at northbendpd.mypdconnect.com.

 

Snap Benefits provided through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are set to increase this week.

The Cost of Living Adjustment impacts the maximum allotments for those who receive SNAP, commonly known as food stamps. The changes will take effect on Oct. 1 and last until Sept. 30, 2025. SNAP eligibility depends on household income and assets and is adjusted yearly.

Some 42.1 million people – roughly 12.6% of people in the U.S. – benefited from SNAP each month in 2023, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The average benefit was $211.93 per month. State-by-state participation rate ranges from a low of 4.6% in Utah to 23.1% in New Mexico.

 

Wishing to control power and change the Supreme Court for democrats, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced Thursday he’s introduced legislation that he said would ” restore balance among the three branches of government”.

Wyden wants more Supreme Court justices.

Wyden says his bill “would increase transparency to improve public trust in America’s courts, and modernize the courts to ensure greater access to justice for more Americans,” including the phased-in addition of six Supreme Court justices, for a total of 15.

In the wake of recent rulings upending decades of precedent and evidence of unethical behavior, Wyden’s Judicial Modernization and Transparency Act would modernize the courts by expanding the Supreme Court to 15 justices over three presidential terms, prevent political inaction from bottling up nominations to the Supreme Court, and restore appropriate deference to the legislative branch by requiring a supermajority to overturn acts of Congress, among other modernizing provisions to improve access to justice.  

According to Wyden’s news release, which continues in full below: The bill would also implement much-needed reforms to bring more accountability to the Supreme Court recusal process and improve transparency around potential financial conflicts and other unethical behavior.

In July, as part of his ongoing efforts to reform and restore fairness to our country’s judicial system, Wyden introduced legislation to restore much-needed checks on Donald Trump’s right-leaning Supreme Court by providing Congress with new authority to overturn judicial decisions that clearly undermine the congressional intent of laws following the Loper Bright decision.

Wyden also introduced legislation to bring an end to the controversial practice of “judge shopping,” in which plaintiffs cherry-pick judges they know will hand down favorable rulings, leading to sweeping rulings that wield undue power over millions of Americans. Stay tuned.

 

The cost of camping is going up in Oregon. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is increasing camping, parking and reservation fees to keep pace with inflation.

Most of the increases range from two to five dollars. On October 15th, base camping fees will increase. On January 1st, reservation fees increase from eight to ten dollars. Parking fees will increase from five to ten dollars. On July 1st, the out-of-state 25 percent surcharge on RV campsites will be expanded to all camping.

Utility costs for example have increased by 28% over the last 4 years, but most fees have remained the same. Depending on the fee, the last increase was anywhere from seven to 15 years ago for base fees.

OPRD will increase its base camping fees for the first time since 2017. The increase applies to all camping reservations for 2025. Starting on October 15, 2024, all reservations made for 2025 stays will include the fee increase. OPRD has three main sources of funding: a little less than half comes from constitutionally dedicated lottery funds, about 15% comes from recreational vehicle license plate fees and roughly 35% comes from park fees from visitors. OPRD is not funded by taxes.

 

Salem, OR—Oregon resident taxpayers preparing their own tax returns in 2025 will have the option to electronically file both their federal and state income tax returns using the combination of IRS Direct File and Direct File Oregon, the IRS and the Oregon Department of Revenue announced today.

“The Direct File Program is a game-changer for taxpayers,” Governor Tina Kotek said. “This free filing option is an equitable opportunity to save Oregonians time and money, regardless of their income.”

The IRS and US Treasury Department announced an expansion of the types of returns that can be filed using IRS Direct File beyond what was available in the pilot program during the 2024 tax filing season. 

During the pilot last year, IRS Direct File covered limited tax situations, including wage income reported on a W-2 form, Social Security income, unemployment compensation and certain credits and deductions. For the 2025 filing season, IRS Direct File will support Forms 1099 for interest income greater than $1,500, retirement income and the Form 1099 for Alaska residents reporting the Alaska Permanent Fund dividend. (See the attached graphic for more on who will be able to use IRS Direct File in 2025.)

In the 2024 tax season, more than 140,000 taxpayers in 12 states filed their federal tax returns using the limited pilot program while nearly 7,000 Oregon taxpayers filed their state returns using the free, state-only Direct File Oregon option.

The IRS estimates that 30 million US taxpayers will be able to use IRS Direct File in 2025, including 640,000 Oregon taxpayers who will be able to e-file both their federal and state returns for free.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced in May that it would make IRS Direct File a permanent option for taxpayers and invited all 50 states to participate to create a seamless free filing system for both federal and state taxes. Oregon was the first of 12 new states to accept the invitation from the IRS in June.

“Connecting Direct File Oregon with the IRS Direct File option beginning next year will give Oregon taxpayers a seamless way to electronically file both their federal and state income tax returns—and do both for free,” Oregon Department of Revenue Director Betsy Imholt said.

 

Vegetable breeders at Oregon State University have developed two new mild habanero peppers.

It’s taken 25 years to create the peppers that aren’t like extremely hot habanero peppers. They’re called “Notta Hotta” and “Mild Thing.”

They’re described as having unique fruity and floral fragrances and flavors, but lower heat levels. The seeds are expected to be available at farmers markets next year, so home gardeners can grow them.

 

FALL BACK ONE HOUR…starts Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024.

In a little less than a month, it will be time to set your clocks back to standard time.

Daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Most devices these days will adjust automatically to the time change, but don’t forget to set any traditional clocks back by one hour.

Despite several efforts to end seasonal time changes, we will be falling back in November and springing forward in March for the foreseeable future. Oregon, Washington and California have all made multiple attempts to permanently switch to either standard or daylight saving time — but none of the efforts have stuck.

Changing to daylight saving time requires congressional approval — and that approval doesn’t appear to be likely, despite bipartisan efforts to allow states to make the change.

 

Thanks for reading the the news on BasinLife.com from Wynne Broadcasting.

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