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.
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024
Klamath Basin Weather
Today
Sunny, with a high near 81. Light west southwest winds 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Overnight, mostly clear, with a low around 45.
Today’s Klamath Falls Headlines
The Bill Collier Ice Arena in Klamath Falls is at risk of closing after multiple equipment failures.
According to a letter from the ice arena’s Executive Director, Wendy Heaton, during pre-season maintenance crews found a leak in the compressor, and one of the facility’s pumps failed. The arena cannot move forward without fixing both of these issues. According to the arena, the pump is 22 years old and is one of the facility’s two brine pumps which helps to maintain the ice keeping the rink operational.
From offering hockey and figure skating in the winter to roller skating and camps in the summer, Heaton calls the venue one-of-a-kind. She says the arena offers “year-round programs that foster youth development, community involvement, and athletic excellence.”
To get the essential repairs done, the arena needs to raise $50,000. Heaton, along with the arena’s board of directors, is calling on the community for help. To get more information on how to help, visit theBill Collier Ice Arena’s website.
Klamath County Elections Finds More Improper Registration of Voters
Klamath County Elections was notified again by the Secretary of State that there were potential Non-
USA Citizens registered to vote in Klamath County per an error from the Oregon Department of
Motor Vehicles.
The received information had One (1) more potentially non-USA citizen in Klamath County, who have never
voted. The directed steps have been followed.
The Governor has directed the Oregon DMV to pause transmitting Oregon Motor Voter data to the Secretary of State until after completion of the full-scale data integrity review overseen by a panel of external data experts, at the earliest. The review is set for completion by the end of the year. In accordance with existing procedures, the Secretary of State stopped automatically registering voters through Oregon Motor Voter on September 30, 2024.
If you are a U.S. Citizen and went to DMV, please check with our office to make sure you are registered. The last day to register to vote is October 15, 2024.
If we receive any more notices, we will continue to respond promptly. If you have evidence that a person may be unlawfully registered to vote, please send your evidence and the information to elections@klamathcounty.org. If you have questions, please contact our office at (541)883-5134.
Governor Kotek Announces Actions Following Oregon Motor Voter Program Data Errors (mailchi.mp)
Earl Kilpatrick said it was the trip of a lifetime as he talked about his recent Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. Kilpatrick’s trip was paid for by the Honor Flight of Southwest Oregon, a part of the larger nonprofit Honor Flight Network.
The organization is dedicated to transporting as many United States military veterans as possible to see memorials, museums and monuments built in their honor at the nation’s capital in a showing of gratitude for their service, sacrifice and selflessness.
Vice-president for the Southwest Oregon chapter Josh Alvarez said Honor Flights was started by Earl Morse, a retired Air Force captain who was working as a physician assistant at a Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Ohio. The year was 2004, shortly after the National World War II Memorial was completed in Washington, D.C., when Morse was asking his veteran patients if they were going to visit it.
According to Alvarez, not a single one responded yes, many citing the reason as costs associated with making the journey, prompting Morse to pitch the idea of ferrying the veterans to Washington to an Ohio aeroclub. Eleven pilots volunteered and the Honor Flight Network was formed. Since the first flights in May 2005, the Honor Flight network has expanded to all 50 states, created relationships with major airlines and has flown over 300,000 veterans for an all-expenses paid (flight, lodging, food) two-day tour of the capital.
Kilpatrick, a local 94-year-old veteran who had served 22 years in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and the Vietnam War, recently went on the Honor Flight. Recounting his trip, Kilpatrick said that the tour was well organized and that the veterans were well taken care of.
He said stops were made at the Vietnam Wall Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Lincoln Memorial, among others including the Air Force Museum and Army Museum, and his favorite stop along the tour, the 9/11 Memorial.
Klamath County Public Works Department announced the following road work projects in the coming week.
Shasta Way — Sidewalk replacement from Madison Street to Patterson Street; expect daytime travel lane closure with flaggers present.
Arthur Street — Waterline replacement between Shasta Way and South Sixth Street; expect daytime travel lane closure with flaggers present.
Saddle Mountain Pit Road — Bridge closure; detour route through Switchback Road and Forest Service Road 150.
Old Fort Road — Utility work with intermittent shoulder closure.
As fall weather brings shorter days and cooler temperatures, the BLM is preparing for fall and winter prescribed burning.
Fuels specialists may begin ignitions as early as October 15, if conditions are favorable. The Klamath Falls Field Office hopes to accomplish up to 750 acres of pile burning. Ignitions are expected to continue over the next several months as weather conditions allow.
Prescribed burn projects are planned throughout the region. Prescribed burning reduces hazardous fuels which can burn during wildfires. The piles are concentrations of leftover materials from previous thinning projects. Where possible, material was first offered for firewood, commercial sale, or biomass use. Some material was also scattered to rehabilitate sites and close user-created routes. Each project can take several days or several weeks to complete, depending on the size.
Crews will move between each project area based on site-specific weather. Main roads within the project areas will be signed to inform residents and the public of planned prescribed fire activity. No road closures or delays are expected.
All prescribed burning is highly dependent on favorable temperature, moisture, and wind conditions. Each of these prescribed burns will only be implemented if the conditions are right to meet the objectives of the burn. All prescribed burn areas will be patrolled during and following ignitions. Prescribed burns are completed in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Forestry smoke management plan.
Piles may smolder, burn, and produce smoke for several days after ignition. Efforts will be made to minimize smoke impacts to nearby communities.
For more information on prescribed burning or for information specific to the BLM Klamath Falls Field Office, call 541-883-6916.
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.
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.
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Around the State of Oregon
The value of Oregon’s agricultural products soared 35% in five years ending in 2022, according to newly released federal data — a big jump that highlights farms’ economic role in just about every county in the state.
In 2022, Oregon produced nearly $6.8 billion of nursery plants, beef, hay, berries, potatoes, beans, milk, eggs and Christmas trees, among other products. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest census of the nation’s agricultural output, conducted every five years. Farms operate in all corners of the state. The biggest output is concentrated in the upper Willamette Valley and northeast Oregon. Plants, trees, shrubs, flowers and grass are Oregon’s most valuable farm products, the census found. They’re grown most in the damp, fertile soil of Marion and Clackamas counties.
Marion County’s farm products had the most market value of any county in the state, $874 million — about 13% of Oregon’s total. Cattle are Oregon’s second-most valuable agricultural good. The state’s cattle trade is concentrated in Morrow County, whose farm products are just behind Marion County’s in terms of total market value. Oregon farming is far less important to the state’s economy than it was 50 years ago, when agricultural accounted for about 1 in every 18 jobs. But Oregon’s economy is about twice as dependent on farming as the average state’s.
A 60-year-old man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the kidnapping, sexual assault and deadly beating of a 19-year-old woman near Mt. Hood Community College in 1980.
In 2021, new DNA technology identified Robert Plympton as a possible suspect. He was 16-years-old when the murder happened. Detectives saw him spit a piece of gum on the ground. A DNA test matched Plympton to the crime. He was living in Troutdale at the time and was arrested.
A Multnomah County judge found him guilty of the murder.
Three people were arrested in Crescent City Saturday after police say they were involved in assaulting someone with a machete.
to the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a report of an assault in the 900 block of Hamilton Avenue to find “a victim who had injuries from being struck with a machete.” The victim identified three people who they said were responsible. Deputies also learned that the suspects had a gun. Later police obtained a search warrant for an apartment in the 300 block of Harding Avenue, where all three suspects, identified as Ethan Raby, Izayah Raby, and Angel Dominguez, were found.
During the search, deputies seized a machete, two handguns without serial numbers, a short-barrel AR-15 style rifle, several rounds of ammo, and clothing they believe may have been worn during the assault. All three suspects were arrested and booked into the Del Norte County Jail on multiple charges including attempted homicide.
Police seize two guns, almost 200 grams of psilocybin, and cash during a traffic stop in Siskiyou County last week.
According to CHP Yreka, an officer pulled a vehicle over for weaving onto the shoulder along the north side of US-97 near Angel Valley Road just after 10 p.m. During the stop, police say there were several indicators of criminal activity and intoxication.
Inside the vehicle the officer found a loaded Glock 19 with a high-capacity magazine, a loaded AK rifle, a bag containing 199 grams of psilocybin, and a large amount of cash. CHP says over $25,000 was seized through asset forfeiture. The case is now being investigated by the North State Major Investigations Team.
Oregon School Student Proficienty Scores Continue To Decline
Assessment data released by the Oregon Department of Education on Thursday, Oct. 3 painted a bleak picture of declining test scores of Oregon students. And critics and some legislators say this is just unacceptable.
The summative assessments in science, math and English language arts were taken in spring 2024, with tests issued to third through eighth graders and high school juniors. Statewide, the assessment scores remain significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels, with only 31% of all Oregon students testing at proficiency in math, 43% in English and 29% in science.
During the 2018-19 school year, 46.5% of Oregon’s third graders tested as proficient in English; five years later in 2024 that percentage dropped to 39%. The story is the same for math — in 2018-19, 46.4% of third graders tested at proficiency, while in tests taken this year that number dropped five percentage points to 39.9%.
Students who participate in OSAS summative tests receive a score between 1-4. Students who score level 1 are below grade level, level 2 are at grade level and scores of 3 or higher represent proficiency in the subject area. The tests cover math, English and science.
“This is not where we want this. This isn’t normal. This is not where we want to be by any stretch of the imagination, and we are setting goals with districts,” said ODE Director Charlene Williams in a press release. “Between the next three to five years, they are setting learning and growth performance targets based on their data.”
ODE also provided information regarding the share of students at each grade level who scored at “Level 1,” or below grade level. For eighth graders, 43% performed below grade level in science, 51% in math and 34% in English. For third graders, 37% are below grade level in both English and math.
Since the 2022-23 school year, some improvements were made in math assessments. Oregon fifth, seventh and eighth graders saw significant improvements in their math scores.
Oregon is not alone in its struggle to catch up to pre-pandemic levels in standardized test scores. Every state experienced a decrease in average assessment scores for math and English between spring 2019 and 2022, according to a report co-authored by Harvard and Stanford Universities’ Education Recovery Scorecard. However, compared to every other state, Oregon was third last for improvement in reading test scores between 2019 and 2023.
Oregon was also the only state that failed to make any improvement in math scores between 2021-22 and 2022-23, a trend the state narrowly avoided repeating by making improving by 0.4 of a percentage point last spring.
“Every child deserves a high-quality, culturally responsive public education to be set up for success. I’m not satisfied with this year’s numbers,” Gov. Tina Kotek said in a press release. “We must double down on our commitment and collaboration to fix the gaps in our system that are failing students. I am focused on working with education partners across the whole system to identify evidence-based solutions, increase high-quality learning opportunities, and strengthen student wellbeing.”
ODE highlighted four key areas to help “accelerate learning” and improve English language arts proficiency: continued and increased investment in literacy, summer and afterschool learning, data-informed policy and practices, and accountability.
Oregon legislators passed the Early Literacy Success Initiative in 2023 and invested $90 million to close the gaps in reading and writing proficiency for underserved student groups. ODE is confident that these investments will make a difference in future English assessments for elementary and middle school students.
The release of OSAS scores precedes district “report cards” and AP scores released later in the fall.
Another wildfire is burning in Northern California this week, with reports of 25% containment.
In Siskiyou County, the Hambone Fire is burning 15 acres in Ponderosa and Hambone areas. The Hambone Fire started Saturday, Oct. 6, with crews from CAL FIRE Siskiyou Unit responding.
Fire crews were able to stop the forward spread of the blaze by Sunday morning. Resources assigned to the blaze include 50 crew members, five engines and four water tenders. Numerous firefighting air tankers from throughout the state are flying fire suppression missions as conditions allow. CAL FIRE reported reaching 25% containment as of yesterday morning.
The cause is still under investigation. No closures or evacuations are in effect at this time.
Pacific Power Crews From Southern Oregon Deploy to Georgia for Hurricane Helene Response
In response to a mutual assistance request from Georgia Power, Pacific Power is sending crews, support personnel and equipment from Medford, Bend, Roseburg, Astoria and Grants Pass in Oregon and Walla Walla and Yakima in Washington to aid in power restoration efforts following the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
The Category 4 storm, with sustained winds reaching 140 miles per hour, impacted 10 states, with the National Hurricane Center reporting that its effects extended as far as 400 miles from its landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region.
These teams, totaling 22 Pacific Power employees, will be equipped with 20 trucks and associated heavy equipment to help restore power to impacted communities. Rocky Mountain Power, Pacific Power’s sister company, is also deploying four additional crews to aid in the response.
“Our crews are fully prepared and ready to respond as they work tirelessly through the deployment to restore power to customers in Georgia and to support our fellow line-crews across the affected states,” said Tom Eide, vice president of operations at Pacific Power. “Disasters can happen anywhere, and part of being a good neighbor is answering the call to help.”
Pacific Power is part of a nationwide network of utilities that provide mutual assistance during emergencies and disasters. According to the Edison Electric Institute, approximately 50,000 electric utility workers from 40 states, the District of Columbia and Canada are currently responding to the devastation left in Hurricane Helene’s wake. While power has been restored to 4.69 million of the 6 million customers affected, some areas have experienced such extreme infrastructure damage that a complete rebuild is required.
For more information on Pacific Power’s involvement in the recovery efforts, please follow us on social media.
Anthony Tyrrell Arrested in Portland for Murder of Cottage Woman
We will update more as waiting on more details.
In June, a deceased female was located in the Cottage Grove area who appeared to be the victim of homicide. Lane County Sheriff’s detectives identified the victim as a missing person, Rozaleena Faith Rasmussen, 29, from Cottage Grove.
Detectives identified the suspect as Anthony Wesley Tyrrell, 31, of Cottage Grove.
Tyrrell is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call 911 and avoid approaching or contacting him.
Oregon Housing and Community Services’ Homeowner Assistance Fund accepting final applications online
—Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) is reopening the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) online application portal to accept final applications directly from homeowners. Applications must be submitted by Oct. 31, 2024. New applications will be put on a waitlist and prioritized for homeowners most at risk of foreclosure or loss.
Homeowners can now review application criteria and apply directly online using a link on the HAF website: oregonhomeownerassistance.org. If homeowners need or would like assistance with an application, they can contact a HAF intake partner. A list of intake partners can be found at https://www.oregon.gov/ohcs/homeownership/Pages/Homeownership-Assistance-Fund.aspx.
“OHCS is reopening the online application portal through Oct. 31, 2024, to ensure we help as many Oregon families as possible,” said Ryan Vanden Brink, assistant director of Homeowner Assistance Programs. “With our average award of $26,500, we can assist approximately 250 additional households. Any further applications will be placed on a waitlist pending the availability of funds.”
HAF offers federal temporary COVID-19 pandemic relief to help homeowners who experienced financial hardship due to the pandemic. HAF can help homeowners become current on their mortgages, county taxes, homeowners’ (HOA) or condo associations, land sale contracts, secured manufactured home or floating home loans, and lot rent or moorage fees associated with homeowners in manufactured home parks or marinas. Financial hardship includes a reduction in income or an increase in housing costs resulting from the pandemic.
Homeowners are eligible to apply if they meet the program’s general eligibility criteria and are facing foreclosure, involved in a court case that threatens their home, in property tax foreclosure, in collections with their HOA, or in other high-risk situations identified by a housing counselor. Homeowners in foreclosure may have already received outreach letters from OHCS or their county assessor.
OHCS will make its final HAF payments in February 2025, limiting total assistance available to new applicants.OHCS encourages homeowners to explore all other options with their servicer or a housing counselor before applying for HAF. Applying for HAF does not guarantee approval or that a foreclosure will be postponed. HAF is administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
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.
Counties are responsible for the largest share of the state’s road system — nearly 27,000 miles of roads and more than 3,400 bridges, about half of the total bridges in the state. The federal government is next, with more than 25,000 miles, followed by cities with more than 11,000 miles of roads and the state at nearly 8,000.
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. 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.
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.
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.
A OSU 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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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