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.

 

Monday, December 9, 2024

Klamath Basin Weather

Today
Sunny with a high near 35 degrees. Light northeast wind to 5 mph. Overnight, areas of fog, partly cloudy with a low around 15.

 

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Around the State of Oregon

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s proposed budget allocates more for higher education than the last biennium, but university and community college leaders say the budget doesn’t keep up with increased costs institutions are facing.

The leaders of the universities argue the inadequate funding could make higher education more expensive for Oregonians and slow down the state’s workforce development efforts. The governor’s $138 billion budget, released earlier this week, is a guideline for state lawmakers ahead of next year’s legislative session.

In her proposal, Gov. Kotek doubled down on her top three funding priorities: confronting Oregon’s homelessness and affordable housing emergency, K-12 education and addressing the state’s behavioral health care crisis. Higher education appears to be lower on the list of concerns.

In the 2025-2027 biennium, the governor recommends $4.39 billion for the agency responsible for two main funding streams for colleges and universities: operating revenue to run the institutions and financial aid programs to help students afford the cost of college. The proposal, a 6.4% overall increase from the last biennium, sets aside more than $25 million to build up education pathways that lead to behavioral health care jobs and nearly $29 million to expand select need-based grants, like the Oregon Opportunity Grant.

But those investments fall well short of what college leaders say are necessary, especially when it comes to financial aid for needy students. Higher education leaders in both the community college and university realm want to see lawmakers increase funding for the Oregon Opportunity Grant, the state’s largest student financial aid program.

Both the Oregon Community College Association and the Oregon Council of Presidents are calling for an additional $150 million investment in this program alone, more than five times what the governor’s budget recommends.

 

Nearly five-thousand healthcare workers at 13 Providence hospitals and clinics in Oregon have approved a strike, if they aren’t able to reach agreement on a contract.

Negotiations have been underway for more than a year. Contracts have run out for many bargaining units. If a strike is called, the union says it would be the largest healthcare workers strike, and the first doctor’s strike, in Oregon’s history.

 

A mother in Coos Bay has a GoFundMe set up, after the boat her son was on, in Alaska, capsized. She wants to find the whole crew and bring them home.

Carol Hannah said her 22-year-old son, Jake Hannah, would always call her before and after his days at sea. He left for his commercial fishing trip in Alaska, this past Saturday. Stormy weather conditions caused the boat to capsize off the coast of Sitka, Alaska and the U.S. Coast Guard called off their search Monday.

There were four other people on board and the GoFundMe is trying to afford a marine recovery company to locate the boat and dive for the remains.

Carol Hannah said, Jake Hannah’s mother and friends said he was planning on being home for the holidays.

 

On December 4th, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office began investigating a missing person case involving Cheryl Leigh Guajardo, 76, of Bend.

She was last believed to be driving in the Lowell area on December 3rd. Lane County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue began a coordinated search of the area involving dozens of volunteers, deputies, and personnel from several assisting agencies.

The search was hampered by poor cell service in the remote area she went missing, preventing searchers from tracking her cell phone or vehicle. This prompted a state-wide Silver Alert due to the possibility she had left the area. On December 7th at about 11 a.m., searchers located Guajardo’s vehicle on an overgrown spur road north of Lookout Point Lake, and a short time later, found Guajardo alive and responsive. Guajardo was transported by ambulance to an area hospital.

During this search, dozens of personnel drove thousands of miles, and walked or rode hundreds of miles more. Multiple drones and aircraft searched the area from the air.

 

After more than five years of waiting in some cases, wildfire survivors across the West will be relieved of paying federal income taxes on their recovery settlements and lawyers fees.

The Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act passed the Senate on Wednesday night, about six months after it was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives nearly unanimously. It had been stalled for months, tucked into opposing tax packages from Senate Republicans and Democrats.

The bill, which is likely to be signed by President Joe Biden, would exempt people who have survived a wildfire between 2016 and 2026 from paying federal income taxes on disaster recovery settlements and fees paid to lawyers that were received or paid between 2020 and 2026. Victims elsewhere are also likely to benefit.

The bill applies to the survivors of the East Palestine train derailment that occurred in Ohio in 2023, though they’ve largely been exempted from federal income tax on payments from Norfolk Southern due to intervention from the Internal Revenue Service.

 

Oregon is expanding its program to add charging ports for electric vehicles throughout the state. The Oregon Department of Transportation issued a second round of funding for Level Two E-V charging ports.

The two-and-a-half-million-dollars in grants will pay for 460 more ports by 2026. 70 percent of the funding was reserved for projects in rural and disadvantaged communities. Most of the chargers will be in public parking areas, with the rest at businesses and multi-family housing complexes. Another two-and-three-quarter-million-dollars will go out next year.

 

Federal funds are coming to the Pacific Northwest to help conservation and recovery efforts focused on Pacific salmon and steelhead.

The Department of Commerce and NOAA Fisheries are making up to 99-million-dollars available to advance state and tribal work to restore fish populations and habitat. Proposals can be submitted through early March, from state and tribal leaders in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho and California.

 

The decision this week to sideline the top two health care managers for the Oregon Department of Corrections comes as the agency confronts a torrent of criticism for delaying or ignoring necessary medical treatment for prisoners.

Dr. Warren Roberts and Joe Bugher, both longtime corrections officials, were placed on paid leave Thursday. Roberts, hired in 2019, serves as chief medical officer for Oregon’s prison system of roughly 12,000 prisoners.

Bugher, Roberts’ boss, began his career as a corrections officer in eastern Oregon in 2004 and rose through the ranks to become assistant director of health services, a division with 634 employees. It is unclear what prompted Corrections Director Mike Reese’s decision, but he said in a statement that the state hired an outside expert to “investigate the management of our healthcare systems.”

Roberts, reached by phone Friday, declined to comment. Bugher also declined to comment.

 

SOUTHERN OREGON EVENTS

Jacksonville OR will host its Victorian Christmas event every night in December except for Dec. 24 and 25 at 185 N Oregon St.

Admission is free except for some activities, such as Trolley tours. Events include trolley tours, a tree lighting ceremony, a holiday parade, bingo, hot cider and holiday music.

The Crater Performing Arts Center will perform The Nutcracker Ballet on Dec. 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22, with prices ranging from $14 to $30.

Gold Hill is bringing back its Winterfest on Dec. 21 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. There will be games, art activities, food and prizes.

Talent, Oregon is hosting its tree lighting ceremony from 5 p.m.to 8 p.m. on Dec. 6 at Old Town Hall. There will also be a local goods market.

In northern California, Alpaca On the Rocks in Weed CA is hosting a Pictures with Santa event on Dec. 15 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A $20 admission will cover up to two children, with a $10 admission added for each additional child. There will be vendors, apple cider and hot chocolate.

 

Mt. Ashland Ski Area opened on Saturday

Sonnet, Comer and Windsor lifts will be running from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The ski area will feature upgrades such as the widening of Aisle 2 (the entryway to the main mountain), updated LED night lighting for Twilight Skiing beginning Jan. 9, and the opening of the first new chairlift in over 30 years.

The announcement for the grand opening of Lithia Chair will be coming soon with the completion of the chairlift made possible by the largest gift in Mt. Ashland Ski Area history — $2 million from the Sid & Karen Deboer Foundation, with an additional $500,000 from Sid & Karen Deboer.

The Ski Area strongly encourages travelers to continue to check the Mountain report at https://www.mtashland.com/mountain-report for updates on uphill travel access and road conditions. Stay up to date with all of Mt. Ashland Ski Area’s events on the events page: https://www.mtashland.com/event-directory/

Mt. Ashland Ski Area is owned and operated by the 501©3 nonprofit Mt. Ashland Association under a special use permit from the U.S. Forest Service. Its mission is to provide and promote healthy alpine recreation.

 

Heading into the holiday season, Pacific Power is reminding customers to be vigilant about fraudulent communications from scammers posing as utility representatives.

This activity tends to increase during this time of year.Customers can protect themselves from these types of schemes by being aware of the following facts:

Pacific Power will not contact any customer demanding immediate payment to avoid disconnection of service.

Pacific Power does not ask customers to make payments by purchasing a prepaid card. You and other customers can always choose how you would like to make your payments. service the same day.

Pacific Power will not demand immediate payment for damaged or broken electrical equipment or any other service.

Pacific Power customer service employees will always have your correct account number. Scammers increasingly have used text messages as a means of targeting victims will not demand payment via text message.

Pacific Power encourages customers to set up their online billing profile at Pay My Bill (pacificpower.net) where they can pay bills and review statements. Scammers may use a sophisticated deceptive tactic that makes it appear to caller ID systems that the call is coming from Pacific Power when it is not. Hang up and call Customer Service directly.

Remember, if you still have concerns about the legitimacy of a call, you can always call our published customer service number, 1-888-221-7070. Pacific Power is asking customers to report information about any scam calls received, including the phone number the person is calling from and any information that may help to track down the fraudsters.  

 

Wells Fargo on Wednesday told state workforce officials it will lay off 500 workers in Hillsboro and 221 workers in Salem.

The bank previously said it will pull out of offices in Hillsboro, Portland and Salem in 2025 as it consolidates operations elsewhere. Wells Fargo ranks No. 4 in deposit market share among banks in Oregon with 12% of the state’s deposits, according to the latest data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

It has 74 offices — including its retail bank branches — in the state. The bank announced 95 layoffs in Hillsboro in July after cutting 316 workers in the Portland suburb in 2023. It’s unclear what operations the bank housed at the impacted Hillsboro location. The Salem office was part of the bank’s global operations business, which is separate from Wells Fargo bank branches, and supports consumer and commercial banking and other corporate functions.

Impacted workers at both locations were notified on Tuesday, according to letters the bank sent to state workforce officials. Workers who don’t transfer will get severance that includes a period of health insurance coverage.

 

More Oregonians can apply for Defensible Space Grants. The Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office is adding communities to the program. Property owners can request a 250-dollar grant to help pay for defensible space improvements to reduce fire danger.

They need to get a free assessment first. Those can be scheduled at Oregon Defensible Space dot org. Eligible communities were chosen based on their vulnerability to wildfire.

 

Oregonians lost $136 million from holiday shopping scams last year, according to a new study from Social Catfish.

The study says that Oregon ranked #22 in the nation for victims per capita, with 991 per 100,000 residents losing money in a holiday scam.  Scammers are salivating because Americans will spend a record $240 billion buying gifts online this holiday season, giving them unprecedented opportunities to steal gift-givers’ hard-earned money.

Residents can avoid holiday scams by doing the following:  Be wary of look-a-like stores that have AI chatbots to make it look legit. Carefully check the store’s URL to make sure it’s the official store website — for example, if you’re shopping at Macy’s, the website should be Macys.com instead of Maceys.com.

Look out for deepfake videos that falsely make it look like trusted public figures are promoting Black Friday deals. The video is a deepfake if the audio isn’t matching up, there are extra body parts, or the person is only speaking in one tone of voice or showing one facial expression.

Be careful when marketplaces sell you “discounted” gift cards that have a zero balance. Reverse search the seller to verify their identity.

A popular scam involves the scammer sending an alert to a consumer saying there is suspicious activity. When the consumer goes to verify their account, the scammer has AI customer service representatives steal their information. If you get a suspicious activity alert, avoid this scam by contacting the company “only by using the main number on their website. You are asked to report any scam you’ve discovered to local authorities and the website administrator if possible.

 

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) is excited to launch a new online community platform, Balance of State Community Hub, a communication and resource sharing portal for rural Oregon.

Like LinkedIn meets Reddit, the Balance of State Community Hub connects providers and staff from agencies and organizations in the Balance of State (BoS) communities working to end homelessness in rural Oregon.

“Our mission is to create lasting, sustainable solutions to end homelessness across rural Oregon, and collaboration is a key part of that success,” said OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell. “The community platform will allow us to break down barriers and support our partners more effectively, ensuring that resources and information are always within reach for our dedicated community organizations.”

Over the past six months, Civic Roundtable and OHCS have been working one-on-one collaboratively with almost 30 BoS service providers to create community spaces that meet the following needs of those doing this critical work.

• Connect Grantees: Connect housing and homeless service providers across rural Oregon. The online platform supports up to 1,000 providers.
• System Integration: Connect and search databases, websites, and existing resources.
• Access Information: Learn about upcoming and current local, state, and federal resources including funding opportunities, grant applications, and requirements.
• Share Resources: Uploading resources, templates, and other useful information to the hub’s resource library
• BoS Calendar: Sharing events and learning about events in BoS communities
• Reclaim Time: This platform’s purpose is to preserve the most valuable resource of this work—time.

“Access to this new tool is a much-needed addition to communication efficiency in the 26 counties that make up the Balance of State,” said Balance of State Continuum of Care Program Manager Brooke Matthews. “It allows us to share vital resources and updates quickly and efficiently, ensuring that direct service agencies are able to collaborate effectively when delivering housing and support services. This initiative strengthens our ability to work together with other organizations and truly make a difference in resolving homelessness in some of the most underrepresented communities in Oregon.”

Civic Roundtable’s communication and resource-sharing platform emerged from Harvard Innovation Labs with grant funding provided by Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. By strengthening ties and fostering collaboration, the platform will support BoS’ strategic goals and enhance its ability to serve Oregon’s most vulnerable populations.

About the Balance of State Continuum of Care

The Balance of State Continuum of Care encourages members communities to develop comprehensive systems to address the range of needs of homeless (and at-risk of homelessness) populations by providing a framework for organizing and delivering housing and services. The overall approach is predicated on the understanding that homelessness is not caused merely by a lack of shelter but involves a variety of underlying and unmet needs— physical, economic, and social.

Currently, the Balance of State Continuum of Care includes members from the 26 counties that are not covered by any other Continuum of Care: Baker, Benton, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Hood River, Josephine, Klamath, Lake, Lincoln, Linn, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Tillamook, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco, Wheeler, and Yamhill. For more information, please visit: https://oregonbos.org/.

 

An Oregon State University study underscores the need for state regulation to avert an economic and ecological crisis in the Harney Basin region.

The Harney Basin region in southeast Oregon sits in a semi-arid high desert. Yet, it’s dotted with green circles of water-hungry alfalfa grown for cattle feed. For years, scientists have closely studied the basin to get a more clear picture of just how much groundwater is pumped to water those crops. Scientists already knew there was a problem, but a new report gives them a more concrete idea. It finds sustainable rates of groundwater pumping were surpassed 20 years before residents and state regulators started ringing the alarm bells.

The study, co-authored by Oregon State University and the U.S. Geological Survey, models over a dozen solutions state regulators and community groups could consider to stabilize groundwater levels in the area. And it then simulates the outcome of each solution over the course of 30 years and their impact on groundwater levels and the profitability of farms that rely on that water to irrigate crops — which contribute millions of dollars to the local economy.

For the last three decades, groundwater pumping for agricultural irrigation — which accounts for around 97% of the region’s groundwater use — has increased to unsustainable levels, and now outflow from the Harney Basin is more than can naturally be replenished by rain and snowmelt from the mountains. That’s partly because, for years, the state over-allocated groundwater rights in the area.

 

Oregon State Parks has added Brookings to the cities where overnight beach camping is banned.

Residents near Mill Beach voiced concerns about public health, risks to public safety, and impacts on the marine ecosystem. Over 90 percent of comments expressed support for the ban. Brookings joins Seaside, Cannon Beach, Manzanita, Rockaway Beach, Lincoln City, Newport, Bandon and Gold Beach where camping is also banned.

 

The Salvation Army out of Monmouth says it received a very special gift in one of its red kettles this season. In Polk County, an anonymous donor dropped in a gold coin apparently worth $3,000. That’s according to a local jeweler where the Salvation Army took it to get appraised.

The good deed-doer dropped the rare coin in a kettle at a Bi-mart. The Salvation Army says the one-ounce coin is over a hundred years old. The organization says it hopes the act of kindness will inspire others to donate what they can, so the non-profit can make the season bright for those in need.

 

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