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, February 14, 2024

Klamath Basin Weather

Today
Snow showers likely, mainly before 10am. Partly sunny, with a high near 41. Southwest wind 7 to 14 mph becoming west northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Overnight, cloudy, low near 17 degrees.

 

CVIP Seeks Program Manager to Lead EPA Community Change Grant Initiative

Chiloquin Visions in Progress (CVIP) is seeking a dedicated Program Manager to lead public outreach and engagement activities for the EPA Community Change Grant and manage the Wood Stove Replacement Program.  CVIP is proud to partner with the City of Chiloquin on the transformative Community Resilience Hub and Municipal Center project.

This initiative, funded by an EPA Community Change Grant, will strengthen our community’s resilience and address critical needs through innovative programs and the construction of a cutting-edge Municipal Center that will serve as a resilience hub for the community.This position coordinates public events, manages stakeholder communication, conducts community surveys,
aims to replace up to 150 non-EPA-compliant wood stoves in the project area, improving residents’ air quality and
energy efficiency, and reports progress to the City of Chiloquin, CVIP Board of Directors, and project collaborators. 

How to Apply:
Interested candidates should complete the job application at the bottom of CVIP’s online job board
https://www.chiloquinvisions.com/cvip-job-board/ and upload a resume and cover letter explaining their relevant experience and interest in the position. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

 

Pet of the Week from Klamath Animal Shelter

 

 

Around the State of Oregon

More than 100 vehicles pileup on Interstate 84 in Columbia Gorge

Yesterday was Portland and the Willamette Valley’s turn for snow and ice.  A portion of Interstate 84 was closed to drivers headed west of Multnomah Falls following a crash that occurred shortly before 11 AM.

More than 100 vehicles, including cars, trucks and semitrucks, were involved in the pileup, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. One SUV caught on fire, authorities reported. “Everyone was able to get out of that SUV,” the office posted on X at 12:39 p.m. “Responders are going car by car. There are reports of injuries; no number at this time.” The state agency in a press release said it “could be a lengthy closure” due to accumulating snow in the Portland region.

Check the latest road conditions at tripcheck.com. Officials are advising the public to avoid driving unless necessary.

 

The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office is putting together a list of volunteers to help with snow removal for people in need.

This effort comes as first responders are bracing for another storm front to hit the eastern part of the county. SCSO Dispatch said they have already received calls for assistance from residents who can’t leave their homes. “While it is the responsibility of the City and County Roads Departments to clear public roads, these entities are not permitted to plow private driveways,” SCSO wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday.

“Similarly, the Siskiyou County Search and Rescue team can only provide assistance to those experiencing an emergency.”  Anyone interested in volunteering, or anyone who has a snowplow or snowblower handy, can email oes3@readysiskiyou.gov.

 

The Oregon Immunization Group within the Oregon Health Authority is reminding families to get student immunizations updated by Wednesday, Feb. 19.

A list of required vaccinations by grade level can be found on the OHA’s website.  State law says all children in Oregon public schools, private schools, preschools, Head Start programs and child care facilities must submit documents showing they are up-to-date on required vaccinations. The school or care center can send a child home if they don’t have the required immunization by Feb. 19. Families looking to get their children vaccinated can contact their local health department, dial 211 over the phone or visit the 211 information website.

 

The Oregon School Activities Association is being urged to change its policy on girls’ high school sports. This comes after an executive order was signed last week to ban trans women from participating in women’s sports.

Six Oregon Republican lawmakers, including Dwayne Yunker from Grants Pass and E. Werner Reschke from Klamath Falls, sent a letter to Oregon School Activities Association President Peter Weber urging the OSAA to align with federal policy on women’s sports.

The lawmakers are requesting the non-profit, board-governed organization, to make an immediate rule change that specifies girls’ high school sports participation is strictly reserved for biological female athletes.

Last week President Trump signed an executive order, banning transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ sports. Protecting the safety and dignity of girls and women was central to this executive order. The National Collegiate Athletic Association immediately complied with the order and revised its policy to limit competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth.

The current OSAA handbook, allows athletes to play sports based on their gender identity. However, lawmakers have concerns over athletes’ safety, privacy, and competitive balance. In a statement, the OSAA says they remain in contact with the Oregon Department of Education as they assess the impact of the executive order on Oregon law and its member schools.

 

Police arrested four people in Bend on Feb. 2 in connection with dozens of recent burglaries in the Portland metro area and beyond, officials said.

Herbert Grueso-Vergara, 30, Maria Castro-Gamboa, 26, Fabio Vergara-Cortes, 29, and Fatima Gomez-Aragon, 33, are all believed to be Colombian nationals, police said.

Officers executing search warrants in Bend, Oregon City and Portland netted “cash and other evidence linked to the investigation,” including stolen jewelry, officials said. Cars also were seized.  As it stands today, investigators are aware of at least 39 home burglaries in Oregon that are linked to the same group of suspects.

 

 A Coos Bay man has been indicted and arraigned on criminal charges following the death of his daughter that occurred in October of 2024, the Coos Bay Police Department reports in a media release.

On Wednesday, February 12, 31-year-old David L. Sigler of Coos Bay was arraigned in the Coos County Circuit Court on charges of criminally negligent homicide and criminal mistreatment in the first degree. These charges are the result of the death of his 22-month-old daughter that occurred in Coos Bay on October 2, 2024, and was investigated by the Coos Bay Police Department. The death of Sigler’s daughter was the result of a fentanyl overdose, Coos Bay PD said.

Sigler was already in the custody of the Coos County Jail at the time of his indictment and arraignment and remains in their custody.

 

Oregon’s Democratic U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined about a dozen other senators on Tuesday in sending a letter to the Trump administration urging that it exempt seasonal firefighters from the federal hiring freeze.

Shortly after taking office last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order putting the hiring freeze into effect as part of his stated effort to shrink the size of the federal government. While the president’s executive order exempts positions within the military, immigration enforcement and public safety, it does not specifically mention wildland firefighters. It does, however, allow the director of the Office of Personnel Management to grant exemptions.

The senators in their letter, initiated by Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, said they were writing their letter after reports that the administration had stopped the hiring and onboarding of seasonal firefighters because of the executive order. 

The senators, all of whom were Democrats, except for two independents, Angus King, of Maine, and Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, specifically said they were concerned about the reports they were hearing that the hiring freeze of seasonal firefighters was happening in the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service.

 

Igloo is recalling more than 1 million of its coolers sold across the U.S., Mexico and Canada due to a handle hazard that has resulted in a handful of fingertip injuries, including some amputations.

The now-recalled “Igloo 90 Qt. Flip & Tow Rolling Coolers” have a tow handle can pinch users’ fingertips against the product — posing potential amputation and other crushing risks, according to a Thursday recall notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Igloo has received 12 injury reports in the U.S., the CPSC notes, which include fingertip amputations, bone fractures, and lacerations. There are no known injuries in Canada or Mexico. Consumers in possession of the coolers are urged to stop using them immediately — and contact Igloo for a free replacement handle.

 

The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a woman in connection with the shooting death of her cohabitant in Montague, California, over the weekend.

On Saturday deputies responded to a report of a deceased person in the 5900 block of Jade Ave. Upon arrival, deputies met with Robin Ray Turner, 61, who stated that she had shot Michael Richard Massey, 71, with a firearm.

Massey was found dead inside the home, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds, the sheriff’s office said. The SCSO Major Crimes Unit took over the investigation, and Turner was arrested on charges of murder. She was subsequently booked into the Siskiyou County Jail. The case is still under investigation, and authorities are asking anyone with information to contact the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office at (530) 841-2900 and reference Case #24-0224.

 

The Oregon Employment Department says it still doesn’t plan to hire an ombudsman to advocate for claimants, resisting a top recommendation state auditors first made three years ago.

The agency embraced many of the other recommendations in the auditors’ report from 2022. The agency upgraded its computer systems, worked to expedite the adjudication of disputes, and adopted policies to make it easier for marginalized communities to receive aid. The employment department hasn’t hired an ombudsman, though, and isn’t asking lawmakers for money to do so anytime in the next two years. The agency says it wants to spend what the Legislature allocates on more customer service staff to answer claimants’ questions directly, rather than on an ombudsman to help find systemic issues.

 

Nobody really expects to win the lottery. After all, the odds are heavily stacked against every player.

But, as the saying goes, somebody has to win. Those somebodys also have to claim their prizes, which seems like the easy part – but not always. The Lottery is pointing this out now because there are four Powerball winners who haven’t claimed their cash – and soon won’t be able to do so anymore.

People must step forward and take their prizes within one year of drawing their winning ticket. The unclaimed prizes are for three separate $50,000 tickets bought in Portland, and a $100,000 ticket bought in Brooks, near Salem. The $100,000 prize expires February 21, the others in March and April. The Oregon Lottery says that, in the last fiscal year, $8 million in prizes went unclaimed.

 

Tax season is here and there may be good reasons to file a tax return even for people who aren’t required to file, which is the case for many young people.

Young people who work often don’t end up filing a tax return. They may not meet the income threshold requiring them to file a return. Or they be under the misconception that their parents file for them because they are a dependent.

Also, they may find tax forms confusing and worry about making a mistake. In most cases, young people should file a return to report their income and get any excess withholding refunded.Through an ODHS pilot program last year at seven urban, rural and suburban high schools in Oregon, students met after school and prepared their own tax returns using IRS-approved software. A teacher-facilitator helped them access the software on the IRS website and answered their questions about forms and terms. Students in the pilot received refunds of their state and federal tax withholding between $95 and $1,246. 

No matter how old someone is, finding ways to file a tax return for free is easy. The Oregon Department of Revenue’s website lists many ways to file for free or to get free help.  And it isn’t too late to file returns from prior years to get withholding back from those years too. Many software programs now help individuals prepare and file their tax returns from previous years.

 

While Elon Musk is helping reduce the size of the federal work force and has already discovered millions of dollars of fraud, waste and abuse in several agencies of the federal government, liberal new Oregon U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter has introduced a bill in Congress to prohibit Elon Musk from retaliating against federal employees.

The doctor ran for Congress to work on lowering prescription drug prices and expand access to behavioral health treatment, as well as addressing other issues she sees working with patients. But constituents in her east Portland district demanded action after Musk and people working for him seized control of federal administrative offices, gained access to the U.S. Treasury Department’s records of Americans’ personal financial information and dismantled the federal agency that distributes aid overseas, which has already uncovered millions of dollars of waste and misuse of funds given to agencies and other countries.  The amount of waste of taxpayer money is astounding.

Dexter however, introduced the “Stop Musk Act,” her first bill, spelling out that no federal employee can face retaliation for “resisting, circumventing or preventing Elon Musk or individuals he oversees from taking unlawful or unconstitutional actions relating to federal agencies.”

Dexter’s proposal, which she acknowledged has next to no chance of passing in the Republican-controlled House, is among several actions Oregon’s Democratic congressional delegation have taken to oppose the Trump administration and Musk’s unprecedented power over federal agencies.

U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum, a swing-district Democrat who like Dexter is in her first term, joined Oregon’s Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley at a rally outside the U.S. Treasury last Tuesday.

Over the weekend, U.S. Reps. Val Hoyle and Andrea Salinas joined Merkley for town hall events in Newport, Philomath and Salem where they told crowds of hundreds that they were ready to fight. Dexter is planning more town halls and hopes to have attorney general Dan Rayfield join her at one. Rayfield, who served with Dexter in the state House, is leading Oregon’s legal response to the Trump administration, including securing an indefinite block Thursday to a Trump executive order that attempted to repeal a constitutional guarantee that babies born in the U.S. to immigrant parents are automatically citizens, even if their parents are not.

 

North Medford High School is actively searching for relocation options after the recent snowfall caused damage to the school’s gym.

One of the supporting beams cracked Friday after school hours. Nobody was injured and crews are now in the process of planning necessary repairs. The relocation spots being considered include Oakdale Middle School and Rogue X. This is all happening in the middle of the boy’s and girl’s basketball seasons. North Medford’s Athletic Director Pieter Voskes says this is a bump in the road for all the sports who need the gym, but he hopes to get those athletes back on the floor.

The North Medford gym has been surrounded by fencing as school operations continue as usual.

 

A state board overrode a request from Gov. Tina Kotek to spend the entirety of Oregon’s national opioid settlement money over the next two years on harm reduction services and supplies, preserving funding for drug treatment and prevention programs.

That means Save Lives Oregon, a state-funded program that provides harm reduction resources, training and items such as clean syringes, Narcan and fentanyl test strips to local organizations, will get $5.1 million instead of $21.6 million in opioid settlement funding through 2027. 

Several members of the 18-person Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Board, established in 2022 to allocate state funds from legal settlements with national pharmaceutical companies, said the board’s decision Wednesday aligned with its previous funding formula.

 

Oregon residents are bracing for continued cold winter storms later this week which may bring snow, ice, and increased risks of falling tree branches and downed power lines.

Emergency management officials urge the public to remain alert, be properly prepared for winter driving, and follow safety guidelines to protect homes, vehicles, and personal well-being. Many regions in Oregon are experiencing snowfall and ice buildup on trees. The added weight can cause branches–or even entire trees–to snap unexpectedly.

Falling branches pose a danger to:

Vehicles: Branches can damage cars, so avoid parking under trees whenever possible.

Pedestrians: Tree limbs can break without warning, so be extra cautious when walking outdoors. 

Power lines: Branches falling onto power lines may cause electrical hazards or widespread outage. 

Stock up on essentials: Have flashlights, batteries, portable chargers, and blankets ready in case the lights go out.

Keep extra supplies: If safe to do so, store a few days’ worth of food and water, especially in rural areas where utility restoration may be delayed.

Stay informed: Monitor local weather updates through official channels.

Follow any advisories from the National Weather Service or your local emergency management office.

 

The Jackson County Expo is announcing its 2025 summer concert lineup to take the stage during the Jackson County Fair this July.

According to the Expo, musical acts including Outlaw Mariachi, Jo Dee Messina, and a Taylor Swift tribute will take the stage in Central Point this summer. The Jackson County Fair runs from July 15 through July 20.

Fair tickets start at $12 and include lawn seats at the Bi-Mart Amphitheater. Meanwhile, concert ticket prices start at $25 and go on sale to the public on Tuesday. Fair admission is included with the purchase of a reserved seat.

For more information or to purchase a ticket, visit the Jackson County Expo’s website.

 

The Britt Festival Orchestra (BFO) announces its 2025 season, with three weeks of exciting outdoor programming in historic Jacksonville, Oregon, June 12 – 28, 2025.

Under the leadership of four guest conductors, Damon Gupton (June 12-13); Chia-Hsuan Lin (June 15-18); Roberto Kalb (June 21-23); and Normal Huynh (June 26-28) the Orchestra’s 63^rd season highlights a feature film alongside beloved classical favorites.

The season features seven extraordinary guest artists: pianist Clayton Stephenson performing Ravel’s Concerto in G Major; violinist William Hagen performing Korngold’s Concerto in D Major; violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Wei Yu performing Brahms Double concerto for Violin & Violoncello in A minor; vocalist Sun-Ly Pierce performing Ravel’s Shéhérazade; pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko performing Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3 in D minor; and violinist Simone Porter performing Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto in D and Ravel’s Tzigane. The season will begin with two evenings of Jurassic Park in Concert where John Williams’ score will be performed live-to-picture by the full orchestra in one of the most beloved films of the 20^th Century.

Britt Music & Arts Festival shares extraordinary live performances and arts education experiences that inspire discovery and build community, anchored at the Britt hill amphitheater. Since its grassroots beginnings in 1963, the non-profit organization has grown from a two-week chamber music festival to a summer-long series of concerts in a variety of genres, including a three-week orchestra season, and year-round education and engagement programs. For more information, visit www.brittfest.org

 

You’ll need a Real ID to fly domestically, starting in May of this year, that’s unless you have a passport or enhanced driver’s license issued by several states.

The deadline is May 7, 2025, but you probably don’t want to wait until the last minute to get your Real ID. You can apply for your Real ID driver’s license or ID card through your local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

Real IDs are marked with a star on the top of the card. Real IDs will also be needed to access certain federal facilities. Congress mandated the real IDs in 2005 on the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission.

 

Wildlife Safari, south of Roseburg has a new baby giraffe named Watson who from Fort Worth, Texas.

Giraffes are the tallest land animals on earth, yet populations are declining in the wild, due to habitat loss and poaching. Wildlife Safari says Watson’s arrival will allow visitors to learn more about these “gentle giants,” and their importance in the wild.

 

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