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, March 10, 2025

Klamath Basin Weather

 

Around the State of Oregon

FATAL CRASH ON HIGHWAY 140

JACKSON COUNTY, Or.- On Friday, March 7, 2025, at 6:04 a.m., the Oregon State Police responded to a single-vehicle crash involving a pedestrian in Jackson County.  

The preliminary investigation indicated that a white Nissan Frontier pickup truck, operated by Jerid William Gunter (47) of Medford, was traveling eastbound on Hwy 140 near Blackwell Road when it struck a pedestrian. The crash occurred in a non-lit area of the roadway. 

The pedestrian, Naomi Hope Gomez (39) of Glendale, was declared deceased at the scene.

The highway was impacted for about two hours for the on-scene investigation.  OSP was assisted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

 

Steven William Hartman, 29, has been sentenced to 90 months in prison for physically assaulting a 1-month-old child under his care.

Hartman, a resident of Independence, was sentenced by Polk County Circuit Judge Rafael A. Caso after pleading guilty to assault in the first degree involving a child under six years of age, the Polk County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

Judge Caso sentenced Hartman according to Oregon’s Measure 11 minimum mandatory sentencing laws. As a result, Hartman will not be eligible for any form of early release or sentence reduction. Upon his release, he will be required to serve a three-year term of post-prison supervision.  The case was investigated by the Independence Police Department and prosecuted by Polk County Deputy District Attorney Shannon Clausen.

 

A Salem, Oregon man was arraigned in federal court on Friday, for possessing Molotov cocktails while attempting to destroy property at a Salem Tesla car dealership.

Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, has been charged by criminal complaint with illegally possessing an unregistered destructive device.

According to court documents, on January 20, 2025, officers from the Salem Police Department responded to a report of an individual throwing Molotov cocktails at a local Tesla car dealership.

Officers arrived at the dealership after a report of damage from what appeared to be bullets fired into a building and vehicle. Investigators soon linked Lansky to both incidents. Surveillance footage obtained from the car dealership appeared to show Lansky throwing Molotov cocktails that struck a dealership building and several vehicles, causing fires.

Surveillance video from a patrol car captured a vehicle parked near the dealership while Lansky is alleged to have discharged multiple firearm rounds into a building and at least one vehicle. Investigators learned the vehicle was registered to Lansky and observed it at his residence.

Lansky was arrested Tuesday without incident in Salem and made his first appearance in federal court today before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. He was ordered detained pending further court proceedings.

The case is being investigated by the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Salem Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Parakram Singh, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

 

Oregon’s Unemployment Rate Rises to 4.4% in January

Oregon’s unemployment rate was 4.4% in January and 4.3%, as revised, in December, after rising gradually over the past year from 4.1% in January 2024.

Oregon’s 4.4% unemployment rate was the highest since September 2021, when the rate was also 4.4%. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.1% in December 2024 and 4.0% in January 2025.

In January, Oregon’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment rose by 2,400 jobs, following a revised decline of 2,000 jobs in December. January’s gains were largest in professional and business services (+1,400 jobs); leisure and hospitality (+1,200); retail trade (+900); and private educational services (+900). Declines were largest in manufacturing (-2,200) and health care and social assistance (-1,300).

Oregon’s private sector added 12,700 jobs, or 0.8%, between January 2024 and January 2025. Job gains during 2024 were less than previously indicated, as annual data revisions resulted in an average reduction of 15,600 jobs per month during the second half of 2024.

During the past three years, health care and social assistance was by far the fastest growing sector of Oregon’s economy, adding 15,100 jobs, or 5.2%, in the 12 months through January. However, a large strike at a major health care provider contributed to the one-month drop of 1,300 jobs in this industry during January.

Industries that grew moderately during the most recent 12 months included other services (+2,100 jobs, or 3.2%); private educational services (+1,100 jobs, or 3.0%); professional and business services (+2,900 jobs, or 1.1%); and construction (+900 jobs, or 0.8%).

Manufacturing continued its decline of the past two years, cutting 6,900 jobs (-3.7%) in the 12 months through January, while retail trade shed 2,300 jobs (-1.1%) during that time.

 

Oregon State Parks will hire more than 200 seasonal Rangers and Ranger Assistants for positions across the state for the 2025 season.

Hiring starts as soon as this month and runs through about June with new positions listed on a rolling basis on the website. The positions last anywhere from four to nine months. Most seasonal staff work April through September, but some start as early as this month or work as late as December. Seasonal staff help visitors access world-class experiences and ensure clean and safe park areas for everyone to enjoy.

Duties include janitorial work, landscape maintenance, visitor education and visitor services. Salaries start at $19.78 per hour for seasonal assistants and $23.21 for seasonal rangers. Both positions include comprehensive medical, vision and dental plans for employees and qualified family members. The positions also include paid sick leave, vacation, personal leave and 11 paid holidays per year.

Student workers, ages 16 and older, start at $19.77 or more per hour depending on experience. Several of Oregon State Parks’ top leaders started their careers as seasonal employees including all three Region Directors. Seasonal staff gain valuable skills working with experienced Rangers at parks around the state.

The first wave of openings include positions along the coast from Washburne to Cape Lookout; the Willamette Valley including Silver Falls and Detroit Lake; the Columbia River Gorge and Eastern Oregon including Wallowa Lake and Lake Owyhee. For more information about current openings, visit stateparks.oregon.gov.

If you have any questions or need additional assistance in accessibility or alternative formats, please email Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Recruiting OPRD.Recruiting@oprd.oregon.gov. Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, committed to diversity and pay equity.

 

A state Senate Committee heard from Oregonians this week about a bill to specify how landlords can verify a prospective tenant’s identity.

Supporters say it would prohibit landlords from asking about the immigration status of a tenant applicant of a household member. Under the bill, landlords could run credit checks, but also designates taxpayer ID number cards from the IRS, immigration visas and driver licenses and others as acceptable forms of identity.

 

A Portland couple that ran a chauffeur business has been sentenced to federal prison for stealing 34-million-dollars from two former clients.

Sergey Lebedenko and Galina Lebedenko ran Astra Car Service. They met the victims driving them to the airport and continued to chauffeur them on a near daily basis for several years. The victim allowed them to charge his American Express card without giving invoices. They used the money to buy 14 homes, seven vehicles and other luxury items. They pleaded guilty and were both sentenced to nearly five years in prison.

 

Telecommunications topped the list of consumer complaints last year to the Oregon Attorney General’s Office. Imposter Scams were second followed by Auto Sales and Auto Repair.

The Attorney General’s Consumer Hotline received over 22-thousand calls and 92-hundred written complaints which is nearly double the number from 2023.

 

State treasurers from Oregon, Illinois, Nevada and Colorado are urging the Trump administration to end a tumultuous trade war with Canada, Mexico and China.

Oregon Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner told media last week that “Canada, Mexico and China are three of our Oregon’s top four trading partners, accounting for more than 15 billion a year each in exports from our state.  Tariff price hikes are likely to increase the cost of items that consumers and businesses depend on, such as electronics, clothing, appliances and other products we all use every day.”

A study from the Peterson Institute for International Economics predicts Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China would cost the typical U.S. household more than $1,200 per year. That’s a price that Steiner says could devastate the average Oregon household, which can’t afford an emergency expense of more than $500, according to the 2025 Oregon Financial Wellness Scorecard survey.

 

Adding a 4% tax to the sale of new car tires in Oregon could generate up to $20 million a year for public transit, reducing tire pollution and building wildlife crossings, according to lawmakers proposing the new tax.

But ahead of its first public hearing, hundreds of Oregonians have submitted testimony in opposition, claiming they will disproportionately bear the burden of the tax.  The tax proposed in House Bill 3362 would apply to new car tires for passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks, such as an Amazon delivery van. It would add about $6 to the cost of each new tire bought by the average Oregonian, according to state Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, who is sponsoring the bill, along with Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale.

In exchange, the state transportation department would get reliable funding for projects that it otherwise has had to fight to fund with money from the state’s general fund.  

The tire tax would be in addition to a state gas tax Oregonians pay every time they fill their tanks – about 40 cents a gallon – that goes to the Oregon Department of Transportation for road maintenance, bridges and other statewide transportation costs. That money is restricted and not often able to cover projects such rail and wildlife crossings.

Helm said the proposed tire tax is a low tax that will be felt equally among most Oregonians. More than 1,200 pieces of written testimony have already been submitted ahead of the first public hearing on the tax Tuesday. About 90% of those express opposition to the bill.  Among those who submitted written testimony was state Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, who said the tax would unfairly penalize rural Oregonians and industries in her district in eastern Oregon. 

 

President Donald Trump wants to increase logging in national forests and on public lands, including by bypassing endangered species protections.

To do that, the federal government would have to activate a seldom-used committee nicknamed the “God Squad” because it can approve federal projects even if it leads to extinction of a species otherwise protected by the Endangered Species Act. But environmentalists say there are strict procedural requirements — and no provision under law to proactively use the committee to bypass protections. 

The president just signed actions to increase domestic lumber production in national forests and other public lands, directing federal agencies to look for ways to bypass protections for endangered species. 

Officially called the Endangered Species Committee, it was established in 1978 as a way to exempt projects from Endangered Species Act protections if a cost-benefit analysis concluded it was the only way to achieve net economic benefits in the national or regional interest.

In the case of logging, the analysis also should determine if the benefits of cutting trees outweigh the economic value of watershed and other protections provided by standing timber, said Patrick Parenteau, an emeritus professor at the Vermont Law and Graduate School who helped write criteria for the God Squad.

 

A bill to make Oregon one of a small number of states that have banned the sale of flavored tobacco drew passionate support but also very personal objections during a public hearing this week.

Proponents of the bill told a legislative committee that flavored tobacco “smells like candy” and addicts children as young as elementary school age while setting them on a path toward early death.

But opponents argued flavored tobacco, which often is ingested through vaping or packets that are sucked on, offers adults a less harmful alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes and the problem resides with stores that violate the law by selling it to Oregonians under age 21.

Chief among the bill’s opponents is Sen. David Brock Smith, a Port Orford Republican, who told the Senate Committee On Early Childhood and Behavioral Health that vaping flavored tobacco allowed him to kick a 30-year habit of smoking that was passed on to him from his dad.

Richard Burke, executive director of the 21+ Tobacco and Vapor Retail Association of Oregon, said banning flavored tobacco takes away “bodily autonomy” for adults and even the National Health Service in the United Kingdom has started a “Swap to Stop” program where it gives smokers vaping products in exchange for their traditional cigarettes. Burke also said a prohibition could create an underground trade.

Senate Bill 702 supporters who testified Tuesday were people of all ages, including parents, teens and doctors. They said not only do the fruity and sweet flavors hook youth under 21, the flavored tobacco impacts their ability to focus at school and be productive later in life.

Youth have little trouble getting around Oregon’s age restrictions on sales by getting the products from adults or buying the products at stores that are lackadaisical about enforcement, proponents of the bill said.

 

The long-delayed deadline for REAL ID is now just three months away. There’s a chance that full enforcement may get gradually rolled out, but May 7, 2025, is the changeover deadline.

Starting then, state-level ID cards, such as driver’s licenses, won’t be accepted for federal purposes, namely getting through airport security, unless it’s REAL ID-compliant. If you plan to catch a domestic flight on or after May 7, you will be required to use a REAL ID. A little gold or black star in the upper right-hand corner is one of the easiest ways to know you’re holding a REAL ID.

In Oregon, it’s a black star. A REAL ID is an identification card that serves all of the same purposes of a standard drivers’ license or state-issued identification card. A federally-mandated switch to REAL ID for federal purposes, such as flying domestically, was originally signed into law by Congress in 2005.

The purpose is to establish “minimum security standards for license issuance and production,” according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security website. The law, established four years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, came in response to federal calls for higher security standards in the U.S. Originally, the law mandated the switch to REAL ID by 2008, but it has been pushed back for various reasons due to logistical hurdles and later the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

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