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.

Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024

Klamath Basin Weather

Today
Rain and snow, becoming all rain after 9am. Snow level 5000 feet. Steady temperature around 39. Breezy, with a south wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. Overnight, rain and snow, low of 33 degrees. Snow level 4900 feet. Low around 33. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

A local 24-year old man is in the Klamath County Jail on several sex related felony charges.

Jesus Moises Espinoza-Alvarado is charged with felony counts of 3^rd degree rape,2^nd degree sexual abuse, 3^rd degree sexual abuse, and 3^rd degree sodomy. His overall bail was set at over 40-thousand dollars.

A Klamath Falls man is booked in the Klamath County jail for at least 33 charges of improper use of 911.

David Matthew Whiteside was booked into the county jail and subsequently released after his booking at 3:09 Monday morning.  No other information was available about the circumstances regarding his arrest.

The latest beginner firefighter training class kicked off this fall on the Klamath Community College campus with a group of 17 students aiming to get their certificates for Firefighter I.

These students faced a gauntlet of physical and mental tasks during the 11-week course. KCC is home to the Klamath Regional Training Center, which includes the Emergency Response and Operations Program for students. ERO includes three disciplines: Structure Fire; Wildland Fire and EMT training.

Students usually range in age from high school graduate up to their 40s. Firefighter I consists of 8 credits: six credits in the lab and 192 hours of hand-on training, plus two hours online for lectures.

The program is about seven years old, and in its fifth year on campus.  After one year of training at KCC, you should be able to take a test for Firefighter EMT certification.

Leadership is the tenet the U.S. Marine Corps brands its soldiers with so they may effectively serve their country. Newly elected Klamath County Commissioner Andrew Nichols continues to embody long after his military retirement.

Klamath county born and raised, Nichols remains dedicated to serving his community, running in the 2024 election for a position on the Board of County Commissioners. As of Friday, Nichols was reported to have a lead of more than 3,000 votes overall in the race, making his election to the county office an almost certainty.

During his 20-year military career, Nichols found himself in an uncommon, high-stakes position among his fellow servicemen. A car accident which caused the unexpected death of his soon-to-deploy platoon’s commander led to the appointment of the then-non-commissioned officer Nichols to fulfill the duties of his predecessor overseas in 2007.

That is why the Marine Corps imprints leadership above all else, Nichols said.  It was during this deployment — one of eight Nichols served during the war in Iraq — that his platoon made history. Under his command, Nichols said his platoon was the first to hand over command to Iraqi forces during the war. This achievement was recognized at the presidential level when Nichols was invited to the State of the Union address given by George W. Bush in 2008. That leadership, Nichols said, comes from a place of discipline.

After retiring from his career as Marine, Nichols returned to his home in Klamath County, dedicating his efforts not only to his country but also to his family and neighbors. A father of triplets, now grown and pursuing their own futures in leadership roles, Nichols also found himself once more as a leader among local law enforcement.

In his five years with the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office, Nichols served his brothers in blue as the president of their union at a time when the executives managed to attain perhaps the best agreed upon union deal for deputies in Klamath County. As an established leader in the community, Nichols said he is living the American dream.

The current Ponderosa Middle School building will need to be replaced within three to five years due to its location on an active fault line, Klamath Falls City Schools Superintendent Keith Brown said Thursday.

Brown, KFCS operations director Daymond Monteith, KFCS maintenance director Jared Thompson and Ponderosa principal Brett Lemieux led a public presentation, tour and Q&A at the school Thursday. The tour highlighted cracks and buckling in the interior walls and floors of the building caused by the fault line shifting. The shifting has also led to numerous doors in the building becoming misaligned, a problem Thompson said maintenance crews have had to work throughout the year to mitigate.

The building has been monitored by structural engineers for about 25 years, and it was recently determined that moving the school to a more stable location was the best long-term option, Brown said. The district plans to rebuild Ponderosa on a piece of property it owns adjacent to Steen Sports Park.

Monteith said KFCS currently estimates it will need $120 million to complete the project and would obtain the funding through a property tax levy of $2 per $1,000. Brown and Monteith said the district hasn’t decided whether it will try to get the levy on the ballot for May 2025.

Rigoberto Cisneros, owner and operator of Girasol Family Mexican Restaurant and Cantina in downtown Klamath Falls is marking the restaurant’s sixth year of operations with something fun: giving back to the community.

And he credits the Klamath Community College’s Small Business Development Center for helping him along the way. They wanted this anniversary Tuesday, Nov. 12, to be more meaningful, so, the staff has decided to go out and create six random acts of kindness to mark the anniversary.  That may include helping out six families, or six individuals or create six ways to give back to the community, he said.

Cisneros has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. From as early as age 4 he could be found shadowing his father at restaurants, and by age 9 he was working alongside his father as a bus boy in a family restaurant, while also selling Mexican candy and other items to his classmates at school.

Cisneros opened the business when he was 22 and has put his heart and soul into making it successful. It was recently voted the best Mexican food restaurant in the Klamath Basin on Yelp, (along with producing the best margarita). At 28, Cisneros is ready to create a way to run the restaurant more efficiently, with better operating systems.  What was lacking was the financial savvy one needs to succeed. He attended the nine-month Small Business Management Program in 2022 through the KCC SBDC where he was exposed to topics ranging from human resources best practices, understanding his financial statements, digital marketing and how to be an effective leader.

The restaurant, at 430 Main St., is open for lunch and dinners, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. Call 541-887-2282 or visit their Facebook page.

The intersection of Main Street, East Main Street, Michigan Avenue and North Eldorado Ave will be closed to all traffic today, Tuesday, for the installation of traffic signal poles.

Detours will be in place to direct traffic around the construction zone. Please be cautious when travelling near construction zones. For more information, please contact Public Works at 541-883-5363.

Around the State of Oregon

One man is dead and another arrested after a shooting in Roseburg over the weekend.

According to the Roseburg Police Department, officers responded to multiple reports of gunshots on Hamilton Street just after 3 a.m. Saturday morning.

Upon arrival officers found 50-year-old Ryan Dale Burchell who had been shot several times. They began life-saving measures until paramedics transferred him to a local hospital where he later died.

They also found the shooter, identified as 25-year-old Austin Adrian Wall. Wall was arrested and faces a second-degree murder charge. The investigation is ongoing.

A Springfield elementary school teacher is on administrative leave after showing a 1st-Grade class a sexual education video.

The video, titled “Help kids learn why it’s important to keep private parts private” was shown to first grade students at Mount Vernon Elementary. While the video is animated in a more child centric way, the video ends with discussing touching ones privates, and the act of which feeling good.

Springfield Public Schools confirmed that the teacher who showed the video is now on leave. According to the district teachers are expected to utilize District-approved, age-appropriate instructional materials/curriculum when providing instruction to students and that teachers may use special aids with the express approval of the principal. Springfield Public Schools has confirmed that they are investigating this incident.

The Coos County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a 5-year-old who went missing over the weekend. Police say Joshua James McCoy has been missing since 5:30 p.m. on Saturday from a home on Stage Road in Hauser.

That’s when his mother discovered he wasn’t inside the house after the two of them had taken a nap. Joshua is described as 3 foot 6 inches tall, thin, with brown hair and eyes. The sheriff’s office says Joshua is autistic so he may not respond when called to.

Police are thankful for the community members who have offered assistance, but officers say the search and rescue team is not currently “seeking additional manpower due to the nature of the proven process of searches and evidence preservation.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Coos County Sheriff’s Office at 541-269-8911.

Two California men were arrested, and 20 pounds of methamphetamine was seized from a vehicle in Ashland last week following a long-term investigation by the Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement team.

According to the Medford Police Department, police suspect the men were involved in a methamphetamine trafficking operation from California to southern Oregon.

Following a long-term investigation, police executed a search warrant on a vehicle in Ashland, seizing 20 pounds of meth and arresting 42-year-old Gabriel Calderon of Madera and 62-year-old Randall Banks of Sonora. Both individuals face multiple drug-related charges.

A Eugene woman is suing a Lane County medical center and one of its doctors, alleging she was forced to undergo a body cavity search without a warrant or signs that she was hiding contraband.

Salina Hernandez, 37, filed a lawsuit this month in Lane County Circuit Court against Lane County, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center and Dr. Brian Hoyt, alleging negligence and sexual battery. She is seeking up to $10 million in damages. A spokesperson for the Lane County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment and so did the medical center.

Hoyt could not be reached for comment. Hernandez’s claims stem from her arrest on June 22, 2023, on suspicions of menacing, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm. She was taken to the Lane County Jail, where she underwent a “pat down and strip search” that didn’t turn up weapons or other contraband, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says Lane County Sheriff’s Office deputies used an “x-ray type security machine” to further scan Hernandez’s body and that, too, failed to detect anything.

According to her claim, Lane County’s policy requires that law enforcement obtain a search warrant to conduct a “body cavity search.” Hernandez alleges that Hoyt, a physician at McKenzie-Willamette, “agreed to perform a highly invasive body cavity search using a speculum to spread Ms. Hernandez’s vagina to look inside her body and using his fingers to feel inside her rectum while she was video recorded and handcuffed to a hospital bed.” The search, the lawsuit claims, found nothing

A new memorial park opening at the state Capitol this month will honor the 790 Oregonians who died, and the more than 180,000 Oregonians who fought, during the 20 years of the Vietnam War.

The memorial is designed to be a reflective outdoor space in Salem’s Willson Park, located in the southwest corner of the Capitol grounds, adjacent to the World War II Memorial. Architect Mike Abbaté designed the memorial to include 46 granite columns engraved with the names of Oregonians who died in the Vietnam War, from 1955 to 1975.

It’s meant to contrast with the solid granite wall of the neighboring World War II memorial. The Department of Defense lists 710 Oregon residents who died in the Vietnam War, but that figure is based only on the state in which a soldier entered the service.

Three boaters are safe after their 19-foot jetboat ran aground on the Klamath River over the weekend.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Southwest, the incident happened just north of Wautec on the Yurok Reservation on Saturday. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the coast guard’s sector in Humboldt Bay after its deputies’ boat was unable to reach the stranded boaters due to draft restrictions.

In response, the coast guard launched a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew, who were able to hoist the boaters into the aircraft and take them to sheriff’s deputies who were nearby. No one was injured and no medical concerns were reported.

An administrator at the University of Oregon is on leave after posting an offensive reaction to the 2024 presidential election.

Leonard Serrato, the Ducks’ fraternity and sorority life assistant director, posted an expletive-filled rant mocking supporters of President-elect Donald Trump on his public Instagram page, the Daily Emerald reported on Wednesday.

Belted into the seat of his car,  the unhinged Serrato ended the video by flashing a peace sign and suggesting Trump’s supporters: “go jump off a bridge,” with an added expletive. Serrato’s social media page is now private, but the video has been reposted and is making the rounds elsewhere.

Among those reacting with a comment was the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. Sharing his expletive-filled comments on social media shows the Trump derailment syndrome hatred that continues in this country and could end up costing Serrato his position at UO.

More Illegals Found Registered to Vote in Oregon

The Oregon DMV reported Thursday it mistakenly allowed an additional 56 potential non-citizens to register to vote, bringing the total number of errors to 1,617.

The agency found most of the additional errors while double-checking records that workers had reviewed last month, according to a DMV report. This marks the fourth increase in the agency’s estimate in less than two months since it first identified the issue. The agency discovered the new errors in mid-October and reported them to the secretary of state on Oct. 21, according to the report.

All 56 individuals were “inactivated from registration and electronically flagged so that any submitted ballot would be pulled at the local level and not counted” in the November election, the report states. None of the individuals had a voting history, according to the report.

Salem Police are asking for help tracking down a man they say is violent and on the run. Javier Banuelos Munoz Junior has several outstanding warrants for his arrest, including for kidnapping and violating parole.

Banuelos Munoz is 44-years-old, Hispanic with black-shaved hair and brown eyes, he’s five-foot-eight with a medium build and generally has a beard. He has several tattoos including a prominent one on his neck that reads “Munoz.” Don’t approach him and call Salem Police if you see him.

Some beachgoers were surprised to find a four-foot-long shark had washed ashore near Avenue U in Seaside earlier this week.

The Seaside Aquarium, which received the report, identified the shark as a female blue shark. The aquarium says these sharks, which are among the most common worldwide, get their name from their blue coloration. While they can grow up to 12 feet in length, they usually don’t surpass 10 feet.

Sharks can be found along almost every continent’s coastline, aside from Antarctica. The aquarium was able to recover the shark, however, it says it’s too difficult to determine how the shark died so no necropsy will be conducted. Instead, aquarium officials will be able to dissect it with local students in the future giving them an opportunity to learn more about the species.

A Medford fly fishing guide is the newest member of Oregon State Marine Board.

The Oregon State Marine Board (OSMB) says Dax Messett has already attended its October 23 meeting in Medford as new Board member who’s replacing Val Early on the Board. OSMB says Messett represents commercial and recreational boating in southern Oregon interests and was confirmed by Governor Tina Kotek and the Oregon Senate in September 2024. Messett’s term became effective October 1.

OSMB has five members of the boating public who volunteer their time and expertise to serve a four-year term and who may apply for a second term of service. OSMB says, “Members represent different geographic regions of the state and different boating activities. Our Board members are also boaters. They own and use motorized boats and paddlecraft. Many own more than one type of watercraft.”

OSMB says Messett has spent the last 25 years working in the outdoor industry as a registered guide and outfitter, sales representative, international destination travel coordinator, writer, photographer and featured guest speaker.   Two of its five members are based in Jackson County.

Oregon lawmakers will continue to set their own salaries and those of the governor, secretary of state and certain other elected officials after voters rejected a measure that would have assigned the responsibility to an independent commission.

The measure was failing 53% to 47% in partial returns as of Thursday morning, leaving no plausible path for the outcome to change.  Measure 116’s defeat marks a blow for many lawmakers, unions and progressive groups, which have said for years that the low salaries for Oregon lawmakers and other elected officials discourage young and less affluent individuals from running for office.

Lawmakers currently earn about $35,000 per year, plus $157 daily stipends during legislative sessions. Other statewide elected officials earn some of the lowest salaries for their offices in the nation. Oregon’s governor makes $98,600, its attorney general earns $82,220 and its secretary of state, treasurer and labor commissioner receive $77,000.

Bureau of Land Management recreation managers are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to fill host positions at six unique locations for the 2025 summer recreation season.

Volunteer hosts play a critical role at BLM recreation sites. They are the primary, daily connection between public land users and BLM staff.  Hosts also assist BLM staff to open and close sites each day, manage campground and shelter reservations, answer visitor questions, encourage visitor rule adherence, and generally maintain the sites.

A paved RV pad is provided at each site for host volunteers. Sites have varying degrees of amenities from full electric, water, and sewer hook-ups to completely primitive sites with only public potable water access. The selected volunteer(s) must provide their own trailer, motorhome, RV, or tent set-up.

Each host will receive a modest daily stipend to off-set some living costs and incidental expenses. Hosts are expected to live on site during the region’s busiest recreation season, typically from April through September. (The start date for the selected host at Sharps Creek will likely be earlier in the year.)

For more information and to apply for these volunteer opportunities, please visit Volunteer.gov. If you have further questions, contact Kendra Barat at [email protected] or (720) 591-6847.

State officials are offering free help enrolling in insurance to 1 million Oregonians who qualify for Medicare or buy health insurance on the federal marketplace.

Open enrollment for Medicare, available, of course, to those at least 65 years old or receiving Social Security disability benefits, started Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7, while open enrollment for buying individual plans starts Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 15.

Only a fraction of Oregonians buy their own insurance — about 145,500 — while more than 930,000 people are on Medicare. During open Medicare enrollment, people can enroll for the first time or change their plan, including a prescription drug plan — Medicare Part D — or switch between Medicare Advantage and original Medicare.

Health insurance is complicated and there are a lot of options. The Department of Human Services has five staff members and works with nearly 160 volunteers around the state to help people sort through them and avoid scams. Through this year, most Medicare prescription plans have a “donut hole” or coverage gap for prescription drugs, but the Inflation Reduction Act, signed in 2022, closed the gap for Medicare policies starting in 2025. Also next year, Medicare plans will cap out-of-pocket expenses for prescriptions at $2,000. The DHS specialists also can explain coverage for weight loss drugs, expanded family caregiver coverage and increased access to mental health services.

For individual plans, the state has revamped its Window Shopping tool this year to make it easier to explore insurance options and curb costs, according to an Oregon Health Authority news release. The tool compares plans, previews out-of-pocket costs and checks whether plans cover certain providers, facilities and prescription drugs. And it’s not just limited to individual plans but can help people with the Oregon Health Plan or Medicaid, the new OHP Bridge Plan for lower income people who earn a bit more than what’s allowed under Medicaid, Medicare and the federal marketplace for an individual plan.

Voters last week in more than a dozen Oregon cities, including in the Portland area, voted to ban the regulated sales and use of psilocybin mushrooms.

Anti-psilocybin measures were on the ballots in 16 cities and unincorporated Clackamas County, and are passing in coastal communities to urban Portland and central and southern Oregon by 55% to 70% of the vote.

Bans against psilocybin businesses are passing in Brookings, Rogue River, Sutherlin, Redmond, Lebanon, Jefferson, Sheridan, Amity, Hubbard, Mount Angel, Estacada, Oregon City, Lake Oswego, Seaside and Warrenton. Redmond’s measure would enact a two-year moratorium on psilocybin businesses. Comment was not immediately available from psilocybin opponents. Supporters of the drug expressed disappointment with the results Wednesday.

SAFETY TIPS FOR YOUR HOME AS WINTER APPROACHES

The chill in the air here in the Northwesst is the reminder to check your yaard and tend to maintenance issues around your home.

“Fall is a great time to check the condition of your trees and a good opportunity to prune them before they become an issue once storms start,” said Jeremy Gee, Pacific Power’s vice president of health and safety. “Winter storms that bring down branches are a common source of power outages. Check around your property to see if any trees or branches could harm power lines if they fell. Some preventative work now could save you additional trouble and inconvenience related to power outages later.”

Use caution when pruning trees. Don’t use pruning tools or ladders near power lines. Always keep yourself and anything you’re handling at least 10 feet away from overhead power lines. Never try to remove a branch that is tangled or lying across a power line. Instead, call Pacific Power at

1-888-221-7070. We’ll be happy to remove it for you.

Some additional tips for fall safety:

• Treat all electric lines with caution.
• Use only wooden and fiberglass ladders. Metal ladders conduct electricity.
• Be aware and steer clear of overhead electrical wires when installing, removing, cleaning or repairing gutters.
• Never use electrical equipment or tools near a pool or other wet areas such as puddles. Additionally, make sure outlets are equipped with a ground fault circuit interrupter, designed to automatically disconnect if the tool comes into contact with water.
• Plant trees and shrubs away from meters, switching cabinets and boxed transformers. Vegetation that blocks electrical equipment makes repairs and maintenance challenging and sometimes dangerous for utility workers.
• Have help when installing or adjusting a satellite dish or antenna. Make sure you’re working at least 10 feet away from overhead power lines.
• Underground power lines are just as dangerous as overhead ones. If your project involves digging, make sure the locations of underground power lines are marked. Call 811 to have underground utilities located and marked for free.

For more safety tips or to order free Pacific Power safety materials, call toll free at 800-375-7085 or visit PacificPower.net/Safety.

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