The latest news stories of interest in the Rogue Valley and around the state of Oregon from the digital home of Southern Oregon, Wynne Broadcasting’s RogueValleyMagazine.com
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Rogue Valley Weather
Today– Patchy smoke. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming north northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday– Widespread smoke, mainly after 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.
Friday– Areas of smoke. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday– Sunny, with a high near 86.
Sunday– Sunny, with a high near 85.
Almeda Fire Anniversary
September 8, 2021, marks the one-year anniversary of the Almeda Fire and many of the fires that savagely roared through other parts of western Oregon. It’s now been one year since the Almeda Fire burned north from Ashland and destroyed much of Talent and Phoenix claiming three lives and destroying over two thousand structures.
Governor Brown issued a proclamation on Tuesday, marking September 7 as a day of remembrance for the wildfires that devastated multiple Oregon communities after Labor Day weekend of 2020. While the Almeda, South Obenchain, and Slater fires of southern Oregon and northern California flared to life on September 8, some of the fires that would eventually march through several western Oregon communities were already burning prior to that day. The historic winds that lashed the region September 8th ultimately fueled much of the destruction.
Like other major cases, this case is not considered “closed” and won’t be until it is seen to full resolution. The case remains open pending more information becomes available. According to the Ashland Police Department, there are still no definitive answers in the investigation into how it started.
Ashland Police has been the lead investigative agency on the case since the beginning, with help from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, Medford Police, and consultation from the FBI. According to APD, the investigation has included help from 18 different law enforcement agencies between Oregon, Washington, California, and Alabama.
More than 200 people have been interviewed over the course of the investigation, including multiple polygraph examinations.
The fire started around 11 a.m. that Wednesday near a subdivision on the north end of Ashland, not far from the Ashland BMX Park and city wastewater treatment plant. Buffeted by unusually strong, sustained winds, the fire raced northwest along the Bear Creek Greenway between I-5 and Highway 99, eventually expanding beyond the bounds of both and into the surrounding communities. Three people died in the Almeda Fire, two of them identified.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Ashland Police Department: Ashland Police Dept
Shooting at Fichtner-Mainwaring Park in Medford
Medford Police are investigating a shooting at Fichtner-Mainwaring Park in Medford.
Just before 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, three people were shot in the parking lot of Fichtner-Mainwaring Park in Medford. All three victims were taken to the hospital, and two of them sustained life-threatening injuries.
According to a release from Medford Police, the suspects drove up in a vehicle, shot the victims and left the park.
Medford Police said information is very limited at this time and they do not have a description on the suspects or the vehicle. They are working to investigate the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call Medford Police at 541-770-4783.
Fire on Fielder Creek Road in Rogue River
The fire was estimated to be 20 acres Tuesday evening but fire activity has greatly diminished as windy conditions are dying down. Firefighters will remain on scene overnight to continue to build line around the perimeter of the fire with the goal of keeping it as small as possible.
A citizen alert notification was sent to the affected residents at 6:51 p.m.Fire Evacuation Notice Level 2 BE SET to evacuate issued from Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for 900-1200 block of Fielder Creek Road, Rogue River, OR.
Level 2 EVACUATION means:* Be prepared to evacuate at any minute. * There is significant danger in your area.* You may choose to evacuate now. If you can, stay with family/friends outside the dangerous area. If you feel you are in danger, leave. If you choose to stay, be ready to evacuate at a moments notice. You may have time to gather supplies, but you do so at your own risk. This may be the only notice that you receive. The fire might move too fast for authorities to send more alerts. Continue to monitor local social media, TV, radio, your telephone devices, for more information.
Oregon reports 5,821 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 54 new deaths
There are 54 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 3,326, the Oregon Health Authority reported 5,821 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 bringing the state total to 289,649. The totals reflect data reported by local health officials over four days, between Sept. 3 and Sept.6.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (33), Benton (56), Clackamas (453), Clatsop (27), Columbia (98), Coos (38), Crook (15), Curry (19), Deschutes (404), Douglas (421), Harney (12), Hood River (25), Jackson (439), Jefferson (28), Josephine (262), Klamath (65), Lake (2), Lane (647), Lincoln (77), Linn (302), Malheur (21), Marion (602), Morrow (24), Multnomah (772), Polk (71), Sherman (5), Tillamook (69), Umatilla (91), Union (57), Wallowa (19), Wasco (26), Washington (550), Wheeler (1) and Yamhill (90).
Note: More information about the cases and deaths will be provided in an updated news release.
Oregon reports 2,149 confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases on Sept. 3, 466 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases on Sept. 4, 2,064 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases on Sept. 5 and 1,142 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases on Sept. 6.
Governor Brown press conference highlights school-based COVID-19 measures
Governor Kate Brown held a press conference this morning with OHA Health Officer and State Epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon Department of Education Director Colt Gill and Dr. Dana Braner, physician-in-chief at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. A video link to yesterday’s media briefing:
Dr. Sidelinger encouraged all eligible Oregonians who have not been vaccinated to schedule their appointments as soon as they can to protect themselves and others with safe and highly effective vaccines. Dr. Sidelinger also highlighted how OHA has been working closely with the Oregon Department of Education to ensure that Oregon schools remain well protected against COVID-19. The measures include diagnostic testing for students or staff who display symptoms of COVID-19, weekly screening testing for unvaccinated K-12 staff and weekly screening testing of unvaccinated students through an opt-in program.
On August 13, Gov. Brown announced that state executive branch employees must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18. The mandate also pertains to workers in a variety of fields, from law enforcement to medical professionals.
In Klamath County, nurses at Sky Lakes Medical Center and firefighters stationed at Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base in Klamath Falls are taking a public stand against the state vaccine mandate.
Friday, the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 3340-Kingsley Fire Fighters Association joined with the Fraternal Order of Police as well as nine Oregon State Police troopers, in a lawsuit filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court against Gov. Brown.
The lawsuit hopes to stop the state’s enforcement of the vaccine mandate. While the firefighters union made it clear that it does not oppose vaccination, they believe there should be personal choice on the matter. The mandate allows employees to apply for certain exemptions to getting the vaccine, and if accepted, those employees will be exempt and appropriately accommodated in their workplace.
In a related story, A spokesman for the Oregon State Police confirms that the agency as launched an investigation into possible violations of its policies after a trooper posted a video on Instagram vowing to defy the state’s mask and vaccine mandates.
OSP Trooper Zachary Kowing posted the video on Instagram at the end of August. Kowing, dressed in his uniform and seated in his police cruiser, vocally opposes both the state’s mask mandates and the requirement that educators, healthcare workers, and many state employees get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Kowing’s video went viral, particularly among groups already in opposition to the vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 countermeasures. OSP later confirmed that Kowing has been placed on administrative leave while an investigation determines whether he violated agency policy.
OSP’s social media policy prohibits personnel from “making any statements, speeches, appearances, and endorsements, or publishing any materials, when such activities could reasonably be considered to represent the views or positions of this Department without authorization.”
Overnight the Cougar Peak Fire, 15 mi NW of Lakeview, has grown to 1,300 acres. 0% containment. Extreme fire behavior.
A warm and dry day with very low humidities and calmer winds was in place for most of yesterday until winds picked up in the evening with gusty conditions in south central and southeastern Oregon. Low relative humidities in the single digits and teens were widespread.
Smoky conditions and cooler temperatures kept fires moderated in Washington. Activity on large fires along the west slopes of the Cascades in Oregon responded to drier conditions and fire behavior and growth increased. Large fire growth was moderate. Trace precipitation received west of the Cascades and one lightning strike recorded in northwestern Washington.
Residual showers in western Washington will taper off this morning, as the upper-level trough moves northeast into Canada. The west side of the region will be cooler today, while the east side will have another warm, dry day. General winds will be breezy through Cascade gaps and to the east this afternoon and for the next two afternoons. Another disturbance should cross the region Thursday with a chance for light rain in western Washington and the north Oregon coast.
With monsoonal moisture drawing in from the south, eastern Oregon could see some dry thunderstorm chances in the afternoon/evening, although smoke could limit the chances. Another round of storms looks possible for the same area Friday but accompanied by a good chance for wetting rains. Seasonable temperatures are still anticipated Friday through the weekend.
Continuing warm, dry conditions and breezy winds result in elevated potential for new significant fires for much of Oregon and eastern Washington today and Thursday for most central and eastern PSAs. Potential will relax back toward normal heading into the weekend, as cooler conditions take effect.
Here are links to be able to see updated info on the larger fires still burning in Oregon:
- Bull Complex InciWeb
- Devil’s Knob Complex InciWeb
- Jack Fire InciWeb
- Rough Patch Complex InciWeb
- Middle Fork Complex/Knoll Fire InciWeb
This public lands link is super helpful to check before you head outdoors. The Keep Oregon Green website carries ODF’s public use restrictions. Click the link for up-to-date information: https://keeporegongreen.org/current-conditions/
Man Indicted of Killing Wife In Oregon 25 Years Ago In Cold Case Murder
A 68-year-old man is facing murder charges in a cold case murder from 1996, accused of killing his wife in Oregon after her skeletal remains were recently identified through DNA profiling and genealogy research.
The case began September 1, 1996 when investigators found a woman’s remains in the hills overlooking the Mill Creek area in rural Polk County. Her body was found wrapped in a tarp and bound with rope, and her death was ruled a homicide.
Despite several attempts to identify the woman, she remained unidentified until 2019 when a new DNA technique was used to put a name to her remains.
Retired Las Vegas Metro PD crime scene investigator Yolanda McClary reached out to Polk County detectives in 2019, saying she was working on a new TV show to help agencies identify remains in cold cases. Over the next ten months, they developed a DNA profile for the remains and genealogists working with McClary helped identify the woman as Kathy Thomas.
Thomas married Brian Clifton in 1984, and the couple lived in the Salem area for most of their marriage. Her last known contact was in March of 1996 when she reported a hit-and-run accident to Salem Police – six months before her remains were found.
Officials say there were no missing person reports for Kathy in 1996, nor any record of her divorcing Brian. They did, however, learn Brian Clifton remarried about a month after Kathy’s remains were found near Mill Creek.
Detectives found that Clifton lived in another state and in December of 2020 and asked him about what happened to Kathy. After a series of follow-up interviews, a Polk County Grand Jury indicted him in August for Kathy’s murder.
He was taken into custody and again interviewed by Polk County detectives, where they say he admitted to his involvement in Kathy’s murder.
Clifton was extradited to Oregon and on Tuesday, September 7, the 68-year-old was arraigned on a first-degree murder charge.
Dutch Bros seeks $3.3 Billion Valuation in Initial Public Offering
Dutch Bros hopes to raise up to $484 million in its initial public offering, according to a new regulatory filing Tuesday, which would make it the largest IPO in Oregon history and the first to raise more than $100 million in 14 years.
The company, based in Grants Pass, said Tuesday it plans to sell shares for between $18 and $20 apiece.
That would value the business at up to $3.3 billion, making it Oregon’s seventh-most-valuable public company ahead of NW Natural, Greenbrier, and Schnitzer Steel.
Dutch Bros, which intends to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “BROS,” indicated last month it planned to raise $100 million.
The IPO would also mint a new Oregon billionaire, with Dutch Bros chairman and co-founder Travis Boersma holding a stake worth as much as $1.43 billion, according to details disclosed for the first time in Tuesday’s filing.
Boersma would also control nearly three-quarters of all the voting shares in the company through a multitiered stock structure. Dutch Bros said Tuesday that its charter will contain provisions that will make it difficult for an outside investor to mount a hostile takeover of the business.
Dutch Bros said it plans to use proceeds from the stock offering to pay off nearly $200 million in debt. TSG Consumer Partners, an investment firm that bought a stake in Dutch Bros three years ago, would own about one-third of the company’s stock after the IPO.
Dutch Bros did not say when it plans to go public but did say Tuesday that it plans to begin pitching the company to prospective Wall Street investors. That suggests the stock offering is proceeding apace.
Dutch Bros (pronounced “bros,” not “brothers”) has aggressive expansion plans, hoping eventually to grow to as many as 4,000 coffee stands. The company said Tuesday it plans a new coffee roasting facility in the Midwest to accommodate continued growth.
The southern Oregon chain has distinguished itself in a competitive coffee market by emphasizing friendly, prompt customer service. Dutch Bros encourages its “broistas” to greet customers in line in their cars and take their orders there so their coffee is ready when they reach the kiosk window.
Rather than focus on gourmet coffee of the kind that roasters in the Portland area feature, Dutch Bros has a menu filled with cold brews, frothy coffee shakes, energy drinks and other treats.
Though Oregon’s economy was thriving in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state hasn’t produced a new, homegrown company in decades. Much of Oregon’s business landscape consists of large employers, like Intel, Boeing, U.S. Bank, Adidas and Daimler, that are based elsewhere but have large outposts in the Portland area.
Dutch Bros bucks that trend, growing rapidly from its headquarters in southern Oregon and demonstrating that the state can still produce large businesses.
As Dutch Bros expands, however, it will face growing competition – along with the challenges of managing a public company. The business warned investors last month of a “material weakness” in its financial reporting, an accounting lapse Dutch Bros attributed to lacking the necessary expertise to track the company’s complicated financial transactions.
Illegal Grow Sites Affecting Water Resources in Klamath County
In recent years, Oregon has become fertile ground for illegal marijuana grow sites, and law enforcement has now confirmed some in Klamath County have ties to international criminal organizations. In most local cases, law enforcement has found illegal growers from out of state lease local properties, cultivate and produce marijuana, and then distribute it to other parts of the country — turning millions of dollars in profit.
In the process, growers use tremendous amounts of water, acquired either by illegally taking it from area rivers and wells, or buying it from locals hoping to make a buck. Grow sites can then be quickly abandoned — after the yield is harvested by migrant laborers — and landowners are left cleaning up the mess. The cycle continues each year with
renewed vigor, and until recently there wasn’t much law enforcement could do about it.
But earlier this week, a local consortium of law enforcement drug officials raided three grow sites. Still, the size and remoteness of much of Klamath County means there are not enough resources to address the full weight of the issue.
Crater Lake National Park Winding Down for the Summer
Visitation is winding down following one of Crater Lake National Park’s most unusual summers.
Despite many days of often extremely poor air quality, visitation has remained high, but generally below last year’s record-setting marks.
After spring months when visitation neared record highs — numbers in March and April were the second and third highest in park history while May set a record with 56,746 — numbers increased significantly in the early summer.
June saw 95,515 visitors, the fifth highest, while July recorded 194,172 visits, the fourth highest. Visitation figures for August are not yet available but, according to Denniston “it was definitely quieter.” In recent years August has been the park’s most active month, including an all-time record for any month of 222,368 visitors in 2020.
Forest Service Will Begin Wild Horse Round-Up
The U.S. Forest Service will begin gathering 600 wild horses from the Devil’s Garden Plateau wild horse territory on Sept. 15.
The 2021 population census in the area counted 1,926 adult horses on and around the territory.
Reducing overpopulation helps address unsustainable impacts on aquatic resources, wildlife, hunting, grazing and other traditional cultural practices, according to the USFS.
The Modoc National Forest has contracted Cattoor Livestock Roundups to conduct the gather. Due to the confined nature of viewing blinds, viewing of gather operations will be offered for two stakeholders a day on a first-come-first-served basis. Please call 530-233-8738 to make an appointment. https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/modoc/landmanagement/resourcemanagement/?cid=FSEPRD512471
Klamath Wildlife Refuge Gets Water Released to Help Migrating Birds
The Bureau of Reclamation began releasing water from the Klamath River to Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge on Friday afternoon. Advocates hope it will improve wetland habitat on the refuge for migrating birds this fall.
Last week, California Waterfowl Association officially purchased approximately 3,750 acre-feet of water from
Agency Ranch in the Wood River Valley, above Upper Klamath Lake, has announced the purchase and fundraising effort this spring.
Lower Klamath has been plagued by insufficient wetland habitat due to a lack of deliveries from the Klamath Project for the past 20 years. All wetland habitat on Lower Klamath is dry save for Unit 2, on the northwest part of the refuge. It contains Sheepy Lake, the last piece of open water on the refuge, which had been drying up all summer, stranding molting waterfowl and making them prone to predation by raccoons and coyotes.
Water is now headed there through the Ady Canal. However, not all 3,750 acre-feet will enter the refuge this year. Because the water right only allows for diversion through September 30 at a maximum rate per day, only about 700 acre-feet will be available to divert this summer. But CWA’s release said the full amount will be available in future years, and that it provides a proof of concept for other water rights holders who are interested in selling some of their water to help the refuge.