Rogue Valley News, Tuesday 10/5 – Bus Driver Shortage Affecting Medford Schools, SOEquity Working to Assist Unhoused Community At Hawthorne Park In Medford

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.

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Rogue Valley Weather

Today– A 20% chance of rain after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 74. Calm wind becoming north northwest 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon.

Wednesday– Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 62. Light and variable wind.

Thursday– Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 66. Calm wind.

Friday– Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 66.

Saturday– Partly sunny, with a high near 67.

Bus Driver Shortage Affecting Medford Schools

The Medford School District is experiencing a bus driver staffing shortage and that crisis is having a negative effect on students and families in the district.

Medford School District Superintendent Bret Champion said the district has 98 bus drivers when it is fully staffed and right now it has just over half that number.

“We are truly in crisis, having to change routes,” Champion said. “Any extracurricular game or event or field trip or any of those pieces that are happening during the day, we just can’t do them right now because we need all of our drivers to do our school route.”

Champion said they’ve moved many extracurricular activities to the weekend because they can’t spare bus drivers during the week. In mid-September, a South Medford freshman football game, scheduled for a Friday, needed to be canceled because they didn’t have enough available bus drivers to make the trip.

Champion said the district has made two major adaptations to deal with the shortage. “We have put out an appeal to parents to, if they can drive, if they’re able to drive, or if their student is able to safely walk, then please please please please do that,” Champion said.

To further encourage parents to drive their kids to and from school, Medford School District has offered to reimburse parents for their gas money for carpooling students. Leah Thompson, the district’s communications specialist, confirmed that no parents have asked for reimbursement so far this school year.

The district has also extended its “walk-to-stop” distance, or the close distance to school that disqualifies students from getting a bus ride, by a couple of blocks.

Champion said they’re brainstorming solutions to the bus driver shortage, and a few superintendents suggested to the Oregon Department of Education that they use the National Guard to drive school buses, similar to what’s being done this school year in Massachusetts.

“The problem is that the National Guard has been deployed and they’re in our hospitals. And that’s where they currently are being used,” Champion said. “So until we get that surge taken care of, that’s not even an option. But certainly, we are searching for solutions.”

When asked why there is currently such a bus driver shortage, Champion said he did not know the cause. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know what the — I heard it referred to as the ‘great resignation’ recently,” Champion said. “I don’t know all the causes of it. All I know is that it’s impacting our ability to do our jobs well here in the Medford School District.”

Champion said, the extension of unemployment benefits and pandemic uncertainty could be contributing factors to the bus driver shortage.

“I think there is just, nationwide, this question of, ‘What do I want to do with my life, what does that look like?’ Champion said. “And so we’re seeing some of those ramifications here in the district.”

Champion said they are now offering “great” hiring incentives for school bus drivers. They are giving signing bonuses between $4,000 and $6,500 to become a driver, and they are offering a starting wage of $20 per hour.

Champion said, despite the staffing setbacks, they have not had to leave any students at their bus stop or at school. He said on occasion, they have needed bus drivers to do “double-runs,” meaning taking a second trip back around to pick up students from their bus stop or from school.

Another concern Champion mentioned, is the bus driver shortage possibly getting worse after the October 18th deadline for all school staff members to have their COVID-19 vaccinations.

SOEquity Working to Assist Unhoused Community At Hawthorne Park In Medford

Early last Thursday morning, the Medford Police Department Livability Team partnered with the Jackson County Sheriff Department and Rogue Retreat’s Clean Sweeps program to remove an estimated dozen unhoused individuals from the area, according to Kayla Wade, logistics director for the Southern Oregon Coalition for Racial Equity (SOEquity).

Homelessness has been a tense issue in Jackson County. More than 700 unhoused people lived there in 2019, state data shows. One in four were chronically homeless — usually battling a severe combination of substance abuse and mental or physical ailments.

Every community forges its own approach to homelessness, often balancing things like law enforcement, social services and shelter infrastructure.

In the past 12 months, Medford has earmarked $1.2 million for a new “Livability Team” with its police department; and, after COVID-19 emerged, a $30,000-per-month low-barrier shelter with 25 beds.

“That’s the only way any of this works,” said Kevin Stine, a city councilor and mayoral candidate. “You do provide services, but then you also, in my opinion, you have to have the enforcement aspect as well. It doesn’t work if you don’t have both.

“You have to say here’s your option, and if you don’t choose the option, then this is a last resort — having enforcement,” Stine said. “Which is unfortunate, but that’s something every community faces.”

The removal of people living in the area was a result of a 72-hour notice served on Monday, September 27, around 7:30 a.m.

“No one was evicted. Their camps, which were a violation of an existing ordinance, were removed. Many of them were relocated to other options,” said Sgt. Geoff Kirkpatrick of the MPD Livability Team.

SOEquity reports that the Medford Police Department and Jackson County Sheriff Department arrived at 6:30 a.m. to cordon off the area with yellow tape.

Mutual aid volunteers, who make regular visits to Hawthorne Park each week, were able to engage with the police and no arrests were made during the sweep at Hawthorne Park.

Regardless of them being turned away, SOEquity reports not following notice orders would be in violation of the law.

SOEquity asked for donations to provide cold-weather gear for unhoused individuals over the weekend collecting “tarps, backpacks, hand-warmers, and water-resistant clothes and shoes to help people survive this transition in weather,” says Mars Hints, Project Manager for SOEquity.

“As someone who has been chronically unhoused, I know how hard it is to survive outside in harsh weather conditions,” said Hints. “Our community has to act to make sure no one dies this winter.”

As SOEquity hopes to establish a more consistent gear drive, it also works toward providing resources for mental health crisis de-escalation.

Members outside of the area or those who wish to donate funds can find instructions for contribution at www.soequity.org/donate. SOEquity plans to establish more consistent gear drives for the local unhoused community.

Southern Oregon Missing Persons

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https://www.facebook.com/pg/Have-You-Seen-Me-Southern-Oregons-Missing-People-161249961222839/posts/

Oregon reports 3,286 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 8 new deaths

There are eight new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 3,823. The Oregon Health Authority reported 3,286 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 bringing the state total to 334,971.

The eight new deaths and 3,286 new cases reported today include data recorded by counties for the 3-day period between Friday, Oct. 1 and Sunday, Oct. 3.

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (10), Benton (78), Clackamas (258), Clatsop (24), Columbia (50), Coos (48), Crook (27), Curry (3), Deschutes (324), Douglas (60), Gilliam (1), Grant (10), Harney (11), Hood River (48), Jackson (153), Jefferson (44), Josephine (49), Klamath (54), Lake (4), Lane (275), Lincoln (28), Linn (236), Malheur (34), Marion (333), Morrow (8), Multnomah (477), Polk (41), Sherman (2), Tillamook (7), Umatilla (80), Union (46), Wallowa (20), Wasco (39), Washington (320), Wheeler (3) and Yamhill (81).

Three ODF districts in western Oregon are ending their fire season on Tuesday, Oct. 5

Three Oregon Department of Forestry districts in western Oregon are declaring an end to their local fire season and dropping industrial fire precaution restrictions starting Tuesday, Oct. 5. The three are West Oregon, Western Lane and South Cascade districts. They serve Lane, Benton, Lincoln, Polk, and the southern part of Linn and Yamhill counties.

Recent rains in the district have reduced fire danger to low as have shorter day lengths and cooler temperatures. District officials caution that people should still exercise care when planning any outdoor burning as fires can escape control even outside of fire season.

Although fire danger levels have dropped around most of Oregon, fire season remains in effect in all other ODF districts pending further improvement in their local fire-risk conditions.

Forest Trust Land Advisory Committee meets October 8 via Zoom

The Forest Trust Land Advisory Committee will meet virtually via Zoom at 9:30 a.m. Friday, October 8. Items on the committee’s agenda include reviewing draft goals for the draft Western Oregon State Forest Management Plan.

This meeting is open to the public, and public comment is scheduled for the beginning of the meeting. The Zoom log-in is at https://odf.zoom.us/j/99106506089. The meeting agenda and materials will be posted on the department’s web site at http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Board/Pages/FTLAC.aspx.

The Forest Trust Land Advisory Committee is comprised of seven county commissioners representing 15 Oregon counties where state forestlands are located. The FTLAC is a statutorily established committee that advises the Board of Forestry on matters related to forestland managed by ODF.

Questions about accessibility or special accommodations can be directed to the Oregon Department of Forestry at least 48 hours prior to the meeting at 503-945-7200.

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Takedown of Lane County Drug Trafficking Cell Leads to Largest Seizure of Methamphetamine in Oregon State History

EUGENE, OR.—On September 15, 2021, a coordinated law enforcement operation targeting the leader and several associates of a Lane County drug trafficking cell led to the seizure of 384 pounds of methamphetamine, the largest single methamphetamine seizure in Oregon State history and valued at over a million dollars.

The operation, led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with assistance from the Springfield Police Department, Eugene Police Department, and Linn Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (LINE) came after the cell’s leader, Martin Manzo-Negrete aka Javier Cardenas-Manzo, a 47-year-old Eugene resident, was charged by federal criminal complaint with possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Manzo-Negrete has a long history of drug trafficking and previously served 14 years in federal prison.

Manzo-Negrete was arrested during the operation and made his first appearance in federal court on September 16, 2021. He was ordered detained pending further court proceedings.

Four of Manzo-Negrete’s associates were also arrested and are facing federal drug charges. They include Eugene residents Gustavo Manzo-Mares, 45; Candice L. Barrett, 52; John C. Willis, 59; and Nathan Lee Daniels, 46. A fifth associate, Frank Buehler, 52, also of Eugene, has been charged, but remains at large.

As part of the operation, law enforcement executed federal search warrants at multiple locations in Lane County. In addition to methamphetamine, they seized 14 firearms—some of which were stolen—and more than $76,000 in cash.

DEA and the Eugene Police Department Street Crimes Unit began investigating the Manzo-Mares cell in October 2020 for its role in trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine from California to Oregon for resale in and around Lane County. The drug trafficking organization transported large quantities of methamphetamine by car from Southern California to Oregon. Once in Oregon, the drugs were stored, divided, and then distributed into the community.

Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement. This case was investigated by the DEA with assistance from Springfield Police Department, Eugene Police Department Street Crimes Unit, and LINE. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Huynh is prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. — U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Oregon

Serial Killer Dies in Oregon Prison

A serial killer who murdered at least three people during the 1990s has died in prison, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections. 53-year-old Sebastian Shaw, who was serving three life sentences at the state penitentiary, died on the morning of October 3.

Police in California first arrested Shaw in 1994 on suspicion of burglary, but he was released in spite of investigators’ discovery of a “murder kit” and several weapons in the stolen vehicle. It wasn’t until 1998 that DNA evidence linked Shaw to the 1992 killings of 18-year-old Donna Ferguson and 29-year-old Todd Rudiger.

He was eventually convicted of those two murders, the attempted murder of 18-year-old Amanda Carpova, and a third, the 1991 killing 40-year-old Jay Rickbeil. All three murders occurred in the Portland area, all of them killed in the same way.

While in prison, Shaw allegedly told another inmate that he was responsible for more murders, as many as a dozen, but follow-up from detectives did not result in any further convictions.

Couple Found Dead After Boat Washes Ashore  Near Nedonna Beach

Authorities say two bodies were found in the water after a sailboat washed up south of Manzanita on the Oregon coast.

Calls came in about a sailboat tossing around in the surf at Nedonna Beach around 6:50 p.m. Sunday. The U.S. Coast Guard sent a helicopter to the scene and found two bodies in the water.

The Coast Guard says one of the bodies was found near a dinghy and the other was found under the boat.

The Coast Guard identified one of the bodies as that of a woman. The 42-foot sailboat washed up at Nedonna Beach, just north of Rockaway Beach, on Sunday night. The name of the sailboat was Bagheera.

USDA Buys Oregon Seafood

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will buy more than 16-million dollars of Pacific seafood, giving Oregon’s seafood industry a boost. The purchase includes nine-million dollars of Pacific whiting fillets, four-million dollars of Pacific rockfish fillets, and four-million dollars in Pacific salad shrimp. This follows a 46-million dollar Pacific seafood purchase in May.

Oregon Wolf Travels to Ventura County California

Wildlife officials confirm a gray wolf has traveled all the way from Oregon to Northern Ventura County, California marking the farthest south in the Golden State one of the animals has made it in 99 years.

The last time it happened, a gray wolf was captured in San Bernardino County in 1922. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife received reports of wolf sightings in Ventura County three times between September 20th and 26th. Officials went to investigate, and confirmed there were wolf tracks in areas where the sightings took place. The wolf has traveled nearly one-thousand-miles through California.

Gray wolves are listed as endangered in California, so the wolf in question is believed to be OR-93, who was born in 2019 fitted with a purple tracking collar by Oregon’s Fish & Wildlife officials in June 2020. OR-93’s collar stopped transmitting in April of this year, but while it was working, authorities tracked him entering Modoc County, at the northern border of California, and making his way into Fresno County by late March. His last collar transmission was from San Luis Obispo County on April 5.

The collar transmission indicates that OR-93 traveled at least 935 air miles in California, a minimum average of 16 air miles per day, according to Fish & Wildlife officials.

Wolves pose very little safety risk to humans, but can be confused with coyotes. Fish & Wildlife officials say gray wolves are generally much bigger than coyotes, and it is against the law to harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, or capture one. Sightings of a gray wolf can be reported online to the CDFW.

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