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, February 16, 2022
Rogue Valley Weather
Today- A 20 percent chance of showers before 1pm. Snow level 2800 feet rising to 3700 feet in the afternoon. Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 49. Light and variable wind.
Thursday– Areas of freezing fog before 7am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 58. Light and variable wind.
Friday– Patchy freezing fog before 10am. Sunny, with a high near 61.
Saturday– Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 60.
Sunday– A chance of rain before 10am, then a chance of showers after 10am. Patchy fog before 10am. Snow level 2700 feet. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 46.
Structure Fire in Grants Pass
Firefighters from Grants Pass Fire Rescue responded Tuesday morning to a structure fire in a neighborhood on the south side of the Rogue River. They were able to quickly get it under control.
The agency said that crews arrived at a home in the 1500-block of Molly Lane to find a small exterior fire burning in a breaker panel and wall.
Firefighters were able to knock the flames down with dry chemical extinguishers, while Pacific Power crews took care of the electrical. The fire was contained to the exterior of the home with no injuries reported. Grants Pass Fire Rescue said that the fire’s cause is still under investigation.
Jackson County Man Convicted Of Murdering His Wife In 2006 Has Died In Prison Custody
A Jackson County man convicted of murdering his wife in 2006 has died in prison custody, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections. 75-year-old Jack A. Sterling was accused of murdering his wife, Joyce Sterling, in July of 2006. Though Sterling initially entered a plea of “not guilty,” he later changed his plea to no contest.
At the time of the trial— “At least two restraining orders alleging separate instances of domestic abuse were filed against Jack Sterling within the past 14 years, according to Oregon court records. Two of Sterling’s ex-wives and family members of another, who has since died of cancer, said they believe Joyce Sterling’s murder is the culmination of a long pattern of abuse.
Police responding to a 9-1-1 hang-up call from the Sterling residence found Joyce Sterling in the laundry room dead of numerous stab wounds to her neck and torso. Reports of domestic abuse had brought deputies to the double-wide trailer off Medford’s South Pacific Highway six times in the past. Joyce Sterling also had asked deputies’ advice on how to leave her husband, investigators said.
Jack Sterling had been drinking vodka when deputies arrived, said Sgt. Colin Fagan of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. Sterling had planned to enter an alcohol recovery program two days later at the Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics in White City, Fagan said. The couple was married for about two years.”
He was sentenced to life in prison at the beginning of December that same year. According to contemporary reporting, Sterling had a history of alleged domestic abuse that culminated in the murder.
Sterling was incarcerated at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, and he died February 12th at a nearby hospital. The DOC said that Oregon State Police have been notified and the State Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death, as with all in-custody deaths.
“SOAK A COP” at the Sheriff’s Office this Sunday at 11 a.m.
The classic rivalry between cops and firefighters is coming to a cold and wet end for a great cause! Jackson County Fire District 3 has gladly accepted the challenge to hose down several of Jackson County’s Law Enforcement for donations, which will all go to Special Olympics Oregon.
All those who get soaked will pay a donation of $10 toward this amazing charity.
The event will begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, February 20th, starting with “SOAK A COP.” We will then have a small, yet fun, open house. Our SWAT vehicle will be out on display with some Patrol vehicles.
Meet our Deputies and find out a little more about the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. This event will take place at 5179 Crater Lake Hwy, Central Point, OR 97502. Hope to see you there!
Huge Tree Just Misses Grants Pass Home Blocks Road As Falls In Monday’s Wind
Fire crews from Rural Metro Fire and Grants Pass Fire Rescue responded on Monday afternoon after a large tree fell down in the Fruitdale area that narrowly missed a house and blocked a roadway.
Rural Metro said that the storm front moving through the region on Monday brought light rain and some gusty winds, enough to topple a tree in the 300-block of Whispering Pines Lane near Chinook Park.
The tree just missed a nearby home, but fell directly across the street.
Crews from both agencies went at the tree with chainsaws, making “quick work” of its removal. There were no reported injuries or damage to buildings.
White City Public Safety Survey Opens to General Public
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Jackson County Code Enforcement is conducting a public safety survey for the White City area. If you live, work, or spend time in White City please consider filling out this survey. Our goal is to improve safety and livability within the urban growth boundary of White City.
To participate in the survey, go to www.tinyurl.com/wcity22 or scan the QR code with your smart phone’s camera.
The information provided in this survey will help us prioritize our crime prevention and code enforcement efforts, and identify resources to better meet the needs of our community and increase our efficiency.
Thank you in advance for your consideration in participating in this survey and for your continued investment to the safety of White City. If you have any questions call (541) 774-6804. — Jackson Co. Sheriff’s Office
Oregon reports 1,613 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 20 new deaths
PORTLAND, Ore. — There are 20 new COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 6,393, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
OHA reported 1,613 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 680,852.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (2), Benton (22), Clackamas (100), Clatsop (15), Columbia (8), Coos (36), Crook (18), Curry (12), Deschutes (95), Douglas (85), Gilliam (1), Grant (5), Harney (1), Hood River (8), Jackson (146), Jefferson (16), Josephine (54), Klamath (26), Lake (20), Lane (166), Lincoln (22), Linn (45), Malheur (23), Marion (148), Morrow (2), Multnomah (189), Polk (60), Sherman (1), Tillamook (9), Umatilla (50), Union (11), Wallowa (2), Wasco (17), Washington (140), Wheeler (6) and Yamhill (52).
Oregon health officials recorded the lowest number of COVID-19 diagnoses in any daily report of 2022 on Tuesday. At the same time, hospitalizations also declined. The downward trend is consistent with forecasts from pandemic experts earlier this month and confirms that the omicron variant is coming down from its peak last month.
The Oregon Health Authority reported 1,613 cases Tuesday. Less than a month ago, the state was reporting numbers nearly seven times that high as the omicron wave peaked.
Results from over the weekend, which were reported Monday, also reflected a sharp downturn in case numbers. The state recorded just 895 cases on Sunday, when fewer cases are typically registered compared to other days of the week.
Hospitals remain stretched in some parts of Oregon, but the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is dropping quickly. The state’s latest report counts 805 people in hospital beds with COVID-19, a drop of 60 patients since Monday. However, capacity remains tight, with just 8% of intensive care beds available, and 6% of non-ICU beds available, statewide.
At the same time that case and hospitalization numbers are trending down, vaccination numbers are falling off, too. Oregon’s seven-day average for vaccinations hit its high point on Jan. 11, when it approached 18,000 doses. That’s plummeted in recent weeks, with the latest seven-day average at just 5,104 doses, as of Feb. 14.
Oregon’s Exclusion Day (2/16) For School Vaccine Records Varies By County
Every year, Oregon schools are required to meet a deadline for having updated immunization records from families. This year the deadline will be different in some counties due to the challenges posed by the lingering impacts of the Omicron variant.
The official statewide deadline for parents to provide vaccine records for their kids is February 16, but seven of Oregon’s 36 counties will have alternate dates.
For Douglas County, exclusion day will fall on March 30. It’s April 20 for schools in Clackamas, Clatsop, Jefferson, Morrow, Multnomah, and Yamhill counties.
OHA said that the change this year is due to “unexpected challenges” from the COVID-19 Omicron variant for local public health agencies, schools, and families. County health departments are supposed to have sent letters to families to let them know if their children’s records at a school or daycare show missing vaccinations. Parents who receive the letter are asked to take action by the date listed on the letter, depending on their county.
Under Oregon law, all kids in public and private schools, preschools, Head Start, and certified child care facilities must have up-to-date documentation of the 11 required immunizations or have an allowable exemption. Oregon has a very broad list of exemptions — allowing them for medical, personal, religious, or philosophical reasons. The COVID-19 vaccine is not currently required for children.
Three Dead in Mapleton Shooting – Deputies Searching for Suspect
Deputies are looking for a person of interest in the shooting deaths of three people east of Mapleton on Tuesday night.
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office received reports of shots fired just before 9:45 p.m. in the 14000 block of Highway 36.
Officials are now searching for a 25-year-old person of interest Jericho Jamison in connection with the deaths. Officials believe that he left the scene driving a silver Geo Metro with the license plate “158JZG”. The back window may be broken.
It is believed that Jamison and the three victims knew each other, and he is considered armed and dangerous. Jamison is described as a white male, 5’10 and 160 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Active investigation is ongoing…If you have any information: (541) 682-4150
House Democrats Revive Proposal To Give Low-Wage Workers Economic Impact Checks
House Democrats reintroduced a bill on Tuesday that will send one-time $600 payments to the bank accounts of more than a quarter-million Oregonians.
It marks the revival of a proposal Democrats in control of the legislature floated in the past: providing stimulus checks to essential workers who remained on the job throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
This iteration of the plan would focus efforts on around 260,000 people who filed for earned income tax credits, a break for low- and middle-income families, on their 2020 filings.
Rep. Andrea Valderrama, D-East Portland, is one of the chief sponsors of the bill and will be tasked with shepherding it through the legislative process. It will receive its first public hearing on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 1:30 p.m.
Valderrama said proponents canned an earlier version of the plan for a couple of key reasons.
— First, the original bill created a process for low-income workers to apply for payments. Valderrama said lawmakers were uneasy about the prospect of finding a state agency or third-party vendor that could handle that volume of work in a timely manner.
— The process would be so cumbersome that most workers needing these payments wouldn’t see them until 2023 or later.
— Secondly, the new bill doesn’t discriminate between what types of workers would be eligible for these payments. The original plan would have only qualified certain types of workers, a factor that lawmakers and proponents realized might preclude many who still need these payments and has been a cumbersome task to delineate who was eligible.
Under the new proposal, as long as they applied for the earned income tax credit on their 2020 state filing, taxpayers should receive a check.
Valderrama also said that Oregon residents who don’t have a social security number but file taxes using an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) will also be eligible for these payments. That includes people with various types of residency documentation statuses.
According to Oregon Department of Revenue data, counties with the highest percentage of residents claiming the state’s earned income tax credit include Malheur (22.7%), Klamath (19%) and Jefferson (18.9%) counties. In general, the state’s southern counties represent the highest percentage of those claiming the tax credit.
The bill states that these payments would not be taxable or eligible for garnishment, meaning everyone who needs this cash will get the whole payment no matter what.
“We know that working and low-wage families need this funding now,” Valderrama said. “We know the cost of living is sky-high, the revenue forecast (last week) told us that. Workers need to be able to afford the rising cost of groceries, prescriptions, childcare and all of those things.”
Valderrama says the bill has the support of nearly all the state’s major unions including the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Oregon Education Association, Oregon School Employees Association and Service Employees International Union (SEIU). It also has the support of the Oregon Food Bank.
While union leaders do support the new proposal, they don’t consider it a one-for-one replacement with what many of them were hoping to see take place this year.
In 2021, Democrats originally proposed economic impact payments for essential workers as high as $2,000 per household. Conversations around dollar amounts this year began around the $1,000 mark. Valderrama said the drawback of payments at that level is they would be eligible for federal taxation.
Early estimates show the plan would cost the state around $180 million. MORE INFO: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2022R1/Measures/Overview/HB4157
Oregon Getting 35-Million Dollars In Federal Wildlife And Sport Fish Restoration Grants
U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced that Oregon will receive more than $35.1 million in federal Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) grants.
The WSFR program, through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration acts, was reauthorized in November 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law supported by Wyden and Merkley.
The Sport Fish Restoration funds go toward restoration, conservation, management, and enhancing sport fish populations. The Wildlife Restoration funds go toward restoration, conservation, and management of wildlife for the benefit of the public, hunter education, and the development and management of shooting ranges.
Oregon will receive the following amounts for these objectives:
- Wildlife restoration $21.98 million
- Sportfish restoration, $8.81 million
- Basic hunter education $4.25 million
- Enhanced hunter education $151,095
A web version of this release is here.
Oregon Friendly Driver Class is Free Online
The Oregon Friendly Driver program is a free, interactive webinar class which educates drivers on the best and safest ways to use the road with people walking or riding bikes.
In this class you’ll learn:
- The safest ways to utilize your roadway network
- The rules of the road for people driving, people riding bicycles, and people walking
- How to avoid common crashes
- How people riding bikes use the road and how people driving can respond
- How to use roadway features: sharrows, bike lanes, and rapid flashing beacons
FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://www.oregonfriendlydriver.org/
Klamath County Sheriff’s Office Asks for Public’s Help in Search For Trucker Suspect
The first real clue to come in on all the missing person cases in the area. Help Klamath Falls Oregon Sheriff Office ID this trucker. He was the last to see this woman alive and could be the key to not only solving this woman’s disappearance but a number of the hundred other women missing in PNW. IF you have any information, please call (541) 883-5130
A 17-year-old was reported missing in Salem and detectives say the teen might be the victim of an online catfishing scheme.
Ezra Mayhugh, 17, was last seen on October 15, 2021 after being dropped off in downtown Salem by a friend, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said. He was reported as a runaway the following day when he did not return home.
Investigators say he might be in Washington or California. They hope to reunite Ezra safely with family members.
He’s described as about 5-foot 11-inches tall, weighing 130 pounds, with blonde hair and brown eyes.
If you have had contact with Mayhugh since October 15 or have other helpful information on his whereabouts, the sheriff’s office asks you to contact Detective M.J. Sphoon at 503-588-6808 or to submit a tip by texting TIPMCSO and your tip to 847411.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Have-You-Seen-Me-Southern-Oregons-Missing-People-161249961222839/posts/