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
Friday, March 25, 2022
Rogue Valley Weather
Today– Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 72. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday– Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Light and variable wind.
Sunday– Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 5 mph.
Monday– A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60.
Tuesday– Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 68
Pedestrian Dead as Table Rock Road Closed from 6 am until 4 pm Thursday
A pedestrian is dead today after being hit on Table Rock Road near Hamrick Road Thursday morning at 6 am.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) says the Jackson County Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction (STAR) team has been called out to investigate. Drivers are cooperating with the investigation. JCSO says the victim’s identification is pending next of kin notification.
Table Rock Road will be closed from Airport Road to Biddle Road during the investigation. Traffic is being detoured between Airport Road and Biddle Road.Closure time lasted until 4pm. The STAR team consists of investigators from Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Medford Police Department.
Residents Gather in Ashland to Protest the Invasion of Ukraine
Residents who gathered in the Plaza in downtown Ashland Thursday night share many connections with Ukrainians fleeing danger.
People waved flags and signs encouraging oncoming traffic to support refugees stuck in the conflict.
Dasja Dolan was born in Czechoslovakia, and fled to Holland during the Soviet invasion in 1968. “I got a text from a friend of mine, from my old schoolmate from when I was 14, and he says, ‘I’m afraid that we’re gonna be invaded by Russia again’ – and it’s very realistic there.”
Dolan helped to organize the rally, which followed a call for support from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She says it’s important that Americans recognize the great freedoms afforded to them and fight to protect those democratic institutions.
Some participants have personal connections, including Faina Podolnaya, an Ashland-based violin teacher who grew up in Ukraine. Podolnaya has been in close contact with her sister, who lives in Nuremberg, Germany, the sister city of besieged Ukrainian city Kharkiv. “And she tells me all the stories, how people escape, how people die, how people try to get something for their kids. It’s just unbelievable.”
Podolnaya has been raising money with her sister to provide direct relief to Ukrainian refugees, by helping them resettle in other parts of Europe. Her Gofundme page has raised nearly $10,000 in less than a week.
Rally participants were met with streams of support from oncoming traffic through town. They said that ensuring folks remain knowledgeable about ongoing events and supporting refugees is vitally important.
Public input sought on recovery priorities for 2020 Labor Day fires
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Housing and Community Services is looking for public input on what the priorities should be for spending $422 million in disaster recovery funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The funds will come in the form of a Community Development Block Grant for disaster recovery and mitigation and will assist with the ongoing recovery from the 2020 Labor Day fires.
In order to receive the funding later this year, the agency must complete a series of federal requirements, including developing an Action Plan to lay out how the money will be spent. The Action Plan will focus on replacing housing, particularly for low- and moderate-income families or individuals, but there are also other ways the money can be spent, such as on public infrastructure or economic revitalization.
OHCS has been meeting with local governments and community groups working on wildfire recovery to get their input on priorities for the Action Plan, but we also want to hear from interested members of the public. OHCS invites anyone who is interested to take its online survey, including a mobile-friendly version, which is available on the OHCS website.
“We are looking for public input, because it’s the right thing to do. It’s the ‘Oregon Way,’ and we know it will make the plan better,” said Alex Campbell, chief external affairs officer for Recovery and Resiliency at OHCS. “We are especially interested to hear from folks we know were hit the hardest and who face the greatest challenges in recovery, including our Latino/a/x neighbors, older residents, and Oregonians who have specific housing needs due to disability or other circumstance.”
Once a draft Action Plan is written, Oregonians will have another opportunity to provide comment in May, as required by HUD. More details on how to participate will be announced in the coming weeks.
To learn more about the Community Development Block Grant funding process, timeline, and upcoming presentations, and to download an Oregon Wildfire Disaster Recovery fact sheet, visit the OHCS website or sign up to receive e-mail notifications.
Oregon reports 301 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 7,033, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
OHA reported 301 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 702,566.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Benton (15), Clackamas (23), Clatsop (5), Columbia (2), Coos (3), Crook (1), Deschutes (14), Douglas (10), Grant (3), Harney (1), Hood River (2), Jackson (10), Jefferson (3), Josephine (4), Klamath (6), Lane (33), Lincoln (1), Linn (4), Malheur (1), Marion (15), Multnomah (85), Polk (5), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (12), Union (1), Wasco (3), Washington (28) and Yamhill (10).
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 161, which is four fewer than yesterday. There are 25 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is two fewer than yesterday.
There are 95 available adult ICU beds out of 676 total (14% availability) and 385 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,253 (9% availability).
The total number of patients in hospital beds may fluctuate between report times. The numbers do not reflect admissions per day, nor the length of hospital stay. Staffing limitations are not captured in this data and may further limit bed capacity.
For more information, visit healthoregon.org/coronavirus.
Federal Prosecutors Go After $19M in COVID Relief Fraud in Oregon
So far charges have been brought against more than a dozen individuals in Oregon who attempted to apply for more than $180 million in fraudulent federal relief money. Investigators expect to find more fraud in the coming years.
A Lebanon, Oregon, man was sentenced to four years in prison for illegally obtaining more than $4 million in coronavirus relief loans meant for struggling businesses and investing that money in rental properties and Tesla stock.
A Portland man pleaded guilty after fraudulently obtaining nearly $900,000 in loan money from the federal Paycheck Protection Program and spending it on vacations, gambling and other personal expenses.
And a West Linn man is accused of obtaining nearly $8 million after submitting dozens of fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
The cases represent just a small fraction of the suspected criminal activity that law enforcement believes took place in Oregon as the federal government raced to get money into the hands of businesses trying to weather the pandemic.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon has brought charges against 14 people accused of submitting fraudulent applications for coronavirus relief funds totaling more than $183 million, leading to the federal government erroneously handing out nearly $19 million.
Another two dozen cases have been resolved after suspects returned the money or reached settlements, and dozens more investigations remain open, said Ryan Bounds, the lead COVID fraud prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon. And it’s likely that many more have yet to be detected.
“We’re very focused on this, and we’re intent on vindicating the taxpayers’ interest in ensuring that relief went to people who needed it and that people who abused the program will face consequences for doing so,” Bounds said. “This is still very much an ongoing and active effort.”
In a race to rescue businesses and individuals from the pandemic’s economic fallout, the federal government prioritized speed over stringent safeguards in its coronavirus relief programs. That enabled hundreds of billions of dollars to reach businesses quickly, but also created an opportunity for rampant fraud, especially through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans, which provided billions in potentially forgivable assistance.
The Justice Department reported in early March that its civil and criminal investigations had uncovered $8 billion in attempted fraud through coronavirus relief programs. That may represent only a fraction of the fraud that occurred. Last year, Hannibal Ware, the inspector general for the U.S. Small Business Administration, said the agency had uncovered nearly $80 billion in potential fraud through its Economic Injury Disaster Loan program alone.
The federal government has taken an aggressive stance in its attempts to claw back pandemic aid obtained fraudulently. President Joe Biden dedicated part of his State of the Union address to the issue this month, saying he would appoint a chief prosecutor to pursue the most egregious cases and asking Congress to allocate more money for prosecutions.
To date, the Justice Department has brought criminal charges against more than 1,000 defendants nationwide with alleged losses exceeding $1.1 billion, seized over $1 billion in Economic Injury Disaster Loan proceeds and initiated civil investigations into more than 1,800 individuals and entities connected to pandemic relief loans totaling more than $6 billion.
Representatives from roughly a dozen federal law enforcement agencies have been meeting biweekly in Oregon since September 2020 to review leads and coordinate investigations into potential coronavirus fraud. Among the agencies involved in the task force are the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon, the Small Business Administration’s Office of Inspector General and the FBI.
Officials say they expect the work to continue for several years.
“I do think we’ve already had a pretty good impact, but I think we still have work to do,” said Kieran Ramsey, the special agent in charge of the Portland FBI Field Office. “Unfortunately, there was no shortage of criminal opportunists out there that took advantage of what they saw as easy money through these programs.”
Shafee Carnegie, the assistant inspector general for investigations at the Small Business Administration’s Office of Inspector General, said the agency has relied on tips it receives through its hotlines and its own internal data analytics team to flag potentially fraudulent applications for the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
Investigations can be slow and arduous. Carnegie said the agency is used to receiving less than 1,000 complaints per year through its hotline, but is now receiving closer to 100,000.
At the same time that it’s chasing those tips, the agency is using data-mining software to identify suspicious applications and run background checks on individuals it flags.
While the agency only has about 100 investigators on its own, it’s also handing off leads to other agencies, including through task forces like the one in Oregon.
“It’s a whole government approach,” Carnegie said. “It’s not just the SBA, as we did in the past, going out and tackling these fraud investigations ourselves. It’s multiple agencies coming together to track down bad actors to bring folks to justice.”
The fraud has come in many forms. Bounds said he has come across cases where unsuspecting intermediaries have been duped by criminal syndicates outside the country into accepting money on their behalf and wiring it to foreign bank accounts, leaving prosecutors with limited options to bring criminal charges or recover the money.
Other cases are more straightforward. In some cases, suspects received loans by exaggerating payroll and employment at their companies or applying on behalf of companies that didn’t exist. In others, they have used stolen identities to obtain business loans or unemployment insurance.
In January, Andrew Aaron Lloyd, 51, of Lebanon was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for using the business names and personal identification information of relatives and business associates to apply for numerous loans through the Small Business Administration, ultimately receiving more than $4 million through the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans. An accomplice, Russell Anthony Schort, 39, of Myrtle Creek, pleaded guilty to bank fraud last year.
Lloyd used the money to buy 15,740 shares in Tesla Inc. and more than 25 properties in Oregon and California.
In that case — one of the first charged in Oregon — the government made a bundle. By the time Lloyd was sentenced in January, the seized securities and properties were valued at more than $18 million.
“He ended up making more with his stolen money than he got from the government,” Bounds said, “so it worked out well for the Treasury in the end.”
Sheldon Shoemaker, an assistant inspector general at the Small Business Administration’s Office of Inspector General, said more fraudulent loans are likely to be identified as deferred payments come due and more loans go into default.
However, Shoemaker said there is no quick way for the federal government to identify and prosecute the amount of fraud suspected.
He said it’s clear that not enough safeguards were in place to prevent rampant fraud, and that’s something the federal government must sort out for future relief efforts.
“The real fact of the matter here is you can’t chase fraud after the fact like this,” Shoemaker said. “At a scale and scope of this level, the internal control environment was clearly not calibrated in the interest of ensuring eligibility. You can’t unwind that clock.”
Oregon Gets $32M In Grants From Environmental Protection Agency For Water Projects
Oregon is getting some assistance to help pay for drinking water projects, as well as wastewater infrastructure improvements.
The EPA granted the state $32 million.
Oregon estimates the projects will cost about $70 million each.
“Clean and safe water is a basic right, but at the same time something we can’t take for granted” said EPA Region 10’s Water Division Director Dan Opalski. “EPA is proud to invest along with our state partners in these projects that will benefit the health of Oregon’s communities.”
Some of the projects to be funded in Oregon’s 2021-2022 drinking water plan include:
- $20,000 for the Round Lake Mobile Home Park feasibility study. This project will identify solutions for water system improvements as well as evaluate the adequacy of long-term water supply for this water system.
- $19,587 to the city of Gates to replace outdated monitoring equipment and alleviate drinking water quality concerns. Gates will also receive $30,000 from Oregon’s DWSRF Drinking Water Source Protection Fund (DWSPF). These funds will be used to install temporary monitoring equipment, collect samples, and then analyze and share the data to gain a better understanding of post fire impacts on sources of drinking water.
- $100,000 to the Rhododendron Water Association for the purchase of a Riparian Management Area and conservation easement on privately owned timber land to protect the system’s drinking water intake from clear-cut logging activity that could have created water quality issues.
- $862,145 to Crescent Water Supply and Improvement District will be used for water master planning and well construction.
- $1,660,761 to Christmas Valley Domestic Water Supply District for distribution system improvements. The project will result in replacement of approximately three miles of distribution piping to help address water loss due to aging steel distribution pipe failure.
The state’s list of wastewater projects to be funded include:
- $30,056,061 to the city of Sweet Home to help the wastewater treatment plant achieve Clean Water Act compliance. The city of Sweet Home project affects a disadvantaged community.
- $1,2500,000 to the city of Bend to address city climate action goals through a collections system master plan update.
- $2,000,000 to the Lone Pine Irrigation District for modernization the irrigation system. The Lone Pine Irrigation District qualifies as a disadvantaged community.
- $2,313,231 to the city of Madras to a wastewater collection expansion, allowing residences currently on septic to connect to the city sewer. The city of Madras qualifies as a disadvantaged community.
The full list of Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) projects to be funded can be found here✎ EditSign.
The full list of Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program (CWSRF) projects can be found here✎ EditSign.
Oregon Employment Department – Economic Update
Yesterday, the Oregon Employment Department released the latest state unemployment rate and jobs numbers.
Oregon’s unemployment rate was 4.0% in February, down from 4.2% in January. Oregon’s unemployment rate was similar to the U.S. rate (3.8%) for the month. Oregon’s labor force continued to grow in February to a record high of 2.175 million people, and more Oregonians found jobs.
Overall, Oregon employers added 12,300 jobs last month, and no broad sector of Oregon’s economy experienced large job losses. Oregon’s leisure and hospitality employers added 3,500 jobs, the most of any sector. Construction gained 2,300 jobs, private health care and social assistance gained 1,600 jobs, and professional and business services employment gained 1,200 jobs.
Oregon has regained 86% of the jobs it lost in spring 2020, compared with 90% jobs regained for the U.S. as a whole.
The Modernization Project remains on schedule and on budget – The Employment Department’s modernized computer system is on schedule to launch in September 2022. The new system is called Frances Online, named in honor of Frances Perkins, the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to1945 and the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet.
The first phase of Frances Online will replace the Oregon Payroll Reporting System (OPRS) to support combined payroll reporting, including Unemployment Insurance taxes, the Workers’ Benefit Fund, State Withholding Taxes, Lane and TriMet Transit Taxes. The current timeline
for rolling out Frances Online is:
- September 2022 – Frances Online replaces OPRS for combined payroll reporting.
- January 2023 – Frances Online supports the Statewide Transit Tax and contributions to the Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance trust fund.
- September 2023 – Customers begin using Frances Online to apply for and receive paid leave benefits from the Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance program.
- March 2024 – Customers begin using Frances Online to apply for and receive unemployment insurance benefits.
“Our dedicated planning and hard work are paying off,” said Acting Director David Gerstenfeld. “It’s exciting to be at this phase of the project after the extensive and comprehensive oversight process. All the steps are in place to make sure we’re creating a system that will truly support the people and businesses of Oregon.”
Currently, the Employment Department’s Modernization team is conducting focus groups with employers and third-party administrators to make sure the system is as user friendly as possible. All employers and third-party administrators are welcome to participate. Those interested should contact the Modernization team at nization@employ.oregon.gov“>employment.modernization@employ.oregon.gov.
## The Oregon Employment Department (OED) is an equal opportunity agency. Everyone has a right to use OED programs and services. OED provides free help. Some examples are sign language and spoken language interpreters, written materials in other languages, braille, large print, audio and other formats. If you need help, please call 971-673-6400. TTY users call 711. You can also ask for help at OED_Communications@employ.oregon.gov.
Report Shows Oregon Rivers and Streams Most Polluted
An environmental group found that Oregon has the most miles of rivers and streams that do not meet water quality standards Oregon has more than 120,000 miles of polluted or “impaired” rivers and streams — the most nationwide, according to a new analysis.
The report, released last week by the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit headquartered in Washington D.C, said that 80% of those waterways threaten aquatic life, making Oregon the worst nationwide in that category.
California and Utah ranked second and third in that order. Oregon has more than 310,000 miles of rivers and streams according to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, nearly two-thirds of which are intermittent, forming only seasonally. https://environmentalintegrity.org/reports/the-clean-water-act-at-50/
‘State of Jefferson’ Activity
Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho, the effort to flip most of rural Oregon into the Gem State, has received a lot of attention the past couple of years. But a truer –and much older — Oregon secession movement is now elbowing its way back into the conversation.
The dream of creating an entirely new state, called Jefferson, out of large swaths of northern California and southern Oregon has been around for decades. Secession talk — and some action — has been around ever since in Oregon.
That said, most of the State of Jefferson activity of late has come out of California, which is no surprise. Siskiyou County, in particular, has a long history of secessionist longings.
Drive along the rural byways of southern Oregon and northern California today, and here and there you’ll see signs proclaiming Jefferson the “51st State” — a designation author Norman Mailer more famously gave to New York City 50 years ago during a quixotic campaign for mayor.
Police Ask for Public’s Help in Search For Victim’s Roommate In Albany Homicide – A 42-year-old woman, the roommate of a 75-year-old man whose death was ruled a homicide, is wanted for questioning in the case, Albany police officials said.
Elvin “Al” Pierce was found dead by officers around 9:10 p.m. Friday after a 911 caller reported a man was unconscious and not breathing. Investigators at that time said the circumstances surrounding his death were suspicious.
APD said Pierce’s roommate, 42-year-old Elizabeth Nicole Tyler Jimenez, wasn’t there at the home when officers found Pierce dead and they don’t know where she is. Authorities did not specifically state whether Jimenez is a suspect or if there are any charges against her.
Pierce’s car, a tan 2004 Buick Park Avenue with Oregon license plate 081FAX, is also missing.
Jimenez, who investigators believe is currently without a job, is described as often visiting local soup kitchens. She also has skills as a masseuse and a seamstress, officials said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact APD at 541-917-7680 or APD Lt. Buck Pearce at 541-917-3209.
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
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Have-You-Seen-Me-Southern-Oregons-Missing-People-161249961222839/posts/