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
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Rogue Valley Weather
Today– Mostly sunny, with a high near 63. Calm wind becoming north northwest 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.
Friday– Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. Light and variable wind
Saturday– Mostly sunny, with a high near 67. Light and variable wind.
Sunday-A 20 percent chance of rain after 11am. Snow level 3500 feet rising to 4700 feet in the afternoon. Partly sunny, with a high near 63.
Monday– Rain. Cloudy, with a high near 57.
Fentanyl and Heroin Arrest in Grants Pass
Wednesday morning the Grants Pass Police Department assisted detectives from the Rogue Area Drug Enforcement team (RADE) and the Medford Area Drug Gang Enforcement (MADGE) in arresting Jose Rios-Beltran for possession with intent to distribute 5,030 Fentanyl pills, 1 pound of Heroin, 3.5 grams of Methamphetamine, and a handgun.
The arrest occurred on northbound Interstate 5 at milepost 55. Rios-Beltran was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on multiple felony charges. Grants Pass Police Department
SOU & Union Have Tentative Agreement After Impasse
Southern Oregon University’s (SOU) Faculty Union (APSOU) says it has a tentative agreement with the University for a new faculty contract. The move follows an impasse APSOU had declared this month with the University. It says it declared the impasse March 22 after SOU rejected its lowest-cost proposal possible.
APSOU President Donna Lane stated the union and the University reached a tentative agreement for a new faculty contract when SOU accepted the Union’s last offer, and “After months of challenge and frustration on both sides, SOU has accepted some of the most important articles in our contract.” She says the University agreed to faculty workload adjustments and to APSOU’s last pay scale when the negotiators met Monday.”The APSOU Bargaining Team is happy to announce that SOU and APSOU have reached tentative agreements on the final articles, which effectively presents a potential contract,” Lane wrote.
APSOU says it started its faculty contract negotiation April 2021 and declared impasse in contract negotiations the SOU administration last week because, “The faculty are unwilling to accept a contract with significant givebacks on salary, professional development monies, broadened program cutting powers, and reduced grievance provisions. The SOU administration also continues to challenge all faculty proposals on equitable workload, flatly refuses to move an existing leave bank into the contract, and resists defining key evaluation terms within the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).”
APSOU has said it was aware SOU enrollment declined the last two years, and “During that time, the faculty has been reduced from 165 to 150, which scales with the enrollment declines.” It had noted SOU administrative positions increased from 215 to 228 during that time, “while administrative costs have risen by over a million dollars.”Lane says today, “SOU has offered a contract that is mostly in line with APSOU’s main sticking points.
Faculty salary tables will remain in the contract with compression in the higher ranks, and union members will receive a 0% raise this year, and a 2.5%, 2% and 2% raise, respectively, for the last three years of the 4 year contract. SOU agreed to APSOU’s proposal for equitable lab loading.
APSOU still has some remaining issues with professional-track faculty loading, but has come to an agreement we can live with for the next four years. Both parties have agreed to MOUs which establish work-groups to explore language on curtailment and intellectual property. “The tentative agreement will next be presented to the APSOU Board for approval tomorrow before APSOU presents the contract to the membership next week for discussion and a ratification vote.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Adds Two More Closures Starting Friday for Rogue River Anglers
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) says the April 1 closures tie to low water flow conditions.
ODFW says the Hatchery Hole closes to all angling April 1 – July 31, 2022, primarily due to poor hatchery spring chinook returns and to help meet broodstock needs.
It also says trout fishing closes April 1 – May 21 in the Rogue, Applegate and Illinois Rivers to protect wild steelhead smolts headed to the ocean.
It says catch-and-release fly angling for trout also is prohibited during this time, part of an annual closure in place since the mid-1990s.
ODFW says upper and middle Rogue River sections are close to record low water flow levels, “due partly to water being held back to help fill Lost Creek and Applegate reservoirs. Continued drought is also affecting flows in Rogue tributaries.”
Biologists say many wild winter steelhead that typically spawn in tributaries are now spawning in the mainstem Rogue River because of low flows. Redds (fish nests) are typically found along tailouts and river margins.
ODFW advises, “Anglers and other river users should avoid disturbing spawning fish and redds and in the shallow riffles and tailouts of the upper Rogue. Because the developing eggs and fry will remain in the gravel through June, caution is needed for the next few months. With higher-than-normal wild winter steelhead spawning in this area, redds could be damaged or destroyed by disturbance or trampling.”
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is scheduled to hold a Youth Turkey Hunting Clinic from 8 a.m.-noon Saturday, April 2, at the Denman Wildlife Area, 1495 E Gregory Rd., Central Point.
The clinic is open to ages 8-17. ODFW staff and experienced hunters with the Oregon Hunters Association will teach and train attendees.
Young turkey hunters will learn how to identify turkey signs and understand their behavior and basic biology. They’ll learn scouting techniques and hunting tactics and go home with the skills and some basic equipment to safely start turkey hunting.
Space is limited and registration closes Friday, April 1. Hunter Education certification is not required, but participants must be accompanied by an adult. The clinic is $10, which goes to supplement youth hunting and the Hunter Education Program.
Office of State Fire Marshal to kick off wildfire preparedness webinar series
The Office of State Fire Marshal is kicking off a series of webinars this Thursday, March 31st, 2022, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. These educational webinars are designed to provide Oregonians and local community partners with tools to prepare themselves and their properties for wildfire.
In the first webinar, on Thursday, March 31st, 2022, the OSFM’s staff in the Community Risk Reduction Unit will focus on the home and the first 100 feet around it. The OSFM’s Fire Risk Reduction Specialists will show what can be done to better protect against wildfire. In addition, the team will highlight simple, easy solutions that could make a difference in the event of a wildfire.
More webinars will be scheduled over the coming months. The OSFM will be hosting discussions on various topics, including the importance of creating defensible space, wildfire prevention tips, and evacuation readiness.
To register:
Wildfire Risk Reduction Webinar – What is the Home Ignition Zone?
Thursday, March 31st, 2022 6:00PM – 7:00PM
The webinar will be recorded for those unable to attend.
Oregon reports 387 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 24 new deaths
PORTLAND, Ore. — There are 24 new COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 7,139, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
OHA reported 387 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 703,838.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Benton (9), Clackamas (31), Clatsop (7), Columbia (4), Coos (6), Curry (6), Deschutes (18), Douglas (9), Hood River (10), Jackson (18), Jefferson (3), Josephine (6), Klamath (4), Lane (32), Lincoln (3), Linn (11), Malheur (2), Marion (41), Multnomah (105), Polk (1), Tillamook (4), Umatilla (3), Wasco (2), Washington (42) and Yamhill (10).
OHA to change COVID-19 reporting frequency
PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon Health Authority (OHA) will stop distributing a daily media release about COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths (including individual death summaries), effective Monday, April 4. Daily information about new COVID-19 cases, current hospitalizations of COVID-19 positive patients and deaths, along with other COVID-19 data, will continue to be available daily on the OHA website, data dashboards and social media platforms.
The daily media releases grew out of the urgent need to communicate quickly evolving COVID-19 trends early in the pandemic. The news releases were sent to media partners seven days a week, including holidays, until July 2021, when the agency switched to weekday distribution.
Now, as cases and hospitalizations have declined following a surge due to Omicron, and the public has the knowledge and tools to protect themselves, OHA is again adapting to the pandemic.
The change in the cadence of media releases does not mean the pandemic is over. OHA will continue to monitor and report cases, deaths, hospitalizations, variants, vaccination and booster rates, and other developments. These monitoring efforts include analyzing wastewater samples across the state to track COVID-19 spread.
Since the early days of OHA’s COVID-19 reporting, the daily media release has included information about every person in Oregon who has died with COVID-19. While these summaries recognized those we lost, the shift in reporting will better capture trends over time as Oregon moves into the next phase of the pandemic.
Effective Monday, April 4, OHA will post the following information every business day on OHA’s COVID-19 website, and on Twitter, Facebook and OHA Facebook en Espanol:
- Newly reported COVID-19 cases
- Total COVID-19 cases
- Newly reported deaths with COVID-19
- Total deaths with COVID-19
- New hospitalizations of COVID-19 positive patients
- Total current hospitalizations of COVID-19 positive patients.
In addition, OHA will publish a new data dashboard daily, highlighting data from several sources that monitor for COVID-19, trends and links to related dashboards for more detailed information.
Data presented on the new dashboard include:
- New COVID-19 cases, the 7-day average of new COVID-19 cases and total COVID-19 cases from Opera, Oregon’s COVID-19 disease surveillance system, with a chart showing the daily trend.
- Newly reported deaths with COVID-19, total deaths with COVID-19, and a chart of deaths with COVID-19 by date of death.
- Current COVID-19 positive patients hospitalized and in intensive care unit (ICU) beds statewide as reported to HOSCAP, Oregon’s hospital capacity web system, with a chart showing the daily trend.
- Percentage of statewide emergency department visits for COVID-19 like illness (CLI), as reported to Oregon ESSENCE, with a chart showing the daily trend.
- Vaccination coverage among people statewide ages 18 years and older showing people with at least one dose and people boosted as reported to ALERT, Oregon’s Immunization Information System, with a chart showing trend over time. These data will be updated weekly on Wednesdays.
- The number of COVID-19 tests reported and the percentage of tests that are positive, as reported to OHA, with a chart showing the daily trends.
- The total number of variants of concern – Delta, Omicron (B1.1.529, BA1-1.1), and Omicron (BA.2) – sequenced statewide, with a chart showing trend over time. These data will be updated weekly on Wednesdays.
The cadence of some of OHA’s current COVID-19 reports will change starting the week of April 4. The COVID-19 vaccination dashboards, the Oregon COVID-19 Case and Testing Counts Statewide dashboard and the Oregon COVID-19 Testing and Outcomes by County dashboard will be published weekly on Wednesdays. The Data Report and Outbreak Report will be published every other week and the Breakthrough Report will be published monthly.
Although OHA will no longer distribute a daily media release, OHA will continue to disseminate news releases about COVID-19 when trends merit widespread information sharing. One example is when new eligibility groups for boosters or vaccinations are announced.
During this phase of the pandemic, when cases and hospitalizations have declined, OHA recommends that people continue to care for themselves and others, and prepare for potential future increases in COVID-19 spread. Have well-fitting masks available. Make backup plans for childcare if a caregiver becomes sick and needs to isolate. Get up to date on your recommended vaccinations and boosters.
Availability of second COVID-19 booster starts this week for ages 50+
OHA facilitating distribution of mRNA vaccines to providers following federal, Western States approval
PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon has plenty of COVID-19 vaccine supply to meet increased demand that may occur after federal agencies this week authorized second booster doses for people older than 50 and certain immunocompromised individuals, health officials say.
Oregon Health Authority (OHA) today updated and distributed its standing immunization protocols for vaccine providers after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup on Tuesday approved and recommended allowing older and immunocompromised persons to get another booster.
The Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup includes Oregon, California, Nevada and Washington.
According to the protocols, individuals in these groups who received an initial booster dose at least four months ago can now get a second booster dose of the two available mRNA vaccines – made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna – to increase their protection against severe disease from COVID-19. Adults who received a primary vaccine and booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine at least four months ago also can now receive a second booster dose using an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
CDC and FDA say booster doses of the mRNA vaccines have been shown to increase immune response among individuals who completed primary doses of the shots as well as prevent severe disease among those infected with the virus. They also found no safety concerns linked with the second boosters.
OHA officials say there’s more than enough vaccine supply in Oregon to accommodate the new groups eligible for second boosters. About 270,000 doses of Pfizer and Moderna are distributed throughout the state, which should easily meet any surge in demand. And new demand should help providers use up some of their excess vaccine stocks.
In addition, Oregon has plenty of allocation from CDC planned to meet increased demand as well, though vaccine orders aren’t expected to increase much given how much vaccine is already available at provider offices.
“I’m not worried about vaccine supply right now, even if we see a rush for second boosters following this week’s news,” said Paul Cieslak, M.D., medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations in OHA’s Public Health Division. “Existing supply is already strong, and the CDC is ready to send more doses if we need them.”
OHA’s vaccine data dashboards show that of the roughly 1.6 million people older than 50 in Oregon, about 893,000, or 56%, got their initial booster. Using that same proportion to estimate those who will seek an additional booster, OHA anticipates that 500,000 second boosters may be given in Oregon over about the next four to six months.
Vaccines are available to people in Oregon through health care providers, local pharmacies and high-volume vaccination and testing sites.
OHA strongly encourages everyone eligible in Oregon to get their primary doses of the COVID-19 vaccines followed by a booster shot. Those most at risk for the virus are people who have not yet received a primary series of the vaccines.
Oregon To Pay $1.3 Million In Late Fees To Home-Care Workers Who Received Late And Incomplete Payments Due To State Software Glitch
Oregon will pay a combined $1.3 million in late fees to more than 4,000 home-care workers who received late or incomplete payments over the last seven months due to glitches in a state software system.
Rebecca Sandoval, vice president of Service Employees International Union Local 503, which represents home-care and personal support workers, said the union is aware of more than 8,600 instances over the last seven months where Oregon failed to provide home-care workers employed by the state with their full paycheck on time.
The glitches have impacted 4,366 workers, nearly a sixth of the state’s home-care workers, who care for seniors with physical disabilities, according to the state. “It’s not acceptable,” Sandoval said. “It’s quite negligent in terms of servicing a workforce.”
Sandoval said the issues began last August when the state implemented a new electronic timecard system.
The state said at the time that the new Oregon Provider Time Capture system would enable providers to report hours worked in real time so they could be verified electronically.
Instead, Sandoval said, the state failed to train providers and case managers, and technical issues exacerbated by the state’s antiquated software systems and human error led to a spike in late or incomplete payments. She said the problems were evident during the pilot program for the software, but the program went live as planned anyway.
“The issues started right away with the pilot program,” Sandoval said. “When it went live, it was a total fiasco.”
Under the new system, home-care and personal support workers are required to clock-in and clock-out electronically through the new system at the beginning and end of their shifts, but state personnel must still manually enter their time worked into the state’s payment systems, which Sandoval said led to hours being entered incorrectly and was among the issues that caused the incorrect payments.
Elisa Williams, a spokesperson for Oregon’s Department of Human Services, said that the state is working on a fix that will allow hours to be entered electronically.
Williams said the state hired an outside vendor to implement the new system in order to meet federal law, which required that the state use an electronic visit verification system to approve hours. In light of the issues with incorrect payments, Williams said the state has hired additional technical staff to help home-care workers, reached out directly to workers who are experiencing problems with the system and provided access to computers where workers can enter their hours at agency offices around the state.
“There are several reasons why a payment can potentially be delayed including hours inputted that exceed authorized amounts or entry errors by home-care workers,” Williams wrote in an email. “In addition, system processing issues have occurred. ODHS has worked diligently to understand the reasons behind any delay so that it may address how to mitigate problems from repeating.”
Sandoval said about 50% of the home-care workers represented by the union live at or below the poverty line and that missing a paycheck could be the difference between them being able to pay their rent or keep up with other monthly bills.
The union filed a grievance against the state in November. The settlement between the union and Oregon’s Department of Human Services requires the state to pay providers who received partial or late payments since August $150 for each incident when they were incorrectly paid, in addition to the pay they were owed for their time worked. The money will start going out to workers in May.
The state agency also agreed to pay late fees when home-care workers receive late paychecks and partial payments going forward, the union said. The Oregon Home Care Commission has also agreed to investigate any late pay complaints within 30 days, the union said.
While the new software system led to a spike in late and partial payments, Sandoval said home-care and personal support workers have been dealing with issues with the state’s payment systems for years.
The state made roughly 9,500 late payments to home-care and personal support workers in 2018. Even so, the Department of Human Services said at the time that 99.9% of payments to personal support workers and 97.8% of payments to home-care workers were on time.
Oregon has a troubling history with state software systems: The Oregon Employment Department’s antiquated computer systems proved wholly incapable of handling a flood of unemployment claims early in the pandemic, leaving nearly 200,000 unemployed Oregonians with unpaid claims in the summer of 2020.
Technical issues with a software system used by Oregon Housing and Community Services slowed down the payment of rent assistance last year, and in some cases led to landlords receiving the wrong checks. Technical problems also led to the high-profile failure of the state’s planned health insurance exchange, Cover Oregon, in 2013, causing Oregon to ultimately abandon the project and switch to the federal exchange.
Escaped Oregon Prisoner Arrested In Vancouver
The Oregon Department of Corrections has arrested an escaped convict on the run since February.
According to the DOC, Bohanna McQuiston, 40, a prisoner at the Oregon State Penitentiary, escaped custody the morning of Feb. 16 while doing laundry.
Prior to his escape, McQuistan had been in custody since January 2021 for two counts of burglary in Clackamas County and one count of burglary in Washington County.
The DOC announced Wednesday after more than a month, McQuistan was back in custody following an arrest made Tuesday night by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in Vancouver.
McQuistan is currently in custody at the Clark County Jail. Prior to his escape, McQuistan’s earliest release was scheduled for Feb. 6, 2024.
Senator Wyden Supports Proposal to Tax Billionaires
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, voiced support for Biden’s aims to tax billionaires. The Oregon Democrat has proposed federal income tax increases and the closing of loopholes benefiting the very wealthy.
The partisan lines are being drawn locally and nationally over President Joe Biden’s proposals to impose a 20% tax on billionaires and increase the federal corporate rates from 21% to 28%. Biden’s billionaire minimum tax would apply to households worth more than $100 million and will raise $360 billion, according to the White House. The
conservative Tax Foundation estimates the higher corporate income tax rate could bring in as much as $886.3 billion between 2022 and 2031.
Biden is also proposing another 15% corporate tax aimed at companies with $1 billion or more in revenue who might otherwise skirt federal levies. That could raise $227 billion, according to projections from the University of Pennsylvania. Oregon and California Democrats see political and fiscal merits in increasing taxes on billionaires.
Oregon Has Sixth Highest Gas Prices in The USA
Gas prices around the nation haven’t changed much since last week, but Oregon and the city of Portland reached a record average cost per gallon this week.
Portland prices averaged $4.79 per gallon on Sunday and matched that record on Tuesday, according to AAA. The price was an increase of about two cents from last week’s average.
Portland’s prices have consistently been steeper than the state average, which is already one of the highest in the nation. Both Oregon and the nation recorded their highest ever prices per gallon on March 11, breaking 14-year-old records.
Previously, Oregon’s highest price was $4.29 in July of 2008, though accounting for inflation, that price would equal about $5.65 today. Portland’s previous June 2008 high, about $4.27, is the equivalent of $5.54 in today’s dollars. Within Oregon, Curry County had the highest prices, averaging $4.93 a gallon. Multnomah County’s prices are, on average, the sixth-highest in the state at $4.85.
Oregon has the sixth highest prices in the nation, one below last week’s ranking. California, Hawaii and Nevada continue to have the highest prices, with Washington and Alaska slightly above Oregon, too.
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/