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, April 13, 2022
Rogue Valley Weather
Winter Weather Advisory until April 13, 11:00 AM PDT
Wednesday– Rain showers before 8am, then rain and snow showers likely between 8am and 11am, then rain showers after 11am. Snow level 1800 feet rising to 2900 feet in the afternoon. High near 46. Light and variable wind becoming north northwest 9 to 14 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Thursday– Showers likely, mainly before 11am. Snow level 2200 feet rising to 2900 feet in the afternoon. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 49. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Friday– A slight chance of snow before 11am, then a chance of rain. Snow level rising to 3600 feet in the afternoon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Saturday– Rain likely, mainly before 11am. Snow level 2300 feet rising to 3300 feet. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52.
Sunday– Partly sunny, with a high near 61.
A series of storm systems will continue to impact our region with wet and wintry weather. Temperatures will be chilly and below average throughout this week keeping our snow levels low. Snow will impact travel for many lower and higher passes in the region. Snow will also fall on many valley floors.
Massive Explosion Rocks Medford
A huge explosion in Medford has forced locals to evacuate the area immediately.
Loud explosions were heard Wednesday morning amid reports of a warning of possible chemicals in the air.
Harrowing footage shows infernos erupting in the street as fire crews fought to contain the blaze, which kickstarted just before 10 p.m. on Tuesday night, according to local reports. This is the Pacific Pride Gas Station.
Medford fire department shared an update on Facebook early Wednesday morning after cops closed off roads.
“Crews are still actively working the fuel fire at S Central and Boyd,” the Facebook post reads.
“In addition to the fire we are working to contain the run off from the fuel silos and have called in a heavy foam unit from the airport. Please stay clear of the area.”
Another video on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kris10pearson/videos/556991859176524/
At least five buildings have been destroyed, according to unconfirmed reports.
Meanwhile, one local tweeted: “Police are continuing to use loudspeakers to announce that there may be chemicals in the air from this fire. They also are treating this as an active crime scene.”
Pacific Power later confirmed they had shut power off in the area as fire crews continue to battle the blaze.
The company wrote on Twitter: “For safety purposes, we have de-energized service in the S Central/Boyd St, Medford area, due to a 3-alarm gas station fire.
“Currently the estimated time of restoration is 3pm. We will update as more information becomes available.”
Talent Middle School Teacher Indicted for Sex Crimes
JCSO Case 22-1741 —- A grand jury indicted a Talent Middle School substitute teacher and Track & Field coach today on five sex crime charges. The crimes are unrelated to his position with the school.
The suspect, Sean Kenneth Fuller, 44, of Medford has been charged with four counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of incest. He is lodged at the Jackson County Jail on $300,000 bail.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) detectives and an officer from the Talent Police Department arrested Fuller at the Talent Middle School on April 6 at around 3:30 p.m. At the present time there is no indication that there are additional victims. However, in an abundance of caution investigators are asking that anyone with information about the suspect call the JCSO Tip Line at (541) 774-8333. Further releases will come from the Jackson County District Attorney’s office. Jackson Co. Sheriff’s Office
Two Arrested in Separate Drunk Driving Crashes
The Ashland Police Department has investigated two drunk driving crashes in the last three days that have resulted in damage to publicly owned property.
On April 9, 2022, at approximately 12:04 a.m. a Medford resident named Tramon Mitchell, 24 years old, crashed his vehicle into the median park area at the south end of downtown Ashland. The investigation indicated that Mitchell had been travelling at a high rate of speed, failed to negotiate the turn from Siskiyou Blvd onto E. Main, left the road and collided with a tree. The tree was snapped at its base. This is a tree that has historically been part of Ashland’s Festival of Lights event each winter. Mitchell was lodged at the Jackson County Jail on charges of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Reckless Driving.
On April 11, 2022, at approximately 7:46 p.m. an Ashland resident named Nicoa Cline, 31 years old, crashed his vehicle into the Lithia Park sign near the front entrance to the park. The investigation indicated that Cline was travelling through the plaza at a high rate of speed, failed to negotiate the turn onto Winbrun Way, left the road, colliding with the sign, as well as a light pole and a tree. Cline’s vehicle almost struck a person who was standing near the Lithia Park sign. An off-duty law enforcement officer detained Cline, who tried to flee the scene, until APD officers arrived a short time later. Cline was lodged at the Jackson County Jail on charges of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, Reckless Driving, Hit and Run, and Criminal Mischief.
All members of the community are reminded to not drive under the influence of alcohol or any substances, legal or illegal. Doing so puts lives at risk. Ashland Police Dept.
Howard Prairie Lake Gets Grant to Assist With Drought Conditions
Jackson County is getting a funding boost to make adjustments to Howard Prairie Lake with lingering drought conditions. The Oregon State Marine Board said it is issuing a grant for more than a half-million dollars to Jackson County to adjust facilities at the lake that has receded during the West Coast’s ongoing drought.
The Board approved a $562,897 Boating Facility Grant grant for Jackson County. The funds for Howard Prairie Marina would help “replace and relocate the short-term tie-up docks, gangway, and marina docks at the Howard Prairie Resort. The marina is being moved to deeper water which will allow boaters improved access during dryer low-water months.”
The Board held its quarterly meeting in Bend last week, approving 10 boating facility and education grant applications valued at more than $7-million from around the state. Several grants were approved to organizations that provide opportunities to experience nonmotorized boating in underserved communities and many projects aim to improve accessibility, which benefits all boaters.
We want to keep you informed about COVID-19 in Oregon. Data are provisional and change frequently. For more information, including COVID-19 data by county, visit our dashboard: http://ow.ly/BYIB50II3gM
Two Oregon school students parent advocacy groups are insisting today that Oregon remove its coronavirus vaccination mandate for school teachers, administrators and volunteers.
Oregon Moms Union and ED300 say today they are partnering to demand that Oregon Health Authority (OHA) end its COVID-19 vaccine requirement for school teachers, administrators and volunteers. They say the State’s vaccination demand is one of the last remaining COVID-19 related rules preventing Oregon schools from returning to pre-pandemic function.
The groups says that when this vaccine rule took effect October 18, 2021, “the Delta variant was circulating, children 5-11 were not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, and the vaccine was believed to provide a layer of protection against transmission.
Now, in April 2022, Omicron/Ba.2 is the circulating variant, children 5-11 have had ample time to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and the vaccine does not fully prevent transmission of COVID-19, as seen in a recent study published in Nature.”
Oregon Moms Union says it formed in early 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic to empower parents to advocate for a student-first K-12 education system. It says it has more than 90 volunteer School District Captains in more than 75 school districts. Learn more at www.oregonmomsunion.com.
A series of storm systems will continue to impact our region with wet and wintry weather.
Temperatures will be chilly and below average throughout this week keeping our snow levels low. Snow will impact travel for many lower and higher passes in the region. Snow will also fall on many valley floors.
We’ll see round after round of scattered snow showers for much of Southern Oregon and Northern California. Snow levels will likely reach down to 500 feet or so. Expect accumulating snow to impact lower and higher passes into tomorrow. Snow will likely make it down into the valleys with some light accumulations possible, mainly on grassy surfaces. However, for places like Ashland and up on Roxy Ann, we’ll have a better chance at roads getting slippery.
Heavy snow in our higher elevations, especially through the Cascades, will make travel very difficult with snow-covered roads and greatly reduced visibility. Be sure to carry tire chains heading through any of our passes. Snow levels will lower once again with scattered snow showers continuing across the region overnight and into Wednesday.
Expect more impacts to travel for both lower and especially higher elevations. In the northern part of the state, record-breaking snowfall left a freezing mess in the Portland area. Forecasters say roughly three inches of snow came down Monday. The storm broke a record of the latest snowfall in a season, with the previous mark set on April 1st, 1935.
More than 100-thousand customers for Portland General Electric reported losing power earlier. That number is now slightly above nine-thousand. I-84 was closed in both directions between Pendleton and La Grande, due to severe weather and multiple spun out trucks. Westbound truck traffic was stopped between Baker City and La Grande due
to limited parking in Baker City.
In a related story due to the storm, authorities say a person from the Valley View Mobile Home Park in Cornelius was hospitalized due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Power at the park went out early Monday morning and the
person started running a generator. Skirting around the RV caused carbon monoxide to fill the trailer. When power was restored and the generator continued running, residents checked on the person and found them partially conscious. The person was flown to a hospital on Life Flight because Highway 26 was closed from fallen trees.
The Oregon Department of Transportation has reopened the section of Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon that was closed earlier Tuesday, after bad weather and multiple slide-offs made the area dangerous to travel in.
The interstate was closed in both directions between Exit 216 six miles east of Pendleton and Exit 265 east of La Grande. In addition, westbound I-84 was closed to all traffic at Baker City at Exit 304, and closed to truck traffic in Ontario at Exit 374 due to limited parking.
Officials reported severe weather and icy conditions, with multiple semi-trucks spun out along the closed section.
OR 204 and OR 245 are both also closed to everything but local traffic, and are not viable detours around the closed area.
The closure lasted several hours on Tuesday as tow trucks worked to get the stuck semis out of the road. ODOT urged drivers to slow down and use caution, even in areas where the road remains open.
“Do not blindly follow GPS navigation devices/apps, many routes are impacted by the winter-like weather,” officials wrote in a release. “Stay in safe location until freeway opens.” Visit TripCheck.com for the latest on routes and conditions.
Oregon Judge Arrested On Child Porn Allegations
Oregon’s top judge for settling disputes between citizens and state agencies is facing child pornography allegations. Chief Administrative Law Judge John Mann was booked into Washington County Jail last month on ten counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse. He was released on bail hours later.
A spokesperson for the Beaverton Police Department, which investigated the case, says Mann was arraigned Monday in Washington County Circuit Court. A spokesperson for Gov. Kate Brown said Mann had been placed on unpaid administrative leave amid the investigation. It wasn’t immediately known if he has a lawyer to comment on his behalf.
OSU Study Finds Oregonians Perceive Greater Risk Than Benefit From Natural Gas Exports In State
Research from Oregon State University finds a majority of Oregonians perceive a greater risk than benefit from natural gas exports. Six natural gas export facilities have been proposed along the Oregon Coast. The most recent, in Coos Bay, was dropped last year.
An OSU study found 53-percent of Oregonians feel natural gas is a greater risk to the environment than the financial benefit. 27-percent of people surveyed thought the economic benefit of exporting natural gas to other countries would be worth it.
The study, supported by Oregon Sea Grant, is one of few to directly examine risk-benefit perceptions of natural gas export.
When presented with proposed natural gas export operations in the state, Oregonians are more likely to perceive the environmental and public health risks than the potential financial gains, a recent study from Oregon State University found.
To date, six natural gas export projects have been proposed along the Oregon coast but none have been built, most recently the Jordan Cove LNG project slated for Coos Bay, which was first proposed in 2004 and ultimately defeated last year.
“Oregon is seen as a key location to export natural gas to large markets in Asia, so because of that, future proposals may be coming,” said study author Rachel Mooney, who graduated from OSU with a master’s degree in public policy last year. “But having public opposition definitely will make siting any future projects in Oregon a challenge.”
Researchers surveyed 500 Oregon adults in August 2019, with a survey pool that was matched to Oregon’s overall population in terms of race, gender, age and education.
Consistent with the researchers’ hypotheses, results showed that people with a higher level of education, younger adults, women, people of color and people who identify as liberal or moderate were more likely to perceive environmental or public health risks and less likely to perceive economic benefits associated with natural gas export.
Political ideology was the strongest predictor of risk-benefit perceptions, with conservatives reporting lower environmental risk and higher economic benefit perceptions.
“Our findings in terms of who is most opposed to or supportive of natural gas export are not surprising given existing research,” said study author Hilary Boudet, an associate professor in OSU’s School of Public Policy. “Gender, age, race and political ideology are often related to views on energy development in the ways we found, particularly development involving fossil fuels.”
Of the survey pool, 53% felt that natural gas export posed a great deal of risk to the global climate and regional environment, and 44-56% perceived little to no benefit to energy prices, energy security, jobs in the region or the regional economy. On the flip side, only 21-27% perceived a great deal of economic benefit in those categories.
The effect of proximity to potential export sites was less clear. Despite typically skewing more liberal and moderate, respondents in metropolitan areas perceived more economic benefit and less risk than people in rural areas where projects are more likely to be located. Researchers hope to further study these relationships.
Researchers noted these results lend credence to social science theories about how people use mental shortcuts to determine their attitudes about new, unfamiliar technologies. At the same time, industry narratives and counter-narratives work to fill in that gap. For instance, Mooney said, the fossil fuel industry has pushed the idea that natural gas can be a “bridge” fuel, helping transition Americans from oil and coal to renewable energy sources, while environmental activists have called it a “bridge to nowhere” that will result in continued reliance on fossil fuels.
The current war in Ukraine and its impact on the international oil and gas markets has prompted more calls for the U.S. provide additional natural gas supplies to limit Russian influence, Boudet said, particularly in Europe, which is heavily reliant on Russian gas.
“It will be interesting to see how the industry responds and what, if any, additional natural gas export proposals we see in the future because natural gas exports to Europe are more likely to flow from the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast,” Boudet said. “We are in a time of unprecedented change in energy markets.”
Grants Pass Missing Person
The Grants Pass Police Department is seeking assistance from the public in locating 30 year old Noah Baker. Baker was despondent after an argument and left his residence in Grants Pass driving a silver Ford Fiesta with Oregon Plate 671MUR.
Baker is described as a white male adult, 5’09”, 170 lbs, brown hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing black sweats, black shirt, black shoes and a black hat.
If anyone knows of his whereabouts or sees Baker, please call your local law enforcement agency or the Grants Pass Police at 541-450-6260. Reference case #2022-14203 Grants Pass Police Department
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/