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, December 1, 2022
Rogue Valley Weather
A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect through 10:00 a.m. Thursday for much of Southern Oregon.
An Urgent Winter Weather Message from the National Weather Service said snow showers are expected above 1,500 feet. Total accumulations will vary between a trace and 2 inches, with up to 4 inches possible above 2,500 feet.
The Advisory area includes central Douglas County, Jackson County, the south-central Oregon coast and the Curry County coast. Forecasters said travel could be difficult. Hazardous conditions could impact the Thursday morning commute. For current travel conditions, go to www.tripcheck.com
Man Killed Running Across I-5 After Alleged Shoplifting
On Tuesday, November 29th, at approximately 7:11 PM, the Oregon State Police responded to a reported vehicle versus pedestrian collision on Interstate 5, near mile post 27, in Jackson County.
The preliminary investigation indicated Gabriel Escobar (39), of Medford, had recently fled on foot from a nearby Fred Meyer after allegedly shoplifting. Escobar attempted to run across the freeway when he was struck and killed by a commercial motor vehicle traveling northbound in the slow lane.
The slow lane was closed for approximately 3 hours while the crash investigation was conducted.
OSP was assisted by the Jackson County STAR Team, Medford PD, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, and ODOT.
Over 500 Without Power Due To Downed Powerlines In Grants Pass
Rural Metro Fire (RMF) was at the scene of downed powerlines on New Hope Road at E and W Intervale Road.
(Courtesy: Rural Metro Fire)
Pacific Power reports over 500 customers were without power in the Grants Pass area near the downed powerline. RMF says Pacific Power crew members are en route to the downed line.
Pacific Power expected customers to have power restored before 8:30 p.m. – A quick check on outage maps shows that must have happened.
The cause of the line failure is unknown at this time. There are no reports of a fire. To check the latest outage information, click here.
Controlled Burn Planned in Upper Ashland Watershed Near Bull Gap
On Thursday, December 1st, the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest will manage a controlled burn to consume burn piles on behalf of the Ashland Forest Resiliency project.
Predicted Smoke Impacts: Lowest Priority – Level 1
| Location of Controlled Burn | Bull Gap area in upper USFS 2080 Road (Tolman Creek Road) |
| Date of Controlled Burn | Thursday, December 1st |
| Potential Smoke Impacts | The main 2080 road in the burn area and smoke may be visible from town, but not impacting the community or trails. |
| What to do if smoke is in the air | Our Smokewise Ashland site has all the resources you need to stay healthy |
| More information | See project updates on the AFR webpage. |
Where is the Burn? See the burn location in the online map, or highlighted in red below.
Why Burn?
Burning accumulated fuel is an important step to restore forest resilience and prevent severe summer wildfires in our municipal watershed and community. Our primary objective when using prescribed fire is the safety and well-being of our community and fire crews. Learn more about how proactive fire planning is used to prioritize our work and guide summer fire response.
Stay in Touch.
- Text WATERSHED in the message line to 888777 for non-emergency text notifications about AFR burns
- Register for the AFR email list
- Follow AFR on Facebook
- Find us on Twitter
- Learn more on our website
Local Warming Shelters Need Volunteers
Local Warming Shelters are extending days of operation due to colder weather on the way this week. For these shelters to stay open they’re asking for volunteers.
The Medford Severe Weather Shelter, which is run through Access, just announced it will be extending its days of operation.
They will now be open from Wednesday, November 30th through Friday, December 2nd from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. The shelter is located at 332 W. 6th Street. (https://accesshelps.org/medford-severe-weather-shelter)
Matthew Rogers, Outreach Support Supervisor with Access, says they served around 50 people Monday night and expect to serve around 70 to 80 individuals Tuesday.
“If all they want to do is come in get warm or get food or hang out for a bit and leave, they totally can. Everybody has different abilities and different understanding of what they’re comfortable with,” says Rogers.
The Ashland Warming Shelter is open tonight as well, Avram Sacks the head volunteer says they saw 25 people Monday night and also expect their numbers to go up Tuesday as well.
“I would imagine we would get a few more every day. Looking at the weather it looks like we’re going to stay open at least till Monday morning but that’s not official yet. Based on the weather predictions, it looks like it’s going to be cold with possible snow through the weekend,” says Sacks.
Both shelters said they are happy to provide this service to people who need it, however, the only way they are able to stay open is if they have enough volunteers.
Rogers says their issue isn’t having the space or money to have the shelter open, “The big barrier is needing people to be there to help.” Sacks says they still need people who are willing to spend the night, “We also need more people that are willing to prepare and bring a warm meal,” says Sacks.
The shelter is looking for as many volunteers as they can get, ideally so people only need to do it once or twice a month. “Plus a lot of our volunteers are older – they’re from the churches, they’re in their 70’s and 80’s. It’d be nice to get some younger people in there, maybe 50’s and 60’s and younger,” Sacks said.
Anyone interested in volunteering can visit the shelter at Pioneer Hall in Ashland, or reach out to Sacks at 541-220-7307.
Both shelters also accept donations of warm clean clothing and blankets. You can contact Access’s Donor Support Team at (458) 488-1220 for information about dropping off donations. You can text MED4SHELTERS to 888777 for the latest shelter updates. For Ashland’s warming shelter, people can drop off donations at the Pony Espresso in Ashland.
More Winter Weather On The Way For Oregon
Heavy wind and rain tapered off in the Portland metro area but it already caused widespread power outages and traffic issues. As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, reports were about 9,000 people were without power in Oregon and Southwest Washington.
U.S. 26 has reopened after downed power lines were cleared from the roadway between the Sylvan overpass and the Vista Ridge Tunnel. U.S. 30 is closed about halfway between Astoria and Clatskanie, due to a landslide. Traffic officials Wednesday morning had no estimate for when that highway would reopen.
Two more strong weather systems will move through Oregon and Washington over the next few days.
While lower elevations will see very limited snow showers, people traveling through the Gorge, the Cascade Passes, and the Coast Range should prepare for snow sticking around on roadways through at least Sunday. Drivers should also expect hazardous travel conditions in Eastern Oregon.
Starting Wednesday night, heavy showers will move through Northwest Oregon again, and some places will see those showers in the form of snowflakes. A similar system will move through Thursday night into Friday morning.
Friday afternoon and evening should be rainy and blustery, with heavy wind gusts especially along the Coast Range. Then another cold weather system will move through Friday night and Saturday morning, dropping several more inches along the Gorge and in the Cascades, where it could stick around for several days.
Anybody planning to drive, especially at higher elevations, should prepare for winter conditions. Even if there’s no snow, moisture on the roads can freeze in the early morning hours.
$6.1 Million Going To Small Cities For Roads And Sidewalks
Small cities around the state are receiving $6.1 million in funding after the Small City Allotment Advisory Committee approved the latest round of recommendations in the 2023 Small City Allotment program. The approved 27 projects range from adding sidewalks to chip-sealing roads, from paving city streets to improving intersections – all in communities with populations of 5,000 or less.
For this sixth round of funding, ODOT received 84 applications requesting a total of $18,920,300. The annual amount available for the program is $5 million. For this round, additional funds were available from projects canceled due to high construction costs.
“Also due to inflation, we increased the maximum award amount from $100,000 to $250,000,” said SCA Program Manager Deanna Edgar. “That resulted in fewer awards – but these awards can really make a difference in today’s environment.”
Oregon’s historic transportation funding package, HB 2017 from the 2017 Oregon Legislature, created the Small City Allotment program to help communities fix local roads that are inadequate for the capacity they serve or in a condition detrimental to safety. To include as many cities as possible, the program does not require matching funds. MORE INFO: https://www.oregon.gov/odot/LocalGov/Pages/SCA_Program.aspx
Portland Woman Sentenced to Federal Prison for Stealing Covid Relief Funds While on Supervised Release
PORTLAND, Ore.—A Portland woman was sentenced to federal prison today for violating the terms of her post-prison supervised release by submitting two fraudulent applications for loans intended to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tiairre Travonne Chaney, 35, was sentenced to six months in federal prison followed by a 24-month term of supervised release.
According to court documents, in September 2015, Chaney was charged by criminal information with one count of wire fraud after she submitted 35 fraudulent income tax returns and caused the IRS to pay her more than $155,000 in unwarranted tax refunds. One month later, Chaney pleaded guilty to the single charge and, in February 2016, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison followed by a three-year term of supervised release. Chaney was released from prison in November 2016.
By June 2018, Chaney was found to have violated her supervised release conditions by failing to pay restitution, failing to file true and correct taxes, and failing to report to her probation officer. As a result, she was placed on GPS monitoring for 30 days. In December 2019, Chaney violated her supervision terms a second time by again failing to report to her probation officer and pay restitution and also failing to obtain lawful employment. She was sentenced to three months in prison and her 33-month term of supervised release was reimposed.
In January and May 2021, Chaney violated her supervised release a third time by submitting to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) two fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs)for Tncw Baked Goods, LLC, a straw entity she formed after the onset of the pandemic. In her applications, Chaney falsely denied being on supervised release and denied her felony conviction. In the second application, she falsely claimed Tncw Baked Goods, LLC, realized gross revenues of $45,663 in 2020 when in fact it had done no business whatsoever.
This case was investigated by the SBA Office of Inspector General and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). It was prosecuted by Ryan W. Bounds, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
OSP is seeking the public’s assistance with a death investigation in Douglas County
The Oregon State Police is asking for #publicassistance with a death investigation that occurred on November 30, 2021. OSP is hoping with the 1st anniversary of this incident that someone will come forward with new information.
On November 30, 2021, at approximately 1:00 P.M., Larry Mell was traveling westbound in his red 2003 Dodge Ram truck on Hwy 38 near Putnam Valley Rd, just west of Drain, Oregon, when he was shot. Mr. Mell later died as a result of his injuries. The Oregon State Police’s preliminary investigation suggests this incident appears to be accidental.
Mr. Mell was 72 at the time of his death. He had 8 children, several grandchildren, and a great-grandchild. Mr. Mell’s family described him as a Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War. Mr. Mell loved fishing and crabbing and is greatly missed. Mr. Mell’s family said he was a strong survivor who had overcome heart surgery, a brain injury, and cancer.
The Oregon State Police along with Mr. Mell’s family is requesting if anyone was shooting or who knows of someone who was shooting in the area of Hwy 38 and Putnam Valley Rd on November 30, 2021, call us.
Help provide some closure to this family who is desperately seeking answers to what happened. If you think you might have some information on this incident, we urge you to call the Oregon State Police at 800-442-2068 or OSP from your mobile phone. Reference case # SP21-335049.
Two Men Were Arrested This Week As Part Of An Investigation Into Several Robberies In Klamath Falls
The Klamath Falls Police Department said Wednesday, Nov. 30 in a press release that Samuel J. McConathy, 27, and Geoffrey W. McKay, 25, were Tuesday, Nov. 29.
According to the press release, the reported robberies began Tuesday, Nov. 22 and continued through Monday, Nov. 28 at the following locations: The Yellow Flamingo Lottery Bar at 1819 Avalon St., the Tyler Texas BBQ at 1414 Oregon Ave. twice, the Oregon Avenue Food Mart at 2123 Oregon Ave. and the Stop-N-Go store at 1710 Oregon Ave.
“All five reports described an unknown white male adult wearing similar clothing, and he would demand money from the employees once he entered the businesses,” the press release stated. “No weapons were seen, but it was believed the subject was possibly armed during the incidents. During three of the reported robberies, the subject left the scene with a large amount of cash. During the other two incidents, the unknown subject fled the scene after the employees threatened to defend themselves with a weapon or call the police.”
Tuesday, KFPD detectives identified and arrested McConathy and McKay in connection to the robberies. The two men were contacted after McConathy reported his van stolen shortly after a report of a robbery at the Speedway Express at approximately 5 that morning.
“The initial investigation reported a male subject entering the location, removing the cash register and fleeing the area in a silver van,” the press release states. “The subjects later dumped the register out of the vehicle.”
Before this incident, KFPD detectives were conducting surveillance operations during the late evening and early morning hours due to the recent robberies, according to the press release.
“KFPD detectives observed the same van in the area during their surveillance of a local business,” the press release states. “In a joint effort, KFPD and [Klamath County Sheriff’s Office] detectives were able to link both subjects to all three robberies and two attempted robberies in the city limits, and a theft and initiating a false report within the urban growth boundary.”
McConathy was lodged in the Klamath County Jail for four counts of Second-degree Robbery, Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Robbery, Second-degree Attempted Theft, Third-degree Criminal Mischief and Initiating a False Report.
McKay was lodged in the Klamath County Jail for for five counts of Second-degree Robbery, Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Robbery, Second-degree Attempted Theft and Third-degree Criminal Mischief.
Anyone with additional information regarding these robberies is encouraged to call the Klamath Falls Police Department at 541-883-5336 or the anonymous tip line at 541-883-5334.
Oregon State Parks offers $5 off annual parking permit purchases in December
SALEM, Oregon— Give the gift of the outdoors and save this season with the Oregon State Parks 12-month parking permit sale through December.
The permit hangtag once again features whimsical designs from Portland artist El Tran. Holiday shoppers can buy the annual parking permits for only $25, which is a $5 savings starting Dec. 1 and running through Dec. 31. The pass is good for 12 months starting in the month of purchase.
Purchasing passes is easy. Buy them online at the Oregon State Parks store. Parking permits are also sold at some state park friends’ group stores and select local businesses throughout the state. For a complete list of vendors, visit stateparks.oregon.gov.
Parking costs $5 a day at 25 Oregon state parks unless you have a 12- or 24-month parking permit or a same-day camping receipt. The 24-month pass is $50 and is also available at store.oregonstateparks.org. The permits are transferable from vehicle to vehicle.
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