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, December 30, 2022
Rogue Valley Weather
Today Rain much of the day. High near 49. South wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Rain overnight as well with a low around 40. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Rain likely, mainly before 10am. Snow level 4100 feet. Cloudy, with a high near 47. Calm wind becoming west northwest around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Overnight a 20% chance of rain before 10pm. Patchy fog after 10pm. Snow level 3800 feet lowering to 3100 feet after midnight . Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday, New Year’s Day Areas of fog before 10am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 46. Overnight a chance of rain and snow after 4am. Snow level 2800 feet lowering to 1900 feet after midnight . Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Monday A chance of rain and snow before 10am, then rain. Snow level 1700 feet rising to 2500 feet in the afternoon. High near 44. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Menorah Vandalized Twice at Medford Vogel Plaza
On December 23, 2022, at about 8:00 p.m. Medford Police Officers were dispatched to Vogel Plaza (200 E. Main St.) for a vandalism report.
It was described that a male subject pushed over a light display in the plaza. Medford Officers arrived on scene and confirmed the suspect had pushed over a Hanukkah menorah light fixture, shattering the bulbs.
Officers located 24-year-old Isaiah Cleveland on scene, who admitted to the vandalism. Cleveland was arrested without incident and lodged at the Jackson County Jail for Disorderly Conduct II and Criminal Mischief II. At the time of arrest, the suspect gave no indication that his actions were antisemitic. This case is now in the hands of the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
On December 27th, 2022, it was reported the same light fixture was vandalized for a second time, this time requiring it to be fully replaced. The Medford Police Department is actively investigating the second case. If anyone has information regarding this case, it is requested they contact the Medford Police Department at 541-770-4783 (MPD case 22-21404).
Medford Catalytic Converter Buyer Charged With Aggravated Theft And Racketeering
A Medford man with an online business that buys catalytic converters faces four dozen criminal charges accusing him of operating his metals business unlicensed and buying and selling more than $50,000 in stolen property.
Cedrus Jahson King, 25, was arrested and charged last week with racketeering and aggravated first-degree theft linked to his business, Core Kings LLC, surrounding the way it obtained catalytic converters and high-value diesel particulate filtration systems between Oct. 1 and Dec. 22, according to a 32-page document filed by the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office in Jackson County Circuit Court.
A three-page affidavit filed by Medford police in the case was sealed in Circuit Court records Tuesday, but the District Attorney’s information document listing the charges outlines 22 separate counts of first-degree theft against King. The charges allege King bought catalytic converters or other high-value metal parts with “defendant knowing that the property was the subject of theft.”
Another 22 counts of unlawfully purchasing or receiving metal property allege that King bought the metal property “without holding a license required by state law or local ordinance.”
The Oregon Secretary of State’s business registry shows King listed as the sole registered agent of Core Kings LLC. The business was incorporated Dec. 3, 2020, but is currently listed in the statewide database as inactive. The system automatically reported the business as dissolved in February of this year.
A search online shows corekingsllc.com is still active, as is a Facebook page created last year where King appears to have identified himself in multiple posts.
The website asks individuals selling a catalytic converter to first upload a photo of the car part, fill out an online appraisal form then ship it to them. The website asks the seller “to include the interior honeycomb and the serial number.”
Medford police arrested King on Dec. 22, Jackson County Jail records show, and he was released from jail late Tuesday afternoon after posting 10% bond on bail set at $100,000. King made his initial court appearance Friday, where Circuit Court Judge Tim Barnack set the bail amount and ordered among stipulations that King not engage in any metal property transactions while the criminal case is pending. King’s next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 23rd.
Jackson County And ODOT Cleaning Up Weather-Related Damage On Roads
Jackson County Roads Department and ODOT are telling drivers to still watch for weather-related road hazards.
Jackson County Roads Department (JCRD) says Tyler Creek Road east of Ashland has extensive storm damage and erosion in various areas due to recent high water, and while crews are making repairs, travel delays and detours are likely until repairs are made.
Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) says its crews are dealing with downed branches and trees because of strong winds and rain.
Sergeant Shawn Richards with Jackson County Sheriff said the Rogue River and Beer Creak could be prone areas to flooding from the rainfall.
Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving Awareness Campaign
The weeks leading up to the holiday season are a busy period on America’s roads. To help keep drivers safe, our local law enforcement departments will work with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) during the national Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving drunk-driving-awareness campaign.
If you plan to go out and include alcohol in your celebration, make sure you refrain from driving. Review these facts and spread the word about the dangers of drunk driving.
- During the 2016-2020 December months, more than 4,400 people were killed in drunk-driving-related crashes.
- Drunk male drivers were involved in fatal crashes at a much higher rate (660) in December 2020 compared to female drivers (191).
- Approximately one-third of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States involve drunk drivers (with BACs at or above .08). In 2020, there were 11,654 people killed in drunk-driving crashes.
- Although it’s illegal to drive when impaired by alcohol, in 2020 one person was killed every 45 minutes in a drunk-driving crash on our nation’s roads.
- The rate of alcohol impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2020 was 3.1 times higher at night than during the day.
Plan for a Safe Celebration
Always remember to plan ahead when you will be celebrating with alcohol. If you plan to drink, make arrangements for a sober driver to take you home. Before you start celebrating this holiday season, look over these safety tips to keep you, your loved ones, and everyone else safe on the road.
- Plan ahead: If you wait until you’ve been drinking to make a smart decision, you might not. Before you have one drink, designate a sober driver who won’t be drinking.
- If it’s your turn to be the designated driver, take your job seriously, and don’t drink.
- If you see a drunk driver on the road, 911 immediately.
- Do you have a friend who is about to drink and drive? Take the keys away and let a sober driver get your friend home safely.
Falling Trees on Oregon Highways During Tuesday’s Windstorm Killed Five People
Five people traveling on Oregon highways Tuesday were killed by trees falling onto the road in the span of four hours, casualties of an intense windstorm that left 200,000 people without power.
The National Weather Service’s Portland office recorded hurricane-force winds along the northern Oregon Coast yesterday afternoon: 86 miles per hour at Cape Perpetua and 74 mph in Manzanita.
Tuesday’s storm system also brought massive waves, high tides and flooding to the region. Wave heights reached 30 feet along the Oregon coast, the National Weather Service said.
The Coastal Range also experienced severe winds, ranging from 50 to 73 mph—tropical storm force.
It was those winds that toppled a “large diameter” tree onto the roof of a Ford F-150 traveling east on U.S. Highway 26 2 miles west of Camp 18 at 11:39 am Tuesday. Three people—the driver, Justin Nolasco Pedraza, 19, of Seaside, and passengers Bonifacio Olvera Nolasco, 41, of Seaside and a 4-year-old girl—were found dead inside the truck, Oregon State Police say.T he deaths in the F-150 were the most horrifying of three incidents Dec. 27 in which people died from trees falling onto the highway in the windstorm.
The investigation of the crash site closed Sunset Highway for five hours Tuesday, police said. “It was determined the tree fell directly onto the Ford F150 roof as it was passing by,” Oregon State Police said in a press release.
Wednesday saw the shoulders of Highway 26 covered in a green carpet of fir branches and needles for much of its Coastal Range stretch.
At about 2 pm, a tree fell onto Interstate 84 near Bonneville Dam and struck the passenger side of an eastbound Dodge Ram, state police said. The passenger in the vehicle, 20-year-old Paula Chamu Sanchez of Baker City, was killed by the tree. The driver, Rick Williams, was transported to a Portland hospital.
About 90 minutes later, a tree fell onto a Peterbilt truck on U.S. Highway 26 in Wasco County. The driver, James Darron Lyda, 53, of Prineville, lost control of the truck and veered off the highway. He was pronounced dead at the scene—the fourth person killed by a tree on U.S. 26 on Tuesday.
Strong winds felled trees and and knocked out power lines across large swaths of the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday, cutting power for more than 160,000 people at certain points. Wind gusts reached 86 mph near Cape Perpetua on Oregon’s central coast and 107 mph near the iconic Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood, said Andy Bryant, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service’s Portland office.
After high winds battered the West Coast Monday night and Tuesday, crews worked through the night to restore power to several homes that were left without electricity due to downed power lines and fallen trees.
Pacific Power said the high wind event on December 27 left almost 50,000 customers without power and affected more than 86,000 in one way or another, but crews were able to restore power to about 14,500 customers. As of 11 a.m. on December 28, there are about 7,500 Pacific Power customers still without power, according to the utility. Pacific Power said about 1,100 of those are in various communities in the Willamette Valley, while another 570 are in Coos Bay. All customers should have their power restored by the morning of December 29 at the latest, according to Pacific Power.
Utility companies have progressively restored power, but more than 30,000 people in Oregon were still affected by outages as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to online tracker PowerOutage.
Portland General Electric and Pacific Power — among the utilities reporting the highest number of outages — both said they had hundreds of service crew members, including from out of state, working to assess and repair damage.
Governor Brown Names Two judges to Oregon Supreme Court
Governor Brown has announced five new judicial appointments just days before her time in office ends. Two of those are to the state’s highest court.
Brown named Judge Stephen Bushong and Judge Bronson James to the Oregon Supreme Court.
She also filled vacancies on the court of appeals and the Multnomah County Circuit Court.
Brown has appointed 112 judges, including eight to the Oregon Supreme Court — more than any other Oregon governor.
Here is more on the two new Supreme Court justices, as announced by the governor’s office.
Stephen Bushong, a judge on the Multnomah County Circuit Court since 2008, will fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the planned retirement of Justice Thomas Balmer. Bushong has served as Multnomah County’s presiding judge and its chief civil judge, and previously litigated civil cases as an attorney at the Miller Nash law firm and as chief trial counsel and attorney-in-charge of the Special Litigation Unit at the Oregon Department of Justice. He received his bachelor’s degree and his law degree from the University of Michigan. Bushong also serves on the Oregon Law Commission and the Uniform Trial Court Rules Committee, and coaches Franklin High School’s “We the People” team.
Bronson James, a judge on the Court of Appeals since 2017, will fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the planned retirement of Chief Justice Martha Walters. James previously served as a trial judge on the Multnomah County Circuit Court. Prior to his judicial service, he practiced as an appellate public defender in the Oregon Office of Public Defense Services, and represented injured plaintiffs and criminal defendants at his own firm. James is a graduate of Reed College and Lewis & Clark Law School. In addition to his time on the bench, he serves on Oregon’s Ad Hoc Committee on Unconscious Bias and the Judicial Leadership and Education Committee, and coaches mock trial through the Classroom Law Project.
Whale Watch Week Returned In-Person In Oregon Despite High Winds And Waves
Whale Watch Week in Oregon returned in-person for the first time since the pandemic on Wednesday, drawing visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the annual gray whale migration to the state’s coastline.
By early afternoon, more than 500 people had flocked to the Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay, where a volunteer equipped with binoculars pointed out whales in the distance. A spokesperson for Oregon State Parks, which organizes the event, described scenes of excited spectators as several were spotted.
“She’s seeing the spray and calling it out,” Stefanie Knowlton told The Associated Press on the phone as she watched the center’s volunteer, the crowd cheering in the background. “There’s just so much energy. You could just really feel that people were ready to come back and watch whales together.”
Volunteers will be at 17 state parks along the coast through Sunday to help people spot the nearly 20,000 gray whales that make the southward journey to Mexico every year.
One of the sites, Cape Meares, was closed Wednesday after strong winds the previous day knocked over trees, Knowlton said.
Oregon State Parks organizes whale-watching events twice a year, in the winter for gray whales’ southern migration and in the spring for their return to northern waters near Alaska.
Oregon’s central coast is also a hot spot for whale-watching from June to mid-November, when the gray whales that remained in the state’s coastal waters during the summer migration come close to shore to feed, according to the agency.
Free Ranger-Guided Hikes at 20 Oregon State Parks On New Year’s Day
Rangers will guide hikes at Oregon state parks on New Year’s Day to kick off 2023. Choose from 24 hikes in 21 parks across the state. All hikes will be guided by a park ranger or volunteer who will share stories about the park’s history, geology, wildlife, and plants.
Known as “First Day Hikes,” the trips typically cover just a few miles and are considered family-friendly.
The tours are free and the $5 day-use parking fee is also being waived on New Year’s Day at every state park that normally requires a fee. A few of the guided hikes do require registration.
Rangers will cover park history, geology, wildlife and plants during the hikes at parks around the state from the high desert to the coast, according to a news release.
“A guided hike is great way to kick off 2023 in the outdoors and begin a new tradition or continue a longstanding family tradition,” said Lisa Sumption, director of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. “As our centennial year comes to a close, we’re excited to begin the next 100 years of Oregon State Parks and continue to offer year-round recreation.”
The hikes begin at different times and locations. To get information on each of the different treks, including length, difficulty and whether you need to register, go to https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=v.feature-article&articleId=263
“Remember to plan for winter weather, dress in layers, wear sturdy shoes, bring water and carry binoculars for viewing wildlife,” the news release said.
Here’s a list of the planned hikes at each state park.
Portland area
- L.L. Stub Stewart State Park: 10 a.m., meet at the Dairy Creek West meeting hall
- Milo McIver State Park: 10 a.m., meet at the Dog Creek Trailhead in the Riverside Day-Use Area.
- Milo McIver State Park: 1 p.m., meet at the Dog Creek Trailhead in the Riverside Day-use Area.
Columbia River Gorge
- Deschutes River State Recreation Area: 11 a.m., meet at the Oregon Trail Kiosk. Registration required.
- Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail: 10 a.m., meet at the Mark O. Hatfield East Trailhead on Rock Creek Road, Mosier. Bring your snowshoes or cross-country skis if there’s snow.
Willamette Valley/West Cascades
- Elijah Bristow State Park, Equestrian Ride: 11 a.m., foot in stirrup at noon, meet at the equestrian parking area for horse riding (bring your own horse).
- Elijah Bristow State Park: 10 a.m., meet at the main parking lot at the end of the park road near group picnic areas.
- Detroit Lake State Park: 11 a.m., meet at the Campground Visitor Center.
- Silver Falls State Park, Historic District Hike: 10 a.m., meet at the South Falls Lodge porch.
- Silver Falls State Park, Geology Hike: 10 a.m., meet at the South Falls Lodge porch.
Oregon Coast
- Bullards Beach State Park: 1 p.m., meet at the amphitheater.
- Fort Stevens State Park: 10 a.m., meet at the main parking lot next to the museum and visitor center.
- Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park: 10 a.m., meet at the Cleawox Lodge.
- Nehalem Bay State Park: 9 a.m., meet at the main parking lot.
- South Beach State Park, South Jetty: 10 a.m., meet at the new Jetty Trailhead, South Jetty Day-use Area.
- Sitka Sedge State Natural Area: 12 p.m., meet at the parking lot.
Southern Oregon
- Collier Memorial State Park: 10 a.m., meet at the Logging Museum parking lot. Call the park office, 541-783-2471 X21 to register by Dec. 30. Leave a message that includes name, contact info and number of people attending.
- TouVelle State Park: 1:30 p.m., meet at the day-use area by Area F at the far end of the park.
- Valley of the Rogue State Park: 10 a.m., meet at the amphitheater fire pit in the program area.
Eastern/Central Oregon
- Cottonwood Canyon State Park: 10 a.m., meet at the Experience Center.
- LaPine State Park: 10 a.m., meet at the Cougar Woods Trailhead. Registration required.
- Smith Rock State Park: 9 a.m., meet at the Welcome Center Yurt. Registration required.
- Tumalo State Park: 1 p.m., meet at the day-use entrance near the fee machine.
