The latest news stories of interest in the Rogue Valley and the state of Oregon from the digital home of Southern Oregon, Wynne Broadcasting’s RogueValleyMagazine.com
Monday, December 18, 2023
Rogue Valley Weather
...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 1 AM PST TUESDAY... * WHAT...Southeast winds 20 to 25 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected. * WHERE...Southeastern portions of the Rogue Valley from Medford south through Ashland. This also includes Phoenix and Talent. * WHEN...From 10 AM Monday to 1 AM PST Tuesday. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Breezy to gusty winds and rain showers have begun to mix the atmosphere, and air stagnation looks less likely overnight. * View the hazard area in detail at https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/map/?wfo=mfr
Medford Fire Department Crews Respond to Structure Fire This Morning
Officer Involved Shooting – Josephine County
JOSEPHINE COUNTY, Ore. 15 Dec. 2023 – On Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, law enforcement officers from Oregon State Police, Grants Pass Police Department, and Josephine County Sheriff’s Office were searching for a suspect in a homicide investigation.
At approximately 12:10 p.m. the suspect was located in a vehicle near Grants Pass and fled from law enforcement officers who pursued the suspect. The pursuit ended at Highway 199 and Allen Creek Road.
During the course of the incident, law enforcement officers from all three agencies discharged their duty weapons. The suspect, identified as Kelly Lynn Mason (48), was pronounced deceased on scene.
At least one law enforcement officer on scene received non-life-threatening injuries during the incident.
All involved officers have been placed on traumatic event leave as is standard protocol in Senate Bill 111 deadly force incidents.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation of the incident. This team is comprised of investigators from numerous agencies and is overseen by the Josephine County District Attorney’s Office.
Per the standard protocols, all future media releases related to this incident will come from the Josephine County District Attorney’s Office.
Ashland to Be the Center of Wildfire Resilience Research by Oregon State University
Oregon State University researchers are receiving $750,000 in grants to launch a collaborative wildfire resilience research study. The research will be done in Ashland, where one of the most recent wildfires occurred.
A team of researchers and a doctoral student will be using coving engineering and forestry in order to understand just how wildfires interact with the built environment. The hope is that they will be better able to prepare in the case of an eventual wildfire.
The funds, from the US Forest Service and the National Science Foundation, will create a new doctoral program and research center. Erica Fischer of OSU’s College of Engineering will serve as principal investigator on the grant. She said a team of researchers and a doctoral student will use forestry and civil engineering to understand how wildfire interacts with the built environment, and how to prepare for it.
“How do we train the next generation of scientists to be able to study this,” she said. “How do we train the next generation of professionals to be able to work in communities and address this really big problem?”
She said the student will be embedded in Ashland, a community impacted by the 2020 Almeda wildfire.
Fischer said the research could also improve preparedness, identifying key points where fire trucks should be stationed, what homes and infrastructure are most at risk, and modeling evacuation routes and economic recovery.
“You get a real life example of what could happen,” she said.
Researchers from University of Oregon, University of Washington, the UK and Australia, will also collaborate on the project. The international angle is because of the importance of understanding how different communities approach risks of wildfires, as well as the societal implications in the event of a wildfire.
PART 2 – Newsweek Podcast Focusing on The Disappearance of Fauna Frey From Lane County
Here One Minute, Gone the Next —– PART 2 – Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel joins investigative journalist Alex Rogue to speak with Here One Minute, Gone the Next about the disappearance of Fauna Frey, the growing friction between citizen investigators and law enforcement, and the lack of resources in missing persons cases. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-disappearance-of-fauna-frey-pt2-feat-sheriff/id1707094441?i=1000630100040
PART 1 – John Frey joins Newsweek to discuss exclusive details about the case of his missing daughter that until now have been unavailable to the general public.
If you have any information on the whereabouts of Fauna Frey, call the anonymous tip line at 541-539-5638 or email FindFaunaFrey@gmail.com.
Help Find Fauna Frey #FindFaunaFrey FACEBOOK GROUP
Three Die as Plane Crashes Into Power Lines Starting Brush Fire and Power Outage in Independence
Officials released more details Sunday about the deadly plane crash just outside Independence State Airport the day prior and identified the occupants of the plane.
The pilot and two passengers died when the single engine plane traveling from McMinnville to Independence crashed amidst heavy fog late Saturday afternoon according to the Independence Police Department and Polk County Fire District No. 1.
The occupants are identified as Mohammad Hussain Musawi and Mohammad Bashir Safdari, both 35 from Independence, and 29-year-old Ali Jan Ferdawsi of Salem. Musawi was the pilot, while Safdari and Ferdawsi were passengers.
The owner of the plane was not on board when it crashed around 4:55 p.m. near Hoffman Road and James Street just outside of the airport. It brought down power lines, sparked a small brush fire and knocked out power to nearly 400 homes overnight.
“I was upstairs and suddenly we heard a series of booms, loud kind of boom, boom, boom, bang and then all the power fluctuated, a little dim and then everything went out all at once,” said resident Aaron Forbes. “You could almost immediately see the fire as soon as we walked outside because the field caught on fire as soon as the plane crashed.”
High-voltage power lines had to be deenergized by the power company before the fire could be fully extinguished and emergency personnel could reach the site to investigate.
“The electricity was still popping, and you could see it every five or ten minutes. You could hear the transformers, the electrical line just lighting up the sky with blue plasma. It was pretty dangerous,” Forbes added.
Pacific Power reports that power has been restored as of Sunday afternoon.
“Our thoughts are with the families of those involved in the crash.” officials said. Police are investigating alongside the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board. (SOURCE)
Former Oregon Youth Authority Employee Charged with Sexual Misconduct
On December 1, 2023, a Marion County Grand Jury returned a Secret Indictment charging 34-year-old Emily Echtenkamp with five counts of Custodial Sexual Misconduct in the First Degree, one count of Official Misconduct in the First Degree, and one count of Initiating a False Report. The indictment results from an Oregon State Police investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by Echtenkamp with an incarcerated individual while she was employed at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. The incarcerated individual was not a minor during the period alleged in the indictment.[1] As of May 2022, Echtenkamp was no longer employed by the Oregon Youth Authority.
Based on the Grand Jury Indictment, the Marion County Circuit Court issued an arrest warrant for Echtenkamp. Echtenkamp turned herself into the Marion County Jail on the warrant on December 14, 2023, and was lodged at the Marion County Jail pending arraignment on the Indictment. On December 15, 2023, Echtenkamp was arraigned on the Indictment and the Marion County District Attorney’s Office requested $60,000 bail. Marion County Circuit Court Pro Tem Judge Matthew Tracey set bail at $20,000.
This issue is an open criminal prosecution and as such, the Marion County District Attorney’s Office will not release additional information at this time. Please contact DDA Brendan Murphy and DDA Kylie Kuhns at (503) 588-5222 with any questions.
Federal Judge Rejected Request From Oregon Republican State Senators Who Boycotted The Legislature To Be Allowed On The Ballot After Their Terms End
U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken issued the decision Wednesday rejecting a request from Oregon Republican state senators who boycotted the Legislature to be allowed on the ballot after their terms end.
State Sens. Dennis Linthicum, Brian Boquist and Cedric Hayden were among the plaintiffs who filed the federal lawsuit to challenge their disqualification from running for reelection under Measure 113. The voter-approved constitutional amendment, which passed by a wide margin last year, bars legislators from seeking reelection after 10 or more unexcused absences.
Each of the three senators racked up more than 10 absences during a record six-week walkout that paralyzed the 2023 legislative session. The boycott stemmed from bills on abortion, transgender health care and guns.
The lawmakers sought, among other things, a preliminary injunction to prevent the secretary of state’s office from enforcing their disqualification from the ballot. The office in September disqualified Linthicum and Boquist from the 2024 ballot, court filings show. Hayden’s term ends in January 2027.
The senators argued that walkouts are a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“The Senators were punished solely for exercising their First Amendment rights,” their attorneys said in court filings.
Aiken disagreed with their claims in her opinion.
“However, these walkouts were not simply protests — they were an exercise of the Senator Plaintiffs’ official power and were meant to deprive the legislature of the power to conduct business,” she wrote.
“Their subsequent disqualification is the effect of Measure 113 working as intended by the voters of Oregon,” she added.
The Oregon Senate and House of Representatives must have two-thirds of their members present in order to have a quorum and conduct business. In recent years, Republicans have protested against Democratic policies by walking out of the Legislature and denying a quorum in a bid to stall bills.
The federal suit named Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade and Democratic Senate President Rob Wagner as defendants. The senators claimed, among other things, that Wagner violated their First Amendment right to freedom of expression and their Fourteenth Amendment right to due process by marking their absences as unexcused.
Attorneys from Oregon’s justice department representing Griffin-Valade and Wagner argued the First Amendment does not protect legislators’ refusal to attend legislative floor sessions.
“Under Oregon law, a senator’s absence has an important legal effect: without the attendance of the two-thirds of senators needed to achieve a quorum, the Senate cannot legislate,” they wrote in court filings.
The federal court decision was issued one day before the Oregon Supreme Court heard a separate challenge to the measure. In oral arguments before the state’s high court in Salem Thursday, a lawyer for a different group of Republican state senators argued that confusion over the wording of the constitutional amendment means that legislators whose terms end in January can run in 2024.
Griffin-Valade, the secretary of state, is also a defendant in that lawsuit. Earlier this year, she said the boycotting senators were disqualified from seeking reelection in 2024. She directed her office’s elections division to implement an administrative rule to clarify the stance. She said the rule reflected the intent of voters when they approved the measure last year.
All parties in the suit are seeking clarity on the issue before the March 2024 filing deadline for candidates who want to run in next year’s election.
Fatal Crash — Highway 97 — Deschutes County
On Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, at approximately 7:14 p.m., Oregon State Police troopers responded to a two-vehicle crash on Highway 97 near milepost 128 south of Redmond.
The preliminary investigation indicated that a white Ford Econoline van was northbound on Highway 97 and drove onto the shoulder of the highway for an unknown reason. The driver lost control of the vehicle and drove across both northbound lanes, the center median, and into the southbound “A” lane. The van collided with a silver 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee that was traveling southbound.
The driver of the van, Ghandi Lakshmi Satya Sai Yerramsetti (23) of Redmond, and the passenger of the Jeep, Christy Lee Bigelow (29) of Bend, both sustained fatal injuries and were pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver of the Jeep, Nicholas Loren Husted (32) of Bend was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
During the crash investigation, Highway 97 was closed and traffic detoured. A suspected impaired driver struck an Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) vehicle that was diverting traffic at 61st Street. The suspect, Nicholas Jason Cardone (33) of Bend, was arrested for DUII by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. The operator of the ODOT vehicle was evaluated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
An additional non-injury crash occurred in the southbound lane near the crash scene and Lylliane Walczyk (20) was arrested for DUII.
Oregon State Police was assisted by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Bend Fire Department, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Man Arrested After Recording In Coquille High School Girls Bathroom
Police arrested a man Friday night after they said he was caught recording underage girls in a bathroom at Coquille High School.
According to the Coquille Police Department, officers responded to the school around 9:30 p.m. on December 15 for a report of a fight. They learned a man had been found in the women’s bathroom using a phone to record girls using the bathroom and changing clothes after an athletic tournament involving schools from around the south coast region.
When some of the girls noticed they were being recorded, one told her father who went to the bathroom and “forcibly detained” the man, police said. Other parents then called 911 to report the incident. Officers noticed signs of injury, but he refused to talk about them.
CPD arrested 59-year-old Patrick Laird of Coquille and initially charged him with second-degree encouraging child sex abuse and first-degree invasion of personal privacy. He was taken to the Coos County Jail where he was still in custody as of Sunday morning.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing and additional charges are possible, the department said. They are working with the Coquille School District on the investigation.
Anyone with any information about the incident, or who believe they were possibly recorded, is asked to contact Coquille Police Officer Aaron Mayo via email at amayo@cityofcoquille.org or the department by phone at 541-396-2114.
Quaker Granola Bars and Granola Cereals Recalled Due to Potential Salmonella Contamination
Nearly 80 varieties of Quaker Oats Company‘s granola bar and granola cereal products are being recalled due to a potential salmonella contamination.
News of the recall was announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday. The products were sold throughout all 50 states in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam and Saipan, in stores like Target, Costco, Walmart, Kroger and more.
Among the products are various flavors and variety/value packs of Quaker Chewy Bars (including the “Less Sugar” option), Quaker Big Chewy Bars, Quaker Chewy Bars Minis, Quaker Chewy Dipps and Quaker Chewy Mini Dipps.
Quaker Puffed Granola, Quaker Simply Granola Oats and Quaker Protein Granola Oats products are also affected, in their respective offerings.
Another Death Has Been Linked To Cantaloupe Contaminated With Salmonella
Another death has been linked to cantaloupe contaminated with salmonella, bringing the total to four in the United States. Another 72 illnesses also have been reported, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far, the CDC said, 302 people have become sick in 42 states. Of those, 72 have been added as of Dec. 15. Almost half of those people had to be hospitalized and four have died – three in Minnesota and one in Oregon.
Consumers have been urged to not eat any pre-cut cantaloupe unless they know where the whole fruit came from.
“The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses. This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for salmonella. In addition, recent illnesses may not yet be reported as it usually takes 3 to 4 weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak,” the CDC said.
The outbreak has been linked to cantaloupe from Mexico that may have a sticker with “Malichita” or “Rudy” and the number 4050.
Recalls of whole cantaloupe and pre-cut cantaloupe have been growing.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said its “traceback investigation” has identified Sofia Produce, LLC doing business as TruFresh of Nogales, Arizona; Crown Jewels Produce of Fresno, California; and Pacific Trellis Fruit doing business as Dulcinea of Fresno, California, as suppliers of the potentially contaminated “Malichita” or “Rudy” brand cantaloupes.
The three companies issued recalls.
Adults age 65 and older, children younger than 5 and people with weakened immune systems are more at risk from a salmonella infection.
Severe symptoms include diarrhea for more than three days that is not improving, a fever higher than 102 degrees, bloody diarrhea, vomiting that includes not being able to keep liquids down and dehydration.
Mexico’s Health Department on Dec. 15 ordered the temporary closure of a melon-packing plant implicated in salmonella infections that killed five people in Canada and four in the United States.
People in Oregon can now manage state benefits with the Oregon ONE Mobile app
People can now securely manage their medical, food, cash and child care benefits through the State of Oregon from the convenience of their mobile devices using the new Oregon ONE Mobile app. People first will need to apply for benefits online, in person at a local office or over the phone.
The app is available for free in the Apple and Android app stores. It is an official State of Oregon app created by the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS). The app’s development was partially funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“At ODHS we are committed to meeting people in Oregon where they are with as many ways as possible to manage their benefits, check application status and share needed documentation, like when they get a request for information during a renewal,” said Nathan Singer (he/him), director of the ODHS Oregon Eligibility Partnership. “People can now manage their benefits in-person, by mail, by fax, by telephone, online and on their mobile phone using the Oregon ONE Mobile app, which is available in English and Spanish.”
Interview with OEP Director Singer available on YouTube
Oregon ONE Mobile app video on YouTube
New Oregon ONE Mobile app video link
- Create a ONE Online account.
- Access their existing ONE Online account.
- Report changes to household information including address, contact information and income.
- Upload requested documents using a smartphone camera.
- Get updates on application status and check if it is approved, denied, or pending, and what actions might need to be taken.
- See and download notices that were mailed.
- Find the next renewal date for their benefits.
- Get important, time-sensitive alerts and notifications about benefits on mobile devices.
- View benefit issuance history for food and cash payments.
People who serve as Authorized Representatives for people with benefits are also able to use the app.
How to manage your medical, food, cash and child care benefits:
- By phone at: 1-800-699-9075. All relay calls accepted.
- Online at: benefits.oregon.gov
- Through the free Oregon ONE Mobile app available on Apple and Android app stores
- In person at an office near you: Find an office.
- In your language: Help in Your Language
- By mail at: ONE Customer Service Center, PO Box 14015, Salem, OR 97309
- By fax at: 503-378-5628
Resources to help meet basic needs
- Find food resources in your community: needfood.oregon.gov.
- Learn about government programs and community resources for older adults and people with disabilities: Aging and Disability Resource Connection of Oregon at 1-855-673-2372 or www.adrcoforegon.org.
- Dial 2-1-1, or text your zip code to 898-211, www.211info.org
- Find local resources and support by contacting your local Community Action Agency: www.caporegon.org/find-services/
- Oregon Department of Human Services help center
About the Oregon Department of Human Services
The mission of the Oregon Department of Human Services is to help Oregonians in their own communities achieve well-being and independence through opportunities that protect, empower, respect choice and preserve dignity.
About the Oregon Eligibility Partnership
The Oregon Eligibility Partnership (OEP) is part of the Oregon Department of Human Services. OEP supports state staff who determine eligibility for people applying for and receiving medical, food, cash and child care benefits. It also manages the ONE Eligibility System used to process applications and deliver benefits to eligible individuals and families in Oregon. One in three people in Oregon receive benefits through the ONE Eligibility System. OEP administers the ONE Eligibility system in partnership with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and the Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC).###
