Rogue Valley News, Friday 7/19 – Update on Fires Around the Valley & Other Local and Statewide News…

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

Wednesday,  July 17, 2024

Rogue Valley Weather

Medford Fire Department

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱! Fire season is in full swing, and we have several resources designed to help keep you and your loved ones safe:

Sign Up for Citizen Alert (the City’s primary notification system): Citizen Alert – Sign In (everbridge.net)

Know Your Zone (to help you prepare for an emergency evacuation): medfordoregon.gov/evaczones

Preparedness Tips (to help you plan ahead): medfordoregon.gov/beprepared

Southern Oregon Property Insurance Sees Massive Shifts Following Wildfires

Facing a new era of risk in the light of climate-driven wildfires, insurers and residents are battling to adapt, with rural property owners facing the brunt of the changing world as insurance rates go up or in some cases- property owners struggle to get cover.

Since the 2020 Labor Day fires destroyed parts of the state- with nearly $3 billion in losses, property owners across Southern Oregon have faced an ongoing flow of communications from insurance companies- whether it’s increases,  a threat to cancel, or difficulty finding insurance, according to state Rep. Pam Marsh, a Democrat, representing southern Jackson County.

National Insurance Shake-up As Natural Disasters Eat Into Profits

Published in May, a New York Times investigation showed that homeowners insurance was unprofitable in 18 states in 2023. This prompted insurers to raise premiums, cancel policies, or completely leave states.

Driven mainly by natural disasters related to climate change such as wildfires in the western states, hurricanes in Florida, and major storms and flooding in the Midwest, as climate change escalates, insurers- who carry the weight of the disasters, are experiencing more pressure.

Without insurance, homeowners won’t be able to get a mortgage. This could result in a domino effect, with declining property values reducing tax revenues across counties- funding vital for schools and other essential services.

California is experiencing a crisis as companies like Allstate and Farmers Direct are not underwriting new policies or renewing existing ones in reaction to legislation that made it difficult, if not impossible, to stay profitable.

California insurers can’t raise rates more than 10% without a lengthy review process and are also prohibited from using “catastrophe modeling” to predict disasters such as wildfires and storms when setting insurance rates. Many of the industry’s largest companies responded by simply leaving the state. Russ Schweikert, a partner at Ashland Insurance said, “The good news in Oregon is that we’re not California”

Home Insurance In Southern Oregon

The reasons behind the rising premiums and shrinking choices are a combination of many things happening at the same time but affecting consumer’s wallets in a big way.

With 105 companies operating within the state at the end of 2022, Oregon still has a robust home insurance market and strong consumer protection laws such as HB 82 which requires insurance companies to notify property owners when premium increases are related to wildfire risk.

Insurers must also indicate mitigation actions property owners could take that could result in benefits such as discounts, incentives, or other premium adjustments. These requirements create transparency.

Insurance companies don’t only rely on selling insurance to make profits but also invest money from premiums, often in the stock market or real estate.

In a strong economy, it’s not a good time to buy stocks, and as occupancy rates in commercial buildings are still flagging after the pandemic, real estate is less attractive. Insurers are now relying on selling insurance to be profitable but reinsurance rates have also increased.

Property Owners Struggling To Find Insurance Cover

Greg White, owner of Reinholdt & O’Harra Insurance in Ashland said that the higher up in the woods you get in Ashland, the fewer the insurance options. Based on wildfire score, insurance companies may say ‘No, thank you.’

Insurers don’t rely on the Oregon Statewide Wildfire Hazard Map created by Oregon State University, and each company has its own way of calculating the wildfire risk. Those homeowners who can’t find coverage elsewhere can look at the FAIR plan, a state-sponsored insurance pool.

One of the majority of states with this option of last resort, Oregon’s FAIR plan premiums are higher, and coverage is capped at $600,000, but the number of Oregonians taking advantage of the FAIR plan is “astoundingly low,” according to Marsh.

There is an upward trend in policies written, largely driven by the issue of wildfire concerns, as the majority of standard carriers pull out of high-risk wildfire areas.

Some insurers are seeking ways to give a discount for the Firewise program, where neighbors take collective measures to “harden” homes and create defensible space around structures and this could prompt more communities in high-risk zones to do so.

Mitigating risk at all levels in forests, from homeowners and neighborhoods, is the best way to ensure Oregonians have the benefit of a competitive insurance market.   (SOURCE)

Attention Dog Lovers: Jackson County Sheriff Search & Rescue Looking for K9 Handlers 

Decades before Wine Enthusiast magazine included southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley as one of the 2022 top five wine regions in the world, the Winchester Inn in Ashland had been celebrating regional vintners and catering to people who travel here to savor award-winning red, white and sparkling wines.

Now, the Winchester Inn has been nominated by USA Today as a 2024 Best Wine Country Hotel. Nominees are selected by a panel of experts and voting by the public continues until 9 a.m. July 22.

Vote for The Winchester Inn

Best Wine Country Hotel — The Winchester Inn in Ashland, Oregon, offers a boutique hotel experience that combines comfort and charm, including a gourmet breakfast served each morning as part of the stay. Situated in downtown Ashland, the inn offers convenient access to nearby wineries, outdoor activities such as hiking and biking, and the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-wine-country-hotel-2024/the-winchester-inn-ashland-oregon/

https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/

David Grubbs’ Murder Investigation Remains Active

The Ashland Police Department’s investigation into the murder of David Grubbs on November 19, 2011 remains open and active. Recently two new detectives have been assigned to look into new leads that have come in.

It has been Four Years since Fauna Frey, 45, disappeared in Oregon on a road trip, June 29, 2020, following her brother’s death  —

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. READ MORE HERE: https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-what-happened-fauna-frey-new-clues-uncovered-1827197?fbclid=IwAR3Z3Glru5lIgqiYXbs_nA1Fj8JuCIzM11OHSVHfwIucfq2f_G5y9y5bnmQ 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

Fires Around the State

Large Fires per INCIWEB

Please Help Prevent Wildfires!

https://app.watchduty.org

The Forest Service says since June, hundreds of wildfires in Oregon and Washington were caused by people, Though most of the time crews were “largely successful” in putting them out, officials are urging the public to help reduce the amount of preventable fires firefighters have to deal with.

The U.S. Forest Service says a surge of human-caused wildfires is stretching resources thin as extreme heat, dry conditions and lightning in the forecast increases the chances of wildfires.

In these dry conditions, a single spark can cause a lot of damage. Learn how you can prevent wildfires by visiting the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s wildfire prevention page.

Draft wildfire hazard maps posted for public comment – Oregon Dept. of Forestry

SALEM, Ore. — Draft versions of the statewide wildfire hazard and wildland-urban interface maps are available to the public for review and comment starting today on Oregon State University’s Wildfire Risk Explorer website.

The wildfire hazard map’s purposes are to:

• Educate Oregon residents and property owners about the level of hazard where they live.
• Assist in prioritizing fire adaptation and mitigation resources for the most vulnerable locations.
• Identify where defensible space standards and home hardening codes will apply.

A series of open houses about the state’s new community wildfire risk reduction programs were held from June 3 to July 1 throughout Oregon. It was an opportunity to learn about wildfire hazard assessments, new defensible space and home hardening programs and standards, insurance concerns, and statewide wildfire policy.

“Defensible space around your home and property is just one of the ways Oregonians can be better prepared for wildfire,” Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said. “No matter where you live, the simple actions you take to limit where an ember can land and catch fire can make all the difference, saving your home and protecting your community.”

“Home hardening standards are extremely important because they help reduce the risk of ignition to the most vulnerable parts of a home by the embers of a wildfire,” said Andrew Stolfi, director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services. “Once the map is finalized, we will then initiate rulemaking to adopt the home hardening standards, which will be followed by a six-month phase-in period for education and outreach. Importantly, the standards will not apply retroactively. They will be required only in new construction, major additions, and such things as replacing a roof or siding if the home is in both a high wildfire hazard zone and the wildland-urban interface.”

Representatives from OSU, ODF, Oregon State Fire Marshal, Department of Consumer and Business Services Building Codes Division and Division of Financial Regulation, and the Wildfire Programs Advisory Council addressed hours of questions at the events and engaged with over 500 community members.

“The level of engagement at these community meetings was impressive. I attended them all and hundreds of Oregonians had their questions addressed about community wildfire risk reduction programs and how the map supports protecting Oregon’s communities at highest hazard of experiencing wildfire,” said Dave Hunnicutt, Chair of the Wildfire Programs Advisory Council.

At those meetings, early maps depicting wildfire hazard were available, but property tax lot level maps were not yet available. However, draft maps are now ready for Oregonians to see the hazard designation of their specific address, and whether they’re in the wildland-urban interface.

“The maps are still drafts,” said Andy McEvoy, wildfire research scientist at Oregon State University. “The maps won’t become final until we receive input from counties on potential local anomalies, administrative rules are adopted by the Board of Forestry, and we evaluate input from the public.”

The draft maps reflect revisions from the last two years based on input received in 2022 from county governments and the public. Updates include:

• Adjustments for hay and pasturelands.
• Adjustments for northwest Oregon forest fuels.
• Changes based on draft rules to include irrigation of agricultural crops as a mitigating factor in wildfire hazard assessments. Final maps will reflect rules as adopted by the Board of Forestry.

“Work on the wildfire hazard map hasn’t ceased over the last two years,” said Kyle Williams, Deputy Director of Fire Operations at ODF. “ODF and our partners at OSU have worked diligently to evaluate and address concerns about the accuracy of the map. These drafts are still based on the core principles of wildfire science but have been pored through to address expressed concerns. With one more round of public input, we will be well situated to finalize a hazard map that will contribute to advancing wildfire protection in Oregon as the Legislature intended.”

Comments can be sent to dmap@odf.oregon.gov“>hazardmap@odf.oregon.gov. Find more information on ODF’s wildfire hazard web page.

30,000 Children In Low-Income Oregon Families Missing Out On Extra Food Benefits

Thousands of low-income Oregon families are leaving food money on the table this summer. The Department of Human Services said Monday that families with 320,000 children have received extra food assistance for the summer but families with another 30,000 children who qualify need to apply.

The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children, or Summer EBT, pays a one-time payment of $120 per child to help low-income families cover food costs over the three-month summer period when children are not in school and don’t have access to those free meals. The payment adds to other assistance, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. The summer program totals about $35 million in aid a year and is funded entirely by the federal government.

A pilot run of the program in Oregon showed it reduced child hunger by one-third, said Iván Hernández, a spokesman for the Oregon Food Bank.Apply for benefits

Families can apply online in​ English and Spanish.

For other languages, use the paper application​.

Call  833-673-7328 to find out if your child qualifies or for more information.

Allow up to 30 days for applications to be processed.

Families can also obtain other free food this summer by texting “FOOD” or “COMIDA” to 304-304, visit summerfoodoregon.org or go to  food resources​.

“Part of why this is so effective is because it provides households with extra funds to purchase foods of their choice from retailers like grocery stores or farmers’ markets, which means kids won’t have to travel to summer meal sites that might not meet their dietary needs/preferences or be culturally appropriate,” Hernández said.

This spring, the Oregon Food Bank estimated that one in five children in the state face hunger, but Feeding America says it’s one in six.

In January, Oregon officials applied for the program, and this spring the Legislature agreed to the federal requirement to pay for half of the administrative costs, about $13 million over two years.

Families who are already on SNAP, the Oregon Health Plan or Medicaid, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF, have received automatic $120 payments earlier this month. But these other children qualify as well:

• Children in foster care.
• Children who attend a school in the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program and:
  • Have a monthly income of $3,152 for a family of two, $3,981 for a family of three, $4,810 for a family of four or $5,640 for a family of five.
  • Are enrolled in migrant programs.
  • Are homeless.
  • Attend Head Start.
  • Participate in food distribution programs on Native American reservations.

Department of Human Services officials are sending letters to families that qualify by the end of this month. Officials are adding the payments to SNAP cards or, for others, mailing debit cards with the money on them to families.

Officials do not ask for a child’s or family’s immigration status on the application or to determine eligibility, and enrollment in the program also does not affect a child’s immigration status, DHS said, nor does the so-called public charge rule apply. The rule can be used to deny visas or legal residency to families that lack economic resources.

Families can check to see whether they received the benefits by checking their EBT card. The deadline to apply is Sept. 2. (SOURCE)

After 30 years, one of Oregon DOC’s Most Wanted Fugitives has been arrested in the state of Georgia

An Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) adult in custody who fled from a work crew in 1994 is back in custody. Steven Craig Johnson fled from a work crew at the Mill Creek Correctional Facility (MCCF) in Salem on November 29, 1994.

Johnson was arrested in Macon, Georgia by the U.S. Marshals Service, Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (USMS SERFTF) on July 16, 2024. He was booked into the Bibb County Jail and is awaiting extradition back to Oregon.

According to the USMS Steven Craig Johnson aka “William Cox,” 70, was taken into custody by the USMS SERFTF on July 16, 2024, at approximately 2:00 p.m. at an apartment complex located at 2087 Vineville Ave. in Macon. Johnson had been a resident there and living under the alias of William Cox since 2011. Johnson was wanted on an Oregon arrest warrant for escape. A copy of the USMS press release is attached. A copy of the DOC wanted poster is also attached.

MCCF was a minimum-security prison located five miles southeast of Salem on 2,089 acres. The facility was unfenced and housed approximately 290 adults in custody who were within four years of release. MCCF opened in 1929 as the Farm Annex of the Oregon State Penitentiary. The prison closed June 30, 2021, by order of Governor Kate Brown.

DOC is responsible for the care and custody of approximately 12,000 individuals who are incarcerated in 12 institutions across the state.

Oregon’s measles outbreak, biggest in five years, expands to six people

Five of the patients are children and no one in the Marion County outbreak is vaccinated.

After only one measles case in Oregon last year, it now has six and could very well have more in the next few weeks.

The outbreak comes amid others also involving a preventable disease – pertussis or whooping cough – which has infected more than 350 people in just over a dozen counties this year.

The measles outbreak – the biggest in Oregon since 2019 – is centered in Marion County and emerged in mid-June, when the Oregon Health Authority announced that an unvaccinated adult and child in the same household became sick. They live in Clackamas County, but Oregon Health Authority officials said they were infected in Marion County.

County officials announced a separate case involving an unvaccinated child at the same time.

Within the past week, Marion County health officials said three more unvaccinated children have been infected. Melissa Gable, a county spokeswoman, said the cases involve children in separate households between the ages of 4 to 14 years old.

“Our communicable disease team is actively investigating all cases but currently there are no known connections between them,” Gable said.

That means others could be infected or that more cases could emerge, state officials said.

“I think we expect we will see more measles cases due to the infectiousness of the disease but we certainly hope we don’t,” said Jonathan Modie, a spokesman for the Oregon Health Authority.

The whooping cough outbreaks might not be over, either, health officials said. Modie said there have been 12 outbreaks in Lane, Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Deschutes, Jefferson, Josephine, Marion, Linn, Columbia, Hood River, Benton and Yamhill counties in descending order based on the number of cases, with more than 130 in Lane County.

Both diseases spread through the air when an infected individual coughs or sneezes, with measles particles able to stay airborne for two hours, making it especially infectious. It can cause a fever, cough, runny nose or red eyes and is usually associated with a rash that starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body. It also can cause more severe symptoms, including ear infections, pneumonia, and, in rare instances, swelling of the brain.

Whooping cough spreads much the same way and is also associated with a cough, often violent and associated with a “whooping sound,” that can last for weeks or months. Other symptoms include sneezing, a running nose, fever and watery eyes.

People are contagious with whooping cough when they have cold-like symptoms and can remain so up to three weeks after they start coughing.

Patients with measles are contagious for four days before a rash appears and up to four days afterward.

Both diseases are preventable with vaccines. For whooping cough, doctors recommend five doses of the DTaP, or diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, for children and one for preteens. Full vaccination is about 85% effective in preventing disease while the measles vaccine is even more effective – 97%. Officials recommend two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella or MMR vaccine, first between when children are 12 to 15 months old and the second starting at 4 years though 6. People are considered immune to measles if they were born before 1957 before the widespread use of the vaccine, have been vaccinated or have been infected.

With widespread vaccine campaigns, the World Health Organization declared the disease eradicated in the U.S. in 2000. But it has reemerged, with people bringing the disease in from abroad and an increasing number of parents not getting their kids vaccinated.

Oregon has required children entering kindergarten since 1998 to have two doses of the measles-containing vaccine, though parents can opt-out by obtaining a medical or nonmedical exemption. Measles vaccination is also required for children attending child care facilities and for students in post-secondary colleges or universities.

There are currently measles outbreaks in 24 states, including Oregon, in the West, Midwest, East Coast and South, with nearly 170 people infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (SOURCE)

Oregon’s Unemployment Situation Sees Little Change

A release from the Oregon Employment Department said the rate has been in a tight range between 4.0 percent and 4.2 percent since October of 2023. Oregon’s unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in June and 4.2 percent in May.

In June, Oregon’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment rose by 600 jobs, following a gain of 4,000 jobs in May. State Employment Economist Gail Krumenauer said June’s gains were largest in three sectors. Krumenauer said they increased by 1,200 jobs in health care and social assistance, 800 in financial activities and 700 in leisure and hospitality. Declines in were largest in professional and business services and manufacturing which shed 1,800 and 600 jobs respectively.

OED said health care and social assistance continued its rapid expansion. During the two-and-half year period between January of 2022 through June of 2024, it added 34,000 jobs or 12.8 percent. Employment gains in social assistance have accelerated in recent months. The industry added 8,800 jobs or 12.2 percent during the past 12 months. Meanwhile, the three health care component industries each added more than 2,000 jobs since June 2023: Nursing and residential care facilities added 2,700 jobs or 5.1 percent, ambulatory health care services gained 2,700 jobs and hospitals added 2,200 jobs or 3.7 percent.

Krumenauer said despite gains in health care and a few other industries recently, the list of declining industries is growing. Six major industries cut a substantial number of jobs in the past 12 months. Three of the major industries each declined by about 3,600 jobs since June 2023: Retail trade lost 3,600 jobs or 1.7 percent, professional and business services shed 3,600 jobs or 1.3 percent and manufacturing lost 3,500 jobs or 2.8 percent. Krumenauer said the other major industries cutting at least 700 jobs in that time were construction which lost 2,700 jobs or 2.3 percent, transportation, warehousing and utilities which shed 1,100 jobs or 1.4 percent and information which lost 700 jobs or 1.9 percent.

The U.S. unemployment rate in June was 4.1 percent, which changed little from May.

Governor Kotek proposes changes to Oregon school funding and half billion dollar boost in next budget

The proposal aims to narrow district funding gaps caused by rising costs and an end of extra federal funding in September

With Oregon’s public schools staring down a fiscal cliff this school year as the historic federal investment from the last few years expires, Gov. Tina Kotek is proposing changes.

She’d like to help schools keep up with rising costs in the years ahead by updating the way schools are funded. She estimates that those changes would bring a $515 million boost to the State School Fund during the 2025-27 school years.

The state’s 197 school districts have spent nearly all of their portions of the $1.6 billion in federal COVID relief money awarded to the state since 2020. The money expires in September and with it, some of the services, programs and staff that it has paid for.

“Across the country, school districts are facing budget shortages caused by the expiration of federal pandemic relief dollars, declining enrollment, increasing costs due to inflation and many other factors,” Kotek said in a news release Wednesday announcing the changes.

They come amid growing calls for funding help from districts. After teachers in the state’s largest district, Portland Public Schools, went on strike for more than a month last fall – in part because of low pay and poor working conditions – Kotek vowed she would review school funding and compensation issues in Oregon.

Leaders in other big districts also issued warnings about their dire budget predicaments following the strike, and in May, several superintendents released a video calling school funding in the state a “crisis” as they explained their decisions to cut hundreds of jobs to keep schools solvent.

They implored the Legislature to increase education spending.

“This is a terrible and devastating, heartbreaking moment for us,” Salem-Keizer Public Schools’ Superintendent Andrea Castañeda said in the video, “and it is not one we’re using to levy blame. It’s one that we’re using to ask for help.”

Officials from various education groups in Oregon expressed relief and gratitude over Kotek’s announcement.

Morgan Allen, deputy executive director of the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators, said it was “hugely positive.” Emielle Nischik, interim executive director of the Oregon School Boards Association, called it a good start.

“The essential work we do for students has to be tied to adequate and reliable funding,” Nischik said in an email. “This doesn’t fix our funding challenge, but it will facilitate a more honest State School Fund debate in the Legislature.”

Years of underfunding

During the long legislative session in 2023, lawmakers passed a $10.2 billion school funding package, the largest public K-12 education budget ever allocated in Oregon. Of that, more than $8.8 billion went to the State School Fund, which pays for the bulk of district budgets.

But school leaders afterwards said that was still not enough following years of underfunding and rising costs due to inflation. Legislators have historically not fully allocated to schools the amount recommended by the state’s Education Quality Commission, which is tasked with ensuring Oregon operates “a system of highly-effective schools” and presents a proposed budget to the governor and the Legislature every two-years.

Oregon school funding has further been stymied by two voter-approved ballot measures passed in the 1990s that have capped the state’s ability to tax property to fund schools. School funding from property taxes dropped by two-thirds in the following years, with the Legislature drawing a greater share of funding from the state’s general fund, which is needed for myriad services in the state.

Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, chair of the Senate Education Committee and the Statewide Educator Salary Task Force formed by the Legislature in 2023, said improvements to the State School Fund are desperately needed. But he said he’s concerned about where the additional money will come from with no new tax increases or revenue streams proposed alongside them.

“It’s an open question as to what else in the budget might have to be cut in order to bring in this extra half a billion dollars,” he said. “Personally, I worry that it could come from higher education, which is already very much underfunded.”

Proposed changes

The first change Kotek proposes to the State School Fund is to give schools 49% of their allocated budget in the first year of the two-year budget cycle, and then the remaining 51% in the second year, rather than splitting them evenly each year. She said this would help boost funding in subsequent two-year budgets since they are based on the amount allocated for the second year of the previous education budget. This would also help schools cover expenses that might be higher by the second year of a two-year budget. This change would give districts at least $217 million more in their 2025-27 budgets, Kotek’s advisers estimate.

The second proposed change would involve data the state uses to project future compensation. By narrowing the data the state uses for its projections – using the last 10 years of salary data instead of 20 – about $500 million would be added to the money available to schools to hire teachers and classified and administrative staff in the 2025-27 budget.

Lastly, Kotek proposes that the Legislature incorporate annual changes in local property tax revenues. Historically, the Legislature has only taken into account revenue from the first year of a biennial budget when considering what to allocate in the next budget. This limits the state’s ability to send schools more money if property tax revenues rise during a year that’s not counted.

By accounting for local revenue changes every year, state officials could bring in an additional $55 million to the State School Fund for the 2025-27 school year, Kotek’s office estimated.

“The governor said she was committed to this, and she is showing that she is,” Dembrow said of the latest changes. “Looking at how this gets funded in her budget, which will come out in December, will be really interesting to see, because obviously that’s where the proof in the pudding will be.” (SOURCE)

Coast, Columbia River at risk of flooding from climate change, sea level rise, scientists find

In Oregon, up to 142 critical infrastructure sites could be impacted along the coast by the end of the century, mostly in the state’s northwest corner

Hospitals, schools and other critical infrastructure and services along the Oregon Coast and in parts of the Columbia River Gorge are at risk of repeat flooding if nothing is done to rapidly curb greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, scientists find.

An analysis of flood risks around the U.S. under various climate change scenarios was published June 25 by the Massachusetts-based Union of Concerned Scientists, a national nonprofit that includes about 250 scientists, analysts and policy experts. The researchers looked at the possibility that essential facilities – including medical facilities, government buildings, fire stations and public housing – would be flooded at least twice a year.

In Oregon alone, up to 142 critical infrastructure sites could be impacted along the coast by the end of the century, primarily in the state’s northwest corner. More than 130,000 people live in the three counties – Clatsop, Coos and Tillamook – that would be most impacted, the analysis said.

The scientists analyzed the flood risk of critical coastal infrastructure through the end of the century under three scenarios. The first considered a lowering of greenhouse gas emissions, creating relatively low sea level rise by 2100 of about 1.6 feet. The second scenario projected a medium sea level rise to 3.2 feet by the end of the century. The third – a worse-case scenario – envisioned a rise in greenhouse gas emissions during the second half of the century causing a 6.5 foot increase in sea levels by 2100.

Across the U.S., more than 15,000 critical infrastructure sites could be impacted if sea levels rise more than 6 feet by 2100, the study said. The researchers found that twice as many critical infrastructure sites were in areas with predominantly Black, Hispanic or Latino and Native American populations.

In Warrenton, a key wastewater treatment plant could face flooding once every two weeks by 2100 in the low sea level rise scenario. The Knappa Fire District Station in Astoria and the Cannon Beach Post Office on North Hemlock Street could be flooded as often as every two weeks in the highest risk scenario. The same would apply to two apartment buildings offering affordable housing in Seaside.

“In truth, our collective willingness to stop polluting now will determine the scale of the problem late this century,” the scientists wrote.

The EN-ROADS simulator developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology also shows flooding from rising sea levels and climate change moving deeper into the Columbia River Gorge by 2100 if climate change continues to worsen and oceans rise. According to the simulator, the single most effective policy decision to slow climate change would be to tax carbon dioxide emissions by the ton and charge heavily polluting industries, such as those in the oil and gas sector, forcing them to decarbonize.

In the report, the Union of Concerned Scientists recommended that policymakers, planners and technical experts collaborate and invest to safeguard critical infrastructure in high-risk areas and to start working now on moving people and services as needed to areas with more protection. More broadly, they called for a rapid phasing out of fossil fuels, holding heavy greenhouse gas emitters accountable for their pollution and costs and ramping up clean energy investments. (SOURCE)

Bags of rice recalled in seven US states as they may contain ‘rodent parts’

Wehah Farms has issued a recall of 4,600 cases of its Lundberg Family Farms Sustainable Wild Blend Gourmet Rice in seven states . This is due to the potential presence of a “foreign object that appears to be of rodent origin.”

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified this as a Class II risk recall, indicating that the product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences.

The affected products are sold in 1lb bags with the lot code 231004 and a best-before date of October 4, 2024. The recall affects products sold in Arizona, California , Florida , Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Wisconsin, according to Newsweek.

It remains unclear how the product became contaminated with rodent parts. FDA recalls are classified into three levels, with Class II being the second most serious type.

The FDA sets limits on the amount of “extraneous materials” that can be present in food, stating: “maximum levels for these defects in foods produced under current good manufacturing practice and uses these levels in deciding whether to recommend regulatory action.”

According to the FDA: “Extraneous materials include any foreign matter in a product associated with objectionable conditions or practices in production, storage, or distribution.”

They provide examples such as “Examples of filth may include any objectionable matter contributed by animal contamination such as rodent, insect, or bird matter; or any other objectionable matter contributed by unsanitary conditions.”

The FDA stated: “Some foods, even if they are produced in acceptable conditions, may contain natural or unavoidable defects that at low levels are not hazardous to health.”

The Oregon Coast Aquarium New Tufted Puffin Oregon License Plates on Sale

One of Oregon’s most adorably iconic seabirds is coming to the front and back of a car near you. The Oregon Coast Aquarium has opened voucher sales for its new tufted puffin license plates.

The design, featuring a tufted puffin floating in the ocean and gazing down at some fish below, was created by the
aquarium’s graphic design and marketing coordinator, Cam Mullins.

Starring a tufted puffin—one of Oregon’s iconic seabirds–funds from the new license plate will benefit both the Aquarium’s animals and their wild counterparts. You can purchase a voucher now and exchange it at the DMV once the physical plates are available. We need to sell 3,000 vouchers to reach the production stage—meaning the sooner 3,000 vouchers are sold, the sooner production begins, and the sooner you’ll have your puffin plates in-hand. Read the full story at aquarium.org/puffin-plate-debut: photo by OCAq’s Jeremy Burke

Tufted puffins are native to Oregon and nest on the rocky coast. The aquarium has a Seabird Aviary that sustains a flock of these sea birds and the profits from the license plates will go to benefit these puffins and their wild counterparts.

The voucher is available for purchase on the aquarium’s website. The cost covers the $40 surcharge fee and the money left over after the deduction of the DMV’s fees will go to support the Oregon Coast Aquarium’s
rehabilitation and conservation efforts. The aquarium is building a new marine wildlife rehabilitation center with
hopes of doubling the number of animal patients it can offer care to. FOLLOW on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/OregonCoastAquarium

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