Saturday, October 30th

Klamath County Treasurer Mike Long has been put on paid administrative leave as of 2pm Thursday, while the Department of Justice conducts an investigation not yet detailed in press releases.  Klamath County Commissioners say they don’t know what DOJ is investigating, but also say they were asked to not talk about the case while it’s underway.  Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger declined to discuss the case as well, saying he informed the BOCC of the investigation.  Mike Long is running unopposed on the November ballot, and most voters have already sent in their ballots, with the deadline approaching Tuesday.  There have been no indications yet when the investigation will be finalized and what the outcome may mean for the office of Treasurer for Klamath County.

Resort owner JELD-WEN, based in Klamath Falls, has put up a number of its resorts for sale, including the Running Y Ranch in Klamath Falls.  Company officials put the portfolio on the market with the hopes of closing the sales by the end of the year.  Included in the properties for sale are Ridgewater properties next to the Running Y, Silver Mountain ski resort in Idaho and Eagle Crest in Redmond.   JELD-WEN is privately held and therefore little is known about the company’s finances, other than the fact that it employs about 20,000 workers with revenues of well over $2 billion.  Company founder Dick Wendt stated last spring he was committed to keeping the business heavily involved in Oregon, but Wendt died in August.  Company officials haven’t returned repeated phone calls, so it remains unclear why JELD-WEN would choose to quickly close the deals.  But in arguably the worst real estate market in decades, the company may be suffering from significant challenges inherent in all of its real estate resort projects.

According to a press release, the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office is looking for information regarding the whereabouts of 43 year old Corina Lee Kasper of Klamath Falls. Kasper has not been seen or heard from since 7pm, October 23rd.  Kasper works at Fred Meyer in Klamath Falls.  News of her disappearance has spread throughout Southern Oregon by text, email and on Facebook, along with posts on helpfindthemissing.org.  Kasper is caucasian, about 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs about 180 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes.  Her two dogs and two cats also are missing. Kasper may be traveling with her pets in a dark blue 2007 Chevrolet Trail Blazer. The license plates reads 810 DPT.  Anyone with information should call the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office at (541) 883-5130 ext. 603.

22 year old Carrie Ames of Klamath Falls is set to go on trial November 2nd for causing the deaths of a Dorris couple, critically injuring their young great-grandchild and injuring a passenger in her own vehicle in September.  Ames was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of first-degree manslaughter, second- and third-degree assault, and DUII for the September 3rd crash.  Media reports indicate Ames has pleaded not guilty, but Klamath County District Attorney Ed Caleb stated Ames’ attorney was simply waiting before filing a plea.  Police say alcohol was a contributing factor in the motor vehicle crash.  Ames’ blood alcohol content was over 4 times the legal limit when the crash occurred.

The Fremont Winema National Forest was scheduled to start a fuel reduction burn in the Rocky Point, Lake of the Woods and Klamath Falls areas. Crews should have started burning piles of woody debris this week, although there is rain this morning in the basin.  The burn piles are located on Highway 140 with about 440 acres there and just an acre at Lake of the Woods’ Camp Esther Applegate, Fourmile campground and Pelican Barn near Rocky Point.  The Klamath Falls Interagency Fire Center has up to date fire information at 541-883-6831.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is continuing work on roads in Klamath and Lake Counties.  On U.S. 97: (The Dalles-California Highway) near Modoc Point – Hagelstein Park, MP 257.80 to MP 265.6, wall construction and miscellaneous cleanup work continues.  No day time delays are expected.  Construction zone speed is 45 mph.  At night (7:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M.), traffic will be controlled by flaggers and a pilot car; up to 20 minute delays can be expected.  On Highway 140: (Klamath Falls-Lakeview) at the Beatty Curves, MP 41.7 to MP 42.7, striping, miscellaneous shoulder and cleanup work continues. Traffic is controlled by a temporary signal.  Expect up to 10 minute delays.  In Lake County, on Highway 140: (Warner Highway)
Warner Highway Curve Correction (MP 21), MP 20.80 to MP 21.26, striping and shoulder work is underway.  Traffic controlled by flaggers; expect minor delays.

A gray fox that got caught in a scuffle with a man in Cave Junction suffered from Rabies.  It’s the fifth animal to suffer from the bat strain of the disease in the Cave Junction area of Southern Oregon, but six other cases occurred in Jackson, Josephine and Washington Counties.  No gray foxes have been identified with the disease in a decade, prior to the recent cases.  In June, a bat that bit a human in Klamath Falls tested positive for rabies.  All warm blooded mammals, including humans are susceptible to rabies.  Authorities say it’s important to never handle bats, alive or dead, and to monitor pets who are allowed outside for signs of bites or infections that could involve the disease.

According to Courthouse News, the federal government is illegally allowing logging on nearly 1,100 acres of habitat for the threatened northern spotted owl, as claimed by three environmental groups in Federal Court.  The groups claim the project would “downgrade” about half of the project area, making it marginally usable for the owl, which requires old forests to nest and forage.  The Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Oregon Wild and Cascadia Wildlands say the  biological opinion statement for the Spencer Creek Project, which would log 1,084 federal acres of owl habitat in the Klamath Falls Resource Area, contains numerous flaws.  The land to be logged is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management.  The defendant, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,  did not specify how many owls the project would harm, and allegedly failed to establish a proper baseline for the number of owls taken altogether, according to the complaint.  Fish and Wildlife also fails to acknowledge that project area constitutes an important “stepping stone” between the Oregon Cascades and the Klamath Mountains, the groups say. The groups, represented by the Western Environmental Center in Portland and Earthjustice in Seattle, want the courts to set aside the 2010 biological opinion.

What looked like a childish Halloween prank turned out to be a horrific reality last week.  A father and son hunting birds in the Central Point area made a gruesome discovery on Monday afternoon.  The pair found the skeletal remains of an apparent suicide victim partially hanging from a tree in a thicket.  After determining that the skeleton was real, the hunters contacted the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, who investigated the scene and determined that it was a suicide.  No other information was released.

OSHA issued an alert Friday warning hair salons about the presence of formaldehyde in many hair straightening products.  The agency tested more than 100 samples from about 50 salons. It initiated the tests after finding 10 percent formaldehyde in a bottle of Brazilian Blowout marked ‘”formaldehyde free.”  Oregon OSHA administrator, Michael Wood, says of a dozen products tested, nine had significant amounts of the carcinogen.  Michael Wood says, “We’re advising employers and salons generally that they should consider these to be formaldehyde containing products. That means they there are a number of obligations that employers then have to meet.”  Like providing gloves, eye-wash stations and sturdy ventilation systems.

The Oregon Department of Justice led an effort to arrest delinquent parents who were judged able to pay to highlight Child Support Awareness Month. The Department of Justice also unveiled an extensive overhaul to the Child Support Program’s website. The information on www.oregonchildsupport.gov has been completely rewritten and reorganized and is easier to navigate, more informative and more helpful for the parents, employers and professionals who rely on it for case information and services.  Employers were directly responsible for gathering more than 70 percent of the child support collected in fiscal year 2009. In October 2009, the Division of Child Support (DCS) was awarded an $87,000 grant from the U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement and an additional $199,000 in federal matching funds to acquire technology that will improve the process of collecting child support from employers.  Wednesday’s arrest sweep was conducted by the Department of Justice, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Portland Police Bureau. The sweep targeted 15 parents in Multnomah County who are the subject of arrest warrants issued by a judge because they failed to appear in court to explain their refusal to pay court-ordered child support. All of the arrestees face maximum sentences of up to six months in jail plus full payment of their overdue obligations to their children.  Arrested were: Jacob S. Parker, who owes $17,346 in back child support; Jacob V. Aalberg, who owes $16,056; Christopher T. Elliot, who owes $30,856; Tammie J. Anderson owes $12,983; and Arne H. Karlson, who owes $7,288.

Lawyers for the stepmother of a Portland-area boy missing nearly five months fired back Friday to her estranged husband’s latest court filings that argued she should not have contact with the couple’s young daughter.  In court papers, Terri Horman’s divorce lawyer Peter Bunch and her criminal defense lawyer Stephen Houze said Kaine Horman is focused on his wife’s destruction rather than little Kiara’s best interests.  “It is becoming evident that Father’s mission is to completely destroy and sabotage the mother-child relationship,” the lawyers wrote.  The Oregonian reported on the latest filings.  Kyron Horman went missing from his elementary school over the summer.  No suspects have been identified in the case.

 

 

Tuesday, October 26th

19 year old Ernest William Hennings Jr. was arrested Friday and charged in the attempted robbery of a residential home last week.  Hennings Jr. allegedly broke into a Klamath Falls residence and held the victims hostage at gunpoint, stealing thousands of dollars worth of electronics and also allegedly hitting one of the victims with the gun during the ordeal.  Hennings Jr. was lodged in Klamath County Jail in lieu of $575,000 bail.

Cari McMahon, the Executive Director of the Ross Ragland Theater, will step down as of November 23rd.  McMahon accepted an executive position at a community auditorium in Wisconsin, according to a letter she sent out to area business owners over the weekend.  Cari and her husband, Russ McMahon, have been the event coordinators for the Joy Ride Jazz Club annually as a fundraiser for the Ragland.  McMahon cited a desire to be closer to family as her reason for leaving the Klamath basin.  Ragland board chair Kate Marquez will serve as interim executive director on a volunteer basis and vice chair Charles Moresi will step into the board chair position after McMahon’s departure.

Rim Drive at Crater Lake National Park has been closed for the season.  The park’s North Entrance is also closed, according to a press release.   A series of storms brought significant snow to the Crater Lake National Park over the weekend, with a total of 13 inches on the ground as of Monday.   The National Weather Service is calling for more snow through Tuesday, with sunshine Wednesday but more snow through the weekend in the Klamath basin.

A presentation titled “Preparing for Climate Change in the Klamath Basin” was given at OIT last night. The presentation was given by the National Center for Conservation, Science, and Policy, the Oregon Institute of Technology Sustainability Committee, Oregon Tech Environmental Sciences Program, and the Oregon Renewable Energy Center. Representatives from the Climate Leadership Initiative presented findings from a series of workshops held in the Klamath Basin in the summer of 2009. The research explores how climate change will affect local communities and natural resources of the Klamath Basin.  To review a copy of Preparing for Climate Change in the Klamath Basin, visit http://climlead.uoregon.edu/.

The Baldwin Museum has been vandalized twice over the last eight weeks, with the latest incident occurring last week.  Museum Manager Todd Kepple said the first incident saw two broken windows and the most recent vandalism included a broken front window to the building.  Other than the glass, nothing was damaged or stolen.  Bricks assumed to have been used in the vandalism have been found at the scene.  No arrests have been made pertaining to the case.

The National Tea Party Patriots founders Jenny Beth Martin & Mark Meckler made their only stop in Oregon Sunday night.  The founders spoke at the Klamath Falls rally held at Triad School in the gymnasium, hosted by local Tea Party Members.  Jim Huffman, a self-described Constitutional Expert, also hosted a Constitutional Workshop prior to the rally.  Visit klamathbasincrisis.org for future events.

Mt. Ashland Ski area may open earlier than usual due to early snow fall.  Mt. Ashland officials said they hope to open the mountain for skiing by Thanksgiving weekend.   Some Mt. Ashland visitors stay overnight in Ashland to ski the mountain and spend an average of about $75 per day.  Resort officials say they believe the early opening could be an economic boost for businesses near the ski resort.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar met with the timber industry and conservation groups Monday to find a way out of decades of bitter conflict over logging in the checkerboard of federal forests in Western Oregon that has long been an economic lifeline for rural counties.  All sides in the battle dating back to the late 1980s accepted Salazar’s invitation to meet again in mid-November in Washington, D.C., with the goal of approving two pilot logging projects that produce timber for jobs while protecting habitat for fish and wildlife. They also hope to develop a 20-year plan for managing the so-called O&C Lands stretching from Portland to Ashland that are overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

 

Monday, October 25th

In some parts of Klamath County, it snowed overnight and this morning.  The National Weather Service says the first storm of the season brought rain, winds and snow to parts of Oregon.  Parts of Oregon could receive the first significant snowfall of the season tonight above about 4,000 feet and a high surf warning continues through tonight on the Oregon Coast.

The Klamath County Board of Commissioners will meet tomorrow at 9am for a weekly public meeting, at 2:30pm for a work session, and 6pm for a planning hearing.  The agenda for Tuesday’s weekly public meeting includes discussion of possible approval of a liquor license for the Klamath Falls Gems, scheduled to start play in 2011 at historic Kiger Stadium.

The Klamath Falls City Planning Commission will meet tonight.  The meeting will take place at 500 Klamath Avenue in the City Council Chambers at 7pm.

Any Klamath County resident interested in being a ballot observer for the 2010 November General Election must attend a mandatory informational meeting held by Klamath County Clerk Linda Smith.  The meeting will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, October 26th at 2:00 pm in room 219 at the Klamath County Government Center.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Kitzhaber said he has asked President Barack Obama to support continuing federal payments to timber-dependent counties when the president visited Portland to campaign for him.  Kitzhaber, a Democrat and former governor, said continuing federal payments is crucial to many rural counties, including Klamath County. The latest round of payments to timber-dependent counties is due to run out in 2012.  Klamath County joins 17 other Oregon counties that receive the payments, and some would have to drastically cut sheriff’s services and county health services if they end.  The Klamath County Board of Commissioners are actively supporting the reauthorization of timber payments.

On November 9^th at 9:00am, the Grand Opening of the Klamath County Veteran’s Court will be held in the 2^nd floor courtroom of Judge Marci Warner-Adkisson.  The opening will recognize those individuals and community members who have been working since March of this year to develop how the Veteran’s Court will be conducted.  The initial meetings regarding the Court were held at the VFW with Kathy Pierce of the County Veteran’s Office, Ron Ballard who was the VFW Commandant, VA Mental Health  Specialist Russ Shapiro, Marine Commander Warren Griffith, District Attorney Ed Caleb, Lisa Anglin, Dr. Peter Calvo, and several others.  The general public is invited for the brief ceremony on November 9^th.  The Klamath County District Attorney’s Office and the Klamath County Courts will welcome all the interested citizens.

Work is continuing on Highway 97 in Klamath County near Modoc Point with wall construction and miscellaneous cleanup work.  Work takes place from 7pm to 7am but up to 20 minute delays can be expected.  Work also continues on Highway 140 from Klamath Falls to Lakeview near the Beatty Curves.  Motorists can expect up to 10 minute delays.

Historians dig through Salem underground tunnels

After decades of lying dormant beneath the streets of downtown Salem, rooms frozen in time could one day be visible to the public.  For the past four months, historians have worked to unearth hidden worlds in the core of Salem’s downtown district.  Rebecca Maitland, the creative director at Reed Opera House, and retired Linfield College historian John Ritter are working on the project.  “There’s a lot of history in Salem,” Ritter said, “but you have to dig for it, literally.”  Much of that history exists under some downtown Salem buildings constructed about a century ago.  Buildings in the city’s business district, including Marion County Courthouse, were linked by tunnels that stretched to the Oregon State Penitentiary on State Street.  People could go from one building to the next without being seen.  But the historians are stymied by walls built to truncate the passageways.  City officials say the group can dig into Salem’s past, as long as they have building owners’ approval and don’t affect things like city right-of-ways.  Ritter is hoping his research will culminate in underground tours in the near future.

 

Ballot observers must attend meeting Tuesday

Klamath County residents who wish to observe ballot counting during the November election must now attend an educational meeting prior to the election.  Klamath County Clerk Linda Smith has organized a mandatory informational meeting on October 26th at 2pm at 305 Main Street in the County Clerk’s Office.  Elections Specialist Paula Harris says there were so many interruptions during the ballot counting in the primary, the clerk mandated the meeting to avoid the same situation during the ballot counting process in the general election.  Smith sought approval from the Secretary of State’s Elections Division before approving the new rule.  The security plan in place in the Clerk’s Office for housing ballots has also been approved by the office of the Secretary of State’s Office.

DEQ public comment period ends tomorrow

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is taking public comments until October 22nd on the proposed renewal of an Air Contaminant Discharge Permit for Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. in Klamath Falls.  The public is invited to make comments related to specific conditions within the proposed permit for the facility, including comments from people who live, work or recreate in the area.  ESI is not proposing changes to the emission limits in the renewal permit, only to renew the license as required every five years.  ESI is headquartered in Portland but the facility is located at 4700 ESI Way in Klamath Falls.  The company releases Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and other Hazardous Air Pollutants into the air, according to the DEQ.  The facility was last inspected in 2002 and was found to be in compliance with permit conditions. No complaints or adverse actions have been taken against ESI since the last permit renewal.

Local Catholic church sponsoring food drive

St. Pius X Church is sponsoring a parish-wide food drive to benefit the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry.   The high school youth have been collecting food each weekend after Mass since October 10th.  The need is high for most items, including peanut butter and jelly, cereal, granola bars, macaroni and cheese, rice and pasta products, vegetables, soups and beans.  St. Vincent de Paul Food distribution is on Wednesdays from 4:30 – 6:00pm. Contact St. Vincent de Paul at 281-5345 for more information.

OIT celebrates College Night in Oregon

Oregon Institute of Technology will host the annual College Night on November 8th. Parents and high school students headed for college are invited to attend the free event and learn about OIT and college planning. At the event, four $500 scholarships from Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) will be awarded to attendees selected by random drawing.  The scholarships can be used at any college including OIT.  Oregon Tech will also hold a random drawing for four $250 scholarships for use specifically at Oregon Tech.  No pre-registration is required for College Night.  The event will be held on Monday, November 8th at OIT’s College Union building  from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. Contact Tracey Lehman at Oregon Tech at (541) 885-1291 for more information or visit www.oit.edu.

 

Kim Novak has breast cancer

Legendary film actress Kim Novak is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, according to her publicist.  The 77 year old actress is a resident of southern Oregon.  Novak lives with her veterinarian husband on a ranch in Eagle Point.  The couple raise horses and llamas on the property.  Novak’s manager, Sue Cameron,  says the “Vertigo” actress will receive “minimal” treatment since the cancer was caught early by a routine mammogram.  The actress has been working out with a trainer three times a week and riding horses daily, according to Cameron.  Novak created a pastel artwork this year titled, “The Magic of Music,” which served as the Britt poster for the season.

 

Sweepstakes scam hits southern Oregon

Southern Oregon law enforcement agencies say residents are getting calls from con artists who claim to be with Publisher’s Clearing House, advising the citizen they’ve won a multimillion dollar prize.  But law enforcement officials say it’s just a new way to work an old scam.  With this particular scam, a second call is made two days later that identifies the caller as a US Customs and Immigration Enforcement agent.  The scammer, acting as the official, demands money to pay for transaction fees to wire transfer the prize money.  Officials with Publishers Clearing House say the scam is making it’s way across the US and is appearing in Southern Oregon in recent weeks.  But Publishers Clearing House doesn’t notify winners by phone and doesn’t have any fees to collect prizes.  Not to mention the fact that, if you win millions, someone will likely knock on your door with a giant check and a camera crew.