Willamette Valley News, Monday 4/11 – Springfield Car Audio Shop Asking Community to Help Catch Suspects in Break-In, Fatal Crash on Hwy 126 Near Walton

The latest news stories and stories of interest in the Willamette Valley from the digital home of Southern Oregon, from Wynne Broadcasting’s WillametteValleyMagazine.com

Monday, April 11, 2022

Willamette Valley Weather

Today– Rain and snow showers, becoming all rain after 11am. Some thunder is also possible. Snow level 800 feet rising to 2100 feet. High near 45. Breezy, with a west wind 9 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Tuesday– Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 1pm. Snow level 1400 feet. High near 45. West southwest wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Wednesday– Rain and snow showers likely, becoming all rain after 11am. Snow level 600 feet rising to 2100 feet in the afternoon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. South wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Thursday– Showers likely. Snow level 2000 feet rising to 2600 feet. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Friday– A chance of showers. Snow level 1300 feet rising to 2500 feet in the afternoon. Partly sunny, with a high near 51.

A winter storm has brought late-season snow to much of the Pacific Northwest. The National Weather Service issued weather warnings and watches throughout the region Monday morning, from winter storm warnings to coastal wind advisories.

Several school districts across Northern Oregon and Southwest Washington are closed or are on 2-hour delays. In the Portland metro area, traffic officials warned Monday morning that wet, heavy snow is bringing down trees and causing difficult travel conditions.

Fatal Crash on Hwy 126 Near Walton

On April 10, 2022, at about 11:44 A.M., Oregon State Police Troopers and emergency personnel responded to a citizen report of a head-on collision on Highway 126 near milepost 35.

A dark blue Honda Civic, driven by Colton Kenneth Rice, 18, of Monroe, Oregon,  was westbound on Highway 126 when it left its lane of travel for unknown reasons and struck an eastbound silver Toyota Tundra, driven by Clint Robison, 33, of Yacolt, Washington.  

Multiple witnesses stated that the Honda was passing at a high rate of speed in a no-pass zone around a blind corner. The front end of the Toyota Tundra impacted the Honda Civic passenger side in a T-bone fashion.

The driver of the Honda Civic died as a result of the crash.  The four occupants of the Toyota Tundra were all transported to the hospital by ambulance for minor injuries and were later released.   

The Highway was shut down for over four hours while the Oregon State Police conducted the investigation. OSP was assisted by the Lane County Sherriff’s Office, Lane County Medical Examiner, and the Oregon Department of Transportation. Oregon State Police

Springfield Car Audio Shop Asking Community to Help Catch Suspects in Break-In

Brad’s Car Tunes, a Springfield car audio shop, is picking up the pieces and looking for answers as their cameras catch an early Saturday morning break-in. Now the manager and owner are asking the community to help them catch the suspects.

The surveillance video, which has nearly a hundred shares on social media, shows two people breaking into the store and apparently stealing speakers and other items.

Manager Jeremy Larson said over $1,700 worth of equipment was stolen.

Larson said this happened around 6:40 a.m. on Mar. 9. He said they contacted other surrounding businesses to piece all the information together.

A friend of the shop owner shared a video of a dark SUV driving away and said the car’s driver may be who they’re looking for. Police have also described the car of interest as a dark SUV with chrome handles.

Larson said the police found a hammer at the scene, which he said was used to break in. Now, he said they will be adding more bars to their doors and windows.

He said this is especially tough because it’s been challenging to bring products in with the supply chain issues.

Anyone who knows information about this break-in is asked to call the Springfield Police Department: (541) 726-3714

Eugene Woman Arrested Again For Multiple Drug Charges

Police arrested a woman who was previously convicted of a drug crimes in 2019 on multiple drug charges this year.

Back in December of 2019, Sharon Eigner, currently 54, agreed to meet and sell heroin to Eugene Police Street Crime Unit officers, police said. She requested for the meeting to occur at First Christian Church in the 1100 block of Oak Street, where she was a volunteer.

Eigner was found to be in possession of individually packaged amounts of heroin with customer name labels on them, police said. From there, officers applied for and were given a search warrant for her home and found more evidence of narcotics delivery, shipping marijuana out of state and further evidence linking her with a group of drug dealers.

Eigner was charged with delivery of a controlled substance heroin, possession of a controlled substance heroin, and possession of a controlled substance methamphetamine, police said. Additional drugs located included codeine, methadone, suboxone, psilocybin mushrooms and various other schedule IV pills. She was ultimately convicted for unlawful delivery of heroin.

In 2022, SCU officers learned Eigner has continued selling various other controlled substances and had firearms in her possession, police said.

SCU found her new residence, which was provided to her by a well-meaning Eugene resident, free of charge, police said. Officers were granted a search warrant for her new residence, car, and storage unit.

Eigner was contacted during a traffic stop and police reportedly found she had a child passenger. She resisted officers’ efforts to get her out of the car and had to be helped out of the vehicle so she could be taken into custody.

The child was not injured in the process, police said. Officers found drug paraphernalia as well as quantities of methamphetamine and heroin in her vehicle.

During the search of her residence, two firearms were recovered and additional quantities of methamphetamine, several hundred various other substances were found, police said.

In her storage unit, officers found more methamphetamine, prescription pills, and a stolen electric bicycle, police said.

In total, police said more than three and a half pounds of methamphetamine, .6 grams heroin, over 700 pills of various schedules, packaging materials, digital scales, 2 firearms, and a stolen bicycle were seized.

Eigner was lodged at the Lane County Jail for unlawful delivery of a controlled substance – Schedule IV and V, two counts of felon in possession of a firearm, unlawful delivery of methamphetamine (commercial), unlawful possession of methamphetamine (commercial), child neglect, endangering the welfare of a minor, and resisting arrest.

Staying informed about COVID-19 in your community is essential for navigating the next phase of the pandemic.Oregon’s COVID-19 Community Transmission dashboard (http://ow.ly/zLt450IneJ8) tracks the spread of disease in Oregon counties.This dashboard shows the level of community transmission by considering COVID-19 case rates (the number of new COVID-19 cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 people) and test positivity (the percentage of new COVID-19 tests that came back positive in the past 7 days) for Oregon counties in the previous week (Sunday to Saturday).

Low: Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. Symptoms? Get tested. Medium: High risk for severe illness, consider a mask and taking precautions. Stay up to date with vaccine and boosters. Test if symptoms. High. Consider a mask indoors in public. Stay up to date with vaccines and boosters. High risk severe illness, take precautions. Mask if COVID-19 symptoms, positive COVID-19 test or exposure COVID-19

The CDC’s COVID-19 Community Level tool (http://ow.ly/gCva50IneJ7) can help you decide what prevention measures to take based on the latest data. Every county in the U.S. is classified into low, medium or high based on hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and COVID-19 case rates in an area.If you get infected with COVID-19, contact your health care provider or 211 to see if you’re eligible for COVID-19 treatment.

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April Snow Showers Throughout Most Parts of Oregon – Portland Hit Hard

Several inches of snow fell in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington overnight Sunday, knocking out power for nearly 35,000 people early Monday morning.

Forecasters say the heavy, wet snow is bringing down trees and branches and piling up on power lines, which can cause outages in parts of the region.

The National Weather Service – Portland said this was the first measurable snow Portland has had in 82 years, since they started keeping records at the Portland International Airport in 1940.

The snow made for a messy morning commute and prompted districts to delay or cancel school.

If your power goes out, you should turn off or unplug electrical equipment – this will help prevent a power surge when the electricity is turned back on. Surge protectors can also help prevent power from damaging voltage-sensitive equipment.

During an outage, you should keep all refrigerator and freezer doors closed – food can stay cold in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours like this with the power out.

In widespread outages, you should also turn on a light both inside and outside of the house so crews can tell when the power is turned back on.

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Four People Die in Fiery Crash Near McMinnville

A fiery car crash on Highway 18, near milepost 49, left 4 people dead Sunday, according to Oregon State Police.

Police said investigation revealed that a gray sedan, with a driver and three passengers, was traveling west on HWY 18 when it left its lane and crashed, head-on, into a motorhome. Both vehicles caught fire.

Police declared all 4 occupants of the sedan dead at the scene. The driver and the passenger of the motorhome were not injured.

Police still do not know why the sedan left its lane when it crashed into the motorhome. Police have not yet identified the people who died in the crash.

Highway 18 was shut down for over five hours while the Oregon State Police conducted the investigation.

Oregon State Police (OSP) are looking for public help and a possible road rage suspect vehicle this past weekend near Salem

OSP is looking for someone involved in shots fired Friday on Interstate 5 southbound in Salem. OSP says when it responded approximately to a dispatch about a shooting on I-5 southbound near milepost 258 (Portland Rd NE in
Salem), its preliminary information indicated “a confrontation between two motorists resulted in a shooting.”

OSP Detectives are asking for public help with their investigation.  OSP invites anyone who observed either vehicle, a silver 2013 Nissan Juke four-door crossover SUV and/or a dark blue 2012 Chevrolet Caprice four-door sedan, driving on I-5 southbound between Wilsonville and Salem to call OSP’s Dispatch Center at 800-442-0776 or OSP (677) from your mobile device.

Body Of Missing Snowboarder Recovered On Mt. Hood

Search and rescue crews found the body of missing snowboarder Ryan Mather Saturday morning, according to the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office.

Mather, from Aloha, had been missing since Tuesday when he didn’t return home from snowboarding at Mt. Hood Meadows.

Late Friday afternoon, Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Patrol found evidence that a body was buried in avalanche debris in Clark Creek in the Heather Canyon area. Much of the area is rated black or double black diamond, according to the sheriff’s office.

Due to declining daylight, an operation was scheduled for early Saturday.

Around 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning, crews from the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Patrol and Hood River County Sheriff’s Office were able to extricate the body from the creek. Deputies said the operation took about two hours.

Crews were able to identify the body as Mather, deputies say. His family was notified of the recovery late Saturday morning.

Another Wolf Killing In Oregon, The 11th In A Year, Combined Reward For Information Reaches Over $80,000

Killing a wolf for reasons apart from self-defense is illegal in Oregon, and gray wolves are a protected species under state law. There were at least 173 gray wolves in the state at the last official count at the end of 2020.

Five wolves from the same pack were poisoned to death in Union County in February 2021 which was followed by three grey wolves, two females and a male, similarly poisoned to death within the same county. Two other wolves died in separate suspected killings. Then, on March 25, 2022, another wolf was found dead in the foothills of the Richland Valley.

Danielle Moser, a representative of the Oregon Wildlife Coalition, said:

Oregon has a pervasive poaching problem, and we want to be part of the solution. When poachers kill wildlife, they steal from all Oregonians who value and enjoy our state’s wildlife and the wild places they call home. Our goal is to incentivize members of the public to report any suspicious or illegal wildlife activity to the Oregon State Police.

Many conservation and hunting organizations have funded rewards for information leading to a conviction of whoever is poaching wolves in Oregon. The reward money for the wolf poisonings stands at more than $50,000. A separate reward fund by two Oregon districts is offering another $22,500 and $11,500 for information about wolf poaching.

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Grants Pass Missing Person

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The Grants Pass Police Department is seeking assistance from the public in locating 30 year old Noah Baker.  Baker was despondent after an argument and left his residence in Grants Pass driving a silver Ford Fiesta with Oregon Plate 671MUR.  

Baker is described as a white male adult, 5’09”, 170 lbs, brown hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing black sweats, black shirt, black shoes and a black hat.  

If anyone knows of his whereabouts or sees Baker, please call your local law enforcement agency or the Grants Pass Police at 541-450-6260. Reference case #2022-14203 Grants Pass Police Department 

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Klamath County Sheriff’s Office Asks for Public’s Help in Search For Trucker Suspect

The first real clue to come in on all the missing person cases in the area. Help Klamath Falls Oregon Sheriff Office ID this trucker. He was the last to see this woman alive and could be the key to not only solving this woman’s disappearance but a number of the hundred other women missing in PNW. IF you have any information, please call (541) 883-5130

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Have-You-Seen-Me-Southern-Oregons-Missing-People-161249961222839/posts/

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