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
Friday, October 22, 2021
Willamette Valley Weather
Today– Showers, mainly before 4pm. High near 58. Southwest wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Saturday– Rain before 11am, then showers likely after 11am. High near 57. South southwest wind 7 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Sunday– Rain before 11am, then showers between 11am and 2pm, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. High near 58. Breezy, with a south wind 9 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Monday– Showers. High near 56. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Tuesday– Rain before 11am, then showers after 11am. Cloudy, with a high near 57.
House Fire in Dexter
Crews responded to a structure fire at 39095 Dexter Rd. in Dexter, located at the corner of Hwy 58 and Dexter Rd.
Neighbors reported flames coming from the home on Dexter Road near Highway 58 at about 7:30 a.m. Firefighters from Dexter, Lowell and surrounding areas responded to the scene. According to Lowell Fire Chief Lon Dragt, no one was inside or near the home when crews arrived.
“We weren’t 100% sure so we started looking for any victims inside,” Dragt said. “Once we determined there wasn’t any, we just continued with fire attack to get the fire knocked down.”
Investigators aren’t sure what caused a fire that damaged a home in Dexter Thursday morning. Crews worked quickly and were able to prevent extensive damage to the interior of the home.
“There’s a lot of stuff inside the house on the second floor that’s been damaged due to smoke and heat,” Dragt said.
The homeowners were notified and have reportedly been remodeling the inside of the home. The cause remains under investigation.
Albany Police Arrest 2nd Subject in Timber Linn Park Shooting
On Wednesday, October 20, 2021, Albany Police Detectives located 18-year-old Abel Sanchez-Anaya, in Lane County. Information was developed that Sanchez-Anaya was with Elijah Crump during the shooting death of Joshua Johnston-Partain.
Albany Police Detectives developed information leading to the location of Sanchez-Anaya, in the area of Halsey, Oregon. Detectives arrested him without incident and he was lodged in the Linn county jail on the following charges:
- Murder in the Second Degree
Summary of the case: On October 10, 2021, Joshua Johnston-Partain was fatally shot multiple times with a firearm in the parking lot at Timber Linn Park.
Albany Police Detectives are continuing to follow up with additional leads, search warrants, and interviews. At this time, two involved suspects have been arrested.
The investigation is still ongoing and no further information will be released. Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call Albany Police Detectives at 541-917-7686. — Albany Police
Owner of Eugene and Corvallis Indian Restaurants Indicted for Tax Evasion
A federal grand jury in Eugene returned an indictment today charging an Oregon restauranteur with tax evasion and hiding cash from his businesses.
Meeraali Shaik, a Corvallis, Oregon resident and the owner of Evergreen Indian Cuisine, has been charged with one count of tax evasion.
According to court documents, Shaik owned and operated Evergreen Indian Cuisine locations in Eugene and Corvallis. From before 2013 and continuing until 2017, Shaik is alleged to have willfully attempted to evade the assessment of personal income taxes by, among other illegal acts, providing his tax preparer with incomplete bank and income records and false information regarding the cash receipts of his restaurants. Shaik used a portion of the underreported cash receipts to pay mortgage payments on properties in Eugene, Corvallis, and Chandler, Arizona and made wire transfers to a bank account in India.
Shaik will make his initial appearance in federal court before a U.S. Magistrate Judge on November 2, 2021. During his first appearance, Shaik will be arraigned, and a jury trial date will be set.
If convicted, Shaik faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, three years’ supervised release, and a $100,000 fine.
Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.
This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation with assistance from the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gavin W. Bruce is prosecuting the case. An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Oregon
Douglas County Follows Jackson County’s Call for Emergency Help Due to Illegal Marijuana Grows
It turns out that when Oregon voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2014, southern Oregon saw a surge of illegal marijuana farms posing as legal hemp farms. The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission recently reported that nearly 50% of registered hemp farms inspected by the state grow marijuana with THC content above the legal limits.
Legalizing recreational marijuana was always bound to cause unintended consequences, including more traffic accidents, addiction, and worse mental health issues. But Southern Oregon has added another downside to the list: severe water shortages.
With marijuana “legal” in Oregon now, these illegal farms operate with near impunity next to Oregon’s highly regulated marijuana market. And now that Western states have been hit with a drought, these illegal farmers are illegally stealing water from the surrounding creeks and wells that legal fruit and nut farmers have been using for generations. One illegal cannabis farm recently raided by authorities was illegally drawing water from the Illinois River to feed over 72,000 marijuana plants.
The problem is widespread. Just this week the Lane County Sheriff’s Office along with several local fire agencies responded to an address in the 81000blk of Hwy. 99 south of Creswell regarding a structure fire. While on scene authorities observed evidence indicating the location to be involved in a large-scale criminal marijuana manufacturing and trafficking operation.
It has gotten so bad that last week the Jackson County Board of Commissioners has declared a state of emergency warning of “an imminent threat to the public health and safety of our citizens from the illegal production of cannabis in our county.” It has asked the governor for more resources to address the problem since the Oregon Water Resources Department only has four full-time employees dedicated to handling complaints in Jackson County.
The governor has since promised help from the state police. “These are criminal enterprises that deplete water resources while our state is in drought, hold their workforce in inhumane conditions, and severely harm our legal cannabis marketplace,” a spokesman from the governor’s office told reporters.
The Douglas County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Wednesday to declare a state of emergency over illegal marijuana operations too.
In a letter, the commissioners said more than 300,000 cannabis plants have been confiscated and destroyed in the county this year alone. A decade ago, 100,000 was reportedly a “big year.”
These illegal operations have an impact on waterways and jeopardize public health and safety, according to the commissioners.
“This is important work for us to do! The amount of calls and concerns that our office receives regarding illegal marijuana growing operations is staggering. When residents call in, they are scared. They are scared about where they live, afraid of what’s going on around them and in many cases, they are afraid to leave their homes. Nobody in our county should ever have to live in fear!” said Commissioner Tim Freeman.
Among the issues cited in the letter are:
- Possible poor working conditions, unfair treatment and lack of pay for workers
- Chemicals associated with marijuana production ending up in rivers and creeks
- Garbage and hazardous materials leaching into soil and streams and creating a haven for rodents and disease
- Known ties to large drug cartels in the US and Mexico
Commissioners also claimed that while the passage of Ballot Measure 91, which legalized recreational marijuana in Oregon, was meant to weaken the grip of cartels, the situation has only worsened.
Along with the declaration, commissioners are pushing for help from the state to provide enough personnel or funding to employ enough personnel to enforce drug laws, as local resources are reportedly being spread thin. They also are asking for the Oregon National Guard to be called in to assist.
The declaration will be in effect through Dec. 20 next year unless rescinded or extended
Sutherlin/Oakland: 911 Outage
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has been made aware of a telephone line issue affecting residents ability to call 911 from their landline telephones. This problem is affecting residents of the Sutherlin and Oakland areas and is expected to last until sometime into Friday.
911 lines in the affected areas have been switched to temporarily ring into the Sutherlin Police Department, which is staffed with a 911 dispatcher only until 1:00 a.m. After 1:00 a.m., the only way to reach 911 will be from a mobile phone. — Douglas Co. Sheriff’s Office
Oregon reports 1,407 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 40 new deaths
There are 40 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 4,275. The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported 1,407 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 bringing the state total to 356,061.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (10), Benton (29), Clackamas (108), Clatsop (1), Columbia (16), Coos (31), Crook (40), Curry (2), Deschutes (146), Douglas (46), Gilliam (1), Grant (5), Harney (16), Hood River (5), Jackson (75), Jefferson (15), Josephine (15), Klamath (67), Lake (6), Lane (113), Lincoln (8), Linn (49), Malheur (22), Marion (98), Morrow (4), Multnomah (190), Polk (37), Tillamook (5), Umatilla (50), Union (11), Wallowa (3), Wasco (10), Washington (144) and Yamhill (29).
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are down in Oregon over the last week, but the number of deaths is up. The Oregon Health Authority released that assessment yesterday. The agency says 183 people died with COVID-19 over the last week, which is the highest weekly death toll since January.
New cases declined eleven-percent, and hospitalizations were down nine-percent. The number of positive COVID-19 tests dropped to seven-point-six percent. Health officials want that number to be below five-percent.
State Health Officials to Add Approximately 550 COVID-19 Deaths from May to August 2021 to State Totals, Omitted Due to Technical Error
Over the coming weeks, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) will begin reporting approximately 550 deaths among people who died with COVID-19 but whose deaths only became recently known to state epidemiologists due to a technical computer error. Most of these deaths occurred between May 2021 and August 2021.
The deaths will be reviewed during the data reconciliation process over the next month. People who have died and meet the COVID-19 death definition based on death certificates will reported on the Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 dashboards and its daily COVID-19 media releases. As a result, daily reported COVID-19-related deaths will be higher than usual until the backlog is resolved. Details of all deaths will be listed in OHA’s daily COVID-19 media release, which is published weekdays.
OHA’s reporting of COVID-19 deaths involves reconciling death records to case records, which is done manually. OHA has been working to automate the process but that has led to periodic backlogs, such as what is being reported today.
“We are taking steps to ensure that our reporting is comprehensive and transparent,” said OHA Director Patrick Allen. “We extend our condolences to everyone who has suffered a loss to COVID-19, and we deeply regret the pain this disclosure may cause.”
The additional deaths will affect Oregon’s national standing in COVID-19 death rates. Presently, Oregon has the 6th lowest death rate in the nation. The newly reported deaths are expected to push Oregon’s death rate past one or two other states. However, Oregon’s death rate will remain well below the national average and the fatality rates of most other states.
State health officials estimate that if Oregon’s death rate matched the national average, another 4,000 or more Oregonians would have died from COVID-19. Health officials attribute Oregon’s comparatively low death rate to vaccinations, mask wearing and other social distancing measures, which Oregonians have practiced to a greater extent than residents of many other states.
Death is a lagging indicator and generally follows a surge in cases. In addition, there is often a delay in reporting as OHA epidemiologists review death certificates.
OHA expects that reported deaths may continue to be high even as daily case counts decrease. This is due to the time period between when a person tests positive for a case of COVID-19 and when they die with COVID-19.
The newly enhanced COVID-19 Case Severity dashboard visualizes the time lag between when case onset and dates of death. Peak deaths routinely trail peak case onset by two weeks.
State of Oregon Significantly Increases Child Care Assistance for Working Families
Need to know
- Child care copays through the Employment Related Day Care program have decreased to an average of $16 per month for working families.
- Approximately 8,200 working families receive child care assistance through the Employment Related Day Care program.
- Working families can apply for child care assistance and other government supports at One.Oregon.Gov
(Salem) – Finding affordable, quality child care has long been a struggle for families, and the pandemic has only made this situation worse. Working families who participate in the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), Employment Related Day Care Program (ERDC) will see their child care costs significantly decrease, making child care more accessible across the state.
ERDC helps eligible working families pay for child care, including registration and enrollment fees. ERDC is a subsidy program, which means some families, depending on their income, may be required to pay a copay.
These changes will support working families by:
- Decreasing the average family copay to $16 per month.
- Reducing the family copay to $0 for families who make 100% or less of the federal poverty level (an annual income of $21,960 for a family of three).
- Limiting family copays to no more than $130 a month.
“For many families the cost of child care can be a barrier to entering and staying connected to the workforce,” said Dan Haun, director of the ODHS Self-Sufficiency Programs. “This copay decrease will support working families across Oregon as they continue to deal with the many challenges facing families in today’s world.”
These changes are effective for families renewing or applying for the ERDC program on or after Oct. 1, 2021.
From March 2020 through September 2021, the federal government temporarily permitted ODHS to offer $0 copay child care assistance to families participating in the ERDC program during the COVID-19 pandemic. These temporary COVID-19 changes expired on Sept. 30, 2021.
Prior to the temporary COVID-19 copay changes, the average family copay was approximately $250. The lowest possible monthly family copay was $27.
In addition to copay reductions, the Early Learning Division (ELD) has been using federal relief funds to provide grants directly to child care providers to stabilize our existing child care supply and help providers stay in business.
“We know that access to quality, affordable child care that meets families’ needs continues to be out of reach for many families across the state,” said Alyssa Chatterjee, Early Learning System Director of the Early Learning Division. “Reducing the copays for eligible families will not only allow more families to find care, but also provide additional stability for our child care providers who accept subsidies.”
Working families who earn 185% of the federal poverty level, or $40,626 annually for a family of three, may be eligible to enroll in the ODHS Employment Related Day Care program.
Oregonians can apply online for Employment Related Day Care Assistance and other government supports online at One.Oregon.Gov or by phone at 1-800-699-9075 or TTY 711.
The copay reduction is made possible by additional funding provided by the federal government through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act; the 2021 Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act; the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021; and the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Child Care Development Fund.
Resources to help meet basic needs
- Find a food pantry: foodfinder.oregonfoodbank.org
- Dial 2-1-1, or text your zip code to 898-211 for help finding local resources and supports, including child care in your community.
- Visit www.211info.org for help finding local resources and supports, including child care in your community.
- Oregon Department of Human Services Resources
The Oregon Department of Human Services, Self-Sufficiency Programs operates the Employment Related Day Care program. The Employment Related Day Care program helps working families pay for child care, including registration and enrollment fees. It also works with partners statewide, including the Early Learning Division, to help families find quality child care. — Oregon Department of Human Services
OSP Troopers Seize 4 Pounds Of Meth In Traffic Stop Near Klamath Falls
Oregon State Police arrested two California men just outside of Klamath Falls earlier this week after discovering that they were smuggling methamphetamine north through Oregon, according to the agency.
On Tuesday afternoon shortly before 2:30 p.m., an OSP trooper pulled over the driver of a blue Honda civic northbound on Highway 97 between the Klamath River and Highway 140 for an undisclosed traffic violation.
OSP said that the trooper saw “signs of criminal activity” during the stop and developed probable cause for a search. During the search, the trooper found an ice chest with a false bottom, concealing four pounds of suspected methamphetamine. The agency said that at OSP drug detection K-9 helped at the scene.
Troopers arrested two men, driver 37-year-old Antonio Nicolas Navarro-Medica of Gilroy, California, and passenger 49-year-old Trinidad Rodriguez of San Jose, California. Both were charged with possession and delivery of methamphetamine.
The Washington State Attorney General is filing a lawsuit against a Corvallis, Oregon company accused of illegally using robocalls to sell a robocall-blocking service.
Global Grid Telecom is accused of making over 54-thousand calls to Washington residents with 46-thousand calls to numbers on the Do Not Call registry. One person received 23 calls. The company was selling a service to CenturyLink customers that were already available from CenturyLink. The lawsuit seeks to return money to Washingtonians who paid for the service.
Gov. Brown Commutes Sentences of 70 People Convicted When Juveniles
Gov. Brown has commuted the sentences of more than 70 people convicted of felonies while juveniles, but the action doesn’t automatically mean they are about to be released.
The governor’s commutations earlier this week granted some adults in custody who committed serious crimes as juveniles the opportunity to appear before the Oregon State Board of Parole and Post Prison Supervision to argue for their release after 15 years in prison.
The list includes people convicted between 1988 and 2019 for crimes such as murder, assault, rape and manslaughter while juveniles.
A 2019 bill made changes to the mandatory minimum sentences for minors sentenced on or after Jan. 1, 2020. While the legislation was not retroactive, Brown’s commutations effectively apply part of Senate Bill 1008 — known as a second-look hearing — to the list of 70 people currently in prison.
Warning of Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Tainted Onions
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned people Wednesday to check their vegetables after more than 650 people were diagnosed with salmonella linked to onions imported from Mexico.
Cases were reported in 37 states with at least 158 cases in Texas alone. Two people had become ill in Oregon as of Thursday, officials said.
Still, the CDC recommended everyone, businesses and consumers alike, check their onions. The outbreak has been linked to red, yellow and white onions from the brand Prosource Inc. originating in Mexico.
If any onions in your home or business have packaging indicating they are from Prosource and originated in Mexico, throw them away, the CDC said. If you are unable to tell the brand and source of the onions, play it safe and toss them anyway.
Officials also said to wash any surfaces or containers the onions may have come in contact with using hot, soapy water.
Symptoms of salmonella include diarrhea, stomach cramps and fever, which can begin anywhere from six hours to six days after consuming tainted food.
The CDC recommended contacting your doctor if you experience severe diarrhea with a fever over 102 degrees, diarrhea for three days or longer or bloody diarrhea. Other concerning symptoms include vomiting and dehydration.
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