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
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Willamette Valley Weather
Today– Showers. High near 50. Southeast wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Thursday– A 50 percent chance of showers. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 52. Light south wind.
Friday– Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 48. Calm wind becoming north around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday– Mostly sunny, with a high near 50.
Sunday– Mostly sunny, with a high near 54.
Update in the WOW Hall Shooting in Eugene
Eugene Police detectives want to reiterate the need for witness information and tips to help solve this case. There has been some cooperation, which is greatly appreciated, but having a healthy level of solid tips and cooperation is what is going to help investigators.
Violent Crimes Unit detectives are continuing their work on this. At this point, there is not enough to say if the event was random or targeted to individuals or a group. There is not an updated suspect description. All victims are in stable condition and/or have been treated and released. Victim information is below.
The number to call and help with relevant tips is (541.682.5162).
Chief Skinner’s comment about the need for tips (entire interview in a link included at end of this release)
The victims of the shooting are as follows:
- Richard Daniel Lemmon, age 26, of Pendleton, Oregon.
- Jason Jamell Smith, age 25, of San Francisco, CA
- Aaleigha Mechelle Tynan, age 25, of Eugene, Oregon
- Reyshaun Dominique-Joseph Supuni, age 30, of Pendleton, Oregon.
- Tristin C. Vanblokland, age 26, of Pendleton, Oregon.
- Priscila Wavaline Camarena, age 21, Pendleton, Oregon.
PREVIOUSLY RELEASED INFORMATION
From: MCLAUGHLIN Melinda V
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2022 12:52 PM
Subject: Update Shots fired at WOW Hall, six people transported to local hospital
UPDATE POSTED AT 12:50 P.M. JANUARY 15:
Eugene Police are releasing a tip line for last night’s WOW Hall shooting (541.682.5162) and are seeking any witness information to help investigators with the case. The only potential suspect description at this time is a male with a hoody. There is no suspect in custody at this time. Detectives are actively working the investigation and ask the public to call with any relevant information or video/photos to that tip line.
On January 14 9:29 p.m., there were reports of multiple shots fired at WOW Hall, 219 W. 8th Avenue. Eugene Police and multiple law enforcement agencies responded, along with Eugene Springfield Fire.
Police officers arrived within 2.5 minutes to a hectic scene of people who had been shot near the walkway/back entrance to Wow Hall, with a loud and frantic crowd. The officers quickly provided medical aid to victims, including applying tourniquets and pressure to wounds, mitigating any potential threats, and coordinating with arriving Eugene Springfield Fire medic units for a safe response to further treat the injured victims. The response included 25 Eugene Police Patrol Units plus multiple detective units, with the first arrival. We are thankful to Lane County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, Springfield Police, and UO Police Department, who provided additional quick response alongside us. Eugene Springfield Fire responded with five medics, four paramedic engine companies and four chief officers. Eugene Police Forensic Evidence Unit responded as well. Central Lane 911 received at least 30 emergency calls.
One victim remains in critical condition, and the remaining five are stable. All of the victims with the exception of one are from out of town and appear to have traveled here for the concert. Two are female and four are male.
Five patients were transported last night to a local hospital and one patient self-transported as a walk-in to a hospital.
Lane Events Center Open House on Thursday, Jan. 20th
Lane Events Center (LEC) is hosting an open house with virtual and in-person options to hear from residents about the future of the Fairgrounds.
The LEC is currently creating a master plan to help decide where and how to invest in the future of the property. The master plan process began before discussion of a multi-use facility and will include a much broader plan for the entire property. Many of the buildings are in need of maintenance and as the type of events held at LEC evolve the property must be ready to evolve with them.
Join LEC staff on Thursday, January 20, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to weigh in on the master plan. Residents can attend in-person (LEC Performance Hall at 796 W. 13th Ave., Eugene) or get a link to attend virtually. The link will be available at www.LaneEventsCenter.org on Thursday.
Masks are required for everyone attending in person. Seating will be socially distanced. To learn more about a proposed multi-use facility for the fairgrounds, visit www.LaneCountyOR.gov/LECMultiUseFacility.
HWY 99 and Bethel Hit and Run Crash
The section of Highway 99 between Bethel Drive and Fairfield Avenue has reopened following a hit and run crash.
According to Eugene Police Department, they responded after reports of a hit and run crash between a motorcycle and a vehicle in the 1300 block of Highway 99 around 7:47 p.m. Tuesday night.
The driver of the car was found a short time later at Fairfield and Wood and is now cooperating.
The motorcyclist was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. EPD’s Major Collision Investigation team responded and is investigating the crash.
Oregon reports 28,037 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 10 new deaths
There are10 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 5,893, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported 28,037 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 bringing the state total to 541,415. Today’s total also reflects the weekend and MLK Jr. holiday Jan. 17.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (82), Benton (792), Clackamas (2,617), Clatsop (134), Columbia (197), Coos (339), Crook (228), Curry (121), Deschutes (2,081), Douglas (398), Gilliam (2), Grant (23), Harney (15), Hood River (43), Jackson (1,835), Jefferson (239), Josephine (453), Klamath (514), Lake (32), Lane (2,561), Lincoln (187), Linn (873), Malheur (75), Marion (2,764), Morrow (67), Multnomah (4,995), Polk (542), Sherman (2), Tillamook (81), Umatilla (703), Union (106), Wallowa (58), Wasco (30), Washington (4,093) and Yamhill (755).
Community Transmission Report and Public Health Indicators Dashboard update
Tuesday, OHA updated the Community Transmission Report links to downloadable data published to Tableau. The most recent full week’s community transmission data are displayed on a map of Oregon’s counties on the associated Public Health Indicators dashboard. These data will be published weekly on the first day of the week.
In the face of rapidly rising Omicron cases, public health authorities are focusing more on outbreaks in high-risk settings and less on interviewing individual cases and conducting contact tracing. With the transition to an opt-in model of case reporting, the most recent Public Health Indicators: Public Health Response data from Jan. 11 will be archived in OHA’s COVID-19 Data Reports.
Data on timely public health follow-up (percentage of COVID-19 cases where public health initiated follow-up within 24 hours) and the percentage of COVID-19 cases traced to a known source (cases with an epidemiologic link other than sporadic) will not be collected in the same way moving forward.
The Public Health Indicators: Indicators of Severe Disease tab from Jan. 11 will also be archived as these data are now published daily instead of weekly:
- Data on emergency department visits for COVID-19 like illness (CLI) are now available daily on Oregon’s COVID-19 Update: Emergency Department tab.
- County-level COVID-19 cases by whether they were hospitalized during their illness are now available daily on Oregon’s Epidemiologic Curve here.
Suspect Still On The Run After Robberies At Two Medford Banks
Officers from the Medford Police Department are actively searching for the suspect in two bank robberies that happened Tuesday morning. MPD learned just after 10 a.m. that the First Interstate Bank and Banner Bank, nearby one another in the 2600-block of E Barnett Road, had both been robbed.
The suspect was last seen on foot, heading toward the Larson Creek bike path. MPD indicated that no weapon had been seen in either robbery. St. Mary’s High School temporarily went on lockdown as officers searched around the campus.
Police said that the suspect’s description varies, but he’s believed to be a white male, in his mid-’40s, between 5’8″ and 6’0″ with a medium build. He was wearing a dark or camo-colored hoody, black sunglasses, and a blue-colored or American flag style mask.
Anyone who recognizes this clothing or has any information is asked to call 541-770-4783, or 911 if he is within sight, reference Case #22-980.
The Medford area has had a spate of robberies in recent months. The same First Interstate Bank on E Barnett Road was robbed in mid-November under similar circumstances. In late December, police arrested a man who allegedly robbed a Walgreens and Lumpy’s restaurant in Medford using a BB gun that looked like a real handgun.
Early this month, police were looking for a man who robbed O’Reilly Auto Parts at gunpoint. Police in Medford and Central Point have also been investigating armed robberies at two Purple Parrot locations as seemingly connected. Most recently, Central Point Police were looking for the suspect in a robbery at People’s Bank who was seen on surveillance video but got away before officers arrived.
Natural Gas Rates to Increase Again
Oregonians who use natural gas could see their rates increase by nearly 10 percent if regulators grant a request from NW Natural—its second rate hike in three years. The average residential rates would increase from $63 to $70 a month, according to the Portland Business Journal.
If approved, commercial rates would increase 9.3 percent and industrial customers would pay 3.4 percent more. In a 1,155-page brief, NW Natural asked the Oregon Public Utility Commission for permission for a 9.9 percent rate hike. The $73.5 million raised would pay for long-term investment in technology, seismically secure resource centers, and other distribution and storage system upgrades.
The company’s last increase, which took effect in November 2020, is paying for the utility’s new Portland headquarters and operations center. NW Natural says even with rate increases, the average customer’s bill is lower than before 2008.
Yet, Oregonians already pay more in natural gas prices than the national average according to the Public Policy Institute of NY.
Oregon’s Democratic state lawmakers issued a statement marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day by calling on Congress to pass two bills that would expand voting rights at the federal level.
The two bills — the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act — have previously passed in the US House, but face near-certain defeat in the Senate. While Senate Democrats largely support the two bills, they lack the votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. Democrats see the bills as a remedy for the wave of more restrictive voting laws passed by Republican-controlled state legislatures in the wake of the 2020 election.
Some aspects of the For the People Act are already the law of the land in Oregon, such as universal mail-in voting. Others, like campaign finance reform and efforts to rein in gerrymandering, would be as new to Oregon as they would other states. President Joe Biden called on Democrats last week to overhaul the filibuster in order to pass the two bills, but Senator Kyrsten Sinema signaled her intransigence on the topic. Democrats will be unable to change the filibuster without every party member in the Senate onboard.
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
A 17-year-old was reported missing in Salem and detectives say the teen might be the victim of an online catfishing scheme.
Ezra Mayhugh, 17, was last seen on October 15, 2021 after being dropped off in downtown Salem by a friend, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said. He was reported as a runaway the following day when he did not return home.
Investigators say he might be in Washington or California. They hope to reunite Ezra safely with family members.
He’s described as about 5-foot 11-inches tall, weighing 130 pounds, with blonde hair and brown eyes.
If you have had contact with Mayhugh since October 15 or have other helpful information on his whereabouts, the sheriff’s office asks you to contact Detective M.J. Sphoon at 503-588-6808 or to submit a tip by texting TIPMCSO and your tip to 847411.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Have-You-Seen-Me-Southern-Oregons-Missing-People-161249961222839/posts/