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, February 16, 2022
Willamette Valley Weather
Today– A chance of drizzle, mainly before 10am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 49. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.
Thursday– Patchy dense fog before 10am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 50. Calm wind.
Friday– Patchy frost before 7am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 52. Calm wind becoming north northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday– A 30 percent chance of rain after 4pm. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 49.
Sunday– Rain before 10am, then showers, mainly after 10am. Snow level 2500 feet lowering to 2000 feet. Cloudy, with a high near 45.
Three Dead in Mapleton Shooting – Deputies Searching for Suspect
Deputies are looking for a person of interest in the shooting deaths of three people east of Mapleton on Tuesday night. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office received reports of shots fired just before 9:45 p.m. in the 14000 block of Highway 36.
Officials are now searching for a 25-year-old person of interest Jericho Jamison in connection with the deaths. Officials believe that he left the scene driving a silver Geo Metro with the license plate “158JZG”. The back window may be broken.
It is believed that Jamison and the three victims knew each other, and he is considered armed and dangerous. Jamison is described as a white male, 5’10 and 160 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Active investigation is ongoing…If you have any information: (541) 682-4150
Springfield’s Main Street Safety Project Public Hearing
The Springfield City Council held a public hearing Tuesday evening on the Main Street Safety Project which is the city’s effort to make the road safer for all who travel through it.
Some business owners and residents who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting were not happy about the proposed changes, saying it would create more traffic problems and that there wasn’t enough community outreach on the plan.
The written public record is still open until February 22.
After over 600 car crashes and a loss of 6 lives, the City of Springfield’s plan is to add 9 roundabouts at major intersections, a raised median and more.
Springfield Senior Planner Molly Markarian dispelled any myths on the project: “It is not just about pedestrian safety; it’s not a Lane Transit District project; it’s not about EMX,” she said. “It would not prevent all left turns; it would not need extensive new right-of-way. It’s not a one size fits all and it would not be built all at once.”
Markarian said any changes to Main Street would be built within phases. The City says they’re working with the Oregon Department of Transportation to create the best changes for the area. http://ourmainstreetspringfield.org/main-street-safety-project/
Eugene Police Seek Help in Albertson Parking Lot Shooting
Police are looking for a man involved in a dispute and shooting in a grocery store parking lot Sunday evening in Eugene.
Officers responded to a report of a shooting at 7:11 p.m. on Feb. 13 to the parking lot of Albertson’s on W. 18th Avenue. Eugene Police said a 44-year-old Eugene man had “been shot during a dispute.” “The man sustained non-life threatening injuries and a bystander helped provide aid,” police said. “Once emergency responders arrived, they took over and the man was transported to a local hospital for treatment.”
According to police: “The other involved man fled the scene in a late 1990s white Ford conversion van. Multiple Eugene Police police officers responded to the scene, and subsequently the EPD Violent Crimes Unit was called out to begin an investigation.” Police ask anyone with relevant tips in this case to call Detective Trevor Hart at (541) 682-5786 or email THart@eugene-or.gov.
OSP Seeks Public’s Help in Pedestrian Hit-and-Run off I-5 Near Eugene
Saturday afternoon at approximately 3:30 pm, Troopers were dispatched to a reported vehicle vs. pedestrian collision located on Interstate-5 northbound to Beltline Hwy. A preliminary investigation revealed a female driver came across a mattress blocking a lane on the flyover. She turned on her hazard lights and removed the mattress from the roadway. As she walked back to her vehicle, a red pickup came around the corner at a high rate of speed and struck the pedestrian.
The suspect, described as an elderly white male, stopped approximately 50ft from the crash scene, walked back to the victim, and saw her laying on the ground. He then ran back to his red truck and fled the scene. The pedestrian suffered extensive injuries as a result of the collision.
The Oregon State Police are seeking public assistance with information identifying the driver or vehicle. It is unknown the extent of damage to the truck. If you have any information, please contact the Oregon State Police Dispatch at 1-800-442-2068.
Oregon reports 1,613 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 20 new deaths
PORTLAND, Ore. — There are 20 new COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 6,393, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
OHA reported 1,613 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 680,852.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (2), Benton (22), Clackamas (100), Clatsop (15), Columbia (8), Coos (36), Crook (18), Curry (12), Deschutes (95), Douglas (85), Gilliam (1), Grant (5), Harney (1), Hood River (8), Jackson (146), Jefferson (16), Josephine (54), Klamath (26), Lake (20), Lane (166), Lincoln (22), Linn (45), Malheur (23), Marion (148), Morrow (2), Multnomah (189), Polk (60), Sherman (1), Tillamook (9), Umatilla (50), Union (11), Wallowa (2), Wasco (17), Washington (140), Wheeler (6) and Yamhill (52).
Oregon health officials recorded the lowest number of COVID-19 diagnoses in any daily report of 2022 on Tuesday. At the same time, hospitalizations also declined. The downward trend is consistent with forecasts from pandemic experts earlier this month and confirms that the omicron variant is coming down from its peak last month.
The Oregon Health Authority reported 1,613 cases Tuesday. Less than a month ago, the state was reporting numbers nearly seven times that high as the omicron wave peaked.
Results from over the weekend, which were reported Monday, also reflected a sharp downturn in case numbers. The state recorded just 895 cases on Sunday, when fewer cases are typically registered compared to other days of the week.
Hospitals remain stretched in some parts of Oregon, but the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is dropping quickly. The state’s latest report counts 805 people in hospital beds with COVID-19, a drop of 60 patients since Monday. However, capacity remains tight, with just 8% of intensive care beds available, and 6% of non-ICU beds available, statewide.
At the same time that case and hospitalization numbers are trending down, vaccination numbers are falling off, too. Oregon’s seven-day average for vaccinations hit its high point on Jan. 11, when it approached 18,000 doses. That’s plummeted in recent weeks, with the latest seven-day average at just 5,104 doses, as of Feb. 14.
Oregon’s Exclusion Day (2/16) For School Vaccine Records Varies By County
Every year, Oregon schools are required to meet a deadline for having updated immunization records from families. This year the deadline will be different in some counties due to the challenges posed by the lingering impacts of the Omicron variant.
The official statewide deadline for parents to provide vaccine records for their kids is February 16, but seven of Oregon’s 36 counties will have alternate dates.
For Douglas County, exclusion day will fall on March 30. It’s April 20 for schools in Clackamas, Clatsop, Jefferson, Morrow, Multnomah, and Yamhill counties.
OHA said that the change this year is due to “unexpected challenges” from the COVID-19 Omicron variant for local public health agencies, schools, and families. County health departments are supposed to have sent letters to families to let them know if their children’s records at a school or daycare show missing vaccinations. Parents who receive the letter are asked to take action by the date listed on the letter, depending on their county.
Under Oregon law, all kids in public and private schools, preschools, Head Start, and certified child care facilities must have up-to-date documentation of the 11 required immunizations or have an allowable exemption. Oregon has a very broad list of exemptions — allowing them for medical, personal, religious, or philosophical reasons. The COVID-19 vaccine is not currently required for children.
House Democrats Revive Proposal To Give Low-Wage Workers Economic Impact Checks
House Democrats reintroduced a bill on Tuesday that will send one-time $600 payments to the bank accounts of more than a quarter-million Oregonians.
It marks the revival of a proposal Democrats in control of the legislature floated in the past: providing stimulus checks to essential workers who remained on the job throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
This iteration of the plan would focus efforts on around 260,000 people who filed for earned income tax credits, a break for low- and middle-income families, on their 2020 filings.
Rep. Andrea Valderrama, D-East Portland, is one of the chief sponsors of the bill and will be tasked with shepherding it through the legislative process. It will receive its first public hearing on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 1:30 p.m.
Valderrama said proponents canned an earlier version of the plan for a couple of key reasons.
— First, the original bill created a process for low-income workers to apply for payments. Valderrama said lawmakers were uneasy about the prospect of finding a state agency or third-party vendor that could handle that volume of work in a timely manner.
— The process would be so cumbersome that most workers needing these payments wouldn’t see them until 2023 or later.
— Secondly, the new bill doesn’t discriminate between what types of workers would be eligible for these payments. The original plan would have only qualified certain types of workers, a factor that lawmakers and proponents realized might preclude many who still need these payments and has been a cumbersome task to delineate who was eligible.
Under the new proposal, as long as they applied for the earned income tax credit on their 2020 state filing, taxpayers should receive a check.
Valderrama also said that Oregon residents who don’t have a social security number but file taxes using an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) will also be eligible for these payments. That includes people with various types of residency documentation statuses.
According to Oregon Department of Revenue data, counties with the highest percentage of residents claiming the state’s earned income tax credit include Malheur (22.7%), Klamath (19%) and Jefferson (18.9%) counties. In general, the state’s southern counties represent the highest percentage of those claiming the tax credit.
The bill states that these payments would not be taxable or eligible for garnishment, meaning everyone who needs this cash will get the whole payment no matter what.
“We know that working and low-wage families need this funding now,” Valderrama said. “We know the cost of living is sky-high, the revenue forecast (last week) told us that. Workers need to be able to afford the rising cost of groceries, prescriptions, childcare and all of those things.”
Valderrama says the bill has the support of nearly all the state’s major unions including the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Oregon Education Association, Oregon School Employees Association and Service Employees International Union (SEIU). It also has the support of the Oregon Food Bank.
While union leaders do support the new proposal, they don’t consider it a one-for-one replacement with what many of them were hoping to see take place this year.
In 2021, Democrats originally proposed economic impact payments for essential workers as high as $2,000 per household. Conversations around dollar amounts this year began around the $1,000 mark. Valderrama said the drawback of payments at that level is they would be eligible for federal taxation.
Early estimates show the plan would cost the state around $180 million. MORE INFO: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2022R1/Measures/Overview/HB4157
Jackson County Man Convicted Of Murdering His Wife In 2006 Has Died In Prison Custody
A Jackson County man convicted of murdering his wife in 2006 has died in prison custody, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections. 75-year-old Jack A. Sterling was accused of murdering his wife, Joyce Sterling, in July of 2006. Though Sterling initially entered a plea of “not guilty,” he later changed his plea to no contest.
At the time of the trial— “At least two restraining orders alleging separate instances of domestic abuse were filed against Jack Sterling within the past 14 years, according to Oregon court records. Two of Sterling’s ex-wives and family members of another, who has since died of cancer, said they believe Joyce Sterling’s murder is the culmination of a long pattern of abuse.
Police responding to a 9-1-1 hang-up call from the Sterling residence found Joyce Sterling in the laundry room dead of numerous stab wounds to her neck and torso. Reports of domestic abuse had brought deputies to the double-wide trailer off Medford’s South Pacific Highway six times in the past. Joyce Sterling also had asked deputies’ advice on how to leave her husband, investigators said.
Jack Sterling had been drinking vodka when deputies arrived, said Sgt. Colin Fagan of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. Sterling had planned to enter an alcohol recovery program two days later at the Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics in White City, Fagan said. The couple was married for about two years.”
He was sentenced to life in prison at the beginning of December that same year. According to contemporary reporting, Sterling had a history of alleged domestic abuse that culminated in the murder.
Sterling was incarcerated at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, and he died February 12th at a nearby hospital. The DOC said that Oregon State Police have been notified and the State Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death, as with all in-custody deaths.
Oregon Getting 35-Million Dollars In Federal Wildlife And Sport Fish Restoration Grants
U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced that Oregon will receive more than $35.1 million in federal Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) grants.
The WSFR program, through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration acts, was reauthorized in November 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law supported by Wyden and Merkley.
The Sport Fish Restoration funds go toward restoration, conservation, management, and enhancing sport fish populations. The Wildlife Restoration funds go toward restoration, conservation, and management of wildlife for the benefit of the public, hunter education, and the development and management of shooting ranges.
Oregon will receive the following amounts for these objectives:
- Wildlife restoration $21.98 million
- Sportfish restoration, $8.81 million
- Basic hunter education $4.25 million
- Enhanced hunter education $151,095
A web version of this release is here.
Oregon Friendly Driver Class is Free Online
The Oregon Friendly Driver program is a free, interactive webinar class which educates drivers on the best and safest ways to use the road with people walking or riding bikes.
In this class you’ll learn:
- The safest ways to utilize your roadway network
- The rules of the road for people driving, people riding bicycles, and people walking
- How to avoid common crashes
- How people riding bikes use the road and how people driving can respond
- How to use roadway features: sharrows, bike lanes, and rapid flashing beacons
FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://www.oregonfriendlydriver.org/
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/