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, March 16, 2022
Willamette Valley Weather
Today– Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 56. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday– A 20 percent chance of rain after noon. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 54. Calm wind becoming west southwest around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Friday– Cloudy, with a high near 58. Calm wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday– Rain. Snow level 3900 feet lowering to 2700 feet in the afternoon . High near 48. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Sunday– A chance of showers, mainly before noon. Snow level 1400 feet rising to 2600 feet in the afternoon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 50.
Eugene’s ‘Moving Ahead Project’ for Road Safety Moving Ahead
The city of Eugene is closer to moving forward with safety as the City Council approved five preferred alternatives to the “Moving Ahead Project”.
But it still needs the approval from the project’s partner, Lane Transit District. “If LTD, if the board selects the same locally preferred alternatives, they agree that those are the correct choices for the corridors, that’s were city of Eugene staff and LTD staff have to get together and talk about how we can start to fund the design refinement piece,” said Andrew Martin, LTD’s development planner.
At the Monday night session, The Eugene City council approved a proposal that River Road would be suitable for an EM-X extension with a dedicated bus lane.
The city said 30th Avenue does not need to be fixed. Highway 99, MLK Jr. Boulevard and Coburg Road are enhanced corridors where they could get bus stops, enhanced crossing signals and bike lanes.
Rob Inerfeld, the City of Eugene’s transportation planning manager said Coburg Road is the section that needs more studies and community engagement done before finalizing it.
“The city has seen that the amount of traffic on lower Coburg Road from Oakway Road to the Ferry Street Bridge is becoming problematic; it’s becoming more difficult for the city to coordinate the traffic signals in an efficient manner to keep traffic flowing for all modes including buses,” Inerfeld said.
The Lane Transit District’s Board of Directors meeting — where a vote may take place — is scheduled for Wednesday starting at 4:30 p.m.
Marcola Death Investigation
On March 14th, 2022, Lane County Sheriff’s deputies and Mohawk Valley Fire personnel responded to the 92000blk of Marcola Rd. regarding the report of a deceased person. Upon arrival paramedics discovered an adult male on the ground deceased.
The male was identified as 58 year old Bruce Alan Putzier of Coburg. The Lane County Medical Examiner’s Office retained jurisdiction of Putzier’s body. At this time Putzier’s death does not appear to be criminal in nature, however investigators are seeking answers regarding the circumstances leading up to his death.
Anyone with information regarding Putzier’s recent whereabouts or any other information regarding this case is asked to contact the Lane County Sheriff’s Office at 541-682-4150 opt. 1. Lane Co. Sheriff’s Office
Springfield Man Checks Megabucks Ticket and Wins Big
While at the Springfield Moose Lodge Dec. 24, a friend of Wilbur Brown’s bought a “26 for $25” Megabucks ticket. This option lets players buy a single Megabucks ticket for 26 consecutive drawings for just $25. Brown was not aware of the “26 for $25” option, and decided to buy one, too. Now, armed with a Megabucks ticket that covered 13 weeks, each drawing from December 25, 2021, to February 19, 2022, Brown tucked the ticket into his billfold.
In February, Brown was at the Moose Lodge again and remembered his ticket. Brown scanned his ticket on a self-check terminal at the Lodge and the message “See Customer Service” popped up. Still not sure what he may have won, Brown and other friends sitting with them at the Lodge began using their phones to check the web for results.
It soon became clear that Brown was indeed a “Large Lottery Winner” having won a $8.9 million jackpot! Brown opted to take the 30-year annuity option for his prize when he picked up his first check at the Lottery office in Salem on Tuesday, Mar. 8. After taxes, he will receive an annual check for slightly more than $200,000. Brown has set up a trust for his prize winnings.
Oregon reports 421 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 14 new deaths
PORTLAND, Ore. — There are 14 new COVID-19-related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 6,899, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported at 12:01 a.m. today.
OHA reported 421 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 700,361.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Benton (8), Clackamas (40), Clatsop (4), Columbia (2), Coos (6), Crook (3), Curry (1), Deschutes (20), Douglas (12), Grant (6), Hood River (3), Jackson (17), Jefferson (6), Josephine (10), Klamath (14), Lake (3), Lane (45), Lincoln (4), Linn (9), Marion (38), Multnomah (80), Polk (10), Tillamook (3), Umatilla (8), Wasco (4), Washington (61) and Yamhill (4).
Oregon crosses threshold of 700,000 COVID-19 cases
Today Oregon crossed the threshold of 700,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Oregon now ranks second lowest among states in the number of cases per capita (16,596 per 100,000). However, the pandemic isn’t over, and COVID-19 poses a risk to many people.
State health officials recommend Oregonians keep in mind the ‘5 Essentials’ for navigating and staying safe during the current phase of the pandemic.
Statewide Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program to stay open for one additional week
$16 million allocation from U.S. Department of Treasury keeps portal open after consistent advocacy from Gov. Brown, Oregon’s federal delegation and OHCS
SALEM, ORE. – Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) will keep the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program (OERAP) portal open until 11:59 p.m. PDT on March 21, 2022. The state was notified late yesterday by the U.S. Department of Treasury—after numerous requests—that it would be receiving $16 million in additional federal emergency rental assistance funding. The OERAP portal was scheduled to close and stop accepting new applications at 11:59 p.m., March 14, 2022.
“I’d like to thank the Biden-Harris Administration and the U.S. Treasury for recognizing the urgency of Oregon’s request for additional emergency rental assistance funding,” said Ore. Gov. Kate Brown. “Through strong state and local partnerships, we have taken action to successfully distribute historic levels of assistance to renters and landlords and to get Oregonians the help they urgently need. This new federal funding will help us ensure thousands of Oregonians will continue to have a warm, safe, dry, stable place to call home.”
Oregon’s Governor, federal delegation and OHCS’s Acting Executive Director Andrea Bell recently wrote letters to the U.S. Treasury making the case for additional funding. Because it’s a top performing state in helping a record number of low-income households stay safely housed during the pandemic, the state was technically eligible to receive reallocated funds.
During this historic crisis, the agency served as a national leader in providing rental assistance to more than 41,880 households, which means it supported an estimated 104,600 people in the state. More than $302 million has been paid in the past nine months.
“I’m overjoyed to learn these additional $16 million in rental assistance resources are on their way to Oregon. These funds will help an estimated 2,200 additional Oregon households remain stably housed,” said interim Director of Housing Stabilization Jill Smith. “Our message to U.S. Treasury remains loud and clear: if other states have money they can’t use – send those dollars to Oregon.”
Due to dwindling funds, the state had paused accepting new applications on Dec. 1, 2021. After the Oregon Legislature allocated $100 million to support renters facing eviction, the portal reopened on Jan. 26, 2022, for a limited time. As of today, 24,478 applications have been submitted since the portal re-opened in January. Based on federal eligibility guidelines, not all submitted applications are eligible to receive payment.
Important information for tenants
The OERAP portal will remain open until March 21, 2022, thanks to the additional $16 million in reallocated federal funding. Here is some important information for renters:
- Anyone who has not applied for OERAP in the past and has fallen behind on rent is encouraged to apply for emergency rental assistance before 11:59 p.m. on March 21, 2022, at oregonrentalassistance.org.
- Applicants can continue to log on to the OERAP portal to complete their application or check the status of their finished application. They will be alerted by email as their application advances.
- If a tenant has an incomplete application in the portal, they now have until March 28, 2022, to complete it. This extension applies to applications that are incomplete at the time of closure. New applications will not be accepted after March 21, 2022.
- Tenants who submit new applications can access protections from eviction for nonpayment of rent while their application is being reviewed and processed. Tenants must show proof to their landlord that they applied for the program to receive the protections.
- OHCS will begin processing and paying out applications submitted in 2022 as early as this week.
Permanent Daylight Savings Time Bill Passed Senate and Waiting on House to Pass
The Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent across the U.S. beginning in 2023. The so-called Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 was approved by unanimous consent, but would still require House approval and President Biden’s signature to become law.
For those wishing for an end to annual clock shifting, this most recent push in Congress is perhaps better late than never.
“We don’t have to keep doing this stupidity anymore. And why we would enshrine this in our laws and keep it for so long is beyond me,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., one of the sponsors of the bill, said on the Senate floor.
“Hopefully, this is the year that this gets done. And pardon the pun, but this is an idea whose time has come,” he added.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office tells NPR that there are no immediate plans to vote on daylight saving time, but they note the House Committee on Energy and Commerce had a hearing on it last week and there’s bipartisan support for it.
Health experts say switching our clocks twice a year has led to an uptick in sleep deprivation and other health problems. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine supports a year-round national clock.
Daylight saving time currently makes up roughly eight months of the year, with the remainder counterintuitively called standard time.
An Economist/YouGov poll from last fall found that 63% of U.S. adults want to eliminate the biannual changing of clocks. It also found that more people support instituting daylight saving time permanently rather than standard time.
Over the last four years, at least 18 states have passed laws to permanently switch to daylight saving time, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, though federal law must first be changed to allow it.
Former Oregon Department Of Transportation Workers Charged In Massive Equipment Reselling Scheme
Three former Oregon Department of Transportation employees have been charged in an equipment reselling scheme that bilked the state out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, court records allege.
Clackamas County prosecutors revealed the eye-popping 187-count indictment in late January, nearly two years after the state transportation department announced internal and criminal investigations into the alleged scheme.
The long-running plot involved phony invoices and the theft of supplies from the state transportation department’s Lawnfield Maintenance Station in Clackamas, officials said.
“We took swift action as soon as we learned of the allegations,” Oregon Department of Transportation spokesperson Katherine Benenati said in a phone interview. “We immediately contacted the Oregon State Police, and we worked closely with law enforcement to ensure that they had everything that they needed for the investigation.”
The three workers resigned in February 2020, according to Benenati.
Former transportation maintenance coordinator John Wayne Tipton, 60, of Lake Oswego was named in nearly all of the indictment’s 187 counts. The allegations against him include numerous counts of first-degree aggravated theft, computer crime, first-degree official misconduct, first-degree theft and tax evasion.
Former policy analyst Autumn Star Arndt, 41, of Eagle Creek is facing 99 total counts of aggravated theft, computer crime, official misconduct and tax evasion.
Arndt’s attorney, Mark Cogan, said prosecutors have not yet presented their evidence in court. “Nothing has been proven,” Cogan said in a statement. “We ask people to keep an open mind and not rush to judgment.”
Tipton and Arndt each paid $10,000 bail and were separately released from the Clackamas County Jail in early February, records show.
Former landscape manager Frank Clarence Smead Jr., 59, of Wilsonville, also faces 99 total counts of aggravated theft, computer crime, official misconduct and tax evasion.
His wife of nearly 40 years, Marta Mia Smead, 59, who was not an Oregon Department of Transportation employee, faces 32 total counts of first-degree theft, computer crime and tax evasion.
The Smeads were released from the Clackamas County Jail without paying bail because of jail overcrowding, records show. Attorneys for the Smeads and Tipton did not respond to requests for comment.
State transportation officials have taken steps to prevent the theft of supplies. “We strengthened our inventory and purchasing controls,” Benenati said, “and we now require oversight from managers as well as central oversight that provides a new system of checks and balances.”
Oregon Has New Prosecutor for Poaching Cases
Oregon has a high rate of poaching, and now the Oregon Department of Justice has a special prosecutor who will focus on those cases. Jay D. Hall worked for the Lane County District Attorney’s office for the last 12 years prosecuting major crimes.
He’s an expert in using Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, statutes to hold poaching rings accountable. One case involved over 300 poached deer and elk. This is the third phase of a legislative plan to reduce poaching. The first two phases were a public awareness campaign and increased enforcement.
Police Ask for Public’s Help in Search For Victim’s Roommate In Albany Homicide – A 42-year-old woman, the roommate of a 75-year-old man whose death was ruled a homicide, is wanted for questioning in the case, Albany police officials said.
Elvin “Al” Pierce was found dead by officers around 9:10 p.m. Friday after a 911 caller reported a man was unconscious and not breathing. Investigators at that time said the circumstances surrounding his death were suspicious.
APD said Pierce’s roommate, 42-year-old Elizabeth Nicole Tyler Jimenez, wasn’t there at the home when officers found Pierce dead and they don’t know where she is. Authorities did not specifically state whether Jimenez is a suspect or if there are any charges against her.
Pierce’s car, a tan 2004 Buick Park Avenue with Oregon license plate 081FAX, is also missing.
Jimenez, who investigators believe is currently without a job, is described as often visiting local soup kitchens. She also has skills as a masseuse and a seamstress, officials said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact APD at 541-917-7680 or APD Lt. Buck Pearce at 541-917-3209.
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/