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, December 12, 2022
Willamette Valley Weather
Another Wrong-Way Driver On Eugene’s Beltline Critically Injures Another Driver And Shuts Down Traffic
In yet another wrong-way driving incident, a crash caused by a wrong-way driver Saturday night shut down all eastbound lanes of Eugene’s Beltline near the Coburg Road exit for two-and-a-half hours.
A Eugene Police investigator states that the crash occurred around 9:45pm. He said a man driving a large SUV turned onto the eastbound lanes and traveled a few hundred yards westbound before hitting a mid-size SUV head-on.
The driver of that vehicle suffered life-threatening injuries and had to be extracted by emergency crews. She was stabilized at a hospital. The wrong-way driver was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants and assault in the second degree.
After a major collision team scanned the crash site and the affected vehicles were removed, the Beltline reopened at 12:17am Sunday.
Lane County Sheriff’s Office Urges Drivers Not to Drink and Drive
Impaired driving crashes remain a leading cause of death nationwide. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 32 people in the United States die each day due to an impaired driver. Every one of these deaths are preventable.
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office, along with other agencies across Oregon are utilizing federally funded overtime to staff additional patrols for impaired drivers this holiday season.The Lane County Sheriff’s Office urges drivers to be responsible and safe.
Sergeant Tim Ware says, “Intentionally or not, impaired drivers kill innocent people every day. There is no excuse for driving impaired. Please don’t allow yourself or anyone you know to make such a terrible mistake.”
Fatal Hit and Run Investigation in Albany
Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 4:22am Albany Police responded to a 911 call of a person down in the roadway in the 1500 block of Geary St. SE. Upon arrival, Officers began life-saving efforts, but the female was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim was a 30-year-old female and Albany resident. Her name will be released at a later time, pending family notification.
We believe the female was struck by a car and the unknown vehicle left the scene. We are looking for any information that could assist in finding the suspect vehicle and driver.
We do not know the make and model of the vehicle at this time, but it will have front end damage per evidence left at the scene.
The Albany Police are requesting residents with video surveillance in the locations below please contact us.
• Geary St SE between Pacific Blvd and Queen Ave
• 16th Ave at Geary St. SE
• 17th Ave at Geary St SE
As the investigation is continuing anyone with information is asked to call the Albany Police Department Detective Unit, 541-917-7680. We appreciated assistance from the Albany Fire Department, Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Linn County Sheriff’s Office.
Eugene Springfield Fire Department Gets Two New Fire Trucks
The Eugene Springfield Fire Department recently received a pair of brand-new fire trucks with modern features that officials say will make them more efficient firefighting vehicles.
Combined, the cost of the new trucks was more than $2 million. The fire department says the benefits of the trucks outweigh the costs stating they don’t plan on making any more purchases at the moment. In order for that to happen, the department says they would have to work with city officials since they control the department’s overall budget. Officials say they have a true partnership with the city.
The trucks come with a variety of new features to keep the department up-to-date with evolving fire safety standards. Officials say the new features give their crews a serious advantage when they have to respond to emergencies.
Deputy Chief of Operations at Eugene-Springfield Fire, Scott Bishop, says, “We are very cognizant of safety; we study incidents all across the country and sometimes even around the world. And so we learn where we can apply safe principles and procedures for our people to work safely.”
The fire trucks are outfitted with new 107-foot ladders. Deputy Chief Bishop says it’s better having a firefighter work from the tip of an aerial ladder as opposed to putting boots down on an unstable rooftop. He also says it’s beneficial to help people get out of buildings via ladder rather than having to do a complicated rope scheme. The ladders can also carry a lot more weight than previous models while still putting less pressure on the truck itself.
The trucks also come with improved lighting systems. “Having scenes illuminated properly is a serious advantage.” Deputy Chief Bishop says, “And a vehicle like this it does have lighting capability on the tip of the aerial. If we can run the aerial up and you know add lighting to our operation, a longer aerial with better lighting is absolutely a safety enhancement.”
According to the fire department, these trucks are set to roll out by the end of December. The new engines will replace two others at Eugene Springfield Fire that have been in use since 2006. Bishop expects them to be in service for 15 to 20 years.
Oregon Will Shift How It Measures Student Poverty Levels As Universal Free Lunch Takes Hold In Schools
The growing movement to provide free school lunches for all students — a concept that gained momentum during the pandemic — has left Oregon policymakers with a conundrum.
On the one hand, the idea has staying power, and support from powerful allies who say it can make a meaningful dent in food insecurity rates. In 2018-2019, about 25% of Oregon schools gave free meals to all students, regardless of their ability to pay. In the current school year, that’s jumped to more than 50%. More Oregon school districts have moved to make school lunch free for everyone, which has made it trickier to identify students living in poverty for data purposes.
But that change has also made it increasingly difficult both to pinpoint what percentage of students in a given district are living at the poverty level, and to precisely target the money and services intended to help them. That group of students typically has lower test scores than their peers, misses more school days and is less likely to graduate from high school.
“Universal access makes it so we have no picture of poverty,” said Scott Nine, an assistant superintendent in the Oregon Department of Education’s Office of Education Innovation and Improvement. “Every state in the country is grappling with this same issue.”
In the pre-pandemic era, eligibility for free and reduced lunch was the metric used to designate which students should be considered economically disadvantaged. The metric was already imperfect because not everyone who is eligible for free lunch signs up for it, especially at the high school level, when it can carry a social stigma. But if everyone is eligible for free school lunch, the imperfect metric becomes unusable.
On Thursday, the seven members of the state Board of Education voted to adopt a new definition, which will take effect in the 2023-2024 school year. From then on, students who are considered “economically disadvantaged” by the state will be those whose families received food stamps or other federal assistance during the school year, are in the foster care system, are houseless and/or are migrants.
4.0 Earthquake Shook Off the Coast of Oregon Sunday Morning
It was reported by the United States Geological Survey that at around 9:19 a.m. the earthquake shook along the Juan De Fuca plate.
A similar 4.5 earthquake was felt on Nov. 18 , off the coast of Coos Bay.
This tremor shook at a depth of 10 kilometers. No tsunami warnings have been issued. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000j8mi/executive
Oregon Part Of $10-Billion Opioid Financial Settlements With CVS And Walgreens
Oregon Attorney General Rosenblum, along with other AG colleagues across the country, announced a national agreement totaling $10.7 billion with CVS and Walgreens for the pharmacies’ conduct in fueling the opioid epidemic.
Walgreens operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States, behind CVS. Under the agreements, CVS will pay $5 billion and Walgreens will pay $5.7 billion, totaling $10.7 billion. A certain number of states will need to sign onto the agreements for the full amount to be distributed.
“Pharmacies were a key link in the supply chain that contributed to the greatest drug-induced public health crisis in modern America. This may seem like a lot of money-and it is- but compared to the harm caused by America’s largest pharmacy chains, it barely scratches the surface,” said Rosenblum.
This now makes three settlements with a national pharmacy chain in the last month; A $3 billion settlement with Walmart was announced in November. In the Walmart settlement, all states have until the end of 2022 to join, which Oregon has recently done.
In addition, each of these agreements will need sign-on by Oregon’s counties and cities to maximize the amount of money the state will receive. Oregon stands to receive up to $173,150,000 over time as a result of the settlements with CVS ($65,430,000) Walgreens ($70,860,000) and Walmart ($36,860,000).
“Too many have died and too many families are broken by virtue of – plain and simple – corporate greed, and that includes pharmacies. Americans place their trust in their pharmacy, and certainly do not expect it to cause them harm,” added AG Rosenblum. “I appreciate that 100 percent of Oregon’s counties and cities signed onto our previous settlements with Johnson & Johnson and the three major opioid distributors. I hope they will sign onto these settlements, as well, in order to maximize how much Oregon can receive.”
In addition to the financial settlement, CVS and Walgreens have agreed to court-ordered injunctive relief that requires the pharmacies to monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions. This court-ordered injunctive relief will help ensure a crisis like this does not happen again.
The terms of these agreements will now go to the states for their review. Each state will have until the end of 2022 to join, after which the Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS agreements will go to local governments around the country for sign-on during the first quarter of 2023. A sufficient percentage of states and local governments must join the settlements for them to go into effect.
Most of Walmart’s amount will be paid during the first year; CVS’s payments will be spread over 10 years; Walgreens’ payments will be spread over 15 years. If there is sufficient sign-on, payments will begin during the second half of 2023.
Additional information on the previous settlement with Johnson & Johnson and the three largest distributors of opioids is online at https://www.doj.state.or.us/oregon-department-of-justice/office-of-the-attorney-general/spotlight-opioid-abuse/.
Medical Examiner Says Body Of Woman Found In Portland Remains Unidentified
The Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office is asking for the public’s help identifying the body of a woman who died November 28th in Portland.
The Medical Examiner describes the woman as white, between the ages of 20 and 40 years old. They say she also was about 5′4″ tall – weighing 139 pounds. She had medium to long brown hair with brown eyes.
The woman also had pierced ears, with scars on both forearms and the following tattoos:
- Right wrist: Faith Hope Love
- Left wrist: Amirah
- Right Shoulder: Black and red butterfly
Anyone with information about the woman is asked to call the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office at (503) 988-0055 and reference case number #MU-221128-812.
Recreational Ocean and Bay Crabbing Reopens From Cape Blanco to California Border
The Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has reopened all recreational crabbing from Cape Blanco to the California border.
A release said two consecutive tests show domoic acid levels are under the closure threshold.
However, all recreational crabbing from Cap Blanco to eight miles north of Winchester Bay remains closed with elevated domoic acid levels.
ODFW said recreational bay clam and mussel harvesting also remain open along the entire Oregon coast. Razor clamming is still closed coastwide.
ODA tests for shellfish toxins twice per month, as tides and weather permit. Reopening an area closed for biotoxins requires two consecutive tests with results below the closure limit.
The release said it is recommended that recreational crab harvesters always eviscerate crab before cooking. This includes removing and discarding the viscera, internal organs and gills.
For more information, call ODA’s shellfish biotoxin safety hotline at 800-448-2474. Contact ODFW for recreational license requirements, permits, rules and limits: https://www.dfw.state.or.us/
