The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com
Monday, August 14, 2023
Oregon Beach Weather
Drought in Lincoln County: How You Can Help
Lincoln County declared a drought emergency on August 2, 2023, due to low streamflows, high temperatures, and decreased precipitation affecting businesses, residents, and the environment. During drought, water supplies for humans, fish, and wildlife are especially strained—making water conservation more important than ever. The City of Newport is currently in a Stage 1 alert status where conservation is voluntary. Let’s work together to reduce the pressure on our water resources.
Here are some water-saving ideas:
CHECK FOR LEAKS Leaks are one of the biggest water wasters. Inspect your indoor and outdoor water fixtures for leaks—including irrigation systems—and fix any that you find. Another way to check for leaks is to read your water meter before leaving the house when no water fixtures are in use. If your water meter number is different when you return, you have a leak.
USE WATER EFFICIENTLY The way you use your water makes a big difference: Water your garden early in the morning to prevent water waste. Only water when your lawn absolutely needs it. Use water-saving irrigation tools, such as a weather-based irrigation controller, soil moisture sensor, and drip irrigation. Install water-efficient showerheads and faucet aerators on your sinks. Reduce your shower time to save even more water. Upgrade your toilets to more efficient models that use 1.28 gallons per flush or less.
For more information, visit newportoregon.gov or www.midcoastwater.org.
Complete Burn Ban Notification for the City of Newport and Newport Rural Fire Protection District
Newport Fire Department and Newport RFPD, in cooperation with Oregon State Parks, are announcing the closing of all burning effective today through Wednesday, August 16, 2023.
The fire ban applies to wood, charcoal, and other flame sources that cannot be turned off with a valve. Liquid fuel stoves or cooking devices that CAN be turned off with a valve are permitted but cannot be left unattended. This ban includes fires in campgrounds and on the beaches.
Fire danger is at high. Lower than normal fuel moisture levels along with forecasted hotter/dryer weather compound the danger. Local fire agencies have limited resources to respond to a wildland fire.This burn ban will remain in effect through Wednesday, August 16, 2023.Newport Fire Department541-265-9461
Providence Nurses In Seaside and Portland Reach Tentative Contract Deal Averting Second Strike
About 1,300 nurses at Providence Portland Medical Center have reached a tentative agreement with management weeks after a brief strike, averting the possibility of a second one.
100 nurses at Providence Hospital Seaside reached their own agreement with the huge non-profit.
Nurses at Providence Portland have a new deal that they say will result in pay hikes between 17% and 26.7% over the life of the two-year agreement. Top paid nurses will now get more than $70 an hour, more than $145,000 a year.
About 400 Providence home health and hospice workers have yet to reach an agreement.
A five-day strike began on June 19. Nurses walked out at the Portland and Seaside hospitals, forcing Providence Health & Services to hire temporary traveling nurses.
When the five days were up, the nurses went back to work without a deal, raising the prospect of a second, perhaps more enduring, strike
Fed up and burnt out after the pandemic, many nurses were eager to strike. Many complained their hospitals were chronically understaffed, which they blamed on low pay hurting recruitment and retention.
The two sides reached their tentative agreement early Friday morning after two marathon bargaining sessions.
In a statement, Providence said it was “grateful for the hard work and commitment of both bargaining teams. We look forward to collaborating as we continue to serve our patients with compassionate, high-quality care.”
Seaside Aquarium Says The dragonfly Migration Is On!
Thousands of dragonflies are currently migrating through the dunes. This video was taken this afternoon at Del Ray State Park. At the onset of fall cold fronts, the main species involved, the Variegated Meadowhawk, seems to funnel to the coast and head south. But beyond that, little is known about these fall migrants.
“This is not only an amazing spectacle to witness but a great mystery even to scientists,” says Cary Kerst, co-author with Steve Gordon, of Dragonflies and Damselflies of Oregon Authors Steve Gordon and Cary Kerstgon, the definitive field guide to the subject. “We don’t know where they are coming from or going or what prompts them to start moving.
”Here is some interesting information from Oregon State University: Scientists have tried various methods of tracking dragonfly migrations with little success. Now, a partnership has formed to solicit the public’s help to better protect and sustain this phenomenon. The Migratory Dragonfly Partnership offers an opportunity for people to collect and record dragonfly migration observations. Citizen scientists monitor the timing, duration, and direction of travel of migrating dragonflies, and note any additional behaviors observed in migratory flight such as feeding or mating.
Learning to identify the main migratory species of dragonflies is an essential first step in migrating Dragonflies monitoring, and for Oregon there’s no better place to start than the Kerst and Gordon guide. It includes full color photographs of all species found in the state, along with helpful illustrations and charts showing important identification characteristics. The book also features descriptions of the thirty best sites in Oregon to observe these amazing insects, a useful tool for viewing uncommon species in spectacular settings.
With sufficient participation in migration monitoring, it’s not hard to imagine a future in which volunteers line Oregon dunes each fall wearing “Dragonfly Watching Spoken Here” t-shirts and introducing curious onlookers to the wonders of dragonfly migration. https://www.facebook.com/SeasideAquarium/videos/310159248084626
Columbia River Fire & Rescue’s Interim Chief Resigns Days After Being Appointed
Columbia River Fire & Rescue’s former interim fire chief says he resigned three days after newly elected board members voted to remove the district’s then-fire chief.
Michael Gorsuch resigned from the interim position Friday, Aug. 11, less than a week after the board voted to remove former chief Joel Medina on Tuesday, Aug. 8, and instate Gorsuch as acting chief.
The board failed to notify the public or media about a change in the agenda, seemingly breaking public meetings law, as discussion of Medina’s employment was not on the agenda for the meeting.
The Oregonian reported that it obtained Gorsuch’s resignation letter to CRF&R staff, which reportedly stated he was “very overwhelmed and underprepared” and that he had been “threatened and chastised.” Despite requests, the fire district has not released the resignation letter to Pamplin Media Group.
Gorsuch declined Pamplin Media Group’s request for comment on why he resigned.
Deputy Fire Chief Eric Smythe, a communications representative for the district, did confirm the resignation but declined to comment further.
Newly elected Columbia River Fire & Rescue board members removed Medina, the district’s embattled fire chief, in a 3-1 vote on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
The new district board members, Ryan Welby, Austin Zimbrick, and Rick Fletcher, then appointed Gorsuch, a battalion chief at the time, as interim fire chief.
Board member Gary Hudson, who previously opposed suggestions of placing Medina on leave or firing him, voted against Medina’s removal.
Board chair Kelly Niles, who raised the suggestion of placing Medina on leave at an April 28 board meeting, abstained.
Fletcher, Zimbrick and Welby all said while campaigning that they would support placing Medina on leave but declined to say whether they would follow through once elected.
The decision comes after a vote of no confidence from the union against Medina; a lawsuit from former employees that includes allegations of sexual harassment, financial mismanagement and wrongful termination against the district; and internal and criminal investigations into the district’s finances.
The district hired Medina in January 2021.
“It was a relief for a lot of us,” St. Helens Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 3215 president Aaron Schrotzberger told Pamplin Media Group the day after the board voted to fire Medina.
Schrotzberger also said the union supported Gorsuch.
The union’s vote of no confidence was in part due to firefighters saying the fire agency is backtracking on a ratified contract , effectively cutting some employees’ wages by 10%.
After working under an expired contract for over eight months, IAFF Local 3215, ratified a contract with CRF&R’s board on March 15. However, the union says the district emailed them two days later to say it wouldn’t uphold part of the contract.
The union and district are currently going through an arbitration process to settle the grievance.
The union also indicated the lawsuit against Medina was a factor.
Schrotzberger did not respond to Pamplin Media Group’s request for comment before this article’s publication.
Former Columbia River Fire & Rescue employees Jennifer Motherway, Anika Todd and Monica Cade still have an ongoing lawsuit against the district that includes allegations against Medina and Smythe.
In addition to the former employees’ allegations of financial mismanagement, Medina himself also raised the alarm in April. The district launched its own internal audit after Medina said he brought concerns to then-District Attorney Jeff Auxier. Auxier confirmed he had opened an investigation into the district’s finances in tandem with the Oregon State Police.
In June, CRF&R’s forensic auditor, Rob Moody, informed the district of evidence he found that potentially multiple former employees had defrauded the district.
Moody said that between 2016 and 2022, there was $52,000 in overpaid rates or benefits for PERS, over $1 million underreported in workers’ compensation, and unreconcilable credit card charges.
The report named Motherway, Todd and Cade, among other employees, including Fletcher. The three former employees then amended their lawsuit after the district’s internal audit found evidence of fraud and pointed at the three plaintiffs, among other employees.
Motherway, Todd and Cade say they have evidence that all allegations made against them in a draft forensic report are inaccurate, and that CRF&R officials knowingly withheld information to incriminate them. The case will go to a trial by jury, though the court has not set a date. Both financial investigations also remain ongoing. (SOURCE)
Newport Oregon Police Department – · FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Night Time Single Lane Closure – Yaquina Bay Bridge –
Sunday night, August 13 through Friday morning, August 25. Night work is scheduled on Yaquina Bay Bridge for two weeks, starting Sunday night, August 13th and finishing Friday morning, August 25th.
There will be a single lane closure on the bridge, with flaggers, nightly from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.For questions, please contact: Clare C. Paul, PE, Assistant City Engineer541-574-3370Andrea Mather, PE, ODOT Assistant Resident Engineer, Area 4 541-757-4156
The man accused of kidnapping a woman in Seattle and holding her in a cinder block cell in Klamath Falls is now in the Multnomah County jail.
Negasi Zuberi was extradited to Oregon from Nevada. He’s facing federal charges and will appear in federal court either in Eugene or Medford. If he’s convicted of interstate kidnapping, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Negasi Zuberi was arrested in Reno, Nevada in mid-July. He was extradited to Oregon on Wednesday.
Zuberi, 29, is facing federal charges for allegedly holding a woman he had kidnapped in Seattle inside a homemade cell until she escaped by pounding at the door with bloodied hands. The victim escaped and waved down a passing driver to get help.
Investigators are now asking any other potential survivors to step forward, saying Zuberi lived in ten different states over the past decade. According to court officials, he’ll be in federal court in Medford or Eugene and not Portland.
Cost Of Fighting Oregon Wildfires Grows With Climate Change
As wildfire season in Oregon becomes more volatile, in part due to climate change, the cost of fighting fires is also expected to grow for the state and federal governments.
Why it matters: The cost of fighting wildfires is not as straightforward as one might think. While labor and fuel make up the bulk of resources needed to fight wildfires, aircraft, third-party contractors and on-site incident management camps can quickly jack up the price.
What they’re saying: “The cost of a fire is surprisingly fluid until you can get all of the final invoices and everything in,” Jessica Prakke, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), tells Axios. “But we do predict that fires will continue to become larger and in turn more costly.”
How it works: Funding for fighting wildfires depends on where one starts, and every wildfire is billed separately, Prakke said.
- If a wildfire breaks out on state-owned land or private land, ODF is then responsible and taps into its budget paid for by the state’s general fund.
- If a wildfire starts on federal land, as many of the most devastating ones do, funds are either taken out of the Department of Interior’s Wildland Fire Management Budget or the U.S. Forest Service’s.
However, if costs exceed an agency’s budget, which they routinely do, it’s allowed to allocate funds from different areas within their budget or apply for emergency assistance from the state and federal governments.
The intrigue: The use of aerial support for fighting a wildfire is typically the most costly because aircraft are operated by third-party contractors who have their own prices for machinery, labor and overtime.
- “We strategically use the aircraft because if we’re using it every single time, that number is going to stack up,” Prakke said. “If it’s a small enough fire with low fire potential, we’ll just tackle it with a hand crew and on-the-ground resources as strategically as possible to protect taxpayer dollars.”
By the numbers: The year-to-date estimated total cost of fighting wildfires for ODF this year is just over $20 million. Of that, $16 million is the estimated cost since July 1 due to increased wildfire activity. As wildfire season progresses, that number will likely increase too.
- ODF requested a $232 million budget for fire protection through 2025.
- Nationally, the U.S. Forest Service’s budget request for 2024 is $2.97 billion, per Jennifer O’Leary Risdal, a spokesperson for the agency. That’s $647 million, or 28% more, than the previous year.
What’s next: The future cost of fighting Oregon wildfires depends not only on how prepared state agencies can be in their initial attacks after severe weather events, but on whether they can drum up support among state legislators for a fire funding fix.
- Fire officials are hoping to build on SB 762 — a bill passed in 2021 after the disastrous Labor Day fires that allocated $220 million for emerging firefighting technologies — by advocating for the creation of a disaster fund that can be tapped into without depleting funding from other parts of the budget. (SOURCE)
The Oregon Health Authority has issued urgent advice on the dangers of taking a dip in the Willamette River and Sauvie Island areas.
As the heatwave continues in Oregon, there is worse news for residents looking for a place to cool down. This follows a previous recreational use advisory issued a couple of days before that warned of toxic algae bloom developing in these bodies of water.
The health authority website provides a useful list of all current cyanobacteria bloom advisories which is continually updated. There’s no denying the terrible timing as temperatures are predicted to soar to over 100 degrees before falling back to the 90s. Nevertheless, it’s just too dangerous to enter the water with an algae bloom affecting the river in Downtown Portland between the Ross Island Lagoon and the Riverplace Marina. The greatest risks are for children and pets.
Paid Leave Oregon Signups Can Begin Today
The Oregon Employment Department announced Wednesday that Paid Leave Oregon is on track to begin next month, and people can start signing up for benefits Monday.
Oregon’s state-run paid leave program starts taking applications on Monday. The first leave can start September 3rd with payments going out through direct deposit or prepaid cards two weeks later. Paid Leave Oregon will cover time off for family members, illness, and safe leave. Around 41-thousand claims are expected at the start and then 12-thousand a month as the program moves forward. Grants are available for small businesses to help cover for employees while they’re on leave. Eleven states have similar programs. FOR MORE INFO: https://paidleave.oregon.gov/
Eastern Oregon counties see jump in mosquitoes with West Nile virus
Growing mosquito populations raise risk for virus infections in humans, OHA says
PORTLAND, Ore.—Health officials are reminding people heading outdoors in eastern Oregon to prevent mosquito bites after a recent jump in the number of mosquito pools – collections of up to 50 insects – testing positive for West Nile virus, according to local vector control districts.
Emilio DeBess, D.V.M., state public health veterinarian at Oregon Health Authority’s (OHA) Public Health Division, said high heat combined with sporadic precipitation has created perfect conditions for mosquito growth in recent weeks. As a result, eastern parts of the state are seeing more mosquitoes and a corresponding increase in traps containing West Nile-positive insects.
The increase in mosquito populations may be behind new human cases of the virus.
“Eastern Oregon has seen a little bit of rain, leading to additional water available for mosquitoes to lay eggs,” said DeBess. “We saw an increase of 13 West Nile-positive mosquito pools in one week, 10 of them in Baker County, and two presumptive human cases.”
So far in 2023, a total of 22 mosquito pools have tested positive for the virus. Eleven have been in Baker County, seven in Malheur County, two in Union County, and one each in Jackson and Umatilla counties.
Last year, there were five human West Nile virus cases in Oregon, and three cases among horses, with 45 positive mosquito pools. There also were five human cases in 2021, along with eight horse cases, two bird cases and 75 positive mosquito pools.
Groups at risk for severe disease include adults 50 and older, immunocompromised people and those living with certain conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
While most infected people show little to no signs of disease, one in five show signs of West Nile fever. Flu-like symptoms can last from a few days to several weeks and may include fever above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, severe headaches, stiff neck, mental confusion, muscle weakness, shaking, paralysis or rash. Anyone experiencing such symptoms should contact their health care provider.
The easiest and best way to avoid mosquito-borne diseases is to prevent mosquito bites:
- People should mosquito-proof their homes by following these steps:
- Eliminate standing water in and around the home and business where mosquitoes can breed.
- At least once or twice a week, empty water from flowerpots, pet food and water dishes, birdbaths, swimming pool covers, buckets, barrels and cans.
- Clean out clogged rain gutters.
- Remove discarded tires and other items that could collect water.
- Look for containers or trash in places that may be hard to see, such as under bushes or under your home.
- Take personal precautions to prevent mosquito bites.
- Apply insect repellent to exposed skin. Generally, the more active ingredients a repellent contains the longer it can protect against mosquito bites. Repellents containing DEET, oil of lemon eucalyptus or Picaridin are recommended; follow directions on the container for applying it to the skin.
- Repellents may irritate the eyes and mouth, so avoid applying repellent to the hands of children. When using an insecticide or insect repellent, be sure to read and follow the manufacturer’s DIRECTIONS FOR USE, as printed on the products.
- When weather permits, wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants whenever you are outdoors.
- Place mosquito netting over infant carriers when outdoors with infants.
- Consider staying indoors at dawn and dusk, which are peak mosquito biting times. Install or repair window and door screens so that mosquitoes cannot get indoors.
Additional resources, such as frequently asked questions and information on finding local mosquito control agencies, are available on OHA’s West Nile virus page and CDC website. Current and past virus data can be found on the West Nile Virus Activity page.
Red Cross: Donation shortfall may impact blood supply
$10 e-gift card for donors in August
— The American Red Cross has seen a shortfall of about 25,000 blood donations in the first two months of the summer, which makes it hard to keep hospital shelves stocked with lifesaving blood products. By making an appointment to give blood or platelets in August, donors can keep the national blood supply from falling to shortage levels.
Right now, the Red Cross especially needs type O negative, type O positive, type B negative and type A negative blood donors, as well as platelet donors. For those who don’t know their blood type, making a donation is an easy way to find out this important personal health information. The Red Cross will notify new donors of their blood type soon after they give.
The Red Cross needs donors now. Schedule an appointment to give by downloading the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
All who come to give throughout the month of August will get a $10 e-gift card to a movie merchant of their choice. Details are available at RedCrossBlood.org/Movie. Visit www.redcrossblood.org and put in your zip code to find a donation site near you.
83-year-old Clarence Edward Pitts walked away from his home in Bandon on Tuesday, January 31 at around 1:00 p.m. Pitts is described as:
- 6′ 00″
- 150 lbs
- Gray hair
- Brown eyes
- Last seen wearing an orange beanie, plaid jacket, tan pants and white shoes
- May have a walking cane
- Has dementia and PTSD
Pitts may be in a vehicle that was also found to be missing from the home:
- 1999 Toyota Van
- White
- Oregon license plate: WYN 788
If you see Clarence or have any information pertaining to where he may be, please call the Coos County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center at 541-396-2106 or the Bandon Police Department at 541-347-3189.
Contact us: Info@OregonBeachMagazine.com