The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Oregon Beach Weather
Oregon Winter Whale Watch Weeks
Winter Event Dates: Wednesday, December 28, 2022 – Sunday, January 1, 2023
Spring Event Dates: Will be announced soon.
For the first time since the Winter of 2019 the Oregon Whale Watch weeks are returning to live, in person events.
Volunteers will be returning to some of the most beautiful parks and locations along the Oregon Coast to document gray whales as they migrate along the coast and in turn, we will educate thousands and thousands of visitors about these amazing animals and the incredible journey the complete.
If you are a current volunteer, or someone who wants to get involved, please watch the short video below to learn how the process for this years events will work. FOR MORE INFO: https://orwhalewatch.org/
4.9 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Bandon Coast This Morning
A small earthquake was reported off the Oregon coast early Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey .
Shortly before 4:30 a.m., USGS said the 4.9 magnitude earthquake struck nearly 185 miles west of Bandon, which is near the Blanco Fracture Zone where cluster quakes often happen. The quake’s depth was recorded at 10 kilometers. No tsunami warning was issued.
Newport Man Arrested After Setting Gazebo At Don Davis Memorial Park On Fire
A man was arrested Monday evening after setting a gazebo at Newport’s Don Davis Memorial Park on fire, according to the Newport Police Department.
At about 5:21 Newport Police Officers responded to the park and found a fire in an enclosed gazebo, with flames about eight feet high.
Newport fire was able to quickly extinguish the fire.
Witnesses said that a man, later identified at 46-year-old David Timmons, was in the gazebo trying to refill portable propane tanks using a big propane tank. Timmons was starting in front of an open flame propane heater. The witness told Timmons to stop because it was not safe.
Timmons then dropped the open propane bottle directly in front of the open flame, igniting a fire. He then ran while others tried to extinguish the fire.
An Oregon State Trooper later found Timmons in a neighboring park after a tip. Timmons admitted to refilling the propane bottles but denied causing the fire. Police arrested him and booked him into the Lincoln County Jail on charges of reckless burning, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
Seaside Police Seek Info on Missing Person
Seaside Police are investigating the disappearance of LaDawn Rene Bloom, 58, who was last seen Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022 at approximately 5:45 pm in the Seaside area.
Bloom was driving a 2018 Silver Ford Fiesta with Arkansas plate AHK77J on the back and no front license. She had three cats in the car with her but does not have her purse, medications, cell phone or any other known communication devices. Her direction of travel is unknown.
Bloom, also known as Rene Dawn, is a 5-foot-3 female weighing approximately 108 pounds with green eyes and gray hair. She was last seen wearing a purple and pink plaid button-up with a purple undershirt.
The public is asked to call 911 immediately if she is located. Anyone with information related to the search for Bloom should contact Detective Sergeant Josh Gregory by phone at 503.738.6311 or by emailing jgregory@cityofseaside.us.
Florence Chapter of Soroptomist’s Christmas Meal Distribution
Families in the area who may not have the resources to put together a traditional Christmas dinner are being offered a basket filled with items to make that meal. Members and friends of the Florence chapter of Soroptomist will be ready to go Saturday, December 17th at Siuslaw Middle School.
“We plan to be ready to distribute at ten but we don’t start until we’re all ready to go.”
Carol Bennett says it will be a “drive through” affair with participants entering the north parking lot at the middle school from 27th street. Volunteers will be there to greet them. There are no forms to fill out, and no income restrictions.
“They don’t have to do anything to qualify. They just have to show up.”
A food box tailored to the size of the household will be put together by the time they reach the front of the line. Bennett says this time of year it’s not just about getting a food box for some.
“I’m sure there are people that show up just to have somebody say Merry Christmas to them.”
Volunteers are welcome. They need to park in the South parking lot and arrive by 9 o’clock.
Governor Brown Commutes Sentences Of All 17 People On Oregon’s Death Row To Life Without Parole
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced Tuesday that she is commuting the sentences of all of the state’s 17 inmates awaiting execution, saying their death sentences will be changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Brown, a Democrat with less than a month remaining in office, said that she was using her executive clemency powers to commute the sentences and that her order would take effect Wednesday.
“I have long believed that justice is not advanced by taking a life, and the state should not be in the business of executing people — even if a terrible crime placed them in prison,” said Brown, whose recently elected successor, Tina Kotek, is a fellow Democrat..
Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, leader of the minority Republicans in the Oregon House of Representatives, accused Brown of “a lack of responsible judgment.”
“Gov. Brown has once again taken executive action with zero input from Oregonians and the Legislature,” Breese-Iverson said in a statement. “Her decisions do not consider the impact the victims and families will suffer in the months and years to come. Democrats have consistently chosen criminals over victims.”
In her announcement, Brown said that victims experience “pain and uncertainty” as they wait for decades while individuals sit on death row.
“My hope is that this commutation will bring us a significant step closer to finality in these cases,” she said.
No one has been executed in the state since 1997. The governor’s order goes into effect Wednesday.
After taking office in 2015, Brown continued then Gov. John Kitzhaber’s 2011 moratorium on executions. In 2019, Brown signed a law that restricts the use of the death penalty.
The state has had the death penalty in place since 1984 – capital punishment was banned in 1962 – but it didn’t use it until Douglas Wright was executed by lethal injection in 1996. Harry Moore died by lethal injection in May 1997. Both of those men waved their appeals.
Tuesday’s order comes as Brown is set to end her term as governor in January.
So far, 17 people have been executed in the U.S. in 2022, all by lethal injection and all in Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Missouri and Alabama, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Like Oregon, some other states are moving away from the death penalty.
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019 and shut down the state’s execution chamber at San Quentin. A year ago, he moved to dismantle America’s largest death row by moving all condemned inmates to other prisons within two years.
In Oregon, Brown is known for exercising her authority to grant clemency.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown granted clemency to nearly 1,000 people convicted of crimes. Two district attorneys, along with family members of crime victims, sued the governor and other state officials to stop the clemency actions. But the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled in August that she acted within her authority.
The prosecutors, in particular, objected to Brown’s decision to allow 73 people convicted of murder, assault, rape and manslaughter when they were under 18 to apply for early release.
Brown noted that she had previously granted commutations “to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary growth and rehabilitation” but said that assessment didn’t apply in her latest decision.
“This commutation is not based on any rehabilitative efforts by the individuals on death row,” Brown said. “Instead, it reflects the recognition that the death penalty is immoral. It is an irreversible punishment that does not allow for correction.”
The Oregon Department of Corrections announced in May 2020 that it was phasing out its death row and reassigning those inmates to other special housing units or general population units at the state penitentiary in Salem and other state prisons.
Oregon voters reinstated the death penalty by popular vote in 1978 after having abolished it 14 years earlier. The Oregon Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1981, and Oregon voters reinstated it again in 1984, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
A list of inmates with death sentences provided by the governor’s office had 17 names.
The state Department of Corrections’ website lists 21 names. One of those prisoners, however, had his death sentence overturned by the Oregon Supreme Court in 2021 because the crime he committed was no longer eligible for the death penalty under a 2019 law.
Officials in the governor’s office and the corrections department did not immediately respond to an attempt to reconcile the lists.
Governor-Elect Kotek Names Interim Director For The Oregon Health Authority
Gov.-elect Tina Kotek will appoint a 20-year healthcare veteran to lead the Oregon Health Authority in early January, at least temporarily.
In a statement on Tuesday, she said that James Schroeder, currently the CEO of the state’s largest Medicaid insurer, Health Share of Oregon, will serve as interim director.
“James brings over 20 years of management, leadership and health care delivery experience and a deep respect for the work of the OHA,” Kotek said. “Addressing the cracks in our mental health and addiction services systems will be a top priority for my administration, and I am confident that James has the experience and determination to get results for Oregonians.”
Schroeder will start Jan. 10, the day after Kotek takes office. He will replace Patrick Allen, who announced last month that he will step down Jan. 9. Steve Allen, the health authority’s behavioral health director, will leave the same day. Kotek said during her campaign she would replace both Allens, who are not related.
Patrick Allen brought to the agency years of government leadership experience, including as director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, which oversees most insurance companies. Schroeder has clinical and administrative health care experience. He was trained as a physician’s assistant, a role that includes prescribing medications, and has worked in clinical and managerial roles.
For the past two years, he’s led Health Share, which insures 426,000 Medicaid patients in the Portland area. Before that he held several top positions at Kaiser Permanente, including as vice president of safety net transformation and medical director of Medicaid. And since 2013, he’s served as medical officer in the Oregon Air National Guard, according to his LinkedIn page.
Schroeder also has worked as a clinician and executive in medical clinics that serve many Medicaid patients, founding and serving as CEO of the Neighborhood Health Center in the Portland area.
$97M In Timber Revenue From Oregon State Forests This Year
Logging on Oregon’s state forests produced more than $97 million for county and state governments this year, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry.
The state distributes about two-thirds of the timber revenue from the Tillamook, Clatsop, Santiam, Gilchrest and Sun Pass state forests to surrounding counties under a management agreement, and it uses the remainder for state forestry operations.
ODF recently released its Council of Forest Trust Land Counties annual report on its management of about 729,000 acres of state forestland, including a tally of timber sales and revenue distribution.
The amount of money generated from logging on state forestland has been hotly debated as environmental groups push for more habitat protection for threatened and endangered species and counties have argued in court that the state has an obligation to maximize timber revenue for their benefit.
This year, the state distributed $61.8 million in timber revenue: $6.7 million to Marion, Linn and Clackamas counties from the 47,000-acre Santiam State Forest, $19.1 million to Clatsop County from the 147,000-acre Clatsop State Forest and $30.5 million to Tillamook, Washington and Columbia counties from the 357,000-acre Tillamook State Forest. Additional revenues went to Coos, Douglas, Josephine, Klamath and Lane counties.
The state’s share of the revenue was about $35.5 million, used for things like replanting trees in logged over areas, maintaining campgrounds and trails and improving wildlife habitat.
“Oregonians have a lot to be proud of when it comes to their state forestlands,” State Forester Cal Mukumoto said. “These working lands provide so much to so many, including funding for vital local services, places to connect with nature, clean water, and habitat for some of Oregon’s most rare and sensitive species.”
Bob Van Dyk, Oregon policy director for the environmental group Wild Salmon Center, said the current system puts too much pressure on the forests to deliver funding for state and local governments.
“It’s not a good idea to have local services depending on cutting down rare habitats,” he said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about those revenues. If there’s a big forest fire, well, then there’s no revenue,” he said. “What happens if the forest burns down?”
Van Dyk said he’s hoping the state will find a way to decouple timber revenue from government services as it did with the Elliott State Forest when it bought the forest out of the Common School Fund so schools don’t have to rely on timber revenue from the forest.
Environmental advocates have supported the state’s efforts to develop a Habitat Conservation Plan that will add new environmental and legal protections for state forests but could reduce timber revenue that governments depend on.
Van Dyk said he expects the Oregon Legislature to take up the issue of decoupling state forests from government revenue in its next session.
“Our concern is that the current system sets rare habitats and forest conservation against important government services,” he said. “And that’s an old system. It’s one we just got rid of on the Elliott State Forest and it’s one we need to examine and move beyond.”
Oregon Department of Forestry spokesman Jason Cox said his agency is still in the process of developing a Habitat Conservation Plan for state forests, and that the Oregon Board of Forestry has yet to approve final plans. He said the plan should ensure both habitat protection for threatened and endangered species and timber revenue in the future.
“The aim of the Habitat Conservation Plan, if it were to be enacted, would be to provide that certainty and that steadiness over the next 70 years,” he said. “And that includes benefits to rural communities in terms of revenue.”
Cox said decoupling state forests from government services would have to be handled by the Legislature.
A Court of Appeals decision earlier this year concluded that state forests should be managed for multiple benefits, including water quality and wildlife habitat as well as timber revenue.
Oregon Judge Upholds Temporary Restraining Order On Measure 114
The same Oregon judge who temporarily blocked Measure 114 from becoming law last week, heard arguments Tuesday, Dec. 13, in Burns over whether the voter-approved measure should be put on hold for months — or longer — as a legal challenge brought by gun groups makes its way through the courts.
Less than an hour into the hearing, Harney County Circuit Judge Robert S. Raschio ruled he would keep at least a portion of Measure 114 on hold until the state established a permitting system that would allow for the sale of firearms under the law’s new permitting system.
“I’m going to continue the temporary restraining order with regards to the permit to purchase because I am convinced that there’s irreparable harm to the constitutional right to bear arms under Article 1 Section 27 if I do not,” Raschio stated.
Medical Examiner Says Body Of Woman Found In Portland Unidentified – Seeks Public Help
The Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office is asking for the public’s help identifying the body of a woman who died Nov. 28 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.
