The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Oregon Beach Weather
Active Weather Alerts – NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 1 AM PST THURSDAY... ...GALE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM THURSDAY TO 4 AM PST FRIDAY... * WHAT...South winds 20 to 30 kt with gusts up to 35 kt and seas 7 to 9 ft at 9 seconds increasing to south gales 25 to 35 kt with gusts up to 45 kt and very steep hazardous seas 13 to 18 ft. * WHERE...All areas. The highest winds and steepest seas are expected beyond 10 NM from shore, except closer in to shore near Cape Blanco. * WHEN...For the Gale Warning, from 1 AM Thursday to 4 AM PST Friday. For the Small Craft Advisory, from 4 PM this afternoon to 1 AM PST Thursday. * IMPACTS...Strong winds and very steep seas could capsize or damage vessels. Low visibility conditions are expected. Bar crossings could become very hazardous. * View the hazard area in detail at https://go.usa.gov/x6hks
Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Seizes $2.1M Worth Of Illegally Grown Marijuana
On March 1, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) served search warrants for illegal marijuana grows in Clatskanie, Deer Island and Scappoose.
During the service of these search warrants, CCSO deputies recovered a total of 6,611 plants, 133.5 pounds of processed marijuana, and over $69,000 in cash.
The marijuana located during the service of the three search warrants has an approximate street value of $2,181,011.
Columbia County Sheriff Brian Pixley said one suspect, Sze Lim Lum, was referred to the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office, for charges.
“These are the first of many search warrants that our Street Crimes team will serve over the next few years,” Pixley said. “We appreciate the participation of our partner agencies, including the Scappoose Police Department, Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office, the Oregon State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
The Illegal Marijuana Market Grant, awarded to CCSO in 2022, funded this investigation.
Specific details about what led to the search and seizure operations and the names of the suspects had not been released by the CCSO at the time of this release.
Hiker Plunges To His Death at Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area
A tourist has fallen to his death while hiking a cliff, dropping 20 feet into the ocean, which left him unconscious and unable to swim back to safety.
Henry Minh Hoang, 25, was hiking at the Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area. His death has been confirmed by the Oregon State Police.
Officers shared a news statement, explaining that Hoang was “knocked unconscious” after slipping on a rock and falling 20- feet into the ocean. They shared that Huang had ignored the park’s safety signs, slipping inside the “punch bowl” area of the cliff.
“The victim was reportedly knocked unconscious from the fall and was swept into the ocean by the waves,” said state police.
Police also reported that there were onlookers present, witnessing the accident and being unable to help. “Witnesses lost sight of the victim and the rescue operation later transitioned into a likely recovery operation.”
A rescue team stopped by the location at 5 PM, having to pause the rescue efforts until the following morning to avoid exposing the team to any harm.
Hoang’s body was found at around 4:30 pm the following day, at the bottom of a cliff. Huang’s body was taken to a local funeral home. He was from West Covina, California.
Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area is known for its stunning ocean views. The park has a sandstone headland that can crumble when people walk on it.
“Beyond the fence, the cliff edge can — and will — crumble without warning,” warns the park’s website. “It’s dangerous, and people have died after climbing over the safety fences. Don’t do it.”
Brookings-based Film on Kickstarter
Woodsrider Films’ Cambria Matlow will run a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter from Feb 28-March 23. Her film WHY DIG WHEN YOU CAN PLUCK will be featured in the platform’s month-long specialty program Long Story Short. This program dedicates the month of March to promote the best short films on the platform.
WHY DIG WHEN YOU CAN PLUCK has also been chosen as a Kickstarter ‘Project We Love.’ Her goal is to raise $22,000 to support post production and distribution.
In the fiction film WHY DIG WHEN YOU CAN PLUCK, a stoner filmmaker seeking inspiration for her next movie brings her volatile husband and defiant young son camping on the Oregon coast near Brookings. When her competing desires to be a good mother and creative artist come to a hilt, she reaches a painful but powerful breakthrough.
The film challenges norms around motherhood and artmaking while addressing themes of trust, violence, magic and love.
Kickstarter Campaign URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cambriamatlow/why-dig-when-you-can-pluck
(SOURCE) MORE INFO: https://www.woodsriderfilms.com/whydigwhenyoucanpluck
Oregon’s Unemployment Rate was 4.8% in January
Oregon’s unemployment rate was 4.8% in January, matching Oregon’s revised 4.8% unemployment rates for October, November, and December 2022. The last time Oregon’s unemployment rate was more than 4.8% was in July 2021 when the rate was 5.1%. In January, the U.S. unemployment rate was 3.4%, its lowest level in more than 50 years. Annual revisions to the data, released this month, indicate that Oregon’s unemployment rate was higher than originally estimated last year, and payroll employment growth was slightly slower.
In Oregon, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 9,900 jobs in January, following a gain of 5,600 jobs in December. Monthly job gains in 2022 averaged 5,600. The gains in January were largest in health care and social assistance (+2,200 jobs); professional and business services (+1,800); and leisure and hospitality (+1,400). The only major industry with a job loss in January was private educational services (-600).
Health care and social assistance expanded its workforce rapidly during July 2022 through January 2023. During that time, it added 4,500 jobs, to reach a total of 271,800 jobs. Prior to that there had been little net job change compared with early 2021. Over the most recent 12 months, social assistance was the component industry that grew the most, adding 5,000 jobs since January 2022.
Professional and business services continued its rapid expansion of the past more than two years. It added 13,000 jobs, or 5.0%, since January 2022. Job gains in this broad industry—that makes up 14% of Oregon’s total nonfarm payroll jobs—have been relentless and consistent throughout 2021 and 2022.
Leisure and hospitality rose in January, consistent with its steady expansion and partial recovery from the recession of nearly three years ago. It added 12,500 jobs, or 6.5%, in the 12 months to January. Despite these gains, it is still 10,600 jobs below its pre-recession peak reached in February 2020.
Private educational services slipped to 34,800 jobs in January, following stability since May 2022.
Next Press Releases – The Oregon Employment Department released the January county and metropolitan area unemployment rates today at 10 am, concurrently with the release of the January statewide data. The Department plans to release the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for February on Tuesday, March 21.
| Notes: All numbers in the above narrative are seasonally adjusted, except for the component industries within health care and social assistance. The Oregon Employment Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) work cooperatively to develop and publish monthly Oregon payroll employment and labor force data. The estimates of monthly job gains and losses are based on a survey of businesses. The estimates of unemployment are based on a survey of households and other sources. This press release incorporates, for the first time, the annual revisions to the data for 2022 and prior years. |
The PDF version of the news release can be found at QualityInfo.org/press-release. To obtain the data in other formats such as in Excel, visit QualityInfo.org, select Tools, then choose LAUS or CES under the Economy header. To request the press release as a Word document, contact the person shown at the top of this press release.
To file a claim for unemployment benefits or get more information about unemployment programs, visit unemployment.oregon.gov.
The Oregon Employment Department (OED) is an equal opportunity agency. OED provides free help so you can use our services. Some examples are sign language and spokenlanguage interpreters, written materials in other languages, large print, audio, and other formats. To get help, please call 503-947-1444. TTY users call 711. You can also send an email to communications@employ.oregon.gov.
El Departamento de Empleo de Oregon (OED) es una agencia de igualdad de oportunidades. El OED proporciona ayuda gratuita para que usted pueda utilizar nuestros servicios. Algunos ejemplos son intérpretes de lengua de señas e idiomas hablados, materiales escritos en otros idiomas, letra grande, audio y otros formatos. Para obtener ayuda, por favor llame al 503-947-1444. Usuarios de TTY pueden llamar al 711. También puede enviar un correo electrónico a communications@employ.oregon.gov.
Oregon Weather Radar Coverage Poorest In The Country
Last month’s record-breaking snowstorm left Portland reeling for days, but part of why the storm hit so hard was that it took the city by surprise — and a gap in Oregon’s weather radar coverage has something to do with it. Last month’s record-breaking snowfall wasn’t easy to track, but a atmospheric sciences professor says better coastal radar coverage would have helped.
Commuters headed to work on Feb. 22 were still expecting not much more than a light dusting, but the storm ended up dumping nearly 11 inches of snow, turning metro area roads into a catastrophic mess by the early evening.
Poor radar coverage means weather systems are tougher to track in Oregon, making it really difficult to pinpoint who will see snowflakes and who won’t. The Feb. 22 storm is a good example because it involved a band of moisture moving in over Oregon’s central coast — right where a radar gap stretches for nearly 200 miles to the south of Lincoln City.
KGW spoke with atmospheric sciences professor Cliff Mass with the University of Washington to see if last month’s snow storm would have been easier to predict with better radar coverage.
“It certainly would have helped short-range,” he said. “I’m not saying it would have helped 48 hours out, but for forecasting the six-to-twelve hour forecast, having a coastal radar could have been useful.”
Mass said that the coastal radar system in Oregon is practically nonexistent. In fact, Oregon is notorious for having the worst radar coverage of the lower 48 states. And it’s not just a question of missing radar stations — existing stations, like the one in Portland, can also run into terrain challenges.
“It’s so bad because the radars aren’t there that need to cover that (coast) region, and the fact that we have terrain that blocks the radar,” Mass said. “We have the Cascades that are good at blocking radar, and the coastal range.”
Snowstorms aren’t the only dangerous weather patterns that can slip through radar gaps. When a tornado hit the coast town of Manzanita in October 2016, the only warning residents got was an alert sent to their phones.
Closing the gap isn’t an easy task, because new radar installations on the coast would cost millions of dollars. Mass said his approach would be to move an existing radar installation from Medford out to the coast, and replace it in Medford with less expensive hardware. (SOURCE)
Fire destroys the TA Express in Biggs Junction
BIGGS JUNCTION, Ore. – The Sherman County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday morning alerted motorists in the area to avoid the west side of Biggs Junction as fire crews worked a structure fire at the TA Express, authorities reported.
The initial call came in around 5 a.m. Tuesday when thick smoke was reported in a dryer. The Sheriff’s Office reported the fire was mostly out and crews were mopping up around 9 a.m.
There were no reported injuries. The incident is being investigated by the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office.
“As always, we are grateful for the volunteer firefighters of Sherman County,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
Remains Found Near Sweet Home In 2020 Identified As Missing Olympia Woman Thru DNA
The Linn County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) has identified human remains found in 2020 as a missing Olympia woman.
Oregon State Police (OSP) said the remains of a partially skeletonized human body were found in an extremely remote, wooded area off a US Forest Service Road east of Sweet Home, Oregon on April 4, 2020.
Investigators determined that the body likely belonged to a woman between the ages of 30 and 50. The case was uploaded to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) and a bone sample was submitted to Bode Technology for processing.
The resulting DNA was uploaded to a database, but police said there were no genetic associations to a missing person or possible relatives. A forensic illustration was also made and uploaded to the NamUs website. Despite the efforts, LCSO was unable to find a missing person case that matched the characteristics of the woman.
The case was at risk of becoming “cold” so the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office used grant funding from the National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Assistance to perform innovative DNA techniques in the hope of identifying the woman.
A sample from the woman’s tooth was sent to DNA Labs International and a different type of DNA profile was produced and provided by Parabon NanoLabs (Parabon). The DNA profile was able to predict the woman’s eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, the shape of her face, and biogeographic ancestry.
The genealogy report issued by Parabon suggested that the woman was Grace Lorna Narvez-Weaver, reported missing in Washington in 2019. LCSO then contacted the woman’s family so they could provide DNA to compare to the woman’s DNA.
Last month, Parabon said the DNA from the family member shared a significant amount of DNA with the woman. The amount of DNA shared was consistent with a parent and child relationship.
“Grace’s case is an excellent example of how advanced technologies like investigative genetic genealogy and phenotyping can be used to help resolve a case before it goes cold,” said CeCe Moore, Parabon’s Chief Genetic Genealogist.
OSP said families of missing persons can help by uploading their DNA profiles into a secure, open-source website called GEDmatch.com.
LCSO said the investigation into Narvaez-Weaver’s death is ongoing.
The Olympia Police Department issued a missing persons case in March 2021. At the time, they said Narvez-Weaver had not contacted her parents in eastern Washington since 2019.
She was last seen with an unknown man and was overheard talking about going to California. Police said she suffered from mental illness.
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.
