Oregon Beach News, Friday 11/5 – Thousands Lose Power As Gusty Winds Hit Oregon Coast, New Chief of Coquille Indian Tribe Announced

The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com

Friday, November 5, 2021

Oregon Beach Weather

Today– Rain likely before 9am, then a chance of showers, mainly between 9am and 10am. Partly sunny, with a high near 57. Southwest wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Saturday– Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 54. Windy, with a southwest wind 22 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms

Sunday– Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 53. Breezy, with a southwest wind 13 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Monday– Showers, mainly after 11am. High near 55. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Tuesday– Rain. Cloudy, with a high near 56.

Thousands Lose Power As Gusty Winds Hit Oregon Coast

Thousands of people lost power Thursday as gusty winds hiy the Oregon coast, Willamette Valley, and southwest Washington region.

As of 1:30 p.m., Pacific Power is reporting more than 2,800 customers without power in the Cannon Beach area, around 300 more in Albany, and more than 200 in Coos Bay.

PGE is reporting more than 100 outages as of 1:30 p.m. Thursday, with 821 customers affected across northwest Oregon.

PGE says it is monitoring the weather closely and will have crews ready to respond to any outages as quickly as safety allows. The utility asks people to use its outage map, and to be ready with flashlights and batteries.

More than $13.5 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan will head to rural airports in Oregon including Newport

More than $13.5 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan will head to rural airports including in Klamath Falls and Lake County to help them cover costs incurred during the pandemic and support rent and minimum annual guarantees for airport concessions. U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley made the announcement Thursday.

The $13.56 million from the ARPA legislation will be distributed as follows by the U.S. Department of Transportation: $59,000 for the Crater Lake – Klamath Regional Airport for costs related to operations, personnel, cleaning, sanitization, janitorial services, debt service payments, and combating the spread of pathogens at the airport.

$6,020,991 for the Rogue Valley International – Medford Airport for costs related to operations, personnel, cleaning, sanitization, janitorial services, debt service payments, and combating the spread of pathogens at the airport.

Other funds will go to the Mahlon Sweet Field Airport, Roberts Field Airport, Newport Municipal Airport and Grant County Regional/Ogilvie Field Airport.

New Chief of Coquille Indian Tribe Announced

The Coquille Indian Tribe has chosen a new chief. Jason Younker of Coos Bay was sworn in on October 29th. He takes the place of former Chief Don Ivy, who passed away in July of this year.

Jason Younker is the University of Oregon’s Assistant Vice President and Advisor to the President on Sovereignty and Government-to-Government Relations, and will balance those duties as the new chief of the Coquille Tribe based in Coos Bay.

Now that he’s chief, he says he’s just trying to settle in. “It’s a title that I haven’t become comfortable with,” said Chief Younker. “I haven’t heard it with my name before, but I’m just now getting comfortable. I know that I could never fill Chief Ivy’s shoes, they’re just too big.”

As Chief, Younker will hold one of seven seats on the Coquille Tribal Council. He’ll also serve as the tribe’s cultural and spiritual leader and voice.

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Oregon reports 1,211 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 74 new deaths

PORTLAND, Ore. — There are 74 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 4,543, Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. today.

Oregon Health Authority (OHA) reported 1,211 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 371,001.

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Benton (11), Clackamas (120), Clatsop (5), Columbia (22), Coos (26), Crook (12), Curry (3), Deschutes (100), Douglas (52), Grant (3), Hood River (5), Jackson (61), Jefferson (15), Josephine (26), Klamath (38), Lake (4), Lane (79), Lincoln (10), Linn (55), Malheur (7), Marion (124), Morrow (3), Multnomah (140), Polk (28), Sherman (3), Tillamook (18), Umatilla (27), Union (4), Wallowa (8), Wasco (15), Washington (107), Wheeler (2) and Yamhill (78).

OHA releases new COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough report

OHA’s most recent update on COVID-19 breakthrough cases, released today, found that 75.4% of the 8,239 reported COVID-19 cases between Oct. 24 and Oct. 30 occurred in unvaccinated people.

There were 2,025 breakthrough cases, accounting for 24.6% of all cases.

The average age of the breakthrough cases during that period was 47. Fifty breakthrough cases involved residents of care facilities, senior living communities or other congregate care settings. There were 66 cases in people ages 12 to 17.

To date, there have been 37,539 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases in Oregon. The average age of all cases is 48. Breakthrough cases have been reported in all 36 counties.

Cases of COVID-19 are far more common in unvaccinated people. The report shows that the rate of COVID-19 in unvaccinated people is four times higher than in vaccinated people.

To date, 4.4% of all vaccine breakthrough cases have been hospitalized and 1% have died. The average age of vaccinated people who died was 80.

Vaccination remains the most effective tool to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The number of vaccine breakthrough cases identified in Oregon remains very small when compared to the more than 2.8 million Oregonians who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The latest breakthrough report can be found here.

The Conquer Covid in Klamath campaign announces its winner for the week.

Asleigh Carter of Klamath Falls won a $2,500 Gas Card. Ashleigh was selected in a random
drawing of all Klamath County residents that have entered at conquercovidinklamath.com.

Each week the prize changes and this week it is a Big Screen TV & Sound Bar for your living room and another smart flat screen TV for another room. The drawing for this weeks prize will take place on Monday morning.

Other Weekly winners to date include: Elizabeth Gaxiola of Bonanza who won a Big Screen TV, Home Theater System and Pizza gift certificates Gillian Bradford of Klamath Falls who won $6,000 in groceries from Grocery Outlet Nolan Napier of Chiloquin who won a top of the line Traeger Grill and 12 bags of premium pellets. Patricia Merrill of
Klamath Falls won $4,800 in gasoline for her vehicle. Terri Torres of Klamath Falls won $5,000 worth of furniture for her home. Nicola Cherry of Klamath Falls won a $2,400 free standing pellet stove. Kelly Hawk of Klamath Falls won $2,500 in groceries from Grocery Outlet

There is a different prize each week along with the Grand Prize, which is the winners choice of a new Dodge RAM pickup or a new Dodge Durango SUV. There are numerous runner up prizes as well.

To enter Klamath County residents can go to conquercovidinklamath.com
There is nothing to buy and no charge whatsoever to enter. The site also lists all prizes, rules and vaccination sites.

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Southern Oregon Illegal Grows Also Migrant Worker Problem

Thousands of immigrants working on Southern Oregon illegal marijuana farms that authorities say are run by foreign cartels are living in squalid conditions and are sometimes being cheated and threatened by their employers.

In one such raid where they were growing cannabis illegally, near Selma, Ore., on June 16, 2021…over 100 workers, most or all of them immigrants, were found at the site.

Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel stands amid the debris of plastic hoop houses destroyed by law enforcement, used to grow cannabis illegally near Selma

The situation has gotten so bad in the largely rural region near the state line with California, amid a violent crime surge and water theft for the growing operations during a severe drought, that Jackson and Douglas counties declared a state of emergency last month. They requested state funding and other resources, including deployment of the National Guard, to properly enforce cannabis laws.

On Thursday, commissioners in neighboring Josephine County said they are preparing their own emergency declaration. A draft document cites “rampant violations of county codes, state water laws and criminal laws.” They previously wrote a letter to Oregon’s senate president saying the county is experiencing “a tragic surge in narco-slavery.”

A spokeswoman for Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, Elizabeth Merah, has said that there are no immediate plans to deploy the National Guard.

Many of the zone’s illegal marijuana farms operate under the guise of being legal hemp farms, but the crops that they grow have amounts of THC — the component that gives pot its high — far above the legal levels allowed for hemp.

State regulators and local law enforcement officers have been overwhelmed by the amount of industrial-scale growing sites, which they say number in the hundreds and possibly thousands.

There aren’t enough inspectors to test for THC content at each site to determine which ones are legal and which are not, officials have said. Some sites, frequently with armed guards, have refused entry to state inspectors. Police have said they do not have the capacity to raid all the suspicious sites because each raid requires an investigation and search warrants.

And some managers of the illegal operations are refusing to pay workers and have threatened them with violence if they go to the authorities or try to quit, according to law enforcement officials and a group that advocates for the migrant and farm worker rights.

“We’ve had several cases in Josephine County, where they were threatened with guns to their heads, ‘If you guys tell anybody, we’re going to harm your family in Mexico,’ or ‘We’re going to shoot you,’” said Kathy Keesee-Morales, co-director of Unete, an immigrant and farmworker advocacy group based in Medford, Oregon.

Some of workers who say they were cheated have contacted Unete, which has tried to help by calling the pot-farm managers and warning them that they could face complaints filed with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry if they don’t pay the workers what they are owed, Keesee-Morales said.

“Many times they’ll just pay them because they don’t want any kind of interaction with the state,” Keesee-Morales said.

The number of illegal marijuana farms in the region, which are not part of Oregon’s legal and regulated marijuana system, surged this year, with some even emerging alongside state highways.

They produce tons of marijuana that is sold outside the state. Officials believe the cartels selected southern Oregon because it’s considered part of the the fabled marijuana-growing Emerald Triangle, a zone in which California’s Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties form the major part.

The region produces top-quality weed that is “the microbrew of cannabis,” said state Rep. Lily Morgan, a Republican from the small city of Grants Pass, the county seat of Josephine County. “You can ask a high dollar around the world for it,” she said.

Local landowners often rent or sell their property to the illegal growers at prices much higher than normal rates. In one case, an owner went to her land to negotiate a lease renewal and discovered that the manager of the illegal marijuana farm was gone — and had left the growing equipment and workers behind.

Morgan said the owner told county officials: “These people have been left, there are workers who have no I.D., they do not speak English, they have no food.”

Oregon’s labor bureau is investigating wage complaints from workers at illegal marijuana farms, said Sonia Ramirez, administrator of the bureau’s wage and hour division.

Workers have had to use holes in the ground for toilets, bathe with makeshift showers, cook in unsanitary kitchens and live in tents and sleep on cots in shipping containers and in marijuana greenhouses, said Jackson County Sheriff Nathan Sickler.

Sickler said his deputies do not arrest the workers on alleged immigration violations and instead hand out cards, in Spanish, provided by Unete that list agencies that provide free services for migrants.

The workers are reluctant to talk to law enforcement officials because they are terrified that cartel enforcers might discover that they have done so and harm them or their relatives living elsewhere, Sickler and Keesee-Morales said.

“There is a fear factor,” the sheriff said. “These individuals know that they could be at risk for talking to the police about several things, including the conditions, the lack of being paid.”

While colder weather now coming to Oregon spells the end of the growing season for many of the marijuana growing sites, indoor illegal operations continue operating through the winter because they are outfitted with heat lamps that allow pot plants to grow.

Sickler doesn’t expect a letup of the criminal activity because a lot of cash is involved, creating a tempting target for robbers.

In raids conducted by Sickler’s deputies on one day in September on two pot farms, officers found $650,000, 7.5 tons of processed marijuana and 20,000 pot plants.

Last month, men with guns tried to rob an illegal marijuana growing site and processing facility in the small Jackson County city of Eagle Point. Three men from Sacramento, California were arrested on charges of robbery, unlawful use of a weapon and assault.

Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel predicted no immediate resolution to the problem of illegal marijuana farms. “This summer was absolutely out of control,” he said. “We’re anticipating next year being just as bad, if not worse.”

Roseburg Tow Truck Driver Struck and Killed on I-5

On November 3, 2021, at around 10:50 P.M., a Tow Operator with Walt’s Tow Company was recovering a vehicle on Interstate 5 near MP 126 southbound. A commercial motor vehicle traveling south failed to move over for an emergency vehicle (tow truck) and struck the tow truck and the operator. The tow operator, Henry Alan Lichtwald (63) of Roseburg, died on the scene as a result of the crash. The commercial motor vehicle operated by Jagraj Singh Sidhu (54) of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, immediately pulled over and cooperated with the investigation.

Interstate 5 was closed for a little more than an hour, then was restricted to one lane for 3-4 hours to clear the vehicles. Bill’s Towing towed the damaged tow truck. A&S Towing towed the commercial motor vehicle. OSP was assisted by the Oregon Department of Transportation, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Roseburg Police Department, Roseburg Fire and Fire District 2 – Oregon State Police

OHA kicks off domestic well testing for 2,000 wildfire-affected households

Agency providing vouchers for free testing to eligible property owners, well users

PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is offering free domestic well water testing to about 2,000 households affected by wildfire that rely on wells for drinking water.

The Oregon Legislature allocated funds for free well testing in response to the devastating wildfires of 2020. Many communities and households were still digging out from ash and debris when the original program’s funding expired in June 2021. If demand exceeds supply, people with low income and communities of color will be prioritized.

Well users whose properties were affected by wildfires can find steps needed to access the funds, which became available Nov. 1, at www.healthoregon.org/wells. Well owners will find guidance on how to assess damage, take action to protect their well, and test their well water to confirm it is safe to drink.

Curtis Cude, manager of the Oregon Health Authority’s Domestic Well Safety Program, urges well owners to “follow recommendations in the well damage assessment.”

“Make sure you know what work you are authorized to do and when you need to hire a licensed professional,” he said.

Actions may include:

  • Repair and replace damaged well components.
  • Re-pressurize and refill the well.
  • Flush water lines.
  • Treat the well for microbial contaminants.
  • Test (apply for free testing).

OHA will provide testing vouchers to well users through May 15, 2023. To ensure that all 2020 wildfire-affected domestic well users can receive free testing, OHA can offer one voucher per affected well. Well users can select from a list of approved environmental laboratories in Oregon that will honor the vouchers for testing services. The tests will look for presence of bacteria, nitrates, arsenic, lead and chemicals that are hazardous by-products of fire.

Applications can be found at www.healthoregon.org/wells.

The Oregon Nurses Association Supports OFNHP’s 10-Day Strike Notice at Kaiser Permanente

The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) stands in solidarity with the more than 3,400 nurses and other health care professionals represented by the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) who submitted their 10-day strike notice to Kaiser Permanente today.

“ONA and our 15,000 members across the state are deeply disappointed that Kaiser Permanente, or any health care system in Oregon, would disrespect the professionalism and commitment of the workers who have sacrificed so much for the benefit of their patients,” said Lynda Pond, RN, President of the ONA Board of Directors. “Kaiser administration’s behavior is outrageous. Although a strike is always a last resort, ONA believes our OFNHP colleagues have no other option but to take this step. Their fight is our fight too.”

ONA also submitted a 10-day notice to Kaiser Permanente, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and the Oregon Employment Relations Board stating ONA members throughout Oregon will engage in picketing and other protected actions in support of our colleagues at OFNHP. ONA nurses’ solidarity actions with OFNHP will take place outside of work hours. ONA nurses will continue working their scheduled shifts at non-Kaiser health care facilities.

“This notice allows ONA members to join the picket lines at Kaiser Permanente facilities beginning at 6 a.m. Monday, November 15,” said Pond. “Since OFNHP first voted to authorize a strike in October, ONA members across the state have been prepared to do whatever we can to support a strike. Every single one of our bargaining units has pledged not to cross the picket line, and we are creating mutual aid committees to raise funds and provide whatever support our colleagues need, for however long is necessary.”

OFNHP and ONA are in 100% agreement: health care systems like Kaiser must do more to address safe staffing. This is a crisis they caused and Kaiser’s failure to reach an agreement has put an even more pressure on an already overstressed nursing workforce.

“ONA stands in solidarity with OFNHP,” said Pond. “At a time when our health care system, and our health care professionals, are at the breaking point, Kaiser’s refusal to settle a fair contract is a slap in the face. All health care systems in Oregon should take note of our shared commitment to putting patient care before profits and to fair contracts for workers.”

The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) is the state’s largest and most influential nursing organization. We are a professional association and labor union which represents 15,000 nurses and allied health workers throughout the state. Our mission is to advocate for nursing, quality health care and healthy communities. For more information visit: www.OregonRN.org.

Oregon Jobs Projected to Increase 16% by 2030

Oregon’s total employment is projected to grow by 317,600 jobs between 2020 and 2030, according to new projections from the Oregon Employment Department. The projections point to historically high job growth between 2020 and 2030 and accounts for recovery from low employment levels in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated recession. In addition, many job openings are expected due to the need to replace workers who leave their occupations. 

In 2020, there were 1,998,400 jobs in Oregon. The projected 16% increase in employment between 2020 and 2030 includes private-sector gains of 283,500 jobs, growth of 25,700 jobs in government, and an additional 8,300 self-employed Oregonians.

Beyond gains associated with the economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession and anticipated economic growth, another 2,197,200 job openings will be created by 2030 to replace workers who retire, leave the labor force for other reasons, or make a major occupational change. Together, the number of job openings due to economic recovery, job growth, and replacements will total 2,514,800.

All sectors in Oregon are expected to add jobs by 2030. Leisure and hospitality is projected to increase the fastest and add the largest number of jobs. The projected gain of 73,800 jobs (46% growth) in leisure and hospitality is mainly driven by the recovery from the pandemic, as restaurants, hotels, and arts, cultural, and recreational establishments are expected to see increased demand as in-person and recreational activities resume.

Because of the loss of jobs in leisure and hospitality in 2020, many of the fastest-growing occupations are associated with jobs in this industry. In fact, 10 of the top 20 fastest-growing occupations are in leisure and hospitality. They include cooks, chefs, bartenders, waiters and waitresses, fast food workers, exercise trainers and fitness instructors, and amusement and recreation attendants. 

The private health care and social assistance sector is projected to add the second-largest number of jobs, with 51,000 jobs (19% growth) over the 10-year period. This growth is attributed to the aging of the state’s population, longer life expectancies, and continued population growth. Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and massage therapists are among the fastest-growing occupations statewide. 

A broad variety of career opportunities will be available across all sectors, as well as all job types. One-third of all job openings will require education or training beyond high school at the typical entry-level education. To meet more competitive education requirements, more than half of job openings require at least some training beyond high school.

Occupations with the most job openings, typically requiring a high school diploma or less, include fast food workers, retail salespersons, cashiers, stockers, and order fillers. Those requiring a postsecondary certification or associate’s degree include truck drivers, bookkeepers, and medical and nursing assistants. Occupations with the most total openings requiring at least a bachelor’s degree vary from general and operations managers to registered nurses, software developers, and accountants.

All areas of Oregon expect to see job opportunities due to both economic recovery and growth, and to replace workers leaving the labor force in the coming years. The two regions projected to grow at the fastest rates are Central Oregon (18%) and the Portland area (17%). Northwest Oregon is projected to grow at the same rate as Oregon statewide – 16%. All other areas are projected to have slower growth. 

Additional Information More information on 2020-2030 industry and occupational projections for Oregon and sub-state areas can be found at www.qualityinfo.org/projections

Klamath County Woman Arrested in Death of Child

A Klamath County mother is behind bars after she and her partner allegedly caused the death of their young child while using the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. 24-year-old Kelsey Rose Randall was arrested and booked into jail Wednesday on charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

Court documents indicate that she will likely face further charges for criminally negligent homicide and child neglect, and a higher charge of first-degree manslaughter. According to a probable cause statement filed by the arresting officer, Randall and her partner Damon Herrera took fentanyl “in a reckless manner” at their home on Main Avenue in Bly on July 28 of this year.

While the statement does not indicate precisely how, their young child allegedly came into contact with the drug and died. The child was under the age of two years old. While Randall appears on the jail log and court records, Herrera does not. It was not immediately clear whether he will be sought on similar charges.

Intel and Other Oregon Employers Are Splitting Time for Work at Home and Office

Oregon’s largest employer, Intel, says it plans to become a “hybrid-first” company, allowing most employees to split their time between home and the office. Many other employers are making similar decisions, acknowledging that the nature of work has changed permanently after COVID-19. Intel’s shift will be especially profound in Oregon – the chipmaker is the state’s largest corporate employer, with 21,000 people working at its suburban campuses in Washington County.

“The pandemic compressed a decade’s worth of change into months. From a crisis came an opportunity to reimagine how we work and collaborate,” Christy Pambianchi, the chipmaker’s chief people officer, wrote in a blog post Wednesday. “At Intel, it’s meant creating our future as a ‘hybrid-first’ company.”

The hybrid approach doesn’t apply to manufacturing workers who must be on site at Intel’s factories or in its research labs.

Pambianchi didn’t say when Intel will broadly reopen its offices to hybrid work. COVID-19 levels remain elevated in Oregon but have declined significantly from a record wave of infections triggered by the delta variant in late summer.

Oregon is home to Intel’s leading-edge research and its most advanced factories, as well as many corporate and administrative roles. The company declined to provide a breakdown of the share of Oregon employees who are in roles that require them to be on site.

An employee survey in April found 90% of employees prefer to split their work hours between home and the office, Pambianchi wrote. And when COVID-19 forced offices to close last year, she said, Intel found employees were successful even while working virtually.

So Intel decided to make a permanent change. “The majority of employees will split their time between working remotely and in the office,” Pambianchi said. She said it will be up to individual work teams to determine how often people come into the office. “We’re not mandating a single approach regarding the number of days per week all employees should be on-site or how people should collaborate,” she said.

Statewide, only about a third of all workers have jobs that can be done remotely, according to the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. Many employers, from grocery stores to schools, need jobs to be performed in person.

The broader effects of Intel’s shift may be somewhat muted in Oregon. The company hadn’t indicated it planned further expansion here, with the notable exception of more factories that are unaffected by the move to hybrid operations.

And those workers who are now eligible for hybrid work will evidently still be expected in the office regularly, which suggests they’re unlikely to stray too far from Hillsboro.

However, Intel’s change may be reflective of a broader shift among employers that are increasingly allowing employees more flexibility on when they need to be in the office — or if they need to come in at all. That could have more significant regional implications.

Portland-based software company Expensify, for example, has just about 30 of its 140 employees in Oregon. The rest are distributed around the country, and around the world.

And when Umpqua Bank announced plans last month to move its banking offices from downtown Portland to Lake Oswego, the bank said it was doing so partly out of a recognition that its employees wanted a hybrid work arrangement and wanted an office closer to where they live.

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