The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com
Monday, April 11, 2022
Oregon Beach Weather
Today– Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Snow level 1300 feet rising to 1900 feet in the afternoon. High near 48. Windy, with a northwest wind 17 to 22 mph increasing to 23 to 28 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 41 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tuesday– Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Snow level 1500 feet. High near 47. Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Wednesday– Showers likely. Snow level 1300 feet rising to 2100 feet in the afternoon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. South southwest wind 6 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Thursday– Showers likely. Snow level 2300 feet. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Friday– A chance of showers. Snow level 2000 feet. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51.
Oregon Finalizes Dungeness Crab Fishery Management Plan
Oregon’s Dungeness crab industry wants seafood lovers to know that it’s taking steps to make sure the fishery is sustainable. That’s led to the creation of the state’s first-ever Dungeness crab management plan.
Dungeness crab season is a highlight for many Northwest seafood lovers, and the people who catch the tasty crustaceans want to be careful not to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. That means only harvesting crabs of a certain size and at a certain time of year.
Making sure there’s always a “next” harvest is called sustainability, and it’s at the heart of a new management plan developed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Tim Novotny is with the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, which helped develop the document.
“All of it is a way to ensure that we’re basically not over-fishing the fishery,” he said. “It’s all built into this management system.”
Novotny said being able to document their efforts at sustainability will help market the product to consumers. But he said won’t fundamentally change the way most crab boats operate.
“(There’s) nothing really new or landmark-breaking, but it’s just a matter of taking all the stuff we’ve been doing, and putting it there for people to see,” said Novotny.
Dungeness crab is a key component of the marine ecosystem along the Pacific coast. The Dungeness crab fishery in Oregon is comprised of three targeted fishery sectors (the ocean commercial, bay commercial, and recreational Dungeness crab fisheries), with the ocean commercial sector typically constituting the most valuable single-species commercial fishery in the state.
The purpose of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Fishery Management Plan (FMP) is to provide management transparency and facilitate good governance. This plan provides a comprehensive assessment of the current knowledge on Dungeness crab and description of the current management strategy for the harvest of the resource. The fishery currently faces a range of complex management challenges that are also described throughout the FMP, along with the tools and strategies employed to address them.
ODFW sought input from interested stakeholders on a draft version of the FMP during a 30-day public comment period which ended on October 15, 2021. ODFW also heard public testimony during a presentation of the plan to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission on October 15, 2021.
ODFW updated the draft FMP to incorporate public and Commission input and provided written responses addressing comments that were not incorporated. A final FMP was released on March 30, 2022 and can be found below, along with a summary of substantive comments pertaining to the draft FMP and ODFW’s responses. Other materials from the public process are also provided below. Read the Dungeness Crab Fishery Management Plan (posted 3/30/22)
Cannon Beach Community Grant Applications Due April 19th
The Parks & Community Services Committee of the City of Cannon Beach would like to invite area nonprofit organizations to apply for funding through the 2022-2023 Community Grants program.
Nonprofit groups providing programs/projects in arts, educational, community, recreational, environmental, or social services in Cannon Beach are invited to apply for funding through this annual program. Organizations may apply for project-specific funds or operational funding.
The current application packet is available for download on the City of Cannon Beach website: https://www.ci.cannon-beach.or.us/publicworks/page/community-grants-applications
Completed applications will be accepted in person at City Hall (utilizing the drop box by the door on E Gower), by mail, or via the City’s file-share system on its website. Grant requests must be received at Cannon Beach City Hall by 2 p.m. on April 19, 2022. Incomplete or late applications WILL NOT be considered.
All grant applicants are required to provide a 10-minute presentation about their project/program on Thursday, May 26, 2022. Please plan on these presentations to be conducted via Zoom, but they may be done in person if COVID restrictions allow.
For more information about the 2022-2023 Community Grants program, please check out the City’s website or contact Public Works Administrative Assistant Kelsey Balensifer at 503-436-8048 or balensifer@ci.cannon-beach.or.us.
Staying informed about COVID-19 in your community is essential for navigating the next phase of the pandemic.Oregon’s COVID-19 Community Transmission dashboard (http://ow.ly/zLt450IneJ8) tracks the spread of disease in Oregon counties.This dashboard shows the level of community transmission by considering COVID-19 case rates (the number of new COVID-19 cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 people) and test positivity (the percentage of new COVID-19 tests that came back positive in the past 7 days) for Oregon counties in the previous week (Sunday to Saturday).
The CDC’s COVID-19 Community Level tool (http://ow.ly/gCva50IneJ7) can help you decide what prevention measures to take based on the latest data. Every county in the U.S. is classified into low, medium or high based on hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and COVID-19 case rates in an area.If you get infected with COVID-19, contact your health care provider or 211 to see if you’re eligible for COVID-19 treatment.
April Snow Showers Throughout Most Parts of Oregon – Portland Hit Hard
Several inches of snow fell in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington overnight Sunday, knocking out power for nearly 35,000 people early Monday morning.
Forecasters say the heavy, wet snow is bringing down trees and branches and piling up on power lines, which can cause outages in parts of the region.
The National Weather Service – Portland said this was the first measurable snow Portland has had in 82 years, since they started keeping records at the Portland International Airport in 1940.
The snow made for a messy morning commute and prompted districts to delay or cancel school.
If your power goes out, you should turn off or unplug electrical equipment – this will help prevent a power surge when the electricity is turned back on. Surge protectors can also help prevent power from damaging voltage-sensitive equipment.
During an outage, you should keep all refrigerator and freezer doors closed – food can stay cold in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours like this with the power out.
In widespread outages, you should also turn on a light both inside and outside of the house so crews can tell when the power is turned back on.
Four People Die in Fiery Crash Near McMinnville
A fiery car crash on Highway 18, near milepost 49, left 4 people dead Sunday, according to Oregon State Police.
Police said investigation revealed that a gray sedan, with a driver and three passengers, was traveling west on HWY 18 when it left its lane and crashed, head-on, into a motorhome. Both vehicles caught fire.
Police declared all 4 occupants of the sedan dead at the scene. The driver and the passenger of the motorhome were not injured.
Police still do not know why the sedan left its lane when it crashed into the motorhome. Police have not yet identified the people who died in the crash.
Highway 18 was shut down for over five hours while the Oregon State Police conducted the investigation.
Oregon State Police (OSP) are looking for public help and a possible road rage suspect vehicle this past weekend near Salem
OSP is looking for someone involved in shots fired Friday on Interstate 5 southbound in Salem. OSP says when it responded approximately to a dispatch about a shooting on I-5 southbound near milepost 258 (Portland Rd NE in
Salem), its preliminary information indicated “a confrontation between two motorists resulted in a shooting.”
OSP Detectives are asking for public help with their investigation. OSP invites anyone who observed either vehicle, a silver 2013 Nissan Juke four-door crossover SUV and/or a dark blue 2012 Chevrolet Caprice four-door sedan, driving on I-5 southbound between Wilsonville and Salem to call OSP’s Dispatch Center at 800-442-0776 or OSP (677) from your mobile device.
Body Of Missing Snowboarder Recovered On Mt. Hood
Search and rescue crews found the body of missing snowboarder Ryan Mather Saturday morning, according to the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office.
Mather, from Aloha, had been missing since Tuesday when he didn’t return home from snowboarding at Mt. Hood Meadows.
Late Friday afternoon, Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Patrol found evidence that a body was buried in avalanche debris in Clark Creek in the Heather Canyon area. Much of the area is rated black or double black diamond, according to the sheriff’s office.
Due to declining daylight, an operation was scheduled for early Saturday.
Around 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning, crews from the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Patrol and Hood River County Sheriff’s Office were able to extricate the body from the creek. Deputies said the operation took about two hours.
Crews were able to identify the body as Mather, deputies say. His family was notified of the recovery late Saturday morning.
Another Wolf Killing In Oregon, The 11th In A Year, Combined Reward For Information Reaches Over $80,000
Killing a wolf for reasons apart from self-defense is illegal in Oregon, and gray wolves are a protected species under state law. There were at least 173 gray wolves in the state at the last official count at the end of 2020.
Five wolves from the same pack were poisoned to death in Union County in February 2021 which was followed by three grey wolves, two females and a male, similarly poisoned to death within the same county. Two other wolves died in separate suspected killings. Then, on March 25, 2022, another wolf was found dead in the foothills of the Richland Valley.
Danielle Moser, a representative of the Oregon Wildlife Coalition, said:
Oregon has a pervasive poaching problem, and we want to be part of the solution. When poachers kill wildlife, they steal from all Oregonians who value and enjoy our state’s wildlife and the wild places they call home. Our goal is to incentivize members of the public to report any suspicious or illegal wildlife activity to the Oregon State Police.
Many conservation and hunting organizations have funded rewards for information leading to a conviction of whoever is poaching wolves in Oregon. The reward money for the wolf poisonings stands at more than $50,000. A separate reward fund by two Oregon districts is offering another $22,500 and $11,500 for information about wolf poaching.
Grants Pass Missing Person
The Grants Pass Police Department is seeking assistance from the public in locating 30 year old Noah Baker. Baker was despondent after an argument and left his residence in Grants Pass driving a silver Ford Fiesta with Oregon Plate 671MUR.
Baker is described as a white male adult, 5’09”, 170 lbs, brown hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing black sweats, black shirt, black shoes and a black hat.
If anyone knows of his whereabouts or sees Baker, please call your local law enforcement agency or the Grants Pass Police at 541-450-6260. Reference case #2022-14203 Grants Pass Police Department
Klamath County Sheriff’s Office Asks for Public’s Help in Search For Trucker Suspect
The first real clue to come in on all the missing person cases in the area. Help Klamath Falls Oregon Sheriff Office ID this trucker. He was the last to see this woman alive and could be the key to not only solving this woman’s disappearance but a number of the hundred other women missing in PNW. IF you have any information, please call (541) 883-5130
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Have-You-Seen-Me-Southern-Oregons-Missing-People-161249961222839/posts/