The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Oregon Beach Weather
Today- Scattered showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 46. South wind 5 to 7 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Friday- Rain likely after 4pm. Patchy fog before 10am. Snow level 2600 feet. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 47. East southeast wind 6 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Saturday- A 40 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. South wind around 11 mph. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Sunday- Rain. High near 52. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Monday- Rain likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 50.
There were 20 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon on Wednesday, raising the state’s death toll to 1,924, the Oregon Health Authority reported. Oregon Health Authority also reported 731 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 Wednesday bringing the state total to 140,063.
The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (4), Benton (8), Clackamas (67), Clatsop (4), Columbia (8), Coos (9), Crook (7), Deschutes (24), Douglas (9), Harney (1), Hood River (5), Jackson (35), Jefferson (7), Josephine (16), Klamath (13), Lake (2), Lane (52), Lincoln (3), Linn (21), Malheur (17), Marion (115), Morrow (5), Multnomah (118), Polk (21), Tillamook (1), Umatilla (30), Union (3), Wasco (2), Washington (106) and Yamhill (18).
Weekly COVID-19 reports
OHA’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released today, showed sharp declines in daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths over the previous week. OHA reported 4,119 new daily cases during the week of Monday, Jan. 18 through Sunday, Jan. 24, a 48% decrease from the previous week.
There were 229 people hospitalized for COVID-19, a 33% decline from the previous week. COVID-19 deaths also fell dramatically to 74 from last week’s pandemic high of 195.
There were 116,099 tests for COVID-19 for the week of Jan. 17 through Jan. 23. The percentage of positive tests dropped to 5.1%.
People age 20 to 49 have accounted for 54% of COVID-19 cases, while people 70 and older have accounted for 77% of deaths associated with the virus.
Today’s COVID-19 Outbreak Report shows 178 active COVID-19 outbreaks in senior living communities and congregate living settings, with three or more confirmed cases and one or more COVID-19 related deaths.
Vaccinations in Oregon
Today, OHA reported that 14,896 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry. Of this total,10,943 doses were administered on Jan. 26 and 3,953 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on Jan. 26.
Cumulative daily totals can take several days to finalize because providers have 72 hours to report doses administered and technical challenges have caused many providers to lag in their reporting. OHA has been providing technical support to vaccination sites to improve the timeliness of their data entry into the state’s ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS).
Oregon has now administered a cumulative total of 340,369 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. To date, 600,875 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
These data are preliminary and subject to change. OHA’s dashboards provide regularly updated vaccination data, and Oregon’s dashboard has been updated today.
Oregon Health Authority No Longer Reporting Details About Individual Covid-Related Deaths
Eleven months since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Oregon, the state’s health agency says it will no longer share details about individual deaths connected to the virus. The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced the change on Wednesday. Prior to Wednesday, OHA had reported basic details about every COVID-19-linked death in the state since the first death was reported on March 14, 2020. Those details included age, which county the person lived in, when they tested positive for the virus, when they died and where they died.
That basic information has given Oregonians insight into who is being most affected by COVID-19. The first day that information wasn’t available was Wednesday, when 20 more deaths were reported.
Instead, OHA is now telling Oregonians to use its public dashboards to review general information and trends about coronavirus-related deaths in the state. OHA director Patrick Allen offered the following explanation in a press release Wednesday.
“Every death from COVID-19 represents a loss, especially for those who knew them best — families, friends and loved ones. That is why we have listed each case. Moving forward, we will share aggregated COVID-19 related deaths on OHA’s public dashboards, which are updated daily. As the death toll from the virus has climbed, validating and reporting each death has had an impact on our daily reporting. We will continue to honor the lives of each person lost to the pandemic, but in a different way. The dashboard will provide additional information on COVID-19 related deaths that have not been accessible in a visual format before — including data on trends, underlying conditions and residence setting. This dashboard offers the public a clearer picture of the collective toll the virus has taken. But it will never detract from the importance of each Oregonian who is no longer with us.”
As of Wednesday, 1,924 Oregonians have died in connection with COVID-19.
321 Years Since The Big One hit PNW Has Coastal Concerns
The last huge earthquake, the last really “Big One” to hit the Pacific Northwest Coast, struck around 9 p.m. on Jan. 26, 1700 — 321 years ago. Called Cascadia, the magnitude 9.0 quake caused the entire Pacific Northwest coastline to suddenly drop 3 to 6 feet and sent a 33-foot high tsunami across the ocean to Japan.
It was January 26, 1700 — 321 years ago — that the last major earthquake along the 600-mile Cascadia Subduction Zone rocked what is now the Pacific Northwest. Based on quakes over the last 10,000 years scientists believe there is a 40% chance of seeing another in the next 40 years.
Oregon’s geological hazards program coordinator said the pandemic was a major sign that people across the state are not prepared for the type of damage Cascadia could bring.
“As we saw in March with the pandemic, our public, our residents still need a lot of help and education on how to get prepared for these large-scale disasters,” said Dr. Althea Rizzo, the OEM Geological Hazards Program coordinator.
Rizzo said most damage and loss of life would likely be along the Oregon coast from the tsunami that would follow a major quake.
After the shaking, those waves would come about 15 to 20 minutes later. That makes it essential people have an evacuation plan in mind and supplies on hand in case The Big One hits.
Cascadia Subduction Zone
The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a 600-mile fault that runs from northern California up to British Columbia and is about 70-100 miles off the Pacific coast shoreline. There have been 41 earthquakes in the last 10,000 years within this fault that have occurred as few as 190 years or as much as 1200 years apart. The last earthquake that occurred in this fault was on January 26, 1700, with an estimated 9.0 magnitude. This earthquake caused the coastline to drop several feet and a tsunami to form and crash into the land. What is most surprising is that evidence for this great earthquake also came from Japan. Japanese historic records indicate that a destructive distantly-produced tsunami struck their coast on January 26, 1700. By studying the geological records and the flow of the Pacific Ocean, scientists have been able to link the tsunami in Japan with the great earthquake from the Pacific Northwest. Native American legends also support to the timing of this last event. Oregon has the potential for a 9.0+ magnitude earthquake caused by the Cascadia Subduction Zone and a resulting tsunami of up to 100 feet in height that will impact the coastal area. There is an estimated 2-4 minutes of shaking or rolling that will be felt along the coast line with the strength and intensity decreasing the further inland you are. The Cascadia Subduction Zone has not produced an earthquake since 1700 and is building up pressure where the Juan de Fuca Plate is subsiding underneath the North American plate. Currently, scientists are predicting that there is about a 37 percent chance that a megathrust earthquake of 7.1+ magnitude in this fault zone will occur in the next 50 years. This event will be felt throughout the Pacific Northwest.
With the current preparedness levels of Oregon, we can anticipate being without services and assistance for at least 2 weeks, if not longer, when the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake occurs. While this will be difficult to overcome, our citizens, businesses, schools, government, and communities as a whole can take steps to get prepared. Take action now by actively planning and preparing yourself and your community to be ready for two weeks for disasters. Preparedness Information and Resources:
- Two Weeks Ready
- Earthquake Safety Information
- Tsunami Safety Information
- Living on Shaky Ground (English) (Spanish)
- Without Warning Earthquake
- Without Warning Tsunami (English) (Spanish)
- Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission (OSSPAC)
- Oregon Resilience Plan
- Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW)
- Cascadia Island Mapping
- Facebook: 2 Weeks Ready
- Facebook: Oregon Shakeout
- Cascadia Subduction Zone preparedness (non-emergency information)
- Tsunami preparedness
- Seismic retrofit information and updates
https://www.oregon.gov/OEM/hazardsprep/Pages/Cascadia-Subduction-Zone.aspx
Oregon Discloses Virus Outbreak at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria
Columbia Memorial Hospital is tied to 27 coronavirus cases, the state disclosed, among the largest workplace outbreaks in Clatsop County during the pandemic.
The virus cases, disclosed by the Oregon Health Authority in a weekly report on Wednesday, date back to Nov. 27. The most recent cases were reported on Jan. 14.
The health authority discloses outbreaks at businesses with 30 or more workers once five virus cases are reported.
Nancee Long, a spokeswoman for Columbia Memorial, said the hospital is not experiencing an outbreak.
“This number (27) is a cumulative number of caregivers who have become ill due to COVID over almost two months,” Long said in an email. “CMH continues to diligently screen our caregivers and visitors every day, quarantine those who are sick, and wearing the appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment) to reduce the opportunity for illness.
“CMH continues to be very serious about protecting both our community and caregivers always.”
No other information about the virus cases was immediately available. The Astoria hospital is the region’s leading health care provider and one of the largest employers in the county.
The health authority’s weekly report also detailed three recent virus cases at Astoria Middle School as two students and one staffer.
The Astoria School District disclosed the three virus cases during a school board meeting last week. Superintendent Craig Hoppes had declined to say at the time whether the positive cases were staff or students.
AROUND the STATE of OREGON
The state’s online application systems for medical, food, cash and childcare benefits will be unavailable from 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29 until Monday, Feb. 1, at 7 a.m. This downtime is to support an upgrade to the state’s eligibility determination system, known as ONE, to add more benefit options and expand the system to more Oregonians.
Beginning Monday, Feb. 1, residents across the state will be able to use the upgraded ONE system to apply online for medical, food, cash and childcare benefits with a single application. They also will be able to renew their coverage, monitor communications about their benefits and update their case information online.
The project is a joint effort between the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). Starting Feb. 1, 2021, all Oregonians will have the option to apply for medical, food, cash and childcare benefits over the phone, online or in person at any local Aging and People with Disabilities, Area Agency on Aging or Self-Sufficiency Programs office that provides those benefits.
Oregon ends 2020 with the lowest number of children in foster care in 15 years
Despite the challenges of the global COVID-19 pandemic and historic wildfires, the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), Child Welfare Division was able to reduce the use of foster care to a historic low, return all children placed at out-of-state residential treatment facilities to Oregon and decrease the use of temporary lodging.
On Jan. 1, 2021 there were 6,144 children in foster care, the lowest number of children in care in 15 years.
“We all know that infants, children, adolescents and young adults do best growing up in a family that can provide love, support, lifelong learning, shared values and important memories,” said Child Welfare Director Rebecca Jones Gaston. “That is why we are committed to doing everything we can to provide the necessary supports to help families safely stay together and decrease the use of unnecessary foster care.”
Key Child Welfare Division data and accomplishments for 2020:
- Decreased the number of children in foster care by 11% compared to 2019.
- Eliminated the usage of out-of-state residential treatment facilities since July.
- Decreased the use of temporary lodging by 66% percent in the last twelve months. (Temporary lodging is the temporary placement of a child in a hotel room because there is not an appropriate placement immediately available. )
- Decreased the average wait times at the Oregon Child Abuse Hotline (ORCAH) by 46 percent from 8.07 minutes in 2019 to 4.33 minutes in 2020.
- Family reunifications in 2020: 1,934
- Adoptions finalized in 2020: 811
- Guardianships finalized in 2020: 355
Oregon Child Welfare Division Vision for Transformation
In 2020, the division began a series of discussions with its workforce, community partners, and Oregon Tribal Nations about what the division can and should do to support and preserve families and ensure that children in Oregon grow up in safe and loving homes.
What grew from these collaborative discussions was the Child Welfare Division Vision for Transformation. The Child Welfare Division Vision for Transformation brings a racial equity and anti-racism lens to every aspect of the work of the division and emphasizes that it will work to prevent maltreatment and the need for foster care, support families, and keep children in their homes whenever possible.
Support and training for foster providers is available statewide
As of Dec. 31, 2020, there were 1,344 foster providers enrolled in KEEP Fostering, a program for Oregon that went statewide in 2020. Available virtually, KEEP Fostering is an evidence-based support and skill enhancement program for foster and kinship parents. It offers culturally specific support for foster providers caring for Tribal children, LGBTQIA+ children, as well as support in Spanish and American Sign Language.
Family First Prevention Services Act in Oregon
Oregon’s Family First Prevention Services prevention plan was submitted to the United States Children’s Bureau for review on Nov. 6, 2020. Learn more about Oregon’s prevention plan here. The prevention plan is the first step toward Oregon’s goal of transforming the child welfare system to one that is prevention-oriented by providing supports and services to family before foster care is necessary.
Fatality Review and Prevention Efforts
The Fatality Prevention and Review Program was created in February 2020 to increase the independence and transparency of child safety and fatality reviews through the Critical Incident Review Team (CIRT) process. In 2020, 88 child fatalities were reported to the division and 34 of those cases met the criteria for a CIRT.
The CIRT conducts reviews into child fatalities when the victim, their siblings or other children living in the household have had previous interactions with the Child Welfare Division within 12 months of the fatality. The CIRT is focused on identifying whether any systemic issues contributed to the fatality and if so, how they can be addressed and corrected to prevent future fatalities. Key safety and prevention initiatives implemented in 2020 included training related to suicide prevention, safe sleep for babies, and how to respond to chronic neglect for child welfare staff. Also, in 2020, the division joined the National Partnership for Child Safety, a collaborative group of leaders and critical incident review teams from 26 jurisdictions across the country with a mission to improve child safety and prevent child maltreatment fatalities.
How to support children and families in Oregon
Support children and families in Oregon by becoming a resource (foster) parent for children in foster care.
The MyNeighbOR program helps meet the essential needs of children, families, and young adults impacted by foster care. Learn how to provide support.
About the ODHS Child Welfare Division
The Oregon Department of Human Services, Child Welfare Division is committed to transforming itself to better support the individual needs of families and to best serve Oregon’s children and young people. Read the Child Welfare Division Vision for Transformation to learn more.
Report child abuse to the Oregon Child Abuse Hotline by calling 1-855-503-SAFE (7233). This toll-free number allows you to report abuse of any child or adult to the Oregon Department of Human Services, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. Oregon Department of Human Services
Injured Logger Rescued Near Vida in Snowstorm
Volunteers helped rescue a seriously injured logger near Vida on Tuesday. Around 20 people from McKenzie Fire and Rescue, Lane County Search and Rescue, and Eugene Mountain Rescue located the logger with leg and hand injuries stuck in a ravine in the Gate Creek area. The three teams, along with the help of other loggers on the scene, were able to rescue him.
As they were working to bring him up out of the ravine, Bart Thompson, Deputy Fire Chief for McKenzie Fire and Rescue, said Tuesday’s storm began to blow through the Cascades, dumping snow.
“It started snowing pretty hard,” Thompson said. “It started snowing another four inches while we were there. Which then complicated things for a bit. It just makes for a steep rescue like that. It makes for very slick footing for any of the folks on the basket or pulling the rope system.”
Rescuers walked about a quarter of a mile to a service road where an ambulance was waiting to transport the logger. Thompson said the logger’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Bill Would Make Oregon Landowner Hunting Tag Program Permanent
After 38 years, Oregon wildlife regulators want to make permanent a program that provides hunting tags to landowners who provide habitat for elk, deer and antelope.
The landowner preference program was first implemented in 1982 and has since been modified and extended several times, but the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife now believes it’s time to eliminate its 2022 sunset date.
The agency has asked lawmakers to permanently implement the landowner preference program by passing House Bill 2068, which is supported by organizations representing farmers, ranchers, hunters and timber interests.
“We have a lot of members who rely on landowner preference program. It has been an excellent program for our folks. Farmers and ranchers provide extensive amounts of fish and wildlife habitat across the state,” said Mary Anne Cooper, vice president of public policy for the Oregon Farm Bureau.
The number of controlled hunt tags that the public can draw for big game is limited each year, which highlighted the lack of tags specific to parcels of private property, said Doug Cottam, ODFW’s wildlife division administrator.
“That creates the possibility that landowners who are providing habitat for those animals may not be able to hunt on their own property,” Cottam said. “That’s the reason the landowner preference program was developed in the first place.”
Landowners who don’t hunt can transfer some or all of their preference tags to others, depending on the sex and species of big game, he said.
In the early years of the program, negotiations over how it would work necessitated sunset dates to update the rules, Cottam said. Though ODFW now thinks the program should be made permanent, it can still be revisited during future legislative sessions.
“The program seems to be set up now and working very well,” said Al Elkins, lobbyist for the Oregon Hunters Association.
Tags provide compensation for timberland owners, who sustain about $4 million in replanting costs a year from big game eating seedlings, said Kyle Williams, forest protection director for the Oregon Forest & Industries Council.
A large population of elk in Wallowa County resides primarily on private property and causes substantial damage to cropland and haystacks, said Tom Birkmaier, a rancher in the area testifying for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.
The landowner preference program provides ranchers with flexibility, he said.
“It can be used to add revenue for some farms and ranchers,” Birkmaier said. “I trade fence work and other ranch work for these tags.”
Mayor of Ontario, Oregon, decides to sue Ontario, Oregon
Riley Hill, a developer and the mayor of Ontario, has sued the city he leads in an effort to overturn a nuisance finding that resulted in a $500 penalty. The lawsuit filed in Malheur County Circuit Court on Jan. 11 reads a bit like a political soap opera, with the mayor dealing with the city manager and police chief over his private holdings and then facing judgment by a city hearings officer who once ran against him. The suit comes a year after an Ontario city code enforcement officer reported debris and weeds on an Ontario lot owned by Hill’s company, Eldorado Investments Inc., the company now suing the city. The company asks in its suit that the city’s decision to impose a fine be overturned and that the company get back its legal costs and other expenses. The court complaint suggests action against Hill was politically motivated, pushed by two former Ontario city councilors.