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

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Oregon Beach Weather

Today- Mostly cloudy, with a high near 56. Northwest wind 9 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Friday- Mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. Calm wind becoming west northwest 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon.

Saturday- Rain before 11am, then showers after 11am. High near 54. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 9 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Sunday- Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 11am. High near 54. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Monday- Showers likely, mainly after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 55.

Oregon reports 989 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, 6 new deaths

There are six new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 2,466. The Oregon Health Authority reported 989 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 bringing the state total to 177,134.

The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases reported today are in the following counties: Baker (6), Benton (24), Clackamas (61), Clatsop (7), Columbia (7), Coos (2), Crook (4), Curry (5), Deschutes (99), Douglas (7), Grant (10), Harney (2),  Hood River (5), Jackson (93), Jefferson (3), Josephine (23), Klamath (34), Lake (3), Lane (82), Linn (33), Malheur (3), Marion (114), Morrow (3), Multnomah (167), Polk (20), Tillamook (5), Umatilla (16), Wallowa (1), Wasco (3), Washington (134) and Yamhill (13).

Note: Reported case counts and electronic laboratory report (ELR) totals were lower than expected yesterday due to unexpected downtime of Opera, Oregon’s COVID-19 case database, which occurred during business hours. ELRs that were delayed from the downtime were processed yesterday and contribute to today’s high case count.

Weekly COVID-19 reports

The Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released today, shows a fourth consecutive week of surging daily cases and higher hospitalizations than the previous week.

OHA reported 4,742 new daily cases of COVID-19 during the week of Monday, April 12 through Sunday, April 18. That represents a 27% increase from the previous week and marks the fourth consecutive week in which daily cases have increased by at least 20%.

New COVID-19 related hospitalizations rose to 171, up from 156 last week.

There were 19 reported COVID-19 related deaths.

There were 113,817 tests for COVID-19 for the week of April 11 through April 17. The percentage of positive tests was 5.3%.

People 70 years of age and older have accounted for 40% of COVID-19 related hospitalizations and 76% of COVID-19 related deaths.

Today’s COVID-19 Weekly Outbreak Report shows 24 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 39,882 new doses of COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry. Of this total, 26,407 doses were administered on April 20 and 13,475 were administered on previous days but were entered into the vaccine registry on April 20.

The 7-day running average is now 33,933 doses per day.

Oregon has now administered a total of 1,369,371 doses of Pfizer, 1,153,611 doses of Moderna and 90,301 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. As of today, 1,065,266 people have completed a COVID-19 vaccine series. There are 1,635,625 who have had at least one dose.

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).

To date,1,683,045 doses of Pfizer,1,411,700 doses of Moderna and 215,500 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines 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.

Despite climbing case rates in southern Oregon’s most populous counties, a recently adopted statewide hospitalization metric continues to keep those counties from being moved from High-Risk status up to Extreme Risk.

Governor Kate Brown’s office released the state’s latest county risk levels on Tuesday. For southern Oregon, the
changes are few — Curry County will move down to Moderate Risk status from High Risk. Jackson, Josephine and Klamath counties remain at High Risk despite case rates that would otherwise qualify them for Extreme Risk status, while Lake County will continue at Lower Risk.

With vaccination for COVID-19 continuing across the state — and with the majority of Oregon seniors having received a vaccine — the decision to add a statewide hospitalization metric attempts to gauge the severity of outbreaks and the risk of overwhelming health care systems, rather than looking at positive cases alone.

For those counties currently kept at High Risk in spite of rising cases, Extreme Risk status will only come if the state hits several metrics — COVID-19 patients occupying 300 hospital beds or more, and a 15 percent increase in the seven-day hospitalization average over the last week.

You can see more information and charts for Weekly County Metrics here: https://www.oregon.gov/oha/covid19/Documents/DataReports/Weekly-County-Metrics.pdf

LOCAL HEADLINES:

Oregon Coast Aquarium Receives $5 Million Dollar Grant

The Oregon Coast Aquarium has received the largest grant in its history in the amount of $5 million through the Roundhouse Foundation.

The Roundhouse Foundation is located in Sisters and supports solutions to the challenges associated with rural culture and landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Their primary areas of focus include arts and culture, environmental stewardship and social services and education. The Roundhouse Foundation values opportunities that work at the intersections of these areas.

“Organizations like the Oregon Coast Aquarium that are centered in rural communities throughout Oregon are important drivers of our rural economies,” Erin Borla, Roundhouse Foundation executive director, said. “They share local stories, highlight their unique history, ecology and watersheds, and most importantly provide economic resilience and strength in smaller communities.”

The $5 million, which will be disbursed over a five-year period, will support the aquarium’s capital campaign for remodel, renovation and development. One million dollars will go toward phase 1 of the campaign, which includes the development of a new headwaters feature. The remaining $4 million will be used to develop a new marine rehabilitation center.

The aquarium is one of three facilities in the Pacific Northwest, and the only one in the state of Oregon, authorized to provide critical care to endangered marine wildlife like sea turtles, northern fur seals and snowy plovers.

The Roundhouse Foundation’s commitment provides the aquarium with 70 percent of the funds needed to build the marine rehabilitation center. The aquarium invites its supporters to help raise the remaining funds by donating via givetoaquarium.org.

Possible ‘Tsunami Debris’ Boat on Coast Near Waldport

On March 20, a small fishing vessel called a panga made its way to the Bayshore area of town, covered in various kinds of sea life. It was quickly called into authorities, deemed a possible “tsunami boat” from Japan, which meant the sea life on it could well pose some dangers to Oregon’s coastal ecosystem.

The fiberglass panga vessel was 22 feet long and of a type often used in Japan for fishing. About 2012, a year or so after the 2011 tsunami in Japan, various debris started showing up on the Oregon coast. Many of them were covered in marine life, and some were considered invasive species that could cause harm on this coastline by spreading unchallenged by any predator. Luckily, no invasion ever occurred.

Responding to the scene in Waldport were personnel from Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) and Steve Rumrill from the Newport office of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). They showed up March 20 and 21, with Rumrill heading out immediately upon receiving the report. He examined the boat for any invasive species.

“I was concerned that the high tides at night on Sunday and before dawn may wash the vessel back out to sea,” Rumrill said. “So I secured a long polypro line to the stern of the vessel and stretched the line up the beach where I tied it to a large drift log and buried the drift log in the sand. My anchor system remained intact, and the vessel remained anchored in the surf zone until Tuesday, March 23, when it was removed by the contractor hired by OPRD.”

The contractor dragged it northward on the beach to an access where it could be hauled up onto a vehicle, then taken to South Beach State Park for examination.

Rumrill said it looked similar to other such panga vessels that washed up in Oregon during those years. The largest was the “tsunami dock” that arrived in Newport in 2012 and had officials very worried.

“So when I first saw the new ‘Panga’ on Mar 21, 2021, I thought that it was remarkable that another of the vessels from Japan had washed up on an Oregon beach after the tsunami event 10 years earlier,” he said.

First, it may not be from Japan, or maybe it hasn’t been floating around that long. Rumrill said it was in remarkably good shape if it had been exposed to ocean conditions for ten years.

“The exposed fiberglass on the hull was not heavily oxidized, and the stainless-steel motor lift mount was very clean and appeared to be relatively new,” he said.

Rumrill already knew there was a small fleet of “Panga” vessels used off the coast of California.

“So it occurred to me that it may be possible that the new vessel had been in the ocean for only a couple of years and that it had drifted north to Oregon from Baja, rather than from Japan,” he said. “This is a mystery that would require further evidence to determine its origin.”

Samples of the marine organisms were collected while it was still on the beach and then later at South Beach. Rumrill discovered one large pink-shelled barnacle by itself which he tentatively identified as Megabalanus. This one might be a problem, and it further deepened the mystery.

“Megabalanus is not native to the Oregon coast, and there are several species,” he said. “One species (Megabalanus rosa) is native to the waters of Japan, South Korea, and China, while another species (Megabalanus californicus) is native to southern California and Mexico.

Further examination still needs to be done on this one, but Rumrill said it looked more like the species from the Far East. Other species will be looked into further as well.

“That dock was inhabited by a great diversity and biomass of living non-native marine organisms, including seaweeds, mussels, snails, sea stars, crab, barnacles, fish, and other groups,” he said. “We learned very quickly that there was a distinct possibility that these vessels and drifting debris had the potential to transport living marine organisms from the waters of Japan to the coast of Oregon where we were concerned that the non-native species could become established.”

AROUND the STATE of OREGON

Oregon Firefighters Busy Already

Firefighters Continue To Make Significant Progress On The Ponina Fire Near Beatty

Firefighters continue to make excellent progress on the Ponina Fire burning approximately 5 miles north of Beatty. The fire is 1,641 acres and 60 percent contained. The cause is under investigation. The fire was reported Sunday around 2:30 p.m. The fire is fully lined and mop-up activities are continuing today. Firefighters were able to start repair work yesterday and will continue that work today. The fire is burning in timber and brush with creeping and smoldering fire behavior. There is interior smoke.

200-acre Marshall’s Place Fire in Tiller reported yesterday afternoon

Crews from the Douglas Forest Protective Association responded to a natural cover fire located approximately 4 miles north of Tiller, Tuesday afternoon.

The Marshall’s Place Fire is estimated to be around 200 acres in size, however, more accurate mapping will be conducted in the coming days.

No homes have been threatened by the Marshall’s Place Fire and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Firefighters arrived on scene of the Marshall’s Place Fire shortly after 3:00 PM and reported that it was approximately 70 acres in size, burning in logging slash and second growth timber.  Strong, gusty winds fanned the flames, resulting in numerous spot fires which accelerated the fire’s growth.

Nine engine crews, three water tenders, two bull dozers, and numerous industrial landowner representatives worked through the afternoon to construct containment lines around the perimeter of the fire.  Three 20-person hand crews were ordered to assist with suppression efforts last night.

Firefighters took advantage of favorable conditions overnight and made good progress towards containing the blaze.  Crews reported that fire activity significantly decreased Tuesday evening after sunset due to increased humidity levels and decreased wind speeds.  Hand crews and bull dozers assigned to the incident continued to work on the fire overnight and completed containment lines around the entire perimeter of the Marshall’s Place Fire by early Wednesday morning.

Today, 110 personnel from the Douglas Forest Protective Association, Oregon Department of Forestry, Coos Forest Protective Association, industrial landowners, and private contractors are assigned to the fire.  Crews and equipment will be focused on mopping up hot spots within the perimeter of the fire in addition to holding and improving containment lines.  Smoke from the interior of the fire may be visible for the next couple days.

Current Wildfire Information

Current wildfire information can be found on the ODF Wildfire blog, the ODF Fire Statistics Database, or the National Wildfire Coordinating Group active large fires map.

During fire season, the current fire season map will show active large fires ODF is tracking in the state and the locations of year-to-date lightning and human-caused fires (statistical fires where ODF is the primary protection agency).

• Current fire season siege map – PDF (Last updated 10/5/2020)
• ODF Wildfire blog
• ODF Fire Statistics Database
• Request an account to access the State of Oregon Fire Situation Analyst

Active large fires map

Oregon’s Liz Parrish, Known As “The Iditarod’s Littlest Musher” Has Died

Liz Parrish, known as “The Iditarod’s Littlest Musher,” died Saturday in a Portland hospital a day before her 63rd birthday. Parrish, who finished the 2008 Iditarod dog sled race, died from complications from surgery to stabilize her back. She originally underwent two days of surgery, with the second day involving a 12-hour procedure to stabilize her spine. Following those surgeries, kidney problems necessitated a third emergency surgery.

The former owner of the Crystalwood Lodge near Rocky Point, Parrish was known for her vigor and ability to overcome adversity despite her size: 4 feet, 9 inches and less than 100 pounds. Parrish, who was sometimes called a “dog whisperer,” was often seen training with her team on backroads and, during winter, snow-covered trails in the backcountry and woods around the Klamath Basin.

Bureau of Land Management Issues Payments

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued $26.9 million in payments from Fiscal Year 2020 to 18 counties in western Oregon under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS Act). Most of the funding will go directly to the counties including just over $750,000 to Klamath County, supporting investments in
education, infrastructure, public safety, and health services.

The BLM is charged with managing 2.4 million acres of Oregon and California Railroad Revested Lands, known
as the O&C Lands, in 18 western Oregon counties for sustainable timber harvest. The revenue from harvests is shared with those 18 counties.

The SRS Act payments are made in lieu of timber harvest receipts based on a formula set by Congress. The O&C
lands are some of the most productive timberlands in the world. They also contain a diversity of plant and animal species, recreation areas, mining claims, grazing lands, cultural and historical resources, scenic areas, wild and scenic rivers, and wilderness.

Cooperative projects funded by the SRS Act include wildfire hazard reduction, stream and watershed restoration, forest road maintenance, road decommissioning or obliteration, control of noxious weeds, improvement of fish and wildlife habitat, and opportunities for youth training and employment.

Arrests in Portland Protests

The Portland Police Bureau says officers arrested at least two people Tuesday night during demonstrations in response to yesterday’s conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd last spring.  

Police say one person was arrested after allegedly punching an officer.  The Oregonian reports video of the incident shows multiple police officers respond to the punch by piling on the suspect, with one officer throwing repeated punches.  Police say demonstrators also broke multiple windows.  Police declared an unlawful assembly around 10 p.m.

Meanwhile, Governor Kate Brown says the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd is one step toward the goal of racial justice and police reform.  In a statement released after the verdict announcement, Brown says there’s still much work to be done to dismantle the structures of racism and inequality.  She says the nation
grieves for the loss of George Floyd and honor his memory by continuing the hard work to increase police accountability.

Wienermobile Will Roll into Bend this Weekend

The world’s most famous car (besides the Batmobile and Popemobile) rolls into Central Oregon this weekend.

Oscar Mayer’s Wienermobile will park itself outside the world’s last Blockbuster Video store in Bend from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m Saturday.

On Sunday you can find the 27-foot-long at the Village at Sunriver between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

There are currently six Wienermobiles cruising around the country throughout the year, stopping for photo ops and tours along the way.

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