The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Oregon Beach Weather
The 116th Florence Rhododendron Festival
Held every third weekend in May for over a hundred years, the Florence Rhododendron Festival draws as many as 10,000 visitors to Historic Old Town Florence. It is one of the longest running flower festivals on the west coast.
This year’s theme is “Back in Bloom”. After the festival was canceled for two consecutive years due to pandemic hurdles, the Florence community is excited to bring back the festival.
Each year boasts a carnival, a Rhododendron Festival Court, a junior parade on Saturday and the main parade on Sunday. The event will extend into Historic Old Town with a local craft market and the carnival on Bay Street. End the weekend with the annual motorcycle show at Three Rivers Casino Resort.
Northwest Lawmakers Petition for $1 Billion to Build new Seaport at Coos Bay
Five Pacific Northwest lawmakers have written President Joe Biden in support of federal funding for a new international seaport in Coos Bay.
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Oregon joined Reps. Doug LaMalfa of California, Dan Newhouse of Washington, Mike Simpson of Idaho and Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, all Republicans, in writing Biden on May 13 pressing for federal money for a $1 billion large port on the Oregon coast.
They argue a new Pacific port will help alleviate supply chain problems in other busy West Coast ports such as Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle.
The port would also bring jobs and economic development to the Oregon Coast. Lawmakers referred to the Coos Bay project as the Oregon International EcoPort.
Bentz and his cohorts want Biden’s financial support for the port project via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Republicans voted against the final version of the bill, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last year.
“We have been plagued by a supply chain crisis since the pandemic began in 2020. The disruptions in supply chains have revealed severe weaknesses in our ability to ship and receive goods around the globe from West Coast ports. This has worsened every issue facing every state in the Union. While I did not vote for the IIJA (because of the outrageous amount of wasteful spending contained therein), it did pass the House last year. Without serious investment in our nation’s ports, it will be impossible to fix this important issue,” Bentz said in a statement. “That is why I am advocating that President Biden select the Oregon International EcoPort project in Coos Bay for use of funds contained in the IIJA.”
The regional lawmakers said a new Coos Bay port would help alleviate supply chain troubles that have been vexing logistics links between China and the U.S. throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
“This would increase West Coast port capacity by up to 10%. We cannot afford to continue to fall behind other countries, causing us to lose out on tremendous export opportunities,” Bentz said.
U.S. ports have struggled with labor shortages and backlog while restrictive Chinese COVID shutdowns of ports and manufacturing have resulted in product delays and shortages.
The new letter comes after Oregon Democrats — including U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley — also petitioned Biden to give financial backing to the proposed port in March.
The Port of Coos Bay is partnering with Missouri-based NorthPoint Development to expand the existing port into a major logistics hub that could potentially handle 1.4 million shipping containers annually. That could potentially make the new Oregon port one of the ten busiest in the U.S.
We want to keep you informed about COVID-19 in Oregon. Data are provisional and change frequently. This report covers the three-day period from May 13 to May 15, 2022. Visit our dashboard, linked below, and hover over the new cases graph to view new presumptive and confirmed case numbers reported to OHA by date. For more information, including COVID-19 data by county, visit our dashboard: http://ow.ly/cNGB50J9om6
State health officials are urging schools across Oregon to return to COVID-19 safety measures as cases of COVID-19 begin to increase again. Six counties — including the tri-county metro area — saw their COVID-19 levels rise from low to medium this past week. Cases in the metro area are up more than 40 percent from woo weeks ago. State health officials say schools should reinstate masking policies before returning to remote learning again.
Important Election Information
Registered voters in Oregon who have yet to vote in the May primary can choose between several options Tuesday to cast their ballot.
Voters can, for the first time in state history, mail their ballots as late as Election Day and have them count, as long as they are postmarked Tuesday. Up until 8 p.m., voters can also drop their ballot off at their county elections office or an official drop site. This link on the Secretary of State’s website will help locate drop boxes near you.
- May 17, 2022 – County Clerk’s office open 7 am – 8 pm. Official dropsites open until 8 pm, for minimum of 8 hours. (Primary Election)
- May 17, 2022 – Last day to file write-in declaration or write-in nomination for precinct committeeperson. Must be filed no later than 8 pm. (Primary Election)
- May 17, 2022 – Last day for voter to return ballot. Ballots that are mailed must be postmarked by election day. Ballots deposited in an official drop box must be received by 8 pm on election day. (May Election)
MORE INFO: https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/Pages/election-information.aspx
Oregon Being Sued Over Failure To Provide Public Defenders
Criminal defendants in Oregon who have gone without legal representation for long periods of time amid a critical shortage of public defense attorneys filed a lawsuit Monday that alleges the state violated their constitutional right to legal counsel and a speedy trial.
The complaint, which seeks class-action status, was filed as state lawmakers and the Oregon Office of Public Defense Services struggle to address the huge shortage of public defenders statewide.
The crisis has led to the dismissal of dozens of cases and left an estimated 500 defendants statewide — including several dozen in custody on serious felonies — without legal representation. Crime victims are also impacted because cases are taking longer to reach resolution, a delay that experts say extends their trauma, weakens evidence and erodes confidence in the justice system, especially among low-income and minority groups.
“There is a public defense crisis raging across this country,” said Jason D. Williamson, executive director of the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at New York University School of Law, who helped prepare the filing. “But Oregon is among only a handful of states that is now entirely depriving people of their constitutional right to counsel on a daily basis, leaving countless indigent defendants without access to an attorney for months at a time.”
The lawsuit specifically names Gov. Kate Brown and Stephen Singer, the recently appointed executive director of the state’s public defense agency, and asks for a court injunction ordering criminal defendants to be released if they can’t be provided with an attorney in a reasonable period of time. The lawsuit doesn’t specify what would be considered “reasonable.”
Singer said he could not comment until he had fully reviewed the lawsuit. Brown’s office declined to comment on pending litigation.
Oregon’s system to provide attorneys for criminal defendants who can’t afford them was underfunded and understaffed before COVID-19, but a significant slowdown in court activity during the pandemic pushed it to a breaking point. A backlog of cases is flooding the courts and defendants routinely are arraigned and then have their hearing dates postponed up to two months in the hopes a public defender will be available later.
A report by the American Bar Association released in January found Oregon has 31% of the public defenders it needs. Every existing attorney would have to work more than 26 hours a day during the workweek to cover the caseload, the authors said.
Public defenders warned that the system was on the brink of collapse before the pandemic.
In 2019, some attorneys even picketed outside the state Capitol for higher pay and reduced caseloads. But lawmakers didn’t act and months later, COVID-19 crippled the courts. There were no felony or misdemeanor jury trials in April 2020 and access to the court system was greatly curtailed for months, with only limited in-person proceedings and remote services provided.
The situation is more complicated than in other states because Oregon’s public defender system is the only one in the nation that relies entirely on contractors. Cases are doled out to either large nonprofit defense firms, smaller cooperating groups of private defense attorneys that contract for cases or independent attorneys who can take cases at will.
Now, some of those large nonprofit firms are periodically refusing to take new cases because of the overload. Private attorneys — they normally serve as a relief valve where there are conflicts of interest — are increasingly also rejecting new clients because of the workload, poor pay rates and late payments from the state.
Governor Brown Discusses Oregon Wildfire Season
As Oregon approaches wildfire season, Governor Kate Brown held a news conference Monday with several fire officials to discuss how the state is getting prepared. Wildfires are becoming more of a threat across the Pacific Northwest, and Oregon has faced several challenging fire seasons over the past few years.
As summer approaches forecasters say Central Oregon has the highest fire risk. The outlook shows above-normal fire risk spreading across the state as the season progresses.
Gov. Kate Brown said Monday that last year’s passage of Senate Bill 762 has allowed the state to add additional seasonal firefighters in preparation for the drier months and purchase more aircraft. Hiring enough firefighters has proven a challenge nationwide this year.
May is Wildfire Prevention Month and ODOT and Keep Oregon Green want to make sure your summer memories don’t include starting a wildfire. Over 70% of wildfires are caused by people and in Oregon last year, cars were the number one source of wildfires during the summer months.
With persistent and deepening drought conditions, we’re all becoming more aware of the potential wildfire dangers our vehicles pose. And that means we all need to remember the lessons about how to make sure our vehicles don’t cause devastating wildfires.
The wildfire risk gradually increases as grasses cure, forests dry out and winds give accidental sparks or car fires the ability to spread quickly. Remember, we all have a role in preventing wildfires in Oregon, especially as extended drought conditions create a greater window of opportunity for roadside ignitions.
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/