Friday, July 26

Habitat restoration continues in the Klamath River basin as deconstruction of four hydroelectric dams winds down.

At a press conference Thursday, Ren Brownell, public information officer for the Klamath River Renewal Corporation — the nonprofit spearheading the effort — said they expect to restore fish passage by the end of August.

Meanwhile, Resource Environmental Solutions, the firm tasked with habitat restoration, will fly large trees into the area via helicopter, placing them in fish-bearing streams for salmon and steelhead, company representative Dan Chase said.

KRRC began dismantling Copco No. 2 late last year. Deconstruction for the other three dams — JC Boyle in Oregon and Iron Gate and Copco No. 1 in California — began earlier this year.

The Native Plant Society of Oregon’s south coast chapter is taking orders for its fall plant sale on a first-come first-served basis through Sept. 21 or until they sell out.

Residents are urged to order early for the best selection. Orders can be submitted online or via mail at NPSO plant sale c/o Gail Perrotti, 62 N. Folsom St., Coquille, Oregon 97423. Checks should be made out to NPSO SCC. Plants will be available for pickup at 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday in Bandon and Gold Beach. For more information, call Perrotti at (541) 414-9777.

The California Highway Patrol is holding driver safety education classes for teens and their parents at their Humboldt County CHP office from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Aug. 22 and from 10 a.m.-noon Sept. 21.

The agency’s Start Smart program focuses on the responsibilities of safe driving and how to avoid collisions and are taught by CHP officers and other speakers. Parents are also reminded to model good driving behavior. Classes are free, though reservations are required and space is limited. To sign up, call the Arcata office at (707) 822-5981.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office released the names of the two individuals who died as a result of a plane crash that took place in Kneeland on Tuesday.

The Cessna’s pilot is 49-year-old Gabriel Joshua Kulp, of Grass Valley, and his passenger is 60-year-old Thomias Edward Smith, of Carmichael, California., a helicopter mechanic. These are the only two bodies recovered from the wreckage, the HCSO stated in a press release Thursday. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration continues to investigate the crash.

Regional News

(AP) California Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order directing state agencies “to move urgently to address dangerous” homeless encampments and clear them from state land while giving city and local leaders a push to do the same.

The order comes a month after a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces.

In 2023, there more than 180,000 homeless people in California in 2023. Newsom’s order comes as the lack of affording housing and rising cost of living have pushed increasing numbers of people out onto the streets. In many cities, the homeless population far exceeds the number of shelter beds available on any given night.

The order raises questions about how this will be carried out given the challenges that cities are facing, and the governor’s office said details are still be hammered out.

(OPB) Rogue Valley postal workers will hold a rally next week to raise awareness about the consolidation of some mail services up to Portland ahead of the November election.

The consolidation of some mail sorting processes was done earlier this year in Medford and Eugene as a way to save the U.S. Postal Service money. The Southern Oregon Local American Postal Workers Union, #342 is hoping those changes can be reversed before the November election.

Part of the consolidation included removing Medford’s postmarking machine, according to Union President Jeremy Schilling. Now mail, including vote-by-mail ballots, is sent to Portland to be postmarked. That’s led to worries about ballots not being counted in time, although USPS has said the change will not affect mail services.

Schilling is optimistic that the consolidation process can be undone.

“There’s no reason that, if someone wants to send a letter from Talent to Medford, that it needs to go to Portland and then back. That doesn’t logically make sense. So I believe there is an easy path to keeping our local mail local,” he said.