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A young man’s death exposes holes in Oregon’s mental health system • Oregon Capital Chronicle

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A young man’s death exposes holes in Oregon’s mental health system • Oregon Capital Chronicle


On March 1, Skye Baskin was in a crisis along a highway in Douglas County, wandering in and out of traffic.

The 27-year-old from Portland alarmed motorists, who swerved to avoid him. An Oregon State Police trooper responded and arrested Baskin for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors. 

That was Baskin’s last day of freedom before he died. He languished for six weeks in the Douglas County Jail and was unresponsive when his court-appointed defense attorney visited him in the facility, court records and interviews show. And he was unable to hold up his head when Douglas County deputies unloaded from a van into a wheelchair as they dropped him off at Oregon State Hospital, the state’s secure psychiatric hospital in Salem. 

Baskin lived in relative obscurity, bouncing around California, Washington and Portland as a young adult after he graduated from California City High School in 2015. Early in life, he and his brother, Trai Baskin, spent time in Georgia’s foster care system. His path from the edge of a highway in Douglas County to the Oregon State Hospital sheds light on a frayed system that policymakers struggle to fix even after putting more than $1.3 billion toward new programs and facilities in 2021.

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Skye Baskin (Provided)

Yet Baskin and others fall through the cracks.

“Why are they charging these cases?” asked Angelina Hollingsworth, the Douglas County public defender who represented him. “Why are the police picking up someone that’s clearly having a mental health issue, instead of using other resources in the community like the mobile crisis unit? They could have responded and worked this out.”

At this point, officials have not said when, exactly, Baskin died. Oregon State Hospital staff found he lacked a pulse after wheeling through the facility to his room.

Oregon State Police are investigating the death and its circumstances, as is procedural for all unattended deaths at Oregon State Hospital, an agency spokesperson said. The case is complex in part because it’s not clear when he died on that journey from the Douglas County Jail to Oregon State Hospital, a 134-mile drive that unfolded in a transport van. 

Oregon State Hospital officials on Thursday released the results of a federal inspection after the death, a 150-page record that faults the hospital for failing to flag Baskin’s condition sooner. 

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Meanwhile, Baskin’s brother wonders what happened as he waits for answers.

Douglas County jail stay 

An Oregon State Police sergeant spotted Baskin on March 1, as he walked across Interstate 5 and vehicles braked to avoid hitting him. He peered down into the Umpqua River from a bridge, the officer wrote in his report.

“Mr. Baskin seemed in a daze or fog of some sort and would not really communicate with me when I asked him if I could get him some help or find out what was going on,” the report said. 

The officer held his wrist to keep Baskin from traffic and he started to pull away, the report said. The report said Baskin balled up his fist and the officer grabbed his wrists. Baskin resisted arrest and tried to pull away, and the officer used a foot sweep to trip him and tried to break his fall. A passerby pulled up and helped the trooper by jumping on Baskin’s back as he was handcuffed.

It’s unclear why he was free at that point instead of in a program. Just a day earlier, police in Sutherlin arrested Baskin for trespassing after receiving a complaint he was asking an employee at a Dutch Bros. coffee shop if he wanted to box, records show. He was taken to the Douglas County Jail and released without any charges filed.

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This time was different. Baskin was booked in the Douglas County Jail and charged with two misdemeanors. 

A few days later, Hollingsworth, his court-appointed attorney, went to the jail to visit him.

“Mr. Baskin did not make eye contact with me during the entire interaction,” Hollingsworth wrote in an affidavit obtained by the Capital Chronicle. “Mr. Baskin was rocking back and forth and did not acknowledge my presence or any of my questions.”

She said jail staff told her Baskin would not talk and hadn’t since he arrived. Because he didn’t talk and wandered aimlessly about, jail staff told her they decided to keep him in isolation, the affidavit said.

In court, Hollingsworth fought hard for her client. On April 1, she filed a motion for the charges to be dismissed, arguing that he had been in jail for 32 days already and no community programs were available to restore him to aid in his defense.

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Instead, Circuit Court Judge Robert Johnson sent Baskin to Oregon State Hospital, which provides mental health treatment to people charged with crimes who are unable to aid in their defense. Under the state’s system, people can receive treatment and return to their community when they are well enough to face charges. 

Baskin never got that treatment – or a trip back to Douglas County. 

Arrival at the state hospital 

Douglas County deputies drove Baskin to the Oregon State Hospital on April 18. When they opened the doors to the transport van, he was sitting in a slumped position, according to a federal report of violations the state hospital released Thursday. The document doesn’t identify him, but interviews and other records obtained by the Capital Chronicle connect him to the death in the report. 

Deputies told a nurse they’d need a wheelchair because he “flops around like a fish,” the report said. The report faults nurses who took him to his room for failing to request a doctor to determine if his “unresponsive condition was behavioral, as law enforcement transporters claimed, versus medical,” saying a reasonable layperson would know to do this.

Aside from Baskin briefly opening his eyes, hospital staff saw little movement, the report said. His eyes were closed when they took an identifying photo, and they held his legs up with a blanket as they moved him to keep his feet off the floor. His head slouched to one side.

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When he was placed in his bed, a nurse decided to check his pulse and found none. Efforts to resuscitate him failed and he was pronounced dead 69 minutes after arriving at the hospital.

After a patient dies, federal inspectors put Oregon State Hospital on notice over reimbursements

The hospital reported his death to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which blamed hospital staff for not checking Baskin’s condition, including vital signs like his pulse and temperature, upon his arrival.

Federal regulators also found disorganized medical emergency supplies, but don’t directly say those problems caused Baskin’s death in the report.

“Our number one priority at Oregon State Hospital is the safety and health of our patients and staff,” Dr. Sara Walker, OSH interim superintendent and chief medical officer, said in a statement.

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The hospital plans to submit a plan outlining how it will improve its policies to CMS on Friday and has already started to make some changes, including more training and better organization of medical equipment.

In a memorandum to staff on Thursday, Walker said the hospital receives 25 to 30 new patients each week, and the new people often often arrive with no recent medical care.

“While we are not responsible for patients before they come to OSH, we are responsible for all their treatment needs, both medical and psychiatric, as soon as they enter our admissions area,” Walker wrote. “You’ll see that called out in the CMS findings.”

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office didn’t respond to requests for comment.

A brother remembers 

Trai Baskin, a Marine Corps sergeant stationed in Japan, told the Capital Chronicle he’s waiting for answers from the government about his brother’s death. 

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“That just sounds crazy to me, but they aren’t really releasing any details to anyone,” he said in a phone interview.

The two spent years together in foster care in Georgia, growing up in different households, often under different circumstances, he said.  But Baskin, 26, is just a year younger than his brother and they were close during their childhood.

“It has mostly just been me and Skye together,” he said. 

They were adopted together when they were eight and nine and later went to live with an uncle when their adoptive father died, he said. In high school, they eventually lived in California. 

His brother played the trumpet in middle school and high school, Baskin said. The two didn’t speak as often in adulthood but still kept in touch.

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In January, they planned to play video games together. But through February and March, he was unable to connect with his brother and later found out he was in jail for much of that time. 

“They’re just kind of playing hot potato with the blame here,” he said. “I doubt that’ll be quick, because it’s already been like a month or so.”

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Oregon

Oregon’s relives playoff nightmare as Indiana delivers brutal 56-22 beatdown

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Oregon’s relives playoff nightmare  as Indiana delivers brutal 56-22 beatdown


ATLANTA — For the second time in as many seasons, Oregon entered the College Football Playoff with high expectations and exited with a pillar to post thrashing from a conference foe.

In similar fashion to last year’s Rose Bowl rout by Ohio State, No. 1 Indiana had its way with No. 5 Oregon in a CFP semifinal at the Peach Bowl Friday night. By the end of the 56-22 mauling, led by Fernando Mendoza’s five touchdowns, neither the scoreboard nor the box score reflected how lopsided things truly were.

Three Ducks turnovers, including a pick-six by Dante Moore on the opening play of the game, led to 21 first-half points for the Hoosiers (15-0), who led 35-7 at halftime.

“This is going to be a life lesson that a lot of people never get,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “We just got our butt kicked. That’s going to happen in life and not just Dante. Every single person in the locker room, every coach, every person can learn, hey, how do you respond to that.

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“Some people crawl into a hole, don’t face the music. Some people say, okay, let’s figure it out. Let me challenge myself so I can be better. Let me be an example of how you handle moments like this. I think there is a way to handle that.”

One could say the Ducks (13-2) should have learned a similar lesson from the Rose Bowl, but with so many new starters from a year ago that’s not entirely accurate.

This UO team ranked in the top 10 in many statistics all season and was at times even more dominant than last year’s team. But against the best competition its weaknesses showed more than its strength. The Hoosiers (15-0) capitalized on many of those to advance to face Miami in the CFP Championship on Jan. 19.

“They have a great defense, great disguise and different looks, but you can’t win football games if you’re causing turnovers,” said Moore, who was 24 of 39 for 285 yards with two touchdowns but lost 28 yards rushing due to three fumbles. “Something of course I need to work at.”

Moore lost two fumbles, one on a strip sack and another when running back Dierre Hill Jr. ran into the tip of the ball on Moore’s wind up.

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“First play, I still like the play, but it sucked the result,” offensive coordinator Will Stein said. “We had the fumble off the elbow, like, crazy. … We were stopping ourselves, but they’re a really good defense. They are really good and they create takeaways and they don’t mess up.”

Mendoza was 17 of 20 for 177 yards and the five scores, which went to four different IU players.

Named offensive MVP, Mendoza set a Peach Bowl completion percentage record and threw the most touchdowns against Oregon since Cal’s Davis Webb had five in 2016.

“He understands what he’s doing,” Lanning said. “He has great weapons to be able to take advantage of.”

Indiana was 11 of 14 on third down, including nine of its first 10, underscoring one of Oregon’s defensive weaknesses against better teams.

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Defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi called it a “really poor finish” to an “awesome season.”

It’s difficult to take a long view after another promising campaign ends in such brutally demoralizing fashion, though several players tried.

“This is a great program,” said running back Noah Whittington, who was limited due to turf toe. “It’s going to continue to grow. Eventually we’re going to get the job done. Unfortunately it wasn’t today, but down the road we’re going to get ‘em.”

Yet for a second year in a row, albeit once again with several top skill players out due to injury, Oregon was embarrassed on a national stage.

“In this moment,” Lanning said, “you feel like a failure and they’re not. They’re not failures. These guys won a lot of damn ball games. … I also think you can’t discredit that we played well. We’ve played well at times even here in the postseason.”

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Lanning proclaimed Oregon’s season motto “double down,” an expected value proposition in blackjack, which adopted because the program’s process is sound, even if last year’s Rose Bowl ending was not.

In many cases, it worked. But not always, like Friday night. It doesn’t mean that Lanning’s methods won’t pay off in the long run. It does mean the 2025 season ends without the ultimate reward, and in this case, far worse: another playoff blowout loss, which even if it proves again to be against the eventual national champion is still an offseason’s worth of misery to endure.

Adding insult to injury is Mario Cristobal, in his fourth year at Miami, bringing the Hurricanes back to the national championship game for the first time in 23 years.

But Oregon still earned a seat back at the CFP table. Whether Lanning is willing to double down in the same spot, or consider greater changes with two outgoing coordinators, could determine if the Ducks play differently next year.



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Where to watch the Peach Bowl: Live stream Oregon vs. Indiana anywhere

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Where to watch the Peach Bowl: Live stream Oregon vs. Indiana anywhere


The second College Football Playoff semifinal game is a can’t-miss Big Ten showdown. We’ve compiled everything you need to know about where to watch the Peach Bowl, including live streaming options for cord-cutters.

The No. 5 Oregon Ducks will take on the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers in the Peach Bowl. With the Ohio State Buckeyes, a Big Ten powerhouse and the reigning National Champions, out of the picture after a shock quarterfinal elimination, the Ducks and Hoosiers both have a shot at making it to the championship. Oregon has had a tremendous season, going 13-1 and shutting out Texas Tech in the quarterfinals. Their only fumble this season was Indiana (a 30-20 Hoosiers victory in October), which went undefeated (14-0) and walloped Alabama 38-3 in the quarterfinals. It’s safe to say that it’s anyone’s game, and only time will tell which of the two teams will earn a spot at the National Championship.

If you’re hoping to tune in, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to learn some of the best live streaming options below. The services we’ve highlighted will also allow you to live stream the National Championship on January 19.

What channel is the Peach Bowl on?

Like the rest of the CFP, the Peach Bowl will air on ESPN in the US. The Oregon vs. Indiana game is scheduled to kick off on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, but the network’s college football coverage will begin at 6 p.m.

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Where to watch the Peach Bowl in the US

If you don’t have cable, you don’t need to worry about missing out on any of the action. There are several ways to live stream ESPN, including ESPN Unlimited, the network’s direct streaming counterpart. At $30 a month, ESPN Unlimited unlocks total access to all things ESPN, including live streams from the flagship network and other properties, like ESPN2, the ACC Network, and SEC Network.

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ESPN Unlimited

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ESPN Unlimited has everything from ESPN Plus, in addition to all that the ESPN linear networks have to offer.

If you’d prefer a service with a free trial and other channels beyond those in the ESPN family, DirecTV and Fubo are two of our top live TV recommendations. DirecTV offers ESPN in all of its Signature packages, but you can save some money if you’re only interested in sports by subscribing to the DirecTV MySports genre pack. Subscriptions cost $70 a month, but there’s a five-day free trial for new customers. MySports also unlocks ESPN Unlimited access.

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DirecTV MySports

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DirecTV’s MySports pack carries popular sports channels, from mainstays like ESPN to niche offerings like the ACC Network.

Fubo is another top sports-centric streaming service. You can get ESPN and around 28 other channels through Fubo’s Sports + News pack, in addition to ESPN Unlimited access. Subscriptions start at $56 a month, but new users can get a five-day free trial and a $10 off first-month discount.

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Fubo Sports + News

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The new Fubo Sports + News pack is only available in select areas. It combines 20+ major sports channels (including the new ESPN Unlimited) and select local networks (ABC, CBS, and FOX).

Where to watch the Peach Bowl in the UK

In the UK, College Football Playoff games (including the Peach Bowl) are available through DAZN. Subscription prices vary by plan, but most college football games this season were available for free in the UK (as long as you create an account). DAZN will also live stream the National Championship later this month.

How to watch the Peach Bowl from anywhere

If you’re traveling away from home, you can still keep up with your usual streaming options with the aid of a VPN. Short for virtual private networks, VPNs are cybersecurity tools that enable people to change their devices’ virtual location. This way, their go-to websites and apps work from anywhere, just like they would back home. VPNs are also popular methods for enhancing online privacy and security.

NordVPN is our No. 1 recommendation right now. It’s a top-rated option with tons of features, servers, and a hassle-free 30-day money-back guarantee, so it’s no sweat if you find that it’s not what you’re looking for. Our official NordVPN review breaks down everything else you might need to know about the app.

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NordVPN Plan

NordVPN is one of the top VPN services in the business. It offers excellent value with a strong selection of features and a low monthly price. A wide selection of international servers, high-end security, fast connections, and audited privacy protection have made the brand a household name in the world of VPNs.


Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Business Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.

You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here.

Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@businessinsider.com.

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Oregon to investigate Border Patrol shooting of couple in Portland | CNN

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Oregon to investigate Border Patrol shooting of couple in Portland | CNN


Oregon officials are opening an investigation into a shooting by federal agents in Portland that left a married couple wounded and sparked renewed outrage in the city over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown there and across the US.

The shooting inflamed tensions a day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, prompting protests and condemnation from state and city officials there.

Following Wednesday’s killing, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told agents to “get the fuck out” of the city. Oregon state Sen. Kayse Jama took a similar tone during a news conference after the Portland shooting, telling ICE agents to “get the hell out of our community.”

The Portland shooting unfolded Thursday afternoon as US Border Patrol agents were conducting a “targeted vehicle stop” and one of the agents “fired defensive shots” after the driver tried to run the agents over, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene,” she added.

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No agents were injured in the shooting, a federal law enforcement source told CNN.

McLaughlin said the driver and passenger are believed to be linked to Tren de Aragua, the notorious Venezuelan gang President Donald Trump has long targeted amid accusations of drug trafficking, murder and other violence, though she did not provide evidence.

Portland Police Chief Bob Day said local officers weren’t involved in the incident, but responded to reports of a shooting involving federal agents just after 2:15 p.m. Thursday.

Minutes later, police received a call from a different location from a man who said he’d been shot by federal officers and was requesting help, according to Day and dispatch audio.

When officers arrived, they found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds and emergency responders transported them to a hospital, Day said. The conditions of the patients weren’t known Thursday night, he added.

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The chief said his department didn’t know if the vehicle involved in the shooting had been weaponized against the agents.

The two people who were shot are married, a senior law enforcement told CNN.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson linked Thursday’s shooting to the killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, the circumstances of which has been disputed by federal and local officials. Wilson said he had spoken to the Minneapolis mayor earlier in the day to offer condolences and called Good’s death “entirely preventable” in a statement Thursday morning.

Hours after the mayors spoke, Wilson was similarly casting doubt on the Trump administration’s characterization of what took place in Portland.

“We know what the federal government says happened here. There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time has long passed,” he said.

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Wilson called for ICE to halt all operations in Portland until an investigation can take place.

“Portland is not a training ground for militarized agents,” Wilson said. “When the administration talks about using full force, we are seeing what it means on our streets.”

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced late Thursday the state will open an investigation into the shooting, saying officials “have been clear about our concerns with excessive use of force by federal agents in Portland and nationally.”

“The investigation will look into whether any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority and will include witness interviews, video evidence, and other relevant materials,” Rayfield said.

On the federal government side, the FBI said it is investigating an “assault” on two CBP agents. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting the FBI, it said.

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Trump has frequently taken aim at Portland, depicting the liberal city as a crime-riddled war zone and falsely claiming on several occasions that it is “burning to the ground.”

The White House was locked in a months-long battle with city and state officials over the administration’s controversial deployment of National Guard troops to the city, which was blocked by a federal judge. City officials have argued Trump’s incendiary remarks and troop deployments have inflamed violence in the city, which has been rocked by frequent protests over immigration enforcement.

Multnomah County, which includes part of Portland, voted Thursday to extend an emergency declaration in response to ICE’s continued presence in the area, County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said.

The declaration was originally issued in December “in response to ongoing impacts from federal immigration enforcement,” Vega Pederson said at the time.

“Multnomah County will not stand by as federal governments attack our neighbors,” she said Thursday.

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