On March 1, Skye Baskin was in a crisis along a highway in Douglas County, wandering in and out of traffic.
The 27-year-oldfrom 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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
“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.
Advertisement
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.”
SALEM, Ore. (KATU) — Oregon’s childhood vaccination rates have fallen to their lowest levels on record, while the number of parents claiming nonmedical vaccine exemptions continues to climb, according to newly released data from the Oregon Health Authority.
The agency reported on Thursday that 85.6% of Oregon kindergarteners were up to date on required vaccines during the 2025-26 school year.
At the same time, the nonmedical exemption rate reached a record high of 10.9%.
State health officials say the trend is raising concerns about the potential for outbreaks of highly contagious diseases, including measles and whooping cough.
Advertisement
“Although the vast majority of families in Oregon are still choosing to protect families through vaccination, the downward trends are deeply concerning,” said Dr. Howard Chiou, medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations at OHA. “We risk seeing the return of diseases such as measles and polio—diseases of the past that once caused widespread harm but are entirely preventable with vaccines.”
READ ALSO | Oregon State study raises concerns about AI’s impact on student thinking skills
The statewide numbers tell only part of the story.
According to OHA, more than one in three Oregon schools with at least 10 students have measles vaccination rates below 95%, the threshold public health officials say is needed to help prevent outbreaks through community immunity.
Chiou said those exemption rates, combined with lower vaccination coverage at some schools, are increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.
Advertisement
The concerns come as Oregon and the nation are seeing increases in vaccine-preventable diseases.
OHA says the nonmedical exemption rate for the second dose of the measles vaccine has nearly doubled over the past decade, rising from 4.9% to 9.4%.
The state also recorded 1,475 cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, in 2025, the highest total in 75 years.
What could happen if the trend continues?
Dr. Alanna Braun, a pediatrician at OHSU, said declining vaccination rates increase the likelihood of disease outbreaks.
“The thing that really stands out to me the most is just sort of the trend of just ongoing decreased immunization rates across our state and seeing how many schools here in Oregon are now at risk for major outbreaks of some really serious illnesses,” said Braun.
Advertisement
Braun said communities become more vulnerable when vaccination rates fall below the level needed to prevent the spread of disease.
READ ALSO | Council passes Portland Arts Tax update, increasing fee & changing exemption threshold
She noted that outbreaks can affect more than just unvaccinated students.
“A lot of kids have infant siblings at home who are not able to be vaccinated,” Braun said. “Certainly, there are kids in all of these schools who are unable to be vaccinated, kids who are undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. There are teachers who are immunocompromised for various reasons.”
Braun said the long-term outlook is concerning if vaccination rates continue to fall.
Advertisement
“As we’re seeing reduced rates of immunizations, I think it’s more and more likely that we are gonna see some of these preventable illnesses with more frequency,” she said.
What parents can do
OHA is encouraging parents to check vaccination rates at their child’s school and talk with their healthcare provider if they have questions about vaccines.
“We want to empower families to make informed decisions,” said Chiou. “We want parents to revisit and reconsider their decisions because the situation in Oregon has changed.”
Parents can view vaccination and exemption rates for individual schools using OHA’s School Immunization Data Dashboard.
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Starting in 2026, a new law in Oregon requires all non-motorized boats, regardless of size, to buy and carry a waterway access permit. That includes paddleboards and kayaks.
But there has been some push back from one organization.
Ben Roche is part of Let Us Paddle. The organization aims to repeal the updates to the waterway access permit.
“It’s Oregonians constitutional right to free access to our waterways. And human powered watercrafts are the best way to do that, and the least environmentally impactful,” said Roche.
Advertisement
According to the Oregon State Marine Board, permit fees range from $6 to $35.
If you’re caught without a permit, there’s a $115 fine.
The state agency says the funding goes directly to two programs.
One supports aquatic invasive species watercraft inspection stations and the other improves access points to the water that specifically serve paddlers.
“There is a need for inspection and we support that. What we don’t support is charging recreational paddleboarders for cleaning of motorboats that enter our state,” said Roche.
Advertisement
Roche adds, the state is only funding a few dozen access points.
Let Us Paddle has collected at least 20,000 signatures, and they want about 130,000 more by July 2.
They need at least 120,000 verified signatures to put the repeal before voters on the November ballot.
But even if they don’t meet the requirement, Roche says he’ll keep pushing for change.
“I think it’s really a poorly crafted bill that collects a small drop in the bucket of revenue but impacts thousands of recreational kayakers across the state,” said Roche.
Advertisement
FOX 12 reached out to the Oregon State Marine Board to ask more questions, but have not yet to heard back.
Oregon DMV temporarily paused dispersing new undercover vehicle license plates starting April 15.
FILE – The U.S. Department of Justice seal is seen on a podium before a news conference, May 4, 2026, in Washington.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP
Advertisement
The Justice Department is suing four states after they refused to issue confidential license plates to federal law enforcement agencies, despite having done so in the past.
The lawsuits, filed Wednesday in Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts and Maine, seek to force states to resume what the federal government describes as long-standing, routine policies.
The scope of the combined litigation raises questions about ways the federal government has aggressively carried out immigration enforcement since President Donald Trump’s reelection, and whether the Constitution grants states the power to deny federal law enforcement agencies license plates that effectively conceal officers’ identities.
“Oregon’s DMV policy illegally discriminates against the United States, violates the Supremacy clause, and is unconstitutional,” attorneys for the federal government argued in court filings.
Oregon DMV temporarily paused disbursing new undercover license plates to all federal agencies starting April 15.
Advertisement
“The DMV is currently evaluating the undercover vehicle registration program to ensure the program complies with Oregon law,” Oregon DMV Administrator Amy Joyce explained in a May 22 letter to Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate.
A recent lawsuit filed against Oregon State Police alleges the state is providing personal information to federal immigration authorities through databases, including Oregon’s DMV.
“If the DMV process for issuing undercover plates could be questioned under Oregon law, the State is at risk for additional litigation,” Joyce explained in the letter to Shumate.
The state’s review of the undercover license plate program doesn’t prevent federal vehicles from legally driving on Oregon roads.
“State and local law enforcement are unaffected by this pause and the federal agencies that participate in the program are able to continue to use their existing unexpired plates,” Kevin Glenn, a spokesperson for Gov. Tina Kotek wrote in a statement.
Advertisement
Immigration officers have relied on these license plates for enforcement, including during Operation Black Rose in Oregon. According to U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement, officers arrested more than 1,498 people between September and March, which led to 1,057 removals.
The lawsuits filed Wednesday argue the states’ DMV policies undermine ongoing federal investigations.
“Federal law enforcement agencies should not be subject to the challenged DMV policy, which is unconstitutional and recklessly disregards officer safety, public safety, and federal operational needs‚” the Justice Department’s lawsuit states.
Sign up today for OPB’s “First Look” – your daily guide to the most important news and culture stories from around the Northwest.
