Oregon

Oregon public health officials urge care and vaccinations as respiratory illness season looms • Oregon Capital Chronicle

Published

2 years ago

September 19, 2024

Oregon public health officials urge care and vaccinations as respiratory illness season looms • Oregon Capital Chronicle

Oregon public health officials are asking Oregonians to take steps to protect themselves and others from the slew of respiratory illnesses likely to emerge again this winter.

COVID-19 is not the only culprit – other respiratory illnesses include influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, along with measles and whooping cough. Public health officials on Thursday encouraged people to get vaccinated and use other strategies to avoid getting sick, like hand-washing, avoiding indoor crowded gatherings and testing when symptoms appear. Face masks, while not mandatory, also help ward off illnesses, officials said.

“Fortunately, we have some very effective tools to help people risk less and do more this respiratory season,” Dr. Melissa Sutton, the health authority’s medical director for respiratory viral pathogens, said Thursday in a call with reporters.

Dr. Richard Bruno, health officer for Multnomah County, said the state has outbreaks currently of measles and pertussis, or whooping cough. So far, Oregon has had 31 cases of measles reported, the highest since 1991. None of those who contracted the highly contagious disease were vaccinated and two needed to be hospitalized, Bruno said.

The last confirmed measles case was in mid-August, so Oregon may be near the end of the current outbreak, he said. However, now that children are back in school, more measles cases may emerge, Bruno said. Oregon schoolchildren are below the 95% vaccination rate that’s needed for “herd immunity” or when enough people are immune to the disease so that it cannot easily spread.

Measles infects the respiratory tract and spreads throughout the body, often causing a high fever, cough, runny nose and rash. The measles vaccine is highly effective and required for school attendance though parents can opt out.

Oregon’s 550,000 schoolchildren are also required to be vaccinated against whooping cough, which has surged in Lane, Multnomah, Clackamas and several other counties. So far, 560 people have been infected with whooping cough this year compared with 26 cases in 2023, state data shows.

Whooping cough usually starts with cold-like symptoms that progress to an uncontrollable cough. Pertussis is caused by a bacteria, not a virus, which means it’s susceptible to antibiotics. If someone has a cough that’s not getting better, they should see their health care provider, officials said.

Both measles and whooping cough are among the most contagious diseases in the world, Bruno said, and both have effective vaccines.

If someone has had measles in the past, received two vaccine doses or was born before 1957, they are immune, he said. With whooping cough, most people usually get vaccinated by age 12 and updated every 10 years as part of a tetanus booster shot, he said.

“Fortunately, we have vaccines for all of these illnesses to help protect us, so please consider making sure you are up to date,” Bruno said.

Groups of people who are particularly vulnerable to respiratory illnesses in general include young people, pregnant people, those with compromised immune systems and the elderly. Infants under 6 months old face the highest risk for RSV while adults older than 65 and people with compromised immune systems are more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Public health officials said people in rural areas, which have fewer providers, should get vaccinated.

“In Harney County, which is where I live, it can be three hours in a single direction to get to medical care,” said Dr. Sarah Laiosa, public health officer for Malhuer and Harney counties. “And I think it’s really important to do the things that we could do to prevent the severe disease so that they don’t need to access that medical care that can be so hard to get to.”

Laiosa said people should talk to their health care providers about vaccinations rather than rely upon untrustworthy sources.

“Unfortunately, there is an incredible amount of disinformation on vaccines in the world today, and it’s important that people seek information from a health care provider they trust before deciding what is best for them,” she said. “I want to encourage everyone out there to ask your health provider questions you might have. They want to hear from you, and they want to inform you and empower you.”

Outlook is unclear

At this point, officials don’t know how severe COVID will be this winter.

Unlike other respiratory diseases, cases surged this summer in Oregon. Health authority data, based on wastewater surveillance, indicates that COVID cases are still on the rise in Canby, Florence and Medford, while cases are leveling out at many other sites. The prevalence of COVID in Hood River, Siletz, Lincoln City, Klamath Falls and Grants Pass has decreased.

Officials at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have formulated short-term forecasts for COVID but those were placed on hold during the summer.

CDC officials recommend that everyone stay up to date on their COVID shots because their effectiveness wanes over time. The latest booster shots, which were recently approved, are now available and are recommended especially for those who are at least 65 years old or at high risk of infection.

With influenza, officials look to countries in the southern hemisphere, which go through winter before the north, to figure out what strains are circulating and how severe the flu season might be. But this year they’ve offered a mixed outlook.

“We have a handful of countries who had quite severe influenza seasons, and then we have some countries that had really mild seasons, so we really don’t have a clear picture of what we’re facing this year,” Sutton said, adding that’s why it’s important to stay updated on vaccinations.

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Related Topics:cdc covid 19 covid 19 vaccine Featured Influenza oregon health authority rsv Vaccination whooping cough

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Oregon

Audit says Oregon state parks failed to complete safety inspections

Published

4 hours ago

April 2, 2026

Press Room

Audit says Oregon state parks failed to complete safety inspections

Staff at Oregon’s state parks failed to complete safety inspections of park buildings and kept inconsistent records of state property, according to an audit released April 1 by the Oregon Secretary of State.

The problems, auditors found, could risk visitor safety and taxpayer money due to lawsuits and fines if not addressed.

“Oregonians love their state parks and have been able to safely enjoy them for decades,” Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read said in a statement. “The findings in this audit will help protect that important legacy and our public dollars.”

The audit was the latest hit in what’s been a rough stretch for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, which faces a multimillion revenue shortfall and has responded with a series of unpopular fee increases and program cuts.

In response to the audit, OPRD issued a statement saying agency officials agreed with the report’s findings “and have already begun implementing improvements, many of which were underway during the audit.”

Interim director Stefanie Coons added: “The safety of our visitors and the protection of Oregon’s state parks have always guided our decisions, and we remain committed to strengthening the systems that support that responsibility.”

The audit period covered June 2022 to June 2025.

OPRD doesn’t complete building safety inspections, audit finds

Auditors found that “OPRD doesn’t consistently complete or document required building inspections.”

“When inspections are missed or aren’t recorded, it could lead to injuries to the public and reduce confidence in the safety of Oregon’s parks,” the audit said. “These gaps could affect staff safety, limit OPRD’s ability to identify hazards early and respond properly and may result in regulatory fines.”

The areas inspected were located at overnight campgrounds that offer tent and RV camping and have restrooms.

OPRD manages about 50 campgrounds and 250 day use sites. Many of the agency’s 2,000 buildings are over 50 years old with some beyond their expected lifespans, making the quarterly inspections critical.

“Despite these requirements, we found inspections weren’t consistently performed and documented,” the audit said. “One of the parks we visited had no records of building inspections from 2022 to 2025.”

Oregon’s state parks have seen a skyrocketing number of visitors across the past decade and a half, culminating in record-setting visits in 2024.

OPRD managers told auditors that missed inspections or lack of documentation “were due to competing priorities, including prioritizing customer service — that is, being responsive to park visitors and emergent situations over ensuring records are kept accurately.”

In the past three years, OPRD received three citations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, costing $10,000.

One citation was linked to a concessionaire-operated building where OPRD and the concessionaire failed to identify and address hazards due to a lack of inspection.

The others involved failing to check for lead paint hazards and using improperly trained forklift operators.

OPRD shows inadequate management of state property including phones, trailers

The agency is required to track and document all its capital assets — from phones to truck trailers. The audit found 38% of its assets were missing key information in state databases.

OPRD’s assets include up to $1 billion in equipment.

“Inaccurate or incomplete asset records increase the risk of theft, loss, unrecouped damages, and legal liability,” the audit said. “They can also create safety risks.”

The audit noted a backpack blower, utility trailers, an automated external defibrillator and iPhones that hadn’t been documented or had been incorrectly documented. That can mean it’s not covered by insurance.

“These types of gaps have already caused financial losses. After being destroyed by a fire, a $50,000 trash compactor had to be replaced using OPRD funds because it wasn’t listed in (state systems),” the audit said.

Audit suggestions for OPRD

Auditors issued recommendations to OPRD to address these problems, including:

Finalize and roll out policies and procedures requiring quarterly safety inspections of employee-occupied structures, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities for execution and oversight, including documentation standards.
Update OPRD’s asset management guidance, including clear procedures for currently uncovered asset types such as infrastructure and transportation.
Provide recurring training to all relevant personnel on asset management policies — including tagging, record-keeping and disposal procedures — and reinforce expectations through performance evaluations or other accountability mechanisms to ensure compliance.
Continue efforts to replace the Oregon Parks and Recreation Information System with a new asset management system and ensure the new system has all required fields needed for accurate reporting.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 18 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors and BlueSky at oregonoutdoors.bsky.social

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Oregon

Woman missing after running out of gas on highway, leaving car

Published

16 hours ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

Woman missing after running out of gas on highway, leaving car

Oregon State Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a woman who went missing after getting into a person’s vehicle when she ran out of gas on Highway 22 on March 28.

Maria Linda Jade Kilmer, 28, was driving from Lyons to Salem when her car ran out of fuel near milepost 15 just west of Stayton at 9 p.m. A passenger who was traveling with Kilmer told police she left with an unidentified motorist who stopped at the scene.

Police describe Kilmer as having dark hair, blue eyes and is approximately 5-feet-8-inches tall. She weighs 180 pounds. She frequents areas in the Willamette Valley from Salem to Portland, an OSP spokesperson said, and has a piercing in the middle of her lower lip.

Kilmer left her keys, purse, identification, phone and other belongings. She has not been seen since.

Police ask anyone with information to call 911 or Oregon State Police dispatch at *677.

Eder Campuzano is the local news editor for the Statesman Journal. He can can be reached at ecampuzano@statesmanjournal.com. Find him on Bluesky at @ederc.bsky.social or Threads @ederc.

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Oregon

Is it legal to point security camera at a neighbor’s house in Oregon?

Published

1 day ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

Is it legal to point security camera at a neighbor’s house in Oregon?

The number of security cameras in the U.S. is growing, with an estimated 85 million installed by 2021.
In Oregon, it is legal to point security cameras on your property toward public areas like streets and sidewalks.
While you can generally point a camera at a neighbor’s house, aiming it into private areas like bedrooms or bathrooms is illegal.

There are millions of homes and businesses with security cameras and the number is only growing.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, surveillance camera installations in the U.S. were expected to grow from 47 million in 2015 to about 85 million by 2021.

An estimated 10 million Amazon’s Ring doorbell cameras are in use nationwide, according to a 2023 report from Politico, and dozens of other companies have made their own doorbell cameras to jump on the craze.

At the same time, concerns over surveillance are on the rise. Ring ended its partnership with Flock, a Georgia-based tech surveillance company, in February. Throughout 2025, Eugene and Springfield residents fought back against the installation of Flock license-plate reader cameras, which led to them being taken down seven months later.

On your private property, what laws exist around security cameras and where they can point? The Register-Guard looked at state and municipal laws to find out.

Can you point a security camera at the street or sidewalk?

Yes. You can absolutely point security cameras located on your property at the street.

There are no laws around recording video in “public view.”

“Public view” is classified as any area that can be readily seen by normal, unaided vision when viewed from a public place, including streets.

Can you point a security camera at your neighbor’s house?

Usually, yes, your surveillance cameras can be pointed toward others’ homes. While there are no specific Oregon laws against installing security cameras that are directed at your neighbor’s home, you may want to be careful where exactly it’s pointed.

If you have a doorbell camera, for example, that points directly from your front door to your neighbor’s front door across the street, that’s completely legal.

Anything visible in “public view” is permissible to video as long as you remain on public or your own property.

According to a city of Eugene spokesperson, there are no city laws against a private party having a security camera and what direction it is pointing.

However, it can get tricky, depending on where exactly you point your cameras. For example, if you have a two-story home and you point your security camera into your neighbor’s backyard, that might be harder to defend in court. It all hinges on ORS 163.700 — Invasion of personal privacy.

Can you point a surveillance camera into your neighbor’s bedroom or bathroom?

Effectively, no. You cannot point a camera into your neighbor’s bedroom or bathroom without risking breaking Oregon law.

This would likely be a violation of ORS 163.700, constituting an invasion of personal privacy in the second degree.

The law extends to any recording of another person’s “intimate area” without consent in places where the person recorded has a “reasonable expectation of privacy concerning the intimate area.” As defined by Oregon law, “intimate area” includes nudity and undergarments typically covered by other clothing.

Because people typically change their clothing in bedrooms and bathrooms, a security camera pointed into those rooms would more than likely capture them nude or in their undergarments, which would violate Oregon law.

Where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy extends beyond bedrooms and bathrooms. According to Oregon law, it also includes, but is not limited to, locker rooms, tanning booths and any area where a person undresses in an enclosed space that is not open to public view.

Invasion of personal privacy in the second degree is a Class A misdemeanor, which can result in a fine up to $6,250.

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on X @mirandabcyr.

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