Southern Oregon in the National News--Yet Again

Medford is Number One.

Our problems have caught the attention of the nation. 

The Asante medical system showed up in bright red on a national map published in the New York Times. I have taken a bit of local hometown pride when seeing the banner that noted that our local hospital was recognized as a cardio-vascular center of excellence.  My father had helped raise money for the hospital back in the mid-1950s as one of the school principals who spent weekday evenings calling on prospective donors to build it. I have a sense of connection. My hospital. But this time the hospital was not getting an award. It was being recognized as the hospital getting the highest increase in COVID patients.  News stories generated locally and picked up nationally described the people lined up in the hallways, the ICU unit slammed, the need for more ventilators.

Much of the multi-county area that sends patients to Asante is "Trump country." The vaccination rate is low and mask compliance is spotty. Oregon has a heightened "backlash" problem not present in red states, because Oregon's state leadership reflects the COVID policies typical of metropolitan areas. That generates political resistance. The hospital says that 95% of the new COVID patients are among the almost 50% of the adult population that remains unvaccinated. 

Then there is the smoke here.

Yesterday's air near my farm

Medford was in the news for forest fires and smoke. Medford was number one for hazardous air. Sometimes the air is "unhealthy," sometimes "very unhealthy," sometimes "hazardous." There are big fires just to the north of us but the very biggest fires are in California to the south.

This past weekend Medford's air got above 300 on the Air Quality Index--hazardous for anyone simply to breathe--which put us at twice the particulate level as the most polluted of major cities around the world that report data. Kabul routinely makes the list. 

After the fire.Today, the Rogue Valley made the national news a third time. The New York Times is running a big feature on the Almeda fire, one year later, with a close-up look at six families. To remind out-of-area readers, the Almeda fire roared up a fifteen mile strip of parkland, igniting over 2000 homes over a 24-hour period, primarily burning dense mobile homes parks built alongside that park. The news story describes life after the fire, and their difficulties finding a place to live. The fire that displaced them reduced the already-short housing stock of the Rogue Valley. People are living in storage sheds and RVs. 

There are common themes to each story. One is low incomes, which make their options very few. None of the families are in a position to tap a savings account to buy or build something new. The other theme was that they wanted to stay here. 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/09/07/us/oregon-wildfires.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20210908&instance_id=39846&nl=the-morning&regi_id=86058819&segment_id=68331&te=1&user_id=65645e88fcc5d6158a373ad8d415c689

The article is not a typical hard news story with quotes from public officials and descriptions of FEMA timetables. The article looks at families in distress and explains why it is they stay. The Rogue Valley is home. The Times writes:

A year after the Almeda fire, hundreds who are still in trailers, hotels and other temporary homes continue to grapple with that question. They have faced vast challenges in rebuilding their lives in a region where affordable homes are in short supply and the competition is fierce. Above all, there’s a looming sense that more fires are sure to come.

Still, residents are reluctant to leave a community they are bound to by work, school or family.

The year 2020 appeared to conclude with a January 6 coda, an insurrection blow-off where a president drew a crowd to the Capitol to reject an election and retain office. What a miserable year. Insurrection. Fires. Smoke, COVID. Surely 2021 would be better. 

It turns out that the problems of 2020 are still with us.