News Stories Mon., Dec. 4, 2017

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) – Facebook is eyeing a whole new demographic: kids. The social network on Monday announced a new standalone app called Messenger Kids. It targets children ages six to 12. The app allows young users to chat with their friends, make video calls with kid-friendly filters and send age-appropriate GIFs. While this may sounds like a parent’s worst nightmare, Facebook said it put safeguards in place to keep the platform safe and private.

At the Madras Invitational over the weekend, the Lady Buffs made a strong standing against 5A teams. On Friday, Madras beat Redmond 55-42. The White Buffaloes were up 22-9  at halftime. Jiana Smith-Francis led Madras with 12 points, five rebounds and five steals, and Vanessa Culps added 11 points. On Saturday, Madras beat Hood River Valley 59-30. Vanessa Culps hit four 3-pointers in that game, going on to scoring a game-high 18 points for the White Buffaloes. Freshman Jayden Davis scored 10 points, Lynden Harry had eight points and six rebounds, and Monika Stacona had six rebounds and five steals for the Buffs. Next up – the girls host games with Scappoose on Tuesday. The boys travel to Scappoose.

Warm Springs K8 Boys Basketball hosts Crook County today. 7th grade plays at 4:00 and 8th grade at 5.

The Buffalo Skywalkers youth basketball league will practice today thru Wednesday, however there will not be scrimmages this Thursday. The program will take a break December 11-29, and resume on January 2nd.

With unanimous support, the U.S. Senate has passed the Columbia River In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites Improvement Act last week. The legislation, which is sponsored by Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Washington Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, would enable the Bureau of Indian Affairs to make important safety and sanitation improvements at the tribal treaty fishing access sites along the Columbia River, which are on lands held by the United States for the benefit of the four Columbia River Treaty tribes. The next step would be for the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the legislation, before being sent to the President for his signature.