KWSO News 6/25/19

Water has been restored to all areas of the Warm Springs community that were experiencing water outages. There will be additional work completed in the coming weeks to stabilize the system. Please continue to conserve water. High use of water puts stress on the system which could result in additional challenges, the tribe stated in an update Monday afternoon. The boil water notice will remain in effect until further notice for the entirety of the Warm Springs Agency area including Kah-nee-ta, Wolfe Point, Sunnyside, Upper Dry Creek, Miller Heights, Campus area, West Hills, Tenino Valley, Tenino Apartments, Elliott Heights, Senior Housing, Trailer Courts, and Greeley Heights. Drinking and grey water and showers are available at the Old Elementary School on Campus. The portable toilets in the community will be removed this week.

A Native American Direct Loan Coordinator will be in Warm Springs today presenting a workshop on home loans for veterans. Find out about what is available and more information at the workshop today from 10 to 3 at the Fire Management Training Room.

Warm Springs Higher Education wants to remind students of some deadlines soon approaching. The annual deadline for all tribal scholarships applications is July 1^st. Also, high school students who plan to attend boarding school need have applications submitted by July 31^st. Fall GED Classes in Warm Springs will start September 23^rd. Contact the Higher Ed office if you would like to be added to the list of fall students. The Higher Education office is located in the Education Building, on the top floor, room 306.

The city of Madras will hold the Grand Opening of its new Splash Park in Sahalee Park this Saturday at 9:00 am. Two of the Splash Park donors, the Bean Foundation and Keith Manufacturing, will be providing free snow cones to the first 500 kids who show up. Local fundraising to build the splash park has been going on since 2015. During the fundraising efforts, a local family suffered the loss of their four month old son, Ethan Stovall. His family encouraged donations be made to the Splash Park in Ethan’s honor. And, so, the idea was formed to name the Splash Park in Ethan’s honor and other children who had been lost too soon. The Splash Park will be open May through September, typically 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily.

At the Oregon District 5 All Star Tournament. Warm Springs Majors will play Redmond today at 2pm at Juniper Hills Park. Warm Springs 8-10 All-stars were defeated by Bend North yesterday. Jefferson County will play Bend North at 11:30 this morning in 8-10 Softball.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Climate change in the Western U.S. means more intense and frequent wildfires churning out waves of smoke that scientists say will affect tens of millions of people and cause premature deaths to spike. That’s prompting people in cities and rural areas alike to gird themselves for another summer of sooty skies along the West Coast and in the Rocky Mountains. Wildfire smoke was once considered a nuisance except for the most vulnerable populations. It’s now seen in some regions as a recurring public health threat. Harvard University climate researcher Loretta Mickley says residents of Northern California, western Oregon, Washington state and the Northern Rockies could see the most increases in smoke exposure. Microscopic particles in smoke can penetrate deeply into the lungs to cause coughing, chest pain and asthma attacks.