Local News
KWSO News 10/18/19
Oct
The Loss of a contract will be “Devastating” to the Jefferson County community. The Madras Pioneer reports that the State Office of Public Defense Services abruptly informed the local consortium for Jefferson County, Madras Indigent Defense Consortium, that the longtime contract, which ends Dec. 31, would not be renewed. From 1987 until today, if you were charged with a crime in Jefferson County and couldn’t afford to pay for an attorney, chances were that a local attorney from the Consortium would be appointed to take on your case. Local Attorney Tim Gassner said that they were informed that the entire contract would be awarded to the 22nd Circuit Defenders, none of whom lives in Jeff County.
Warm Springs Tribal Member Johnathan Courtney will be a keynote speaker at the Veteran’s Military Suicide Prevention Conference being held in November. The conference will focus on discussing key tools for supporting our under-served veterans, which include women services members, service members of color and more. Courtney who currently serves as the Chairman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Dept of Oregon Veterans Health and wellness Committee aims to use his experience to lead suicide prevention efforts in his community. Conference Registration costs $150 and there are a number of limited scholarships available, those scholarship applications need to be turned today. The conference is being held in Clackamas from Nov 20-22.
Beginning the week of October 21 the Water and Wastewater Division of the Public Utilities Branch will be working alongside the GELCO contractor to finish the replacement and upgrade of the pressure reducing valves on the agency water system main lines. The work is anticipated to take about three to four days which is an allowance of a day for each vault. The Water department intends to have the reservoirs filled so as to minimize any outages of water. Please be aware that a handful of users may experience outages for short periods of time while the PRV work progresses. If the situation calls for it, the water department will issue a boil water notice in compliance with EPA requirements. If you have any questions or concerns please direct those to the Water & Wastewater department by contacting Public Utilities at (541) 553-3246.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women or MMIW has seen awareness raised recently, both in the Northwest and nationally. One such instance has seen Yakama Tribal Member Kamarin Gleason use her platform as a contestant in the American Indian Beauty Contest during the Pendleton Roundup to raise awareness. Gleason added a powerful statement this year by wearing a red handprint on her face and painting MMIW in red letters on her horse in pageant events on Sept 13th. Gleason, also advocates for suicide awareness, traditional ways and ichiskiin, the language spoken by the tribal people in Washginton, Oregon and Idaho, feels strongly about taking a public stand for missing and murdered indigenous women and is glad others do too.
Oregon’s Court of Appeals has put a halt to the state’s ban on flavored vaping products two days after it took effect. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the temporary stay issued Thursday appears to apply only to tobacco-based vaping products, sold under the oversight of the Oregon Health Authority. It leaves the ban in place on marijuana vaping products regulated by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. On Oct.4, Gov. Kate Brown ordered a six-month ban on flavored vape products in Oregon in response to an epidemic of vaping-related illnesses across the country. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there have been nearly 1,500 illnesses and 33 deaths nationwide. Oregon has reported nine illnesses and two deaths.
College Football Action tomorrow: The 12th ranked Ducks travel in to Washington to take on the 25th ranked Huskies, looking to extend their winning streak, while Oregon State will be on the road to take on Cal. No. 17 Arizona State plays at No. 13 Utah with the Pac-12 South lead on the line. The Sun Devils and Utes are tied with Arizona and USC for the division lead at 2-1. Arizona State is coming off an impressive win, outlasting Washington State 38-34 in Tempe.
Locally: Madras Volleyball traveled to Gladstone yesterday and fell to the Gladiators 3 matches to none, In Soccer the Lady Buffs were on the road to play North Marion and stumbled in their loss 7-1, meanwhile the buff boys hosted North Marion and dropped their contest 3-1. The Madras Boys now sit at 6-3-2 overall and 4th in the Tri-Valley Conference, while North Marion is 5-3-3 overall, but is undefeated in conference play and sits atop the conference. Next up for Madras is a trip to Gladstone on Monday, game starting at 4:30pm.
