News Stories for Tue., Jun. 27, 2017

Warm Springs Fire Management will continue to monitor the reservation for fires after a few days of lightning in Central Oregon. Yesterday, crews responded to a wildfire at Sawmill Butte on the Reservation.  A helicopter and crews worked on that fire yesterday, it was reported to have burned approximately 8 acres.  Fire Management says a helicopter will be out today, checking for smoke from the air.

Firefighters reported eight new fire starts from lightning in the Sisters area. Most of the fires were reported to be out, but two of the fires continued to burn last night. One fire burning above State Highway 20 near Santiam Pass was very visible. Approximately 20 people were working on the fire that burning in heavy brush within an old fire scar from the 2003 B & B fire. The other fire was burning in a fire scar from the B & B fire in the Brush Creek in the Metolius area. The fire was burning around large previously burnt snags and is unsafe for crews to take direct action due to the risk of falling trees and limbs. Given the hazardous conditions, crews planned to use indirect firefighting strategies.  A Type 3 Team takes over management of that fire this morning due to the hazardous firefighting conditions. Over the next couple days, officials warned, abundant lightning with little moisture is expected, making the potential for more fire starts very high.

Alaska Airlines is offering a charter flight over the Pacific Ocean this Aug. 21 that will allow select passengers to view the astronomical event from the sky. The company said Monday that the flight will take off at 7:30 a.m. Pacific from Portland and is by invitation-only for astronomers and serious eclipse chasers. The total solar eclipse is the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse to hit the continental U.S. in 99 years. A total eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth. Alaska is also holding a contest to give away tickets to one person and a guest.

Jacoby Ellsbury returned to action yesterday and the New York Yankees’ won 6-5 over the Chicago White Sox. Ellsbury had been out of action since he suffered a concussion upon crashing into the center-field wall at Yankee Stadium on May 24. Speaking to reporters before the game, he said he was confident he was fully recovered from the concussion, and his return could be a lift to a Yankees team that has lost 10 of its past 13 games and falling into a first-place tie with the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. Ellsbury was 1-for-5 with two runs scored. Ellsbury was hitting .281 with four home runs and 14 RBIs before his injury. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that he did not expect any major health worries attached to Ellsbury’s return, though Girardi did say that Ellsbury might not play all four games against the White Sox this week. Ellsbury played two rehabilitation games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre during the weekend, going 3-for-8 with two RBIs.

Each year the National Endowment for the Arts gives grants to organizations through the United States to support the arts. This year, the agency awarded nearly 1200 grants totaling $82 million. Competition for the grants is fierce. Within Oregon, arts organizations received 19 grants.  A few of those include Caldera. Caldera was awarded $35,000 to support a year-round transmedia arts project for Oregon youth from undeserved communities. And, Wisdom of the Elders, which records and preserves traditional cultural values, oral history and other legacies. The organization received $15,000 to support a filmmaker training program at the Native American Film Academy and Climate Film Festival. Films will be broadcast on the public television series “Discovering Our Story.”