News Stories for Mon., Sep. 11, 2017

Today and every Monday for the school year is a Late Start Day for all 509-J schools.  This time is set aside for staff to participate in professional development. At the WSK8 the school day begins at 9:45. Rise N Shine activities will be available at the K8 from 8-9:40, student drop-off time is 7:40-8.  Students were sent home with permission slips for the Rise n Shine program on Friday, so they should bring those back with them today if they are taking part. And, the Boys & Girls Club of Warm Springs reminds parents that the School Year Program has begun so memberships need to be updated.

The Columbia River reopened to all vessel traffic yesterday and fire officials say they will need to wait until at least Tuesday to see how the wind and burnout efforts affect the Eagle Creek Fire before making a decision on whether to lift evacuation orders for hundreds of people displaced by the fire. Fire officials say they haven’t been able to use an infrared camera for the past few days to measure the fire, but they flew over it Saturday night and believe its size has held steady at about 33,000 acres. The fire remains 7 percent contained – mostly along the far western and southwestern edges of the fire.

Interstate 84 in the Columbia River Gorge remains an active evacuation zone. ODOT said Sunday it is working closely with fire officials to determine when westbound lanes of I-84 can reopen. Eastbound lanes they say will remain closed at least another week — the minimum time required to complete rock removal. The Historic Columbia River Highway remains closed, with no schedule to reopen. ODOT said it is working to keep the highway available for firefighters, but the highway is not safe for travel. ODOT has removed about 2,000 trees that were in danger of falling onto I-84 with about 1,500 remaining to be removed. In the weeks ahead, ODOT will be assessing the danger of winter slides in areas where the underbrush has burned away.

The annual MAC Dash was held over the weekend. Scott Rowles won the men’s individual triathlon, and Jamie Hurd, who was the women’s runner-up last year, won this year. Elijah McCourtney, 14, won the inaugural “Middle MAC Dash,” a 100-yard swim, 2-mile bike and 1-mile run for boys and girls 14 and under, in 19:22. Mylaena Norton, 9, was right behind in 19:30.

Holding photos and reading names of loved ones lost 16 years ago, 9/11 victims’ relatives marked the anniversary of the attacks at ground zero on Monday with a solemn and personal ceremony. Every Sept. 11 since the date of the deadliest terror attack on American soil, Rob Fazio has come to the place where his father, Ronald Carl Fazio, and thousands of others died. “I’ll come every year for the rest of my life,” the son said. “It’s where I get my strength.” At least 1,000 family members, survivors, rescuers and officials were gathered as the ceremony at the World Trade Center began with a moment of silence and tolling bells. Then, relatives began reading out the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed when terrorist-piloted planes hit the trade center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, hurling America into a new consciousness of the threat of global terrorism.

Hurricane Irma weakened to a still-dangerous tropical storm Monday as it pushed inland, triggering record flooding in Florida’s northeastern corner, while rescuers in its soggy, wind-battered wake mobilized to reach victims and learn the full extent of the damage. The storm wreaked havoc from the state’s southernmost point to areas near the Georgia line, with homes and cars swamped, trees flattened, boats cast onto roads in the Florida Keys and streets underwater in many places. Irma also snapped miles upon miles of power lines and toppled three massive construction cranes over Miami and Fort Lauderdale. More than 400 miles from where Irma first came ashore, storm surge brought heavy flooding to Jacksonville on the Atlantic coast on Monday. The flooding broke a 1964 record by at least a foot.