KWSO News 3/1/19

Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs employees automatic direct deposits were noticeably not posted to bank accounts this morning. The Tribes’ Finance Department has determined the error that occurred and attempted to get direct deposits credited today, however that is not possible. The decision has been made to print paper checks for all employees. The checks will be available for pick up from Payroll at 3:00 today.

Tomorrow the No. 11 Madras girls basketball team will play at No. 6 Philomath at 6 p.m. in a Class 4A first-round playoff game. Also making the trip will be KWSO’s broadcast team Kenman Miller and Ted Viramonte so if you can’t make it to the game, listen to 91.9fm for our live broadcast.

After nearly of week of snow days, Jefferson County 509-J and all central Oregon school districts allowed students back to class today. All six Central Oregon school districts missed four straight school days for snow. Both Central Oregon Community College and Oregon State University-Cascades also reopened today after four days of canceled classes.

A major power outage impacted much of Jefferson County Thursday morning, during sub-freezing temperatures. Electricity first went out between Crooked River Ranch and Warm Springs at about 7:45 a.m., impacting about 10,000 Pacific Power customers. All power was restored by noon.  Pacific Power says the problem began when a fault occurred with a transmission connection from an energy supplier that feeds into the Culver substation.

Federal food benefits are going out to all participants today, bringing relief to folks across the country who got last month’s assistance early during the government shutdown. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP dollars for February were distributed two weeks early, meaning more than 600-thousand Oregonians who receive them needed to stretch those dollars out over five to six weeks. Dawn Myers, Oregon’s SNAP manager, says families typically run out of benefits around the third week of the month – but that happened sooner during February. About half of SNAP recipients had run out of assistance by February 1st, according to Myers. Benefit delivery is usually staggered over the first nine days of the month, but this month all recipients will get them today, March 1st. Myers says food pantries and other community resources picked up the slack when assistance ran out.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The wintry weather that has walloped Oregon has boosted the snowpack – surpassing the norm by as much as 160 percent in some part of the state and Gov. Kate Brown declaring an emergency in 10 counties – Coos, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Linn and Marion. Brown said Thursday her declaration directs the Oregon Office of Emergency Management to coordinate the deployment of the Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon State Police, and the Oregon National Guard to support local communities as needed.

Oregon is the first state in the nation with statewide rent control. Gov. Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 608 into law Thursday. It takes effect immediately. Brown called the legislation a groundbreaking, bold start. The governor has also called on lawmakers to approve a $400 million investment to increase the housing supply. The governor said she’s asked the state’s housing agency to monitor the effects of the legislation and report back to her in two years. Senate Bill 608 caps how much landlords can raise rent and makes it harder for them to evict tenants without a reason.