KWSO News 9/3/19

School buses are on the move this morning for the first day of the school year. In Warm Springs – 1st thru 8th grade students start back with Kindergarten kids attending in small groups tomorrow and Thursday. This year – Greeley Heights students will be provided bus transportation to and from school – a change from previous years. Madras High School 9th grade students start school today – with upperclassmen and Bridges students returning tomorrow.

Motorists are reminded to use caution this morning as youth will be at bus stops and walking to school. Please reduce your speed in residential areas and near the school to ensure everyone’s safety.

For preschool students in Warm Springs – Head Start will hold its back to school open house today from 9am to 3pm at the Early Childhood Education Center. Families will be able to meet teachers and Head Start Staff, visit classrooms and share information. The orientation will take about and hour to complete and is a requirement for Head Start families.

Oregon health officials have issued a public warning after four overdoses were reported within 36 hours. The Bend Bulletin reported Friday that Deschutes County Health Services suspect fentanyl-laced heroin was used, but do not know for sure. Officials say all four patients were critically ill and required unusually high doses of the stabilizing drug naloxone, also known as Narcan. Officials say they were treated in the St. Charles Bend emergency room. The current status of the patients is unknown. Health officials say five Oregonians die of an opioid-related overdose every week. Overdose deaths nearly doubled nationally to more than 70,000 in 2017. Officials say the overdose antidote naloxone is available at pharmacies without a prescription due to a 2017 law change.

In a recent op ed in the Source Weekly Jim Manion of Warm Springs Power & Water Enterprises and Megan Hill, Fisheries and Water Quality, Portland General Electric shared information about the goal of restoring self-sustaining and harvestable runs of Chinook, sockeye and steelhead to the upper Deschutes Basin. The Pelton Round Butte Hydroelectric Project near Madras is co-owned by Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. In the opinion piece in the Source – they explained that the 20-plus organizations collaborating on this long-term program knew there would be adjustments along the way. For example, research shows juvenile fish travel at night, so now power is generated at night during peak migration, increasing flow to their collection facility to attract more fish. In 2017 and 2018, they captured their highest percentage of juvenile fish yet. Adaptive management changes also contributed to this year’s upper-basin spring Chinook returns. The total—47 fish—is not large, but of the entire Deschutes adult spring Chinook run, a much higher percentage came from the upper basin than ever before. To learn more about the comprehensive strategy to move fish around the dams visit PortlandGeneral.com/ProtectingFish.