KWSO News for 12/17/19

The Warm Springs K-8 Academy just recently received the “Native Farm to School Champion” Award in recognition of outstanding implementation of farm-to-school in Indian Country. The program has helped students make connections as to where food comes from and how it is part of their cultural heritage by building a greenhouse, planting a school garden, and promoting a healthy snacks program. Working with Native partners, the National Farm to School Network explores the unique opportunities for and challenges of expanding and sustaining farm to school in Native communities across the country. Five Native schools were awarded mini-grants to expand and promote farm to school in their communities.

The Warm Springs Community Action team has announced they are hosting a Money game next Monday December 23^rd focused on Native Youth. The game will be at the Community Center Social hall from 10am-noon. Demus Martinez talks about the game and what they are hoping to accomplish with it. “The Spending Frenzy is a fun game, it’s not a classroom activity, it’s more of a hands on interactive games. You get to spend your money on vehicles, home, food, etc like that. Goal is to have extra money at the end of the year to save and invest. This game is focused mainly for Native Youth, high school to college age, 14 to 24 is what it’s geared for, but we welcome adults to and we will be having this with adults later on to as well. It’s a fun game to watch and do.”  Again the Game is being hosted next Monday at the Warm Springs Community Center Social Hall.

Oregon’s US Senator Jeff Merkley and Congressman Earl Blumenauer along with several other representatives announced yesterday that the US House of Representatives have passed the “Columbia River In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites Improvement Act”, sending it to the President to be signed in to law. Senator Merkley said “The current conditions at Columbia River fishing sites are unacceptable, unjust, and must be fixed,”  “We owe better to the tribal communities in the Northwest, and the very least we can do is uphold our commitments to tribes and ensure basic sanitation and safety.” The legislation would enable the Bureau of Indian Affairs to make important safety and sanitation improvements at the tribal treaty fishing access sites along the Columbia River, which are on lands held by the United States for the benefit of the four Columbia River Treaty Tribes.

A lawsuit recently filed in Deschutes County Circuit Court says a 14-year-old black student at a Bend high school was bullied and racially harassed to the point that he died by suicide in 2017. The Bulletin reports the family of Deshaun Adderly is seeking $400,000 for wrongful death and intentional infliction of emotional distress from the Bend-La Pine School District, Deschutes County and 10 students who are not named. The suit says several days before Adderly’s death a video of him in a physical altercation in a Summit High School bathroom was posted on social media. A lawyer for Deschutes County said they are reviewing the allegations and plan to defend all claims asserted against the county.

In Local Sports: Madras High School Lady Buffs Basketball is on the road to Bend today tip-off is at 7pm. Buff Boys Basketball is hosting Bend tonight, tip-off at 7pm, aired here on KWSO.