KWSO News for 1/15/20

Washington State University is holding a Native American Appreciation game and sports summit on Sunday February 23^rd in Pullman, WA. As reported by the Spilyay Tymoo, It is open to all 6^th through 12^th grade students and those who sign up will receive a t-shirt and complimentary admission to the Cougars vs Trojans women’s basketball game. The day will start off with the Game at 11:30am, then lunch at 1:30, Sports summit from 2:30-4pm and an optional campus tour at 4pm. The Sports summit will feature keynote speaker Mack Strong, a former Seattle Seahawk Fullback. Students will also get to join in a discussion with a panel of current Washington state student athletes to get the lowdown on what it takes to get a college athletic scholarship and tips on how to be a successful college student athlete. Deadline to register is Feb 16

The 25^th Annual Eagle watch has been announced to take place on Saturday and Sunday March 28^th and 29^th starting each day at 10am at the Round Butte Overlook park. This festival of high desert wildlife returns to round butte overlook park for a special 25^th anniversary celebration including a lot of family-friendly fun. They will have raptor spotting stations, guided walks, Cultural program with Quartz Creek Dancers of Warm Springs on that Sunday and much more. Admission and parking is free and there will be food and souvenirs available, accepting cash or checks.

While Spring chinook salmon haven’t swam in the Walla Walla River basin since the 1900’s, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation just broke ground a long awaited hatchery that could change that.  According to The Bulletin a Ground breaking event at the South Fork Walla Walla Chinook salmon spawning facility outside of Milton-Freewater last Friday could bring more than 2000 adult salmon back to the Walla Walla basin by 2025. Umatilla Tribal board of trustees Vice Chair Jeremy Wolf states that the more than $20 Million project fund by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is anticipated to open in the spring of 2021. According to the BPA, the new hatchery will feature egg incubation and full juvenile salmon rearing facilities, using Walla Walla River water.

The Madras High School Gym was the setting for Bend Ultra Runner Mario Mendoza’s record setting run on Tuesday. As reported by KTVZ.com, Mendoza has received National and world recognition for his running, but this race was a little different as he was running against the clock on a treadmill. Mendoza broke the 50 kilometer or just over 31 miles treadmill world record by 46 seconds at Tuesday’s event, finishing with an official time of 2 hours, 59 minutes and 3 seconds. Mendoza plans to rest for two weeks before he begins training for his next race at the Black Canyon Ultra 100K in Arizona next month.

NBA action will see the Portland Trailblazers traveling to Houston to take on James Harden and the Rockets tonight, trying to establish a winning streak while the Rockets are coming off a loss to Memphis. Also, the Orlando Magic will go in to Los Angeles to take on LeBron James and the Lakers, trying to snap the Lakers 9 game winning streak.