Local News
KWSO News for Wed., May 20, 2020
May
According to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs there remain 17 positive cases of COVID-19 on the Reservation, as of 4:30pm yesterday with 9 of those people having recovered. The Warm Springs Health and Wellness Center has sent in or tested: 320 samples. Testing capacity is good with a total of 598 test kits on hand.
COVID-19 has claimed two more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 140, the Oregon Health Authority reported yesterday morning. They reported 33 new confirmed cases and 8 new presumptive cases of COVID-19 bringing the state total to 3,726. The new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases included 6 cases in Deschutes county.
The Warm Springs Housing Authority has announced its intention to apply to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for Indian Community Development Block Grant funds authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act for two purposes. First – funding would be used to supplement the Tribe’s effort to rehabilitate the Kah-nee-Ta Hamlet apartments to be used as temporary quarantine quarters and to alleviate extremely overcrowded housing conditions. Additional funding would be used to expand the Housing Building to improve spacing and add a drive up window. Community members are invited to review and comment on the proposal on the Warm Springs Housing Authority’s Facebook page by 4pm next Wednesday May 27th. Written comments can also be emailed to finance@wsha.us
In Oregon’s primary election yesterday the field of candidates trying to replace Republican Greg Walden shrank from 16, down to two. And as Emily Cureton [puritan] reports, there’s now a clear front runner. Republican Cliff Bentz has won his party’s nomination in the second congressional district. Rural Oregon voters turned out to support the former state senator from Ontario, who triumphed over campaigns with much deeper pockets. BENTZ: So having 11 folks in the race on the Republican side was really unusual, and of course Greg Walden the incumbent has just done such a wonderful job. The Bentz campaign spent less than half of what was poured into the primary by former Bend state representative Knute Buehler. Buehler endorsed Bentz as he conceded the race. Early returns showed Bentz will face Democrat Alex Spenser in November. Voters in the second district — which includes central, eastern and most of southern oregon– have elected Republicans to Congress for the last 40 years. I’m Emily Cureton reporting.
State Senator Mark Hass is ahead in the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State. The Beaverton lawmaker has 35.96% of the vote in the three-way race as of last night. It’s a slim lead to his nearest competitor, fellow state legislator Shemia Fagan, who has 35.32% of the vote. Jamie McLeod-Skinner came in with 28% of the vote. In the Republican Primary, state Senator Kim Thatcher of Keizer cruised to victory after facing token opposition. Secretary of State is currently the only statewide office held by a Republican. Current Secretary of State Bev Clarno did not pursue election this year.
In the November 3rd election the Oregon State Senate seat for the 30th district which includes much of Central Oregon will have Warm Springs Tribal Member Carina Miller running against incumbent Lynn Findley who was appointed when Cliff Bentz resigned to pursue the 2nd congressional district race.
For the State Representative spot – 59th district which includes Warm Springs incumbent Republican Daniel Bonham will run in December against democrat Arlene Burns who won yesterday’s primary with 80% of the vote
In local election results from yesterday’s Primary Election – the Jefferson County Commissioner position 3 will be decided in the November General Election since no candidate got 50% or more of the vote. Kim Schmith was the top vote getters with 44% of the vote – followed by Wayne Fording with 34% of the vote. They will face off on November 3rd.
The Jefferson County Transient Room Tax Increase, was defeated by Jefferson County Voters 58% to 42%.
Madras High School is tentatively doing a special graduation event for Madras and Bridges High School seniors on Saturday June 13th. It will likely be an all-day event and details are being worked on. Without the chance to have the annual award and recognition event – KWSO wanted to give the following students a shout out for achievements! These students did outstanding in Life Skills Classes
- Life Skills Turn Around Student: Skyla Williams
- Life Skills: Keala Rauschenburg
- Life Skills Math: Daniel Vega and Noemi Garcia
- Life Skills English: Max Rowe and Brianna McCoy
English Language Arts
- English 1: Yael Carlon and Trevor Walker
- English 1 Enriched: Amanda Plant and Sierra Adams
- English 2: Cheyenne Weathersbee and Christian Garcia Harness
- English 2 Enriched: Brooke Delamarter and Karman Sangha
- English 3: Jarette Santacruz and Haleigh Burnham
- College Comp 1: Anny Huang and Diego Escalante Torres
- College Comp 2: Juan Huerta Hernandez and Kelly Huang
Fine Arts
- Art 1: Hillary Bush and Emily King
- Art 2: Briann Ellis and Delilah Shepard
- Advanced Art: Isabelle Ludi and Sabrina Belvoir
- Advanced Ceramics: Arianna Gomez and Belen Orozco
- Symphonic Band: Amanda Plant and David Urena Jr
- Concert Choir: Corynn Sherrell and Yvonne Greene
- Chamber Choir: Brianna Carvajal and April Cunningham
- Music Lab: Omar Diaz and Kylin Muir
- AP Music Theory: Nacho Ruiz and William Mitchell
- Spanish 1: TJ Stout and Brooke Delamarter
- Spanish 2: Emily Plant and Anna Park
- Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speakers: Diego Escalante Torres and Karina Hernandez
JROTC
- JROTC 1: Raylene Alire and Dalton Kiefer
- JROTC 2: Logan Webb and Amy Melgarejo
- JROTC 3: Alyssa Collver and Valencia Fisher Benitez
- JROTC 4: Grayson Dominguez and Darcy DeChamplain
- Drill Team and Ceremony: Jasmine Lopez and Darcy DeChamplain
- Marksmanship: Carl Tewee and Sebastian Bisland
Social Studies
- Global Studies: Cristobal Hug
- World History: Anna Park
- U.S. History: Gavin Storkel
- AP Government: Kelly Huang
