KWSO News for Wed., Dec. 30, 2020

Following a delay due to a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in Warm Springs…  numbers have come down enough to allow a drive thru event today to distribute toys and gifts to kids, with the addition of a coat and food box giveaway for families.  The event will be held on the campus area – along Wasco street and Warm Springs streets 9am – 4pm.  There will be one way traffic and folks are asked to not all arrive first thing this morning, to keep traffic from backing up.  There are plenty of gifts.  You will stop first near the old school basketball courts to check in.  Please remain in your vehicle and wear a mask.  You will need to give the names and ages of the children who need a gift.  They do not need to be present.  Also – give the names and sizes for anyone who needs a coat.  Pick up coats at the old school, toys at the Family Resource Center and finally – there will food boxes available near the Presbyterian church that you can pick up drive thru style.  This event is coordinated by the Warm Springs Health and Human Services Branch.  All COVID-19 precautions will be taken.

Northwest News Network Correspondent Anna King, is a COVID-19 survivor. She’s been steadily getting better, but starting in August — her heart started hurting. She describes the experience: “The first time it happened, it was a squeezing feeling. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My heart raced. At the hospital, they did an EKG, took a blood test. It wasn’t a heart attack. Just felt like one. Then, it happened again. And again.  This is increasingly common. Doctors are learning COVID-19 isn’t just a respiratory illness. Some of us end up with heart inflammation, heart rhythm problems. Worse.   It’s not clear if these are permanent. Like SARS, heart symptoms could be temporary.   I’ve done a battery of tests. Worn a heart monitor for weeks. Still no diagnosis. But I do know one thing: when you celebrate the New Year, take every precaution. Keep your distance. Wear a mask. Or better yet, stay home. “ Anna gets the results of her heart tests in the new year.   Stay safe out there everyone.  Stay Home as much as you can and follow all precautions to avoid coronavirus.

The Nez Perce Tribe is reclaiming an ancestral village site in Eastern Oregon more than a century after being pushed out of the area. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports this month, the tribe in the town of Joseph purchased 148 acres of an area known as “the place of boulders.” The land was part of an 1855 treaty that granted the tribe millions of acres and the right to fish and hunt on lands ceded to the U.S. government. But the U.S. Army forced the Nez Perce to leave the area in 1877, in violation of that treaty.