KWSO News for Fri., Jan. 15, 2021

There are currently 45 Active Cases of COVID-19 in Warm Springs with 27 close contacts being monitored by public health.    The local COVID-19 response team will provide an update this morning to Warm Springs Tribal Council.

100 more doses of the Moderna COVID-19 medicine will arrive in Warm Springs Next week.  So far, 500 doses have been administered at the Health and Wellness Center.  If you want to put your name on the vaccine waiting list you can call the clinic and give them your information.   The waiting list is being organized by date of birth  but they also  look for other important  risk factors  (like being a caregiver of a vulnerable person such as with leukemia, paralysis or an elder)  The current focus is to vaccinate those 75 years and older, essential workers and veterans 65 and older.  Once those in the current priority groups get a shot – they will add folks 65 and older and 55 and older with risk factors.  A side note – the vaccine is not yet approved for youth under the age of 18 .

The Oregon Health Authority, early yesterday, reported 29 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 1,737.  There were 1,152 new confirmed and presumptive cases bringing the state total to 130,246.

The Warm Springs Community Action Team has announced that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they will not be able to provide free income tax filing services to Warm Springs this year through their AARP Tax Aide Site.  In 2018 the Community Action Team served 425 people with income tax preparation and filing.  Last year, their service was curtailed by coronavirus after providing service to nearly 300 community members. Other Central Oregon AARP Tax Aide sites have also canceled in person tax assistance.  To learn more about how to complete and file your income taxes yourself, online – check out the IRS website at https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free

Warm Springs Emergency Management has announced that both the Museum at Warm Springs and Quinn Park will reopen today following high water, flooding and downed trees from high winds this week.  The community is advised to continue to stay away from muddy locations along Shitike Creek for their own safety.

Searchers used inflatable yellow rafts and drove metal poles into deep mud yesterday in the Columbia River Gorge as they searched for a woman who was swept away by a mudslide this week. Authorities said that searchers believe 50-year-old Jennifer Camus Moore’s car came to rest under 15 feet of mud and debris after it was swept away Wednesday. Authorities say the search had become a recovery mission. Moore, a registered nurse, was caught up in a landslide in the Columbia River Gorge that was triggered by heavy rain and high winds that pounded the Pacific Northwest Tuesday and Wednesday.

 State lawmakers in Oregon will delay by at least two days much of the substantive work of next week’s beginning of the Legislature because of warnings from law enforcement about the possibility of violent protests. The Legislature will convene Jan. 19. But state House and Senate have cancelled floor sessions and committee hearings, and there will be no in-person meetings. Senate President Peter Courtney, a Democrat from Salem, said the decision was made after consulting with police. Before a mob of pro-Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol last week, Oregon lawmakers last month saw a violent crowd enter the state Capitol, fight with police and damage the building.