KWSO News for Thu., May 6, 2021

Roughly four dozen people gathered in Springfield last night, as part of the national observance for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Day.  Violence against Native American women has been a scourge for generations.  The CDC says half of Indigenous women are victims of sexual or physical violence, or stalking.  Recent legislation in Oregon directed state police to learn more about how to improve investigating such cases.

The Upper Columbia Tribes are working together to prove salmon can survive in the cool waters now blocked by two Washington dams. Researchers have found lots of good habitat awaiting fish. [N-W-P-B’s / Northwest Public Broadcasting’s Courtney Flatt explains what’s next.

At the Warm Springs K-8 Academy – they recently conducted a survey soliciting ideas for naming of the schools three main hallways.  The winning suggestion was to use Local Animals.  Students are doing final voting choosing from: Deer, wolfe, Salmon, Elk, Eagle, Hawks, bobcats, owls, antelope, big horn sheep, horses, rabbits, Rocky Mountain goats, coyotes and cougars.   Voting finishes today to decide on the names of the three k8 halls currently called A, B & C..   The hallways will be named after the winning animals in all three languages – Kiksht, Numu, and Ichishkin.

Jefferson County 509-J schools returned to in-person schooling on February 1^st and have been providing on site learning since then.  Yesterday – Metolius Elementary notified families that a student notified the school on Tuesday that they had tested positive for COVID-19.  Working with the Public Health Department – contract tracing is being done and the school is doing deep cleaning and notified students and families.

Rising COVID-19 cases led Bend La-Pine school leaders to cut back on in-person instruction, starting next week [Monday May 10]. As Emily Cureton reports, the district’s superintendent made the announcement to families yesterday.  OPB’s Emily Cureton reports that beginning Monday, middle and high schoolers at the district’s largest schools will see reduced hours on campus, so that teachers have more time to connect online with students quarantining at home.  Hundreds of students have been sent home due to close contact with a COVID-19 case. The district has recorded 130 positive cases in the school community in the last 28 days. It’s not clear where the students contracted the virus. District and health officials point to gatherings outside of school activities. The Superintendent told families that teachers are struggling to provide support to the many students in isolation.  Any decisions to move back to distance learning full time would be made on a school-by-school basis.