KWSO News for Thu., Jun. 24, 2021

The Morning Update for the S-503 Fire on the Warm Springs Reservation stated that crews have made good progress on all divisions of the fire over the past 4 days. Fire lines are strong and and crews will continue to mop up today.

–

The Warm Springs community COVID-19 Update for Wednesday (6/23/21) reports 0 news cases of COVID-19 from 13 tests conducted on Tuesday (6/22/21) at the Health & Wellness Center. There are currently 3 active case of COVID-19 on the Reservation with 8 close contacts being monitored daily. If you would like to be tested for COVID-19 – check in at the front gate at the Warm Springs Health & Wellness Center and they will direct you where to go. You can call to schedule a vaccination anytime at the Warm Springs Health & Wellness Center at 541-553-2131. Anyone 12 and older who is Indian Health Service Eligible, OR who lives or works in Warm Springs and their family members can be vaccinated.

–

It’s looking like an episode of historic heat will torch much of the Pacific Northwest starting this weekend and into early next week, with temperatures 30 degrees or more above average, which would topple monthly and all-time records in some places. Highs on Sunday could approach 100 degrees in Seattle and 107 in Portland. Seattle has only reached the century mark twice in more than 75 years of records. If Portland hits 107, it would match its highest temperature ever recorded. The National Weather Service has issued excessive-heat watches from Northern California through large parts of Oregon and Washington, warning that heat-related illnesses are likely. The weather service says the skyrocketing temperatures can be traced to a sprawling ridge of high pressure known as a “heat dome.” As a result, red-flag warnings for wildfire danger are posted from the Four Corners region through interior Oregon, and more alerts will be issued in the days ahead. More than 55 percent of the West is experiencing an extreme or exceptional drought — the two most severe categories. For our area beginning Saturday on through at least Wednesday next week, the daytime high temperature range is from 104-112 degrees.

–

Efforts to help underrepresented college students should get help, under a bill that passed in Salem Wednesday. House Bill 2590 creates a task force of Oregon lawmakers who will visit higher education institutions across the state and meet with students and other campus members. Those conversations will help develop policy focused on success for students in underrepresented groups such as students of color and low-income students. The task force will be required to report its findings and policy proposals no later than December of next year.

–

There are two new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 2,759 the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. today. Oregon Health Authority reported 233 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today bringing the state total to 207,333. The Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released today, shows decreases in daily cases and an increase in hospitalizations from the previous week.

–

Indigenous tribes and environmentalists are calling on the Biden administration to live up to its promises of environmental justice by cleaning up a polluted site near the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam. Monica Samayoa reports:

“Bradford Island has been used by the Army Corps of Engineers since the Bonneville Dam’s construction in the 1930s. For decades it was used as a dumping ground; polluting the river and contaminating fish.
This is the second time groups have called for Bradford Island’s designation as a toxic Superfund site. That would give it top priority for cleanup. And, they say, it would demonstrate the Biden administration’s commitment to tackling environmental injustices against communities of color.”

“Davis Washines is with the Yakama Nation Fisheries, ‘The facts are very clear, it’s one of the most contaminated sites in the Columbia River Basin and if that’s not enough to convince decision makers that this should be listed, then I don’t know what else it would take.'”

“If the Environmental Protection Agency agrees, Bradford Island could be listed next year. Reporting from Portland, I’m Monica Samayoa.”