KWSO News for Fri., Aug, 27, 2021

Gov. Kate Brown pushed back hard Thursday on public officials urging her to drop her vaccination mandates. The governor said she wouldn’t retract her mandate that health care workers, school employees and state workers get vaccinated. She has seen no plan from any rural county to contain the rapidly-spreading Delta variant despite insistence from rural legislators, county commissioners and other local officials that pandemic decisions should be left to local communities. In 10 counties, all rural, only up to half the eligible population has been vaccinated. Malheur County has the second-worst rate at 40%.The State is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on COVID-19 services to ensure health care for people who are choosing not to be vaccinated.

A former manager of Warm Springs Construction, pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court for his role to defraud the tribe of more than $50,000.  Tom Adams pleaded guilty to theft of funds from a tribal organization.   He and former Ventures CEO Roderick Ariwite, were indicted last September for conspiring to misappropriate $93,700 of tribal funds and with five counts of substantive misappropriation of tribal funds.  The men created a construction company called Warbonnet Construction Services LLC. while on payroll for Warm Springs Ventures, hired a subcontractor for a Warbonnet project and then billed for expenses incurred as they took funds which were paid for with tribal funds.  Adams sentencing before U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Mosman is scheduled for November 15th.  Ariwite is on pretrial release pending a three-day jury trial scheduled to begin on September 14th.

A school board in central Oregon, where COVID-19 is surging, has passed a resolution protesting statewide school mask mandates and teacher vaccines. The resolution that passed on a 3-2 vote in Redmond on Wednesday says the district will fight to regain local control of decisions around mask-wearing and vaccines in its schools and includes the possibility of legal action. Board members said the district will follow the Gov. Kate Brown’s mandates while challenging them. One board member who voted against the resolution pointed out that COVID-19 is surging in central Oregon and only 57% of eligible residents in Redmond are fully vaccinated.

Madras White Buffalo Football gets their season underway tonight at a Jamboree being hosted by Ridgeview High School.  The JV team will have 18 plays in Jamboree formatted competition against LaPine and Crook County.  Varsity will face LaPine and Ridgeview.

According to the Oregon Health Authority, coronavirus cases among children have spiked over the past month. Health officials recorded 355 pediatric COVID-19 cases during the week of July 11. However, in each of the last two weeks, they have recorded more than 1,800 positive coronavirus cases. While less than 1% of children end of up in the hospital, more than half experience coronavirus symptoms.