KWSO News for Mon., Nov. 8, 2021

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden on Saturday welcomed the House passage of the Bipartisan infrastructure legislation which includes essential priorities for Oregon and the West. The Bipartisan Infrastructure legislation passed by both the House and Senate will create millions of good-paying jobs to rebuild and strengthen our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, including our roads, bridges and airports, address the climate crisis by expanding access to public transit and electric vehicles, ensure clean drinking water is available for every community, and make our infrastructure more resilient against extreme weather events caused by the climate emergency. One of the key measures in the bill is $250 million for Wyden’s Western Tribal Water Infrastructure Act to help improve drinking water quality and services for tribal communities in Oregon and nationwide. During their visit to Warm Springs in early October, Senator Wyden had this to say about the Water Situation in Warm Springs. “Water is a basic human right, and soon the Congress has a chance to make a real down payment on building a new system, that fulfills America’s Treaty obligations to Native American Tribes. And I want to make this real straightforward, Those who have considered this land their home since time immemorial, deserve more than Boil Your Water Notices! That’s what it really comes down to, because we certainly know in affluent neighborhoods people aren’t going through that kind of challenge and inequity where they’re worried about their people and their communities”  The Bipartisan Infrastructure bill now goes to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

The grace period for renewing expired Oregon drivers licenses and vehicle registrations is coming to an end next month. KLCC’s Chris Lehman reports: The Oregon DMV closed its field offices for several months last year as part of the effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The agency has been working since then to clear out a backlog of paperwork. To help ease the pressure, Oregon lawmakers last year instructed law enforcement to ignore expired licenses and tags. It turned into a series of rolling grace periods, says DMV spokesperson David House. David House: “The last one, put in place by this year’s legislature, will end at the end of this year, December 31st. So if you have a driver’s license, permit, ID card, or your tags on your car are expired and you just haven’t got into DMV yet, you need to do that before the end of the year.” House says many routine transactions can be done online, saving a trip to the local DMV office. I’m Chris Lehman in Salem.

November is Native American and Alaska Native Heritage month. The Museum at Warm Springs is currently running the 28^th Annual Warm Springs Tribal Member Art exhibit. The exhibit includes more than 50 exquisite pieces of art in Traditional and Contemporary Art. You can stop by the Museum to view these art exhibit Tuesday through Saturday 9am-5pm. COCC is hosting events for Native American Heritage month, their next event is today at the Madras COCC campus as Gabriann Hall from the Klamath Tribes presents “Truth, reckoning and healing: a Story of Indian Boarding Schools” beginning at 11:45 am. That will be followed by a Native Flute performance from Warm Springs Tribal Member James Greeley as he will be performing on Wednesday Nov. 10^th at the Bend Campus at 5:30pm.

Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley is leading a bicameral letter, along with Senator Ron Wyden, urging President Biden to rescind the Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers involved in the Wounded Knee Massacre that occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation on December 29^th, 1890. The massacre saw hundreds of unarmed men, women and children slaughtered and twenty soldiers were awarded the nation’s highest military honor for helping carry out the massacre. The lawmakers believe that President Biden has the power to use his executive authority to rescind the country’s highest military honor from the perpetrators of the event and are urging him to do so. Prior to the letter, Merkley along with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren reintroduced the “Remove the Stain Act”, which would revoke the Medals of Honor from the soldiers responsible for the Wounded Knee Massacre. The bill has received widespread support from tribal nations, direct descendants of the Wounded Knee Massacre, tribal organizations and veterans’ associations.

In late October the Indian Health Service (IHS) and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) renewed their partnership to improve the health of Native Veterans. The agencies first signed an agreement in February 2003 to improve access and health outcomes for Native Veteran’s and was updated in October 2010. Under the new agreement, the VA and IHS will work together to create an operational plan each fiscal year and will include goals and objectives, as well as the tactics to achieve them. The partnership enables Native Veteran’s to access care closer to their homes, promotes cultural competence and quality health care, and focuses on increasing collaboration and resource-sharing between the agencies.

In Local Sports: The Madras White Buffalo football team was on the road on Friday in the first round of the 4A state playoffs. They traveled to Coos Bay to take on #1 seed Marshfield Pirates and came away eliminated from the playoffs in a 43-0 loss. Congratulations to the White Buffaloes on a hard fought season. In the 4A Cross Country meet on Saturday, Hannah Macduffee represented Madras and came in 26^th place, almost 2 minutes off of 1^st place for the girls. On the Boys side, Isaiah Wapsheli came in 39^th with a time of 18:40.8. Congratulations to Hannah and Isaiah for making it to the OSAA Cross Country State Championships.