KWSO News for Mon., Jan. 3, 2022

The Warm Springs Health and Wellness Center has a new pharmacy location as it’s moving back inside beginning today. The pharmacy hours will be from 8am to 4:15 pm, closed for lunch from noon to 1pm. They would like you to call before you go to the clinic at 541-553-2475 for refills and check on your medications before you arrive, refill requests will not be accepted inside the clinic. Check in when you arrive by calling 541-419-4371 or if you don’t have a phone check in at the green tent before you enter the building. Wait in your car or the Green tent area until a room is open for medication pick up.

Early in the pandemic, government agencies — from city councils to statewide commissions — started holding their public meetings remotely to accommodate COVID health guidelines. Now that type of access is embedded in Oregon law. OPB’s April Ehrlich reports. “House Bill 25-60 requires all governing bodies to provide a way for people to view and participate in public meetings remotely. Most agencies in Oregon have already made that transition. But some were planning to eventually go back to in-person-only meetings — according to Senator Elizabeth Steiner Hayward of Portland, who testified during a committee hearing in April. [[STEINER HAYWARD]] We have people who travel from Enterprise to Salem — a six hour drive — to testify for 15 minutes. That’s not OK. We need to make it so that they don’t have to do that if they want to get their voices heard.  The law took effect on January First. It applies to most public meetings, except for executive sessions, which are usually held privately with some exceptions for members of the media.”

Oregonian and new National Park Service Director Chuck Sams is taking office after Congress has made two major investments in the country’s parks, monuments and memorials. Bradley Parks reports. “The Great American Outdoors Act of 2020 along with this year’s federal infrastructure law have delivered a big chunk of cash to the National Park Service. In an interview with O-P-B, Sams says his top priority is making good on those investments. SAMS: “I want to be able to prove to the American people that those investments are going to be made soundly as we are able to put that money on the ground.” BP: Aging buildings, bridges, roadways and more have struggled to withstand a 20 percent increase in visitors to National Park Service lands over the past decade. Money from the two laws will help the park service clear a backlog of maintenance. Sams says he also hopes to recruit new park service workers and volunteers as agency staffing has declined in recent years.I’m Bradley Parks, reporting from Bend, Oregon.”

In Sports: The Madras High School Boys and Girls basketball teams did have games scheduled to be at Rainier today, however those games have been canceled. Next up for the boys and the girls is a visit from Baker this coming Friday. The NFL’s schedule changes for Week 18 will feature a Sunday night showdown for a playoff berth. To finish off the NFL’s first 17-game season, the Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas Raiders game was flexed from daytime to prime time. Both AFC West rivals are 9-7 and the winner will advance to the postseason. The league also switched two games from Sunday to Saturday. Kansas City, already the AFC West champion, will be at Denver, followed by Dallas at Philadelphia. Neither of those games has the strong postseason implications of Chargers-Raiders.

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