KWSO News for Thu., Feb. 24, 2022

Warm Springs Telecom General Manager Tim York reported yesterday afternoon that the work around in the phone system appears to be working as phone numbers are starting to come back up. It could take 24 hours for some phones to come back online. The fix is a stop-gap measure to get voice services back up while they continue moving to the new equipment. Most phone lines should be back up by this afternoon. They will continue to work and monitor around the clock to get voice services back.

Former acting chief of Fire & Safety in Warm springs Scott Spaulding was given the full time position late in January. Spaulding has worked with the Warm Springs Fire & Safety team off and on since 2001 and he says his team is here to protect and take care of the people. He is originally from the Central New York area and ended up in Central Oregon after serving in the Navy. A year ago Spaulding took a job with John Day Emergency response, but Public Safety GM Nancy Seyler and Tribal Emergency Management Direct Dan Martinez reached out to him wanting to know if he would come back to Warm Springs. You can find the full story in the latest Spilyay Tymoo that came out yesterday.

A pilot project for wildfire response will incorporate technologies developed at Arcimoto’s [ARC-ih-MOE-toes] new production space in Eugene. Company president Mark Frohnmayer [FRONE-my-uhr] shared video of the “Smoke Jumper Initiative” at the unveiling of the RAMP facility Tuesday (2/22.) He said not only would a lightweight electric vehicle respond to calls, it’ll have a 3-gallon pump with a special fluid that’ll match the firefighting capacity of a standard engine with 300-gallons of water. “We had fire at the gates a couple years ago. And the question for us was, ‘Is there anything we can do to help solve that problem?’ And the real benefit of the Arcimoto platform: it’s nimble, it’s quick, it can get places faster. And so if we can blend that rapid response capability with the ability to actually have some serious horsepower putting out fires, that’d be a huge win.” The “Smoke Jumper” project will launch this summer, with select rapid responders units across the region.

Three states that would be affected by a proposed 6-cent per gallon tax on fuel exported from Washington state are pushing back on the plan, and threatening to retaliate if it is signed into law. The tax is part of a $16.8 billion transportation revenue package that has cleared the state Senate and is working its way through the House. It is projected to raise around $2 billion over the course of 16 years. The Seattle Times reports that lawmakers from Alaska, Oregon and Idaho are strongly opposed to the move, and making their feelings known through resolutions, calls and op-eds.

In Local Sports: The Madras High School Wrestling team has nine wrestlers heading to the OSAA 4A Wrestling State Championships taking place this Saturday February 26^th. As reported by the Madras Pioneer, Headlining the wrestlers heading to state are brothers Reece and Cael White, who are the only seeded Madras wrestlers after they both earned district championships on February 12^th. The Buffs will have representation in half of the brackets at state this weekend and six of the nine entries in the field are underclassmen. In the 106 pound class, Freshman Michael Young will face off against #8 seed Jak Hopkes of Tillamook. In the 113 pound weight class, Freshman Jake Lawrence will square off with #6 seed Jace Miller of Sweet Home. In the 120 pound class, Sophomore Jayvon Tovar  will take on #2 seed Kyle Watkins from Sweet Home.  The 138 pound class will have Senior Malacai Alire who will face off against Senior Jaxon Mengis of Henley who is the 6 seed. In the 160 pound class is 3 seed Junior Cael White who is looking to add a state wrestling medal to the all-state nod he got in football. His first opponent is Freshman Chaddrick Kappes of North Valley. The 170 pound class has two Madras Wrestlers representing Buff wrestling. Junior Isaiah Martinez will start with Henley Senior #8 Tulson Higgins. Senior Alex Arreola is making his first trip to state and will take on 3 seed Senior Hayden Hamerl out of Tillamook. The 182 Pound class has Senior and #2 see Reece White who is looking to add gold to his silver and bronze medals he won in years past. His first opponent is going to be unseeded Freshman Ty Bradbury of Hidden Valley. Sophomore Demarcus Scott is also in the 182 pound class and is unseeded. His first opponent will be #3 seed Daevon Vereen of Banks. Good Luck Madras Wrestlers. The 4A Girls Basketball playoffs will be starting soon. The Play in games have been set and start tomorrow with Cottage Grove at Stayton, Molalla at Astoria, McLoughlin at Hidden Valley and Klamath Union at Marist Catholic. The Play in games continue Saturday with Woodburn at Henley, Sweet Home at Marshfield, Sisters at Corbett and Valley Catholic at La Grande. The winners of those games will travel for the 1^st round of the playoffs beginning on March 5^th. The hosting teams for the 1^st round are set with Philomath at 1, Cascade at 2, Baker #3, Junction City #4, Gladstone #5, Banks #6, Madras #7 and Mazama #8. The Lady Buffs will host their game on March 5^th in the Buffalo Dome and will be broadcast Live here on KWSO.