Local News
KWSO News for Thu., Mar. 10, 2022
Mar
The Shelter to Independent Living shelters will be opening soon with a tentative date for the dedication ceremony set for Wednesday March 16th. This month, Warm Springs Construction was doing some final work on the site manager residence. A kitchen is also going in and there will be restrooms and showers on site. Funding for the Shelter to Independent project comes through Oregon Measure 110. Voters adopted the measure in 2020. The Shelter to Independent Living will be alcohol and drug free with on-site resident managers. Shelter to Independent Living will be a good complement to the Supportive Housing project, being developed by the Warm Springs Housing Authority.
The mask mandate will be lifted in Oregon beginning March 12th. In Warm Springs, the COVID task force and Tribal Council has agreed to follow the state protocols for the WS K-8 Academy when it comes to the lifting of the mask mandate. For anyone exposed to COVID-19 or with symptoms – you can pick up a home test kit during the work day at Warm Springs Emergency Management. Call 541-647-9001 when you arrive and they will bring your test kit out. Weekends and evenings you can get a home test kit at Fire & Safety on campus and at the fire hall in Simnasho. Jefferson County Public Health is again offering testing to anyone with symptoms or exposure you can call 541-475-4456 to set up a testing appointment. Don’t forget, you can also order 4 free home test kits online at USPS.com/testkits. If you have any COVID-19 questions or concerns, you can call the COVID-19 Nurse Hotline at 541-553-5512.
A Warm Springs woman was sentenced to five-years in prison for her role in a botched robbery that left a Redmond man dead in the summer of 2020. As reported by the Bulletin, Stephanie Mae Belgard, 38, is the second of three defendants to be sentenced in the death of Brian Scott Jones. On Wednesday, she pleaded no contest to first-degree conspiracy to commit robbery in Jefferson County Circuit Court. In addition to prison time, she was assigned three year’s post-prison supervision. Salbador Angeles Robinson is accused of delivering the knife would that killed Jones. Robinson, 28, is scheduled to be sentenced later this month. In interviews with police, the defendants described the attack as a plan to rob Jones that had gone wrong. After Jones fiercely resisted the group’s efforts to steal his car, Robinson allegedly stabbed him once in the chest. On Tuesday, Robinson filed a petition with the court to enter a guilty plea to first-degree manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery. He’s agreed to serve 20 years in prison. Jones, 52, left behind a wife and adult son.
A jury has found James Dean Cloud guilty of several counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping and carjacking in a 2019 mass homicide that shook the Yakama Reservation. John Cagle, Michelle Starnes, Catherine Eneas, Thomas Hernandez and Dennis Overaker were shot to death June 8, 2019, just west of White Swan. James Cloud and Donovan Quinn Carter Cloud were charged with murder and other crimes. Donovan Cloud, who was supposed to be tried after James Cloud, entered a guilty plea Wednesday to carjacking and brandishing a firearm. The Clouds will be sentenced July 26 in Yakima. James Cloud faces a life sentence. Donovan Cloud faces up to 27 years.
The U.S. Census Bureau will release reports Thursday that show how good of a job the agency believes it did in counting every U.S. resident during the 2020 census. Native American tribes and advocates launched well-financed campaigns to ensure a more accurate count. Despite that, they believe those living on about 300 reservations across the country will be undercounted again, partly due to the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly 5% of that population was missed during the 2010 census, the highest of any race group. The Census Bureau will release two reports assessing the national count based on race, Hispanic origin, sex and age.
In Local Sports: the Madras High School Lady Buffs will be in action today in the Quarter Finals of the 4A state playoffs against 2nd ranked Cascade. The Lady Buffs made it through the 1st round after getting the victory over Astoria last Saturday in the Buffalo Dome 51-36. Cascade took out La Grande last Friday 58-48 to make it to the Quarter Finals. Tip-off for the Lady Buffs and Cascade is set for 9pm tonight and is going to be broadcast live here on KWSO. The winner of the quarter final game tonight will face off against the winner of tonight’s Corbett v. Baker game tomorrow at 8:15pm.
