KWSO News for Fri., Apr. 15, 2022

At the Warm Springs K-8 Academy yesterday, students were able to visit with many various people for a career day. KWSO happened to be one of those careers that students had the opportunity to listen, ask questions and hear some good stories. Students heard how Neal Morningowl got into radio “Good Afternoon everybody, My name is Neal Morningowl, I am the Operations Manager for KWSO. The way I got into working at the radio station was, when you’re 14 or 15 you get to start working here in Warm Springs through the Youth work program. And so my first job actually was at KWSO, my first year getting to work I believe I was 15.” The event was approximately an hour and a half and included many businesses so that students had a wide range of things they could choose to hear about and maybe find interest in.  During the KWSO presentation students heard the differences in the backgrounds of people who come in to work at KWSO and how things actually work. Some students took the opportunity to have their voice on the radio by recording liners that will soon be added to the rotation, you might hear someone you know.

An environmental group says the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is failing to enforce water quality standards on the Lower Deschutes River. The Deschutes River Alliance is urging regulators to penalize Portland General Electric and the Warm Springs Tribes for water quality violations at the Pelton Round Butte dams near Madras. Sarah Cloud with Deschutes River Alliance says dam operations have caused an explosion of harmful algae in the lower river. And that has led to salmon and steelhead declines in recent years. “The laws are written to protect aquatic life and their biological needs. And right now, they’re not being enforced on the Lower Deschutes River.” DEQ says PGE and the tribes are in compliance with the state permit that allows them to operate the dams. But the agency has listed the Lower Deschutes as “impaired” due to water quality issues and will soon take steps to limit pollution on the river.

The announcement by the Bureau of Reclamation on Monday that it would be releasing 50,000 acre-feet of water to the Klamath Project for limited irrigation is drawing criticism from Tribes. As reported by the Herald and News, The Klamath Water Users Association estimated the total is approximately 15% of what is needed to grow crops and raise livestock by farmers and ranchers in one of the driest years ever. Local tribes believe that’s 15% more that could go toward helping save endangered fish like the sucker fish and Coho Salmon. The Klamath Tribes sent out a news release calling it perhaps the saddest chapter yet in a long history of treaty violations by the United States. Donald Gentry is the chairman of the Klamath Tribes and he hopes to avoid a repeat of 2001 when the U.S. government sent federal marshals to maintain the peace as the water issue reached a boiling point during a drought year as farmers threatened to breach the head gates.

In Local Sports: The Madras High School Buff Boys baseball was in action yesterday as they finally got League action underway. They hosted North Marion and fell 10-2, stopping their 3 game winning streak. Next up for the Buff Boys, they will travel to North Marion on Monday, game time is at 4:30pm. Lady Buffs Softball was scheduled to travel to North Marion yesterday, but the game was canceled. Next up, the Lady Buffs will host North Marion on Monday, game time is 4:30pm. Warm Springs Nation Little League Junior Boys will be in action today as they kick off their season in Madras taking on the Jefferson County Braves. Game time is 6pm at the Madras High School JV field.

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