KWSO News for Thu., Jul. 14, 2022

A public notice from the CTWS Public Utilities states the Water and Waste Water Dept of Warm Springs Public Utilities is doing surveying work and data collection in the Dry Creek subdivision and surrounding areas. They are working on projects that require taking pictures, use of GPS instruments for water meters and septic clean outs. The information gathered will allow them to design and build the infrastructures required to support current and future growth in the communities. The information will also the water and sewer lines to be located much easier for any future repair or replacement work.

A vehicle found at Trout lake campground on July 7^th, had been linked to Edward Bock from Madison, Wisconsin. Mr. Bock has been found, he reportedly wanted to hike to the top of Olallie Butte and night came on faster than expected.  He spent the first night in a crevasse on the side of Olallie Butte and got turned around walking back.  He finally came to a stream and followed it out.  He was found by one of our residents sitting beside the B140 Road and the resident brought him to Fire and Safety.  Bock was transported to SCMC-Madras.  By all accounts he’s in pretty decent shape considering spending a week in the woods.

Warm Springs Telecom has reported a scheduled outage for today for maintenance and upgrading a Power Panel and Back-up power at the Schoolie tower. They are replacing the Manual Transfer switch with an Automatic transfer switch. Currently if commercial power is lost, personnel is dispatched to the location with a generator to hook up and then throw the transfer switch. After the update today it will be automated and future outages due to power will be greatly minimized. The scheduled outage is from 10am this morning to 2pm this afternoon and will affect customers in the schoolie and simnasho areas. If after 2pm you are still experiencing no internet/Wi-fi or voice service issues, please contact Telecom at 541-615-0555.

PGE in conjunction with the Pelton Round Butte Hydroelectric Project will be conducting a Dam Failure Alarm near Indian Park on Wednesday July 27^th, which is an audible testing requirement once per year. PGE has a commitment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to complete a test from their control room by the end of July. They are attempting to keep this audible test a short duration, sometime between 9am-2pm on July 27^th. Jamey Osborne, the Principal Planning & Scheduling Specialist for PGE had gotten feedback from Austin Smith Jr with the CTWS Branch of Natural resources on wildlife that could be affected, which included waterfowl and prey birds such as osprey, hawks and eagles. His recommendation was for fall. Moving forward after this test, Osborne says they will target October for audible testing beginning in 2023.

The Youth Line is a free, confidential, and anonymous peer-to-peer crisis and support service. It is answered by youth volunteers daily from 4 PM – 10 PM PST and by adults at all other times. Rosanna Jackson, Warm Springs’ Suicide Prevention Program Coordinator, shares more information on the Youth Line and Native Youth Line. “So the Native Youth Line will also be available hopefully soon. The room has been setup and we’ve been working on this project for a couple of years now. We have everything in this room setup and ready to go. This Native youth line is the first for any native community and it’s available for any Native youth clear across the United States. It is a national suicide hotline for youth.”  It offers various types of support like brochures containing coping skills to try when feeling overwhelmed or reaching out to volunteers via a phone call, text, or a chat online. To reach them, you can call 877-968-8491 or text NATIVE to 839863.

A new program called 988 is set to launch soon. Rosanna Jackson works for the Prevention Program for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, she gives us the details of 988. “988 is a mental health crisis hotline that will be available starting July 16^th. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Native youth between the ages of 10-24, and this is to help to reduce that rate to hopefully zero. So the reason 988 is created is to reduce the rate of suicidal ideations and suicide attempts. But what is it? 988 is a direct 3 digit line to trained national suicide prevention lifeline crisis counselors. There’s three easy ways to get to it, you either can call or text 988, and it will be available 24/7.”  Native communities have the highest rates of suicide amongst all the ethnic and racial groups in the United States, and suicide rates of American Indian and Alaska Native communities rose by 188% between 1999 and 2017. This suicide prevention hotline is provided free of charge to the caller and any person of any age can call or text 988. It includes a text option, translation services for non-English speakers, and options for people who are hard of hearing or deaf, as well as services for minors.  If you need immediate help, text indigenous to 741741.