KWSO News for Thu., Aug. 11, 2022

A Central Oregon Fire Update: Fifteen fires were reported to the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center today.  Firefighters again were successful in keeping most of the fires small. Two fires pushed crews Tuesday afternoon, but with the support of aircraft forward progress of the fires was stopped. The Sheep Rock Fire was reported Tuesday afternoon on private lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry north of Prineville. Large air tankers and single engine air tankers were able to slow the fire spread, allowing dozers to work on establishing fire line and firefighters to cool the fire edge. Firefighters remained on scene last night building line and securing the fire. The fire is approximately six acres. Incident 674 is estimated to be 120 acres burning on private lands within the Post-Paulina Rangeland Fire Protection Association.  Resources are continuing to work with rangeland association members to establish fire line for this fire. Acreage for the Doghouse Gulch Fire located near the South Fork of the John Day River drainage was updated overnight to 57 acres. Firefighters expect to continue work strengthening the fire line and clearing fuel and heat adjacent to the perimeter for the next few days.

Salmon recovery was the topic as tribal leaders from around the Pacific Northwest gathered at Fishhook Park on Tuesday August 9^th. Leaders from the Yakama Nation and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation celebrated the role of salmon in Northwest Native cultures and recommended taking immediate action to ensure endangered salmon do not go extinct. The tribes also advocated for a comprehensive fish restoration strategy, which included considering breaching the four lower Snake River dams. They noted that tribes regularly work with non-Native communities to find collaborative solutions to challenges in the region and they can do so again to keep these vital fish from disappearing forever. During the event, Yakama Nation elder Carrie Schuster Nightwalker spoke of the history of Fishhook Park as a place for tribes to come together. Tribal Leaders emphasized the vital connection between salmon and Pacific Northwest Tribes.

The Indian Health Service yesterday announced Darrell LaRoche as the new Deputy Director for Management Operations and Capt. Marcus Martinez as the new Director for the I.H.S. Portland Area. LaRoche, an enrolled member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, serves as the principal advisor to the I.H.S. Director for the management of IHS Operations. As the Deputy Director for management operations, he is responsible for providing management direction to IHS program offices, including implementing the IHS mission and agency goals. He is a retired captain in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps with more than 30 years of experience in facilities engineering, safety, health care programs and emergency services with IHS, the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. Capt. Martinez, a member of the Spokane Tribe of Indians, as Director of the IHS Portland Area is responsible for overseeing comprehensive health care and environmental health services for American Indians and Alaska Natives throughout Oregon, Idaho, Washington and part of Utah.

A historic flour mill in northeast Oregon was destroyed in a fire Wednesday morning. KHQ reports according to the Pendleton Police Department the fire at the Grain Craft Flour Mill in Pendleton started around 2:55 p.m. Tuesday. The Pendleton Fire Department responded to a report of visible black smoke and quickly extinguished a small fire. Officials say the fire reignited around 4 a.m. Wednesday and the building was soon fully engulfed, because of the amount of dry grain in the mill. Grain Craft says no injuries have been reported. Pendleton Fire and eight other agencies responded to the fire. Officials say the building is a total loss.

Oregon’s rural and tribal communities need to develop reliable broadband service to improve essential services. In the meantime, initiatives are underway to help develop the skills necessary for broadband. At the University of Oregon this week, roughly 50 Native Americans from across the Pacific Northwest and beyond are attending the U-O’s first-ever tribal broadband boot camp. Jason Younker is U-O’s assistant vice president and adviser to the president on sovereignty and government to government relations. “If you just think about telemed, or there’s a wildfire and your connectivity is out, then you are extremely vulnerable. Education is mandated. So when a pandemic comes through, you need to have that connectivity.” The Oregon Broadband Office says there are federal funds coming soon from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2021. Each state is expected to get at least one-billion dollars for rural and tribal broadband.

KWSO Weather for Central Oregon:

• Sunny today with a high near 95 degrees
• Tonight, Mostly Clear with a low around 59
• Sunny tomorrow with a high near 96 degrees

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