KWSO News for Thu., Jan. 23, 2025

In Warm Springs the Annual Point in Time (PIT) count is scheduled for next Tuesday, 1/28/25 – to count sheltered and unsheltered individuals and families experiencing homelessness in our community.  The count is taking place next Tuesday, January 28th at the Old Elementary School Gym from 9am – 4pm.   The count will take place at the Old Elementary School Gym from 9am – 4pm.  For participants, there will be Resource Booths set up, non-perishable foods items, and incentives for participating.  Breakfast will be served beginning at 9am, lunch will be starting at 11.   Participants should include people residing in emergency shelters, transitional housing, safe havens, and those living unsheltered on the streets, in vehicles, or other locations not considered permanent housing.

The number of Oregonians using homeless shelters increased 24 percent from early 2023 to the beginning of last year – according to a new report from Portland State University.  The rise in sheltered homelessness is a result of expanded capacity. There are more shelter beds available in Oregon – and more people using them.  The report identified nine rural counties with no shelter beds, where nearly all people experiencing homelessness are doing so outside.   Not all counties have a new count of unsheltered homelessness – but that rate is up 16 percent among counties that did a new count last year.

This Sunday, 1/26/25,  is a Kah-Nee-Ta Hot Springs Resort Tribal Appreciation Day 11am until 7pm. Day-use will be free for all Tribal Members, those Married into the Tribes and for Tribal Employees.  Please bring your Tribal ID or Employee ID.

Coming in February there will be a Warm Springs Tribal section on the Kah-Nee-Ta website (https://kahneeta.com/) that will offer passes for locals to be able to access the restaurant without having to pay admission.  There will also be a pass for Tribal Bathhouse access with the ability to book online.  Until the online piece is available tribal members can call Kah-nee-ta Guest Services at 541-553-1112 to make the tribal bathhouse reservation.

The Warm Springs All-Indian Men’s Holiday Basketball Tournament starts this afternoon at the   Community Center. The 4pm game is Fast Break Frybread versus Niixyawaii from Mission.  At 5:30 – the Dream Team tips off against IshGee Looksh.  The 7 o’clock contest has Cultural Blends from Portland facing the Maq’laqs’ from Chiloquin.  The last game tonight is at 8:30 with the Cayuse Pack taking on the River Natives.

This month’s Pelton Round Butte Fish and Wildlife Newsletter, reports record numbers of steelhead returning to the Deschutes River.   During this year’s run, biologists have collected more than 800 returning adult steelhead – the largest return since dams were completed on the Deschutes River in the 1960s.  Scientific modeling completed during re-licensing of the Pelton Round Butte project established a goal of 955 steelhead adults returning annually, based on the habitat availability upstream. 800 fish represents significant progress toward that long-term target.  Of the 800+ fish, 573 are reintroduction fish that were released into the Upper Deschutes Basin as juveniles. Once they reached Lake Billy Chinook, the young fish were collected at the Pelton Round Butte Selective Water Withdrawal (SWW) facility and released downstream of the project. After about two years in the ocean, these steelhead traveled back up the Columbia and Deschutes, where they were collected and released into the reservoir to continue to their spawning habitat.  (the full newsletter is available HERE)

American Flags in the United States were lower to half-staff following the December 29th death of President Jimmy Carter. The flags were ordered to remain at half-staff for 30 days or until Jan. 29. While the country’s flag code dictates flags remain lowered following a president’s death, the code is not mandatory.  Flags at the U.S. Capitol were raised to full height on Inauguration Day, this past Monday. According to a press release from the White House, flags were ordered to be flown at full-staff at the White House and all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government, in the District of Columbia and throughout the U.S.  By Tuesday many of those flags were returned to half-staff until January 29th.  Local VFW Post 12141 Commander Mike Williams shared that designated Half Staff Flag days annual are:

• May 15 – Peace Officers Day, Lowered entire day
• May – Memorial Day (last Monday of month), Lowered Half Day, returns to full staff at Noon.
• 11 – Patriot Day, Lowered entire day
• 07 – Pearl Harbor Day, Lowered entire day

Flag Half Staff days outside of those days can be directed by the president of the United States, by a state’s governor or the mayor of Washington DC.  Williams says “There are a host of flag etiquette guidelines and rules concerning our Nation’s Flag and accompanying flags and local Veteran organizations can assist with requests for further information.”