Local News
KWSO News for Tue., Jan. 21, 2025
Jan
Annual Warm Springs tribal ski day at Mt. Hood Meadows
The Mt. Hood Meadows annual Warm Springs Ski & Snow Board Day is Friday, January 31st. It’s an opportunity for Warm Springs youth, families and individuals to enjoy time on the Mountain. This is for beginners or veteran skiers or snowboarders who are: Warm Springs Tribal Members, Residents and/or Tribal Employees. Transportation is available and everything you need is provided. To sign up, send an email to sue.matters@wstribes.org or text 541-460-2255 with your name and a contact cell phone number and email address plus participant names and dates of birth. You will need to complete a Group Consent Form and an online liability release. You will need to indicate if you want a seat on the bus (limit is 39 people) or if you will you drive yourself up to Mt Hood Meadows. The deadline to sign up is 9am on Monday, January 27th. If you miss the deadline, you can still participate but you won’t have rental gear pre-teched and you will need to wait in line with the general public.
New BIA Administrative Officer for WS Agency
Bodie Shaw, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Acting Superintendent for the Warm Springs Agency announced that the new Administrative Officer for the Warm Springs Agency is Regen “Tobi” Morales-Smith. Tobi was the Realty Specialist at the Warm Springs Agency for a number of years and is a Warm Springs tribal member. Shaw said that next month, Tobi will have 22 years of service with the federal government is greatly looking forward to her new position.
MACRD board meeting this week
The Madras Aquatic Center Recreation District’s board will meet tomorrow evening. The staff will present, and the board will discuss (during the work session), impacts to district operations if the measures on the May 20th ballot pass or do not pass. The public may attend the meeting in-person or via zoom. The meeting agenda and packet is available on the MAC Rec District website. To schedule live public comments via Zoom, please email your request to executivedirector@macrecdistrict.com or call (541) 475-4253 by 3:00 p.m. on the day of the board meeting. All requests should include your name, phone number and address. The MAC Rec District Board Chair is Deanna Seibold, Vice Chair Dr. Jinnell Lewis, Board Treasurer/Secretary Jean McCloskey, and other Board Members Frank Maynard & Ervey Dominguez. Courntney Snead is the MAC Recreation Special District Executive Director.
Call out to 30th Tribal Council candidates for radio interviews
Tribal Council Candidates are asked to contact KWSO to set up a time to come in to do a short interview for our Tribal Council Candidate programming. Just call 541-553-1968 or stop by the Media Center. The Tribal Council Election Day is March 26th, 2025.
Biden grants Executive Clemency to Leonard Peltier
President Joe Biden as he left office on Monday commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents nearly 50 years ago in South Dakota. A statement from Biden said Peltier, 80, should serve the remainder of his life sentence at home. He has been serving two consecutive life terms in prison. Peltier was denied parole last year. At the time, it was reported that he was in poor health. According to Biden’s statement, tribal Nations, Nobel Peace laureates, former law enforcement officials — including the former U.S. Attorney whose office oversaw Peltier’s prosecution and appeal — and human rights organizations support granting Peltier clemency. They cite Peltier’s advanced age, illnesses, his close ties to and leadership in the Native American community, and the substantial length of time he has already spent in prison. NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights organization in Rapid City, issued a news release Monday celebrating Peltier’s commutation. The release included a quote attributed to Peltier: “It’s finally over – I’m going home. I want to show the world I’m a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me.” Nick Tilsen, founder and CEO of NDN Collective, credited “50 years of intergenerational resistance, organizing and advocacy” for winning the commutation.
Madras High School wrestlers do well; TVL League play begins today for basketball
Madras competed in the Oregon Wrestling Classic this past weekend with 17 of the top 4A teams from across the state. Madras finished the tournament on top of the Classic Cup bracket, 9th overall and finished with a 4-2 record.
League play begins for Madras High School basketball today. The boys teams travel to Gladstone High School with game times of 4:00, 5:30 and 7:00. The girls take on the Gladiators at the Buffalo dome. JV tips off at 5:30 and varsity at 7:00. If you can’t be at the game, you can listen to KWSO’s live broadcast of the girls’ varsity game. Our coverage begins just before the 7pm tipoff.
