KWSO News 10/6/25

Siletz tribe celebrates completion and opening of 40-unit affordable housing project in Salem

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz and the city of Salem held a ribbon cutting ceremony last week for a new affordable housing complex for tribal members.

As of last week, 20 tribal families are moving into one of Salem’s newest affordable housing projects. The 40-unit affordable housing project spans nearly nine acres in northeast Salem.

The development prioritizes low-income Native American households, with preference given to members of the Siletz Tribe.

The Lincoln Chronicle reports that it reflects a broader regional trend of Pacific Northwest tribes investing in affordable housing within urban spaces. The tribes contributed $8.5 million to the project and secured an additional $9 million in federal grants. The city of Salem provided planning approvals and consultation.

The state’s housing shortage disproportionately affects people of color, state data shows. American Indian and Alaska Native communities experience the second highest rate of housing cost burden in Oregon, with 50 percent of the population spending a disproportionate share of their income on rent.

 

ODA awards grant for Blue Mountain Flour Mill

The Oregon Department of Agriculture is awarding $755,077 to Northwest Mills and Specialty Grains, doing business as Cairnspring Mills, for a grain milling infrastructure project at Coyote Business Park South, a development owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR).

ODA states that the award is made possible in part through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI) Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service. The program aims to build resilience across the middle of the supply chain and strengthen local and regional food systems. The middle of the supply chain refers to processing, aggregation, storage, wholesaling, or distribution of food products.

The funding will help develop a regenerative flour mill that produces fresh-milled products from regionally grown grains. “The CTUIR celebrates the ODA funding that will benefit the Tribe’s Farm Enterprise and local farmers,” CTUIR Economic and Community Development Director Bill Tovey said. “The grant to Northwest Mills and Specialty Grains will provide value-added returns for the region.”

 

Fire Prevention Week: Protect Your Family by Practicing Home Fire Escape Plan, Testing Smoke Alarms

During Fire Prevention Week (October 5-11), the American Red Cross reminds everyone of the dangers of home fires, which claim seven lives every day in the U.S. Home fires claim more lives in a typical year than all natural disasters combined. To help protect your household, test your smoke alarms each month and practice your escape plan until everyone can get out in less than two minutes.

“Home fires can occur any time, any place,” said Priscilla Fuentes, Red Cross Cascades Region CEO. “The sooner an alarm alerts you to a fire, the sooner you can get out. This is critical because fire experts say you may have less than two minutes to escape a burning home before it’s too late.”

Tips for creating your home fire escape plan and practicing your 2-minute drill:

• Everyone in your household should know two ways to escape from each room in your home.
• Smoke is dangerous. Get low and go!
• Decide where to meet once you get outside. Select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as a neighbor’s home or landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone knows to meet.
• Get out and stay out. Never go back inside for people, pets or things.
• If a fire starts, you may have less than two minutes to get to safety. Time your fire drill and find out: what’s your escape time?
• While practicing your escape plan, teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like. Talk about fire safety and what to do in an emergency.

Smoke alarm safety:

• Place smoke alarms on each level of your home, including inside and outside bedrooms and sleeping areas.
• In addition to testing your alarms once a month, change the batteries at least once a year, if your model requires it.
• Also check the manufacturer’s date of your smoke alarms. If they’re 10 years or older, they need to be replaced because the sensor becomes less sensitive over time. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

 

Madras White Buffalo & Warm Springs Eagles sports roundup

The Madras White Buffalos gained their first win of the season and did so in front of their hometown crowd on Homecoming Night. The Buffs defeated the La Pine Hawks 42-6. Madras will travel to Sisters this Friday and the KWSO broadcast crew plans to head that way, too. So, be sure and listen live on KWSO.

Madras Cross Country competed at the 34^th Annual Oxford Classic at Drake Park in Bend on Saturday. For the Madras girls, Callie Delamarter finished in 11^th place and for the boys, RedSky Waheneka had an 8^th place finish.

On the prep sports schedule today, Boys Soccer teams host Estacada. JV plays at 4:00 and Varsity at 6:00. And JV Football has a game in La Pine at 5pm.

Warm Springs K8 Eagles Volleyball will host JCMS today starting at 3:30.

 

KWSO weather for central OR

Today: Sunny, with a high near 71. Calm wind becoming northeast 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 39. Northeast wind 6 to 11 mph becoming light and variable in the evening. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph.