KWSO News for Tue., Feb. 22, 2022

Towns along the I-5 corridor have opened severe weather shelters and warming centers in response to snow and temperatures dropping into the teens this week. Jefferson Public Radio’s Erik Neumann has more. “The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory until 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Communities in Douglas, Josephine and Jackson Counties could see several inches of snow. Night-time temperatures are also forecast to be below freezing through Friday, at the lowest dropping to 14 degrees on Tuesday evening. The Cities of Medford and Ashland have opened overnight shelters through Tuesday night. Further north, Roseburg is operating a warming shelter through Thursday evening. In Jackson County there were over 700 people experiencing homelessness in 2020, according to the county’s numbers. The current cold snap comes after weeks of above average temperatures and below average precipitation in Southern Oregon. I’m Erik Neumann reporting.” Due to inclement weather, the 509J school district canceled school and activities for the day. That includes Warm Springs, Madras and Metolius. The Warm Springs tribal workers were also notified that there is a 2 hour delay for employees due to the inclement weather they are scheduled to report to work by 10am. With the weather forecast predicting below freezing temperatures, the Warm Springs warming shelter will be open 24 hours a day for this week.

With a total of six student’s to teach, Warm Springs Tribal member Dallas Winishut, began Ichishkiin classes at Madras High School on January 31^st. Winishut remains as one of three remaining Ichishkiin instructors on the Warm Springs Reservation. All of the current student’s in the class are from Warm Springs and Winishut hopes by semester’s end they will be able to speak short sentences. The class marks another effort educators are taking to help Native American students find their voice at Madras High school, which has more enrolled Native American Students than any other Oregon high school by far. Laurie Danzuka, the Jefferson County School District Board Chair shared that the impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic has taken three fluent language speakers from Warm Springs. Winishut only teaches Ichishkiin at the High School and plans to teach his students about the history of the tribes’ languages, a history marked by tragedies looming from Native American Youth surviving brutal punishment at Indian Boarding schools for speaking their language.  His hopes are for his students to learn the culture and history of the language, preserving for generations to come.

Warm Springs Land Services has been charged with getting community input on a proposed new detention facility that will be constructed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  They are preparing public displays of 14 possible locations.  The project needs 5 acres of space for a 60-bed adult facility.   No architectural plans have been developed.  Proposed sites include:  Dry Creek, Along Hwy 3 next to KWSO, the Industrial Park, County Line Road, Sunnyside, North Camelback across from the Industrial Park, Old Mill, Greeley Heights, Campus, Original Jail Location, Next to Old Elementary, Brunoe Pit, Near the VFW Hall, and by Shitike Creek.  You can find a map of the locations in today’s news on our website, Site Map options overview there will be additional information in this week’s edition of the Spilyay Tymoo and be watching for displays at the Tribal Administration Building, the Health & Wellness Center, and 3 Warriors Market in Simnasho.

The months-old disappearance of a Native American woman from California’s Yurok [YUHR-ok] Reservation has raised questions over how missing and murdered Indigenous people cases are handled. KLCC’s Brian Bull reports. “33-year-old Emmilee Risling was last seen in October. An accomplished Hoopa Valley tribal dancer, University of Oregon graduate and mother, she’s one of five cases in 18 months of Native women gone missing or found murdered between California’s Bay Area and the Oregon border. MRisling02: “Everyone wants her home. Everyone who my sister touched, misses her. And wants to see her back with her children.” (:08) Emmilee’s sister, Mary Risling (RIZ-ling), says both law enforcement and the public need to focus more on cases like this one. MRisling01: “It’s just a helpless feeling. Indigenous women. You know there’s statistics out there, but…given the fact that the cases don’t get much attention, there would be a lot more information if they did.” (:11) The Yurok Tribe has declared a state of emergency. They want California to form a comprehensive database of cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people. I’m Brian Bull reporting in Eugene.”

In Local Sports: The Madras High School Buff Boys Basketball played their last game of the season last night in the Buffalo Dome. They started off slow trailing Gladstone 20-14 after the first quarter, but came storming back in the 2^nd quarter to take a 33-27 halftime lead. Seneca Ball led the way to victory for the Buff Boys in their final game of the season with 18 points, followed by Skytus Smith with 13 as the Buff Boys rallied to get a 64-59 win over the Gladiators who are ranked 11^th in the 4A rankings. The Gladiators will be heading to the playoffs as the Buff Boys season is over. The Lady Buffs were on the road to Gladstone last night as they tried to end the regular season with a perfect league record. They fell to the Lady Gladiators 53-33 and are moving forward with 1 loss in league play as they go in to the playoffs.