KWSO News for Thu., Jun. 30, 2022

In Warm Springs, Telecom sent out an email yesterday stating that they would be migrating to a new voice server to improve quality of service around midnight this morning. There would be an outage that should have lasted for 5 mins to an hour while they did the maintenance update. So if your device has not reset and you are not receiving dial tone or have other issues, contact Telecom at 541-615-0555. 4^th of July Celebrations are coming up, with the Freedom For All 4^th of July parade taking place Monday. Parade line up will begin at 9am with the Judging taking place at 10am and the parade starting at 11. BBQ and family games will follow the parade and the Fireworks show will start at dusk on Monday. If you haven’t heard, I.H.S. will be closing at noon on Friday in recognition of the 4^th of July holiday weekend and will reopen on Tuesday July 5^th. In Madras they will have their 4^th of July parade Monday with flag presentation and opening ceremonies at 11:30am. Other activities include the Todd Beamer memorial run in the early morning, the elks breakfast and family activities, food and music will take place at Sahalee Park until 3pm.

One of only a few boarding schools for Native American students still run directly by the federal government in Oregon is undergoing a close look at the school’s finances by the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General. The office confirmed last month in an email to Oregon Public Broadcasting that it had “initiated an audit of the financial management and financial oversight of the Chemawa Indian School.” The audit came in response to Democratic U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, who requested the inquiry after they felt stymied in their own efforts to look into alleged problems at the school.

East of the Cascades, Oregon has just one clinic that offers abortion health care. And providers in Bend are expecting a surge in patients is going to strain resources, as abortion bans and restrictions in other states go into effect. Kenji Nozaki (KEN-jee No-ZAH-kee) is a director of operations for Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette. He says many Idahoans already travel to Bend for services. A new Idaho law banning most abortions in that state could lead to even more patients traveling to Oregon and Washington. “We have seen an increase in demand again, not only from Oregon but also in Idaho, because of the inability to make appointments in Idaho.” Nozaki says phone calls to Planned Parenthood in Oregon have increased 40 percent since the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade last week. More than a dozen states have already banned abortion in most circumstances, and more are expected to soon.

Police say a Eugene woman who had acid thrown on her while walking her dog in March has been the target of two additional acid attacks at her home, believed to be committed by the same person. The Register-Guard reports the Eugene Police Department is also investigating it as a bias crime after the suspect made comments about the woman being Native American. Police spokeswoman Melinda McLaughlin says the latest incident happened early Tuesday when she opened her door to the outside and someone threw acid on her. She was taken to a hospital for chemical burns. McLaughlin says the incidents are under investigation. The attacker was described as a young white man.