KWSO News 2/21/2019

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A proposed bill would require Oregon school districts to teach students about the Holocaust and other acts of genocide. KGW-TV reports the bill, which the Senate Committee on Education is debating this week, requires the curriculum to “enable students to evaluate the morality of the Holocaust, genocide and similar acts of mass violence and to reflect on the causes of related historical events.” If passed, the bill would take effect during the 2020-21 school year.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department says a record was set last year for the number of campers at state parks, and the number of day-use visitors was the second-highest ever. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that 2.9 million people camped in 2018 and 54 million people in total visited a park, the second-highest number after a peak in 2016. Fort Stevens, South Beach and Bullards Beach — all coastal parks — together accounted for more than half of the growth in overnight stays.

The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs is creating an advisory committee to prioritize Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund projects and coordinate both local and regional-focused transit projects and services. Online applications are posted on the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council coic2.org, under the transportation tab. Applications are due by March 1 at 5:00 pm and paper applications are available at the Administration Building in Warm Springs.

The National Congress of American Indians announced Wednesday that Executive Director Jacqueline Pata will resign over her handling of misconduct allegations against another top official. Pata, a citizen of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes, was placed on leave in October after John Dossett was fired from his post as NCAI’s general counsel following multiple allegations of verbal and sexual harassment. Pata, who was with NCAI for 18 years, will be allowed to continue running NCAI until her successor is named. She is the longest-serving executive director of the organization. NCAI President Jefferson Keel shared appreciation for the work Pata has done during her tenure, citing substantial growth, and successes in NCAI advocacy with Congress, the Executive Branch and in the federal courts.