Warm Springs: Ex-Warm Springs Cop Found Guilty of Abuse - A retired Warm Springs police officer, Head Start teacher and child protective services worker faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release after his conviction on charges of abusing five young girls, prosecutors said. Harry Hintsala, 62, of Warm Springs, was found guilty Wednesday of five counts of abusive sexual contact after a trial before U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman.

Warm Springs: Two Women Appear in Federal Court for Separate Vehicular Assaults in Warm Springs - Two defendants appeared this week in United States District Court for separate vehicular assaults that occurred on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Doriann L Miller, 24, of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, was sentenced to six months in prison today by United States District Judge Michael W Mosman for driving under the influence of intoxicants, speeding and eluding the police, crashing her vehicle, and causing the paralysis of one of her passengers. Naomi Joann Brisbois, 27, of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, pled guilty on April 2, 2012 before United States District Judge Michael H Simon to one count of assault resulting in substantial bodily injury to an individual under 16 years of age.

Clatsop-Nehalem and Warm Springs: A celebration of heritage and culture on the water - Members of the Clatsop-Nehalem and Warm Springs Confederated Tribes used the Necanicum River in Seaside March 31 for a practice run with their canoe before will they take to the Columbia River near the John Day Dam this summer for an annual canoe journey to Northern Puget Sound.

Warm Springs: Warm Springs Woman Sentenced to Over Three Years in Federal Prison for Assaulting Victim with Knife - Krystal Lee Finnley, 20, of Warm Springs, was sentenced to 37 months in prison today by United States District Judge Ancer L Haggerty for assaulting a Warm Springs tribal member with a knife.

Warm Springs: Tribe gets grant for historic preservation - The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs will receive $75,440 in federal aid to help carry out national historic preservation on tribal lands.

Umatilla-Warm Springs-Yakama: Horse slaughter plant planned for eastern Oregon after change in national rules - A horse slaughter and processing plant -- which could be among the first in the country in five years -- may open in Hermiston within a year. Private investors and Northwest tribes are likely to underwrite the proposed 20,000-square-foot operation that would employ 100 people and slaughter 25,000 horses a year, Duquette said. No Northwest tribal councils have signed off on the project yet, but the tribes are bowed by crushing numbers of ownerless horses on the reservations. Examples: An estimated 6,000 horses roam the 640,000-acre Warm Springs Indian Reservation near Madras; up to 15,000 horses range across the 1.4 million-acre Yakama Indian Reservation in central Washington and 350 horses roam the 178,000-acre Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton.

Warm Springs: Last Fluent Speaker Of Oregon Tribal Language 'Kiksht' Dies - Gladys Thompson died Wednesday evening at home. She was 97. She was born on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in 1915 and learned Kiksht from her parents. She was also fluent in two other tongues, Ichishkiin which still has dozens of speakers in Warm Springs, and Sahaptin the language of the Columbia Plateau.

Warm Springs: SOU professor turns American Indian stories from childhood into musical - While Brent Florendo was growing up on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon, his mother would tell stories of their Wasco heritage to help others understand American Indian culture. Now the Southern Oregon University Native American Studies instructor is continuing that tradition with a musical he's written based on his mother's stories. Called "Raccoon Earns His Stripes,"the musical will open Friday, Feb. 24, in SOU's Center Square Theatre and continue through March 11.

Warm Springs: Trout season opens Saturday in Hagg Lake; already in progress across northwest Oregon - Salmon and steelhead may spawn in the upper Deschutes, Metolius and Crooked river basins this fall for the first time in more than 50 years. Biologists for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon anticipate the first significant return of adults this year to the Pelton Round Butte Dam complex on the Deschutes River, where a new passage system in 2009 has been allowing juvenile releases upriver from Lake Billy Chinook since 2007.

Warm Springs: SOU stages 'Raccoon Earns His Stripes' - A character from ancient Pacific Northwest folklore will walk on the wild side of contemporary times when "Raccoon Earns His Stripes" premieres in the Center Square Theatre at Southern Oregon University. Playwright Brent Florendo is coordinator of SOU's Native American Studies. He was raised on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation near Madras.

Warm Springs: Eagle Watch this weekend - The annual Eagle Watch event is set to talk place Saturday and Sunday at Round Butte Overlook Park and Cove Palisades State Park near Culver. Eagle Watch, hosted by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, celebrates the eagles and other raptors that make Lake Billy Chinook a popular wildlife viewing area.

Warm Springs: Tough Task in the Gorge - Vigilance must continue against efforts to build a casino in the Gorge. Earlier this month, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in central Oregon opened the Indian Head Casino at Warm Springs on Highway 26 between Portland and Bend. Previously, the tribe had been pushing plans for a casino in the Gorge, at Cascade Locks. The Bend Bulletin reported that the election of Gorge-casino-foe Gov. John Kitzhaber put those plans on hold, but Deepak Sehga, chairman of the casino board, said the tribe’s "number one goal is still to move to the Gorge. That goal does not go away, because we’ve been stymied by the government agencies in the last 10 years."

Warm Springs: Warm Springs gets $1.5 million HUD grant - Warm Springs was one of eight tribes in Oregon to receive Indian Housing Block Grants, which totaled almost $14 million. The money will go toward housing development, housing services, crime prevention and safety, and other programs that help solve affordable housing problems.

Warm Springs: Indian Head Casino Has "Winning" Opening - It was a very big opening for the Indian Head Casino in Warm Springs this last weekend. Hundreds of people showed up ready to play as the doors opened to the public for the first time Saturday night.

Warm Springs: New Casino Set Top Open Along Highway 26 - This weekend, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs will open its new casino right alongside on Highway 26. The move is intended to bring its existing gaming operations closer to the main highway.

Warm Springs: Jefferson County School Bond on May Ballot - Jefferson County voters will decide in May on a $26.6 million bond measure that would help pay for a new school on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and several other projects districtwide.

Warm Springs: Creating Jobs and Investing in an Economy That’s Built to Last in Rural Oregon - USDA Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager visited Central Oregon, where he joined the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs for a traditional celebration and ribbon cutting for their first-ever broadband project on the reservation. "You have the full support of the Obama Administration in your efforts to improve economic opportunities and quality of life here on the reservation," Tonsager said in his keynote address. With $5.4 million in USDA Recovery Act broadband funding, Warm Springs Telecommunications Company has constructed a state-of-the-art fiber and fixed wireless network that will eventually serve everyone on the 644,000-acre reservation with telephone and broadband. Until now, only about one-third of those living on the reservation had access to phone or Internet service.

Warm Springs: Indian Head Casino opens this week - The Warm Springs tribes open a new casino this week, expected to employ about 280 people. US Highway 26 connects Portland to Central Oregon. That's where the new $13.5 million Indian Head Casino is located just across the street from The Museum at Warm Springs. This new facility replaces the Kah-nee-tah casino. It has about 200 more slot machines and will be open 24 hours a day.

Warm Springs: Telecom Open for Business - A breakthrough celebrated Friday in Warm Springs: Access to phone and internet service will now be widely available for tribal members thanks to their very own, tribally owned telecommunications company. Warm Springs Telecom opened their doors Friday in a grand opening ceremony. About one-third of people living on the Warm Springs Reservation don't have access to phone or Internet service. Now, everyone will get access to basic telephone service and broadband, high-speed Internet.

Warms Springs: Tribe To Open US 26 Casino - Warm Springs tribal officials in Central Oregon plan to open a new casino in a few weeks. It's not in the Columbia Gorge, as the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs long hoped. But it is on U.S. Highway 26 linking the Portland area with Central Oregon cities.

Warm Springs: New Products, Processes Boost Oregon Seafood - Mark Whitham, a seafood specialist with Oregon Sea Grant Extension, has worked with two canning facilities in Oregon and consulted on a third. Mr Whitham is also working with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs on planning a packaging facility. Ron Suppah, vice chairman of the Warm Springs’ tribal council, said the tribes were losing as much as 20 percent of their salmon to freezer burn each year. Looking for a solution, Suppah was introduced to Mr Whitham through a contact at the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. Mr Suppah and other Warm Springs members took three trips to the seafood development laboratory at the OSU Experiment Station in Astoria to learn from Mr Witham about advanced preservation methods. Impressed by what they saw, Mr Suppah said, he and others decided to build a facility that employed Mr Whitham’s techniques.

Warm Springs: BPA, PGE Continue Discussions On Transmission Project - The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and Portland General Electric (PGE) have identified the terms and conditions that will be addressed in connection with their discussions concerning the joint development of PGE's proposed Cascade Crossing Transmission Project. PGE previously executed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with PacifiCorp, Idaho Power and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (CTWS) for discussion surrounding Cascade Crossing. In order to build the project, PGE must obtain approvals from the CTWS, as well as from state and federal governments.

Warm Springs: Mountain goat population climbing - The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs teamed up with ODFW for the July 2010 release of 45 goats, helping set the animals free on a remote portion of the 640,000-acre reservation. Historically an animal found on Mount Jefferson, the Rocky Mountain goat is culturally significant to the tribes as a source for both spirituality and food, said Clay Penhollow, spokesman for the tribes. "It is important to have them back here," he said.

Warm Springs: Rocky Mountain goats prospering - Rocky Mountain goats released two years ago at the base of Mount Jefferson apparently are thriving and prospering. Three of the 45 goats released in July 2010 died within days, two apparently after falls and one was killed by a predator, said Chip Dale, the manager of the High Desert Region of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. But the rest made themselves at home. A hunter from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs reported seeing eight to 10 goats near the original release site on the upper Whitewater River, three of those believed to be kids. That site is on tribal lands.

Warm Springs: Deputy Marshal in Warm Springs Shootout Honored - Sen. Jeff Merkley and Rep. Kurt Schrader joined U.S. Marshal Russel Burger and U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall on Tuesday to present the Congressional Badge of Bravery to U.S. Deputy Marshal Vince Byford for his courageous actions during a 2010 standoff on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. The fugitive had warrants in Madras for nine counts of attempted murder and had holed up in a residence on the Warm Springs reservation. The fugitive started a fire fight with law enforcement and had vowed to kill as many police as possible before being taken down. Deputy Byford was positioned with a rifle behind a tree about 40 yards from the residence. After nearly being hit twice by the fugitive, Deputy Byford repositioned himself and called for his other team members to move to better cover. While continuing to provide cover to team members, Deputy Byford was able to see the barrel of the fugitive’s rifle and return fire. The fugitive was hit in the torso and shortly afterward surrendered to law enforcement.

Warm Springs: Learn about return of the bull trout to the Clackamas River - About seven years ago the Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Fish and Wildlife the U.S. Forest Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Tribes and Portland General Electric began discussing a bull trout reintroduction plan, which began this summer.

Warm Springs: The tribes want drones contract - The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs are jumping onboard with Jefferson County to obtain a contract from the Federal Aviation Administration to allow drone testing on reservation property.

Warm Springs: Men Sentenced in Murder, Shooting - U.S. District Judge Ancer L. Haggerty sentenced Ted L. Barney, Jr., 23, to serve 18 years in prison for murdering 24 year-old Delmer Davis. Barney was trying to kill another man and didn't know he hit Davis. Later when he found out, he turned himself in and confessed.

Warm Springs: State Awards Grants to Boost Local College Access - Central Oregon Community College will partner with Madras High School and Warm Springs Indian Reservation in order to reach students to attend the Oregon Leadership Institute and Summer Symposium.

Warm Springs: Hermiston Man Sees Future In Legal Horse Slaughter - My Food Flicka?

Warm Springs: POWER magazine Announces Renewable Top Plants

Warm Springs: Retrofitting a Deep Water Plant Intake to Improve Fish Passage

Warm Springs: Clearing the way to re-start horse slaughter in the U.S.

Warm Springs: New Warm Springs Casino Set to Open Soon; But Is It Temporary? Tribes Seek Disputed Gorge Location

Warm Springs: Three Plead Guilty in Warm Springs Assaults

Warm Springs: Indian Head Casino gets go-ahead

Warm Springs: Warm Springs gets OK to move casino to new home on U.S. 26

Warm Springs: Man Pleads Guilty in Shootout

Warm Springs: Defendant Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Kill Three Warm Springs Police Officers

Warm Springs: Joint drug team arrests suspected meth dealer in Madras

Warm Springs: Return of the fish, with more on the way