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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 2010)
r W p 1’*' "CR WSS Patron jS ^ v December £ 9 , £010 December 29, 2 0 10 o y o te News, est. 1976 Vol. 35, Nc D.0. Box 870 OR 97761 U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 D ecem ber- Nch’i-An - Big Sun, or Winter Solstice 50 cents New year brings changes to law enforcement Biomass By Dave McMechan S pilyay Tymoo In the coming year, the Tribal Law and Order Act will bring important changes to law enforcement on the res ervation. The changes will effect pros ecution o f crimes— serious felonies prosecuted in federal court, and crimi nal cases in tribal court. The tribal Justice Team is working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Port land regarding how to implement the Tribal Law and Order Act. The Justice team includes the tribal secretary-treasurer and chief operations officer, director of parole and proba tion, chief of police, human services director, legal counsel, tribal court rep resentatives and others. They met recently with assistant U.S. Attorneys at Kah-Nee-Ta to discuss the Tribal Law and Order Act, which be came law this past summer. Part of the initial challenge, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Williams, is figuring out the requirements of the act, as they apply to the Warm Springs Reservation. Some provisions of the law appear to apply to situations that exist among other tribes but not Warm Springs. While other provisions in time could have significant consequences for the Confederated Tribes o f Warm Springs. “This is a work in progress— deci phering what it means and how to implement it,” Williams said of the act. He introduced a draft Indian Coun try Law Enforcement District Opera tional Plan. The plan will cover com munication between the tribes and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, investigations, victim advocacy, training outreach, re duction of violence against women and children, and accountability. A point of discussion during the meeting was the rate and manner in which the U.S. Attorney’s Office de clines to pursue prosecution of cases arising on the reservation. There has been some criticism, about the number of cases that the U.S. Attorney declines to prosecute, said Williams. These decisions, he said, are based on whether the at torneys believe they have a chance of convicting the defendant or de fendants. There are various reasons for de clining cases. As examples: The wit ness may be unreliable or unwilling to testify; or the initial police inves tigation may have been handled in a way that would exclude important evidence at trial. See LAW and ORDER on 9 Dave McMechan/Spilyay Several inches of snow fell on the reservation last week, giving young people a chance for some winter sledding. Year in Review TelCo, canoe journey big stories o f 2010 By Duran Bobb S pilyay Tymoo This year the people were witness to a number of noteworthy events on the reservation. It was the year when difficult political decisions were made, and the year that the tribes lost a be loved chief. Here, we conclude our 2010 year in review, taking a look back at just some of the events that made this year truly unforgettable. In July of this year, a shootout took place in West Hills, eventually leading to the arrest of Aldo Antunez Sr, 31. Antunez is facing charges for firing shots at officers during high speed chases on June 20. Antunez, who was injured at the time he surrendered, is also facing additional charges for the shootout in West Hills. Also in July, the Warm Springs cano team arrived at Neah Bay. This was the first time the Confederated Tribes participated in the Tribal Journeys cano gathering. Telecommunications In August, the tribes were awarded $5.5 million through the Department of Agriculture for development of a telecommunications enterprise on the p V reservation. The money w ill allow Warm Springs Telecommunications to bring high-speed broadband Internet and telephone service to the reserva tion. Business investment The same month, Tribal Council al located $2 million for a fund that will help business and economic develop ment on the reservation. Tribal offi cials feel the Business Investment Re volving Fund is necessary to address immediate economic needs among the tribal membership. In early August, 13 tribal officers were sworn in as special deputy sher iffs o f the Wasco County Sh eriff’s Department. This allows tribal offic ers to arrest non-Indians who commit state crimes on the reservation. Offic ers were cross-deputized by Jefferson County at an earlier event. Casino study Also in August, the Department of the Interior published the final environ mental impact statement regarding the tribes’ Cascade Locks casino proposal. The publication marks the end of the environmental review and assessment process which has been going on for il about five years, or twice as long as expected. In September, the tribes received the long-awaited letter of intent to impose remedies from HUD. Out of 10 ini tial findings, the letter identified eight that remain open. HUD says that it intends to adjust some or all of the tribes’ future Indian housing block grants and limit the tribes’ availability of some payments. The same month, the White Light ning Complex fires remained 95 per cent contained. The fires were ignited from lightning strikes during a storm the month before. Also in September, Brutis Baez was nom inated for a N ative A m erican M usic Award for his recording of “Lifestyle Muzik”. Gatherings in September included the Festival o f Nations in Cascade Locks and the Basket Makers Conven tion at Kah-Nee-Ta. Simnasho water In October, tests confirmed that the levels of arsenic remained at unsafe levels in Sim nasho’s w ater supply. Drinking water has been delivered to residents since May o f2007. Construc tion of a new water pipeline will start in mid 2011. The Battle on the Rez tournament drew a standing room only crowd to Kah-Nee-Ta in late October. Hosted by the Warm Springs Boxing Club, the event included 12 bouts. In November, the tribes rebur ied ancestral remains and funerary objects that originated from the Or egon-side of the Columbia River. A claim sub m itted back in 2004, NAGPRA Coordinator Roberta Kirk said, leading to the return of the remains. The remains include 42 ancestral remains, 687 associated fu n erary o b jects, and 93 unassociated funerary objects. Also in November, An adminis trative law judge disagreed with most of the assertions made by the OLCC’s investigativeoffice in Bend. The high number of calls for law enforcement assistance and other emergency responders to the area were not due to Rainbow Market’s sale o f alcohol, the judge deter mined. Rainbow has cleared one hurdle, but still must face the OLCC meeting in Portland. Former Public Safety GM, Jim Soules, welcomed his replacement, Stan Suenaga, in November. boost from lawmakers By Terri Harber S pilyay Tymoo U.S. Rep. Greg Walden is among a group of Congressional members ask ing the E nvironm ental Protection Agency to review a rule change that would classify bio-mass as a non-renew able energy source. The Warm Springs Tribes plan to build a 35-megawatt bio-mass plant in 2013 that will be located on a 100-acre site near the landfill. While the Tribes see the plant viable moneymaking venture comparable to wind oi; solar energy production, bio mass would fall under the same cat egory as fossil fuels such as oil and coal under the new rule. Walden and more than 30 represen tatives signed a letter dated Dec. 10 and addressed it to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. They specifically ask her to hold off on implementing the new rule, which is scheduled go into effect early next month. The lawmakers seek enough time .to review comments pro vided to the EPA regarding the deci sion. A bio-mass plant owned by the tribes “has the potential for a lot of benefits,” said Ellen Grover, an attorney with Karnopp, Petersen LLP. The law firm represents the tribes on this matter and is based in Bend. _..___ “It’s a good project,” she said. Tribal officials estimate that this type of plant would bring 60-70 new jobs to the reservation. About 30 of the jobs would be at the plant and the rest would support plant operations, such as truck drivers and forest workers. Grover warned that any resulting project delays “could have the poten tial to be too long.” This is because the new rule could make it harder to file Investment Tax Credit grants by the January 2014 dead line, she said. Money from this source would help pay for the plant, which is also being financed with $4 m illion in federal stimulus money. Also accompanying the EPA rule change is a likely cost increase for per mits to operate it because it would be no longer considered a green energy plant, Grover said. “This is a job-killing rule that threat ens future investment in this very prom ising technology,” said Andrew Weiland, a spokesman for Walden, Oregon’s 2nd district representative. Concerns W eiland cited include threatening job creation in rural com munities such as Warm Springs, and potentially shutting down production of an alternative energy source that is “re newable,” offers “tangible greenhouse benefits” and would improve “the air, forests, ecosystems and the economy.” Walden will be returning to the En ergy and Commerce Com m ittee in 2011, Weiland added. Industrial bio-mass can be grown from a variety of plants and trees. The tribes’ mill would supply a significant amount of dry wood fuel to the biom ass plant under an agreement forged earlier this year. Proponents of bio-mass say it pro duces much less carbon than oil or coal, and that the common practice of slash burning to clear a wooded location for agriculture, fire control or other land management purposes already causes carbon releases anyway. See BIOMASS on page 5 I * .