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75
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v. 36
no. 6
March £ 3 ,
Spi lyay Tyrooc
Acquisition Dept./Serials
Knight Library
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene OR 97403-1205
£011
March 23, 2011
'oyote News, est. 1976
Voi. 36, No. 06
March - Wiyalppt -S p rin g
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Wawaxám
50 cents
Tribes pursue Simnasho water fix
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
Tribal Council last week passed a
resolution to address the Simnasho
drinking water problem.
Through the resolution, the tribes
are now pursuing up to $450,000 in
H ousing and U rban D evelopm ent
(HUD) grant money for work on the
Simnasho-Schoolie Flat water system.
Total cost of a new system is esti
m ated at $2.5 m illio n , said D on
Courtney, Utilities general manager.
The HUD money could be used to le-
verage further funding toward its con
struction, said Courtney.
The HUD grant is to address wa
ter-quality cases involving an “immi
nent health threat,” which describes the
Simnasho water situation.
The Tribal Council resolution also
authorizes the S-T to seek funding
through the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), Indian Health Services,
and other federal agencies to create a
funding package for this project.
The resolution also authorizes the
construction of a domestic water pipe
line from the well source to the Bea
ver Creek well field, and infrastructure
to provide drinking w ater for the
Simnasho-Schoolie Flat residents.
The new water system would require
a right-of-way along the proposed pipe
line from the well head to the existing
Beaver Creek well field.
The existing Simnasho water system
is not in compliance with EPA standards
for arsenic.
Since 2007, Simnasho-Schoolie Flat
residents have relied on Saturday de
liveries of E arth20 botded water. Es
timated cost of this service is about
$4,400 per month.
The Simnasho water was in compli
ance with the EPA arsenic standard
until 2006. At that time, the agency
lowered the part-per-million stan
dard for arsen ic, m akin g the
Simnasho water non-compliant.
Arsenic is odorless and colorless,
and can appear in drinking water
through natural deposits in the
earth, or from agriculture and in
dustrial practices. Arsenic is cancer
causing. Other health problems as
sociated with the semi-metal include
thickening and discoloration of the
skin, stomach pain, nausea, vomit
ing, diarrhea, num bness o f the
hands and feet, partial paralysis and
blindness.
Japan crisis
impacts mill
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
Warm Springs Forest Products In
dustries is a leading regional exporter
of lumber to Japan.
About 80 percent o f the housing
construction wood product from the
WSFPI mill goes to Japan.
Like everyone, the millworkers were
shocked by news of devastation from
the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear
disasters in Japan.
M ill workers have m et Japanese
clients on many occasions at the mill,
said John “Sky” Katchia, WSFPI op
erations supervisor.
B e in g fa m ilia r w ith Ja p a n e s e
people made the images of disaster
there even m ore m oving, K atchia
said.
“There was tremendous concern at
the mill for the Japanese,” said Ryan
Holwege, export sales director of Van
Port International. For the past several
years, Van Port has worked with WSFPI
in marketing lumber to Japan.
“I w ork with the Japanese every
day,” Holwege said. “And it was nice to
hear the concern from the people at
the mill.”
There is no way to tell for certain
how the national disaster in Japan will
im pact the W SFPI operation, said
Holwege.
In the short term, though, the mill
could see a spike ih the demand and
price of lumber, followed by a lag in
the market.
Then in the long-term, the demand
could be greater than in recent years.
“It all depends on the internal factors
in Japan,” he said.
For instance, the wood from the
Warm Springs is used for framing, while
manufacturers in Japan have provided
the plywood.
New homes cannot be built without
the plywood, so the demand for the
framing lumber would be low if the
plywood is absent.
“And the plywood mills in Japan, and
the w orkers there were affected ,”
Holwege said.
How all of this will play out is specu
lation, although there is some prece
dent: Holwege was in Japan shortly af
ter the Kobe earthquake of 1995, “so
we do have some history to draw on,”
he said.
After the Kobe earthquake, which
killed over 6,400 people, there was
in the short-term a larger demand for
lu m b e r co m in g from U.S. m ills.
W SFPI could see a similar spike in
demand.
The Warm Springs Forest Products
Industries m ill em ploys about 140
people, m ostly tribal members.
The vehicle of the deceased was towed from the embankment by the mill and Shitike Creek.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Man shot, killed after police chase
A 22-year-old Madras man was
shot and killed by a Warm Springs
police officer at 10:40 p.m. on Sun
day, March 20. The deceased was
id en tified as V ernon “B uddy”
Middleton Jr. His body was trans
ported to Portland after the shoot
ing, as part of the investigation into
the incident.
As standard practice, the officer
was placed on administrative leave,
pending the outcome of the inves
tigation, said Warm Springs Public
Safety Branch M anager Stanley
Suenaga.
The shooting happened at the Warm
Springs Forest Products Industries mill,
following a traffic stop and a police
chase on foot.
Two Warm Springs officers were
involved in the stop and the chase.
Another person was in the vehicle with
Mr. Middleton. This person was not
injured, according to reports.
One of the officers received minor
injuries, and was treated and released
from Mountain View Hospital in Ma
dras.
FBI agents from Bend and Portland
and troopers with the Oregon State
U.S. Postage
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Police are investigating the case.
The investigators on Sunday
night and Monday morning had a
large outdoor area o f the m ill
blocked off with police crime tape.
Evidence was located at various
places across the asphalt, showing
where the foot-chase occurred. The
vehicle that Middleton had been
riding in was lodged on an embank
ment above Shitike Creek. FBI, state
police and tribal investigators were
on the scene for several hours, de
termining the sequence of events
that led to the fatal shooting.
Law would
address
tribal officer
jurisdiction
By Duran Bobb
Spilyay Tymoo
A hearing is scheduled on March 24
in the Oregon Legislature for Senate
Bill 412, which is an effort by Warm
Springs and the other Oregon tribes to
make changes to state law regarding the
definition of “police officer.”
One provision of the bill states that
it would provide tribal police officers
in Oregon with the same powers and
protections provided by Oregon law to
state and local law enforcement offic
ers. This would allow tribal officers to
cite non-Indians, over whom the tribe
lacks criminal jurisdiction, into state
court for state law violations.
*If passed, the bill would be declared
emergency and effective immediately.
Currently, tribal police maintain the
same training and professional certifi
cation standards that are required of
state and local law enforcement offic
ers. All Warm Springs tribal police of
ficers and detectives have been depu
tized by the Jefferson County Sheriff
and 19 of the Warm Springs tribal po
lice officers and detectives have been
deputized by the Wasco County Sher
iff.
“Senate Bill 412 is needed to pro
tect tribal members from crimes com
mitted against them and their property
by non-Indians,” said Stan Suenaga,
general manager of the Warm Springs
Public Safety Branch.
“This stems from the State v. Kurtz
case,” he said. “We can’t allow non-In
dian offenders to ignore tribal police
and as well as state and federal laws
that may apply to them, and make a
run for the border, thinking they can
leave and not face any criminal conse
quences.”
Please see TRIBAL OFFIC ERS on 7
Composite
expecting
steady year
U n i v e r s i t y o f Oregon L i b r a r y
R e c e iv e d on: 0 3 ~ £ 8 - l l
S p ily a y tymoo
Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay
Colton Reese shows his hula hooping skills at the ‘50s Sock Hop held at the Community Center on St.
Patrick’s Day.
The coming year will look a lot like
2010, Duane Darnell, general manager
for Warm Springs Composite said.
“The economy is off, but on the
bright side we already have substantial
sales,” Darnell told Tribal Council last
week.
Employment at Composite Products
should hold steady, he said.
“Towards the end of 2010 we built
up some inventory to keep people em
ployed, rather than having lay-offs.
Now, we anticipate we’ll be able to use
some of those inventories as demand
picks up.”
So far, Composite Industries has
maintained a good safety level at the
plant, Darnell added. In addition to their
normal wages, employees also earn in
centives based on safety and attendance.
The immediate goal at Composite is
to keep sales revenues up, Darnell said.
“We want to keep our employment*up,
we want to keep our profit up and de
velop off-shore markets,” he said.
Composite Products gave their fi
nancial report to Tribal Council last
week.
—
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by Duran Bobb
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