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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 2011)
r P^ge 8 Housing reports progress B y Duran Bobb Spilyay Tymoo Housing and Urban Devel opm ent has closed another three findings brought up in the agency’s findings process, Scott Moses reported to Tribal Coun cil earlier this week. H ousing has also been granted an additional 30 days to respond to findings. HUD did not contest the re quest for additional time. “HUD had to file a complaint because of deadlines,” tribal at to rn ey H owie A rn ett said. “They also agreed that more time should be allowed to dem onstrate the tribes could resolve these findings. We asked to have until May 10.” “We have been working on these findings continuously for Mgrcb 23, 2011 Spiiyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon the past nine months,” Council man Moses said. “F ortunately, three were closed. We have subm itted docum ents to the O ffice of Native American Programs on all findings, and it’s up to them to review and close.” Moses said Housing has sub mitted documentation for all findings, with three findings in review. “There’s a few more things that need to be submitted for other findings, but other than that, they have documentation for every single finding that they have open.” W ith the tim e extension, Housing plans to continue work ing on documentation to show that there has been movement in the department. ONAP con tinues to be supportive to the The tribes requested and have b'een granted ten FEAL4 trailers to be used as homes on the reservation. tribes, Moses said. In closing, Scott had good news for the tribes. “We req u ested and have been granted ten FEMA trail ers to be used as homes on the reservation. Our pick-up date for those units is on April 7. They will be coming from Ar kansas. We w ill be adding those units to the 8 homes ac quired back in 2010. Those units w ill be installed in the Trailer Court area.” i Homebuyer class beginning in April Reservations are being taken for the next homebuyer class. The class will start April 14 and w ill m eet every Thursday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. for six weeks. The classes will cover top- ics such as: C alcu latin g affo rd ab ility, cleaning up credit, budgeting for home ownership, selecting a home, negotiating the deal, clos ing the loan, and hands-on-home maintenance tips and exercises. Certificates will be given to those who graduate. Warm Springs Credit En terprise and the Housing Authority are jointly sponsor ing the course. Call Warm Springs Credit Enterprise at 541-553-3201 to sign up. Class size is limited to 25. For Boys & Girls Club Auction TeleCo Corner (Continued from page 5) For the first time in history, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the national body that regulates telecommu nications, held an entire day for tribal leaders and telecommuni cations staff. W hile the FCC has had a tribal liaison for many years, they recently created a brand new Office of Native Affairs. Geoffrey Blackwell, attorney and member of the Chickasaw Nation, is the bureau chief of this new department. He and his staff organized this amaz ing day. National Tribal Telecom munications Meeting The NTTA held a morniqg meeting to discuss out lobbying strategy for the day. Essentially, the issues to be brought up focused on the sov ereignty of tribal telecommuni cations. Tribal lands have been tradi tio n ally u nderserved by the telecom providers that were to serve them, and at this point we want to ensure that tribes get the right to either serve themselves, or work with companies that will do so. In addition, the other big is sues have to do with universal 'service funding. There is a proposal to change the fund as it exists today into a broadband fund. Basically, it would determ ine funding by broadband connection rather by telephone. NTTA wants staff to under stand that tribal nations have been neglected by local telecom com panies and those tribal phone companies that are work ing to deliver service to their res ervations need help. Any changes to rules that gov ern telecommunications, espe cially telecommunication fund ing, must recognize the special needs of tribes in order to bring parity to tribal lands. f CC Native Nations Day As ECC C hairm an Ju liu s Genachowski said in his open ing rem arks, “T echnology touches every fabric of our so ciety and all Americans should have access to these essential services. Our actions will further empower tribal nations to access and use the latest technologies to grow their businesses, in crease their access to quality health care and education, reach 9-1-1 during emergencies, and receive public alerts and warn ings.” The first half of the day, as part of its Native Nations Day, the FCC held an open commis sion meeting focused on tribal initiatives that will help expand access to vital communications, including broadband, wireless and radio services in Native communities across the United States. The meeting included public presentations from several tribal leaders, and a nation-to-nation dialog session. The commissioners unani mously adopted three items that will increase telecommunication services to tribal areas. These included improving nation to na tion consultation between Tribal Nations and the FCC, address ing wireless spectrum to im prove access to mobile wireless com m unications on N ative lands and expanding tribal op portunities for broadcast radio services to Native communities. The second half of the day was more informal. Held upstairs in a large meet ing room, every half hour, a new group of bureau staff came and presented the issues with which they were dealing, that might impact tribal telecommunica tions. This included the bureau staff from the Wireline, Wire less, and Media Bureaus. These meetings gave tribal rep resen tatives a chance to question or present information to the top bureau staff regard ing particular regulatory issues or more basic problems that were present in their reserva tions. N um erous trib al leaders made very impassioned pleas to the FCC staff. They didn’t talk about the complex regulatory issues. Rather, they brought up how underserved their commu nities are at this time and how critical improved telecommuni cations are to their people. * They also impressed on the FCC that tribal lands are sover eign nations and the FCC must ensure that regulations help the tribes move forward in building new telecommunications. Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay Cody Yeager (right) director of Corrections Education presented artwork from the inmates of Deer Ridge Correctional Institute to June Smith, Warm Springs Boys & Girls Club director. Art will be in the fundraising auction being held at Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino on April 23. Items received so far include a Red Sox bat signed by Jacoby Ellsbury, Women and Men’s Nike N7 sets, Jeanie Smith paintings, autographed Sherman Alexie book, U of O baseball tickets, and a Verizon Wireless smart phone. For more information contact June at 541-553-2323. Children’s program this week at center T he C h ild ren ’s P rogram 2011 for ages 4 to 12 years old is through Thursday, March 24 at the Community Wellness Cen ter. The theme is “Kids Are God’s Special People.” There will be songs, stories, science time, crafts, snacks and games. The program began ear lier this week, so don’t miss the fun over the next couple of days. Parents are welcome. The pro- gram is provided Friends Help ing Friends Missions, Oregon Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Directors are Jim and Ruth Klinger. For infor mation call 360-903-3160. Northwest American Indian ART S H O W & A U C T IO N during Julyamsh Powwow Greyhound Park, Post Falls, ID Thursday - Sunday, July 21st-24th, 2011 Thursday, July 21s' Artist and Buyer's Reception For information, contact Shaina Nomee snomee@cdacasino.com or 800.523.2464 x7408 www. j u lya m sh. com Located at the corner of Warm Springs St. and Hollywood Blvd. Open Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ph. 5 4 1-5 5 3 -10 4 1 Shriners Hospitals for Children® This auction is a fundraiser for Shriners Hospitals J L \ 'k
