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
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