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Spi lyay Tymoo
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P.O. Box 870
c ™nn<; OR 97761
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'.oyote News, est. 1976
June 29, 2011 Voi. 36, No. 13
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
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June - Atixan - Summer- Shatm
Tribes, school district agree to 5-year plan Housing
Fifty years ago the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs, the BIA, and
Jefferson County, School District 509-
J signed a lease agreement.
This agreement has allowed the dis
trict to provide educational services to
Warm Springs Elementary School chil
dren on tribal property.
As the agreement comes to a close
this year, the Tribal Council and the
school district board of directors have
been discussing options and opportu
nities.
As a result of these discussions, the
parties have agreed to partner on a
short-term plan to create a K-8 educa
tion system in Warm Springs, with a
long-term goal of expanding to a K -12
system.
“It is important that we have the
pieces in place to provide a good edu-
cation system that also honors our his
tory and our values,” said Tribal Coun
cilman Scott Moses. “We believe that
we can build a stronger education sys
tem in Warm Springs if we partner with
the school district over the next sev
eral years.”
The tribal and school district lead
ers say they are not satisfied with the
existing education system serving the
reservation, and they want to ensure
success for all students at a higher
level.
With this in mind, the tribes, the
school district and BIA this week came
to the agreement to work towards a
short-term goal of creating a K-8 sys
tem for Warm Springs’ families.
Eventually K-12
The long-term goal would be to
The first priority will he to
obtain funding fo r a new
K-8 building in Warm
Springs at a cost o f ap
proximately $18 million.
eventually create a K-12 system on the
reservation. This system would better
meet the needs and desires of all stu
dents and families of the 509-J school
district, the leaders agree.
The parties agreed to a more col
laborative plan in which they will work
together to design a gradual transition
that ensures the success of all students
throughout the district.
“This is a very positive step in the
partnership between the tribes and
the district,” said Brad Holliday,
school board chair. “We know we
can do more for all o f our stu
dents if we work together to make
this happen.”
The first priority will be to ob
tain funding for a new K-8 building
in Warm Springs at a cost of ap
proximately $18 million.
The goal is for the tribes, the dis
trict and the BIA to each contrib
ute towards the new building.
Once funding is in place, the
groups plan to work together to de
sign a K-8 education system that
meets federal, state and local edu
cation requirements and needs.
Then the long-term goal of build
ing a new system to eventually in
clude grades 9-12 can begin.
Parade, BBQ
fireworks
on Monday
The Confederated Tribes and Warm
Springs M arket are presenting fire
works, a parade and barbecue, canoe
races and other games on Monday, the
Fourth of July. The July 4 activities this
year are in honor of Vietnam veter
ans.
The parade preparation starts at 9
a.m. at the parking lot area o f the
Warm Springs Elementary School. The
parade line-up and judging are at 10
a.m. (See page 4 fo r more information)
S p ilya y s ta ff photos.
The tribes hosted the 42nd Annual Pi-Ume-Sha Treaty Days, June 24-26. See pages 8 and 9 for more pictures.
Truck wreck
closes highway
Highway 26 was shut down for two
hours yesterday after a truck veered
off the road and burst into flames at
milepost 109, on the grade between
Warm Springs and Madras. A column
of black smoke was visible for miles
and OSP issued an advisory around
8:45 a.m. The driver was killed in the
accident, according to report.
Police began stopping traffic just
before 9 a.m., telling motorists that the
highway would be closed for at least
two hours. Some drivers with business
in Warm Springs were escorted over
the river on back roads.
Witnesses said Tuesday morning that
there were no skid marks on the pave
ment leading up to the crash site.
is back
on track
By Duran Bobb
Spity ay Tymoo
Warm Springs Housing Authority"
has closed nine of ten findings identi
fied last year by the Northwest Office
of Native American Programs, and ex
pects the one remaining finding to be
resolved in a matter of weeks.
Back in September 2010, HUD said
in a letter of intent that it would adjust
some o f or all of the tribes’ future
Indian housing block grants if the find
ings were not remedied.
HUD also intended to lim it the
tribes’ availability of IHBG payments,
and the tribes would only be allowed
to access funds for projects or activi
ties not affected by its failure to com
ply with program requirements.
The findings revealed showed travel
expense reports that were not submit
ted in accordance to travel policy, the
self-monitoring system was not in com
pliance with regulations, the inspection
and maintenance systems were in non-
compliance, the admissions and occu
pancy policy was not being enforced,
contracts were not adequately managed,
documents were not on file to confirm
that units were tested for lead-based
paint, and the labor system was not in
compliance.
The one remaining finding to be
closed deals with inspection and main
tenance systems. “The last finding will
be closed in the next few weeks after
an agreement with HUD,” Moses said.
“Tribal attorneys are working in coop
eration with their attorneys. Basically,
it’s going to be closed with an agree
ment between them.”
With the findings resolved, WSHA
is in no danger of losing any funding.
“Really, the only thing that is going
to change now is how often a tenant
will see us in and out of their homes.
It’s been that way for the last six months.
They might be upset, but maintenance
of the units is our responsibility.”
Moses took over the Housing Di
rector position in November of 2009,
when it was known that the department
had issues which needed to be resolved.
“Nobody was working on these find
ings when I got here,” Moses said. “Since
then we’ve submitted a ton of docu
ments. My tribal member employees,
they did a great job of stepping up.”
(See HOUSING on page 5)
Relatives of the late Wasco Chief Nelson Wallulatum rode in the powwow parade.
Fire damages 6 resort rooms Fish return a hopeful sign fo r restoration
By Duran Bobb
S pilyay Tymoo
Hot embers from a barbeque
were the cause of a fire that dam
aged six room at Kah-Nee-Ta Lodge
last Thursday, June 22.
D am age w as estim ated at
$ 20 , 000 .
' Guests in room 408 were cook
ing when hot embers caught the
balcony on fire around 8:15 p.m.,
Warm Springs Fire & Safety Chief
Dan Martinez said.
“Several attempts were made by
the guest to control the spread,”
Martinez said.
“Em bers caused the exterior
walls to catch fire. That spread rap
idly to the upper deck and caused
i_
extensive damage to the exterior
walls of three rooms and the bal
cony.”
Rooms on that level were evacu
ated, as security used a fire extin
guisher to control the fire.
Five fire fighters and two en
gines from Warm Springs arrived
within five minutes, and the blaze
was declared under control at 8:45
p.m.
Jefferson County Fire District
responded as mutual aid. Also re
sponding were two ambulances with
Jefferson County ambulance stand
ing by.
Two rooms were declared unsafe
and will remain closed. Four other
rooms were smoke damaged.
Guests were allowed to return to
their rooms at 9 p.m.
University of Oregon Library
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Spilyay tymoo
By Dave McMechan
S pilyay Tymoo
Adult spring chinook salmon, re
leased as juveniles in 2008, returned
this year to the Pelton Round Butte
Dam— a good sign that could mean
more fish returning in 2012.
In 2008, before operation of the
fish tower at the Round Butte dam,
biologists with the tribes and Portland
General Electric released several hun
dred juvenile spring chinook.
A small percentage of these fish—
three of them— made the three-year
journey downriver to the ocean, and
then back again.
The tribes and PGE began operat
ing the juvenile fish collection tower at
Round Butte dam in 2009.
Through the tower, many more ju
venile fish were trapped and then re
leased downstream.
This time next year will be an inter
esting time for the upper Deschutes fish
restoration program, said Jim Manion,
general manager Warm Springs Power
and Water Enterprises.
It is possible that the number of
returning adults w ill be higher, he
said.
A next step in the process will be
the release of the returning adults up
stream past the dam, he said.
As part of fisheries restoration on
the upper Deschutes, the tribes and
PGE have implemented various pro
grams, including habitat restoration and
release of the juvenile fish. The single
largest part of the restoration— physi
cally and cost-wise— is the water intake
tower at the Round Butte dam. The
tower, 273-feet tall, draws in water at
the surface while allowing the opera
tion of the hydro-electric portion of
the dam. The surface current guides
the juveniles downstream in the lake.
Before, there was no surface current
and the juveniles did not migrate down
stream.
There have been no migrating fish
spawning above the Round Butte dam
in decades.
Operation of the intake and collec
tion system could reopen 226 upstream
miles to salmon and steelhead migra
tion, which has been blocked since
1972. Total cost of this project has
been over $100 million.
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