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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2012)
Tymc Coy o ie News, est. 1976 June 2 7 , 2012 Branch Matthew 1200 SW Park Ave. Portland OR 97205 Vol. 37, No. 13 31 >S on U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 June -A tixa n - Spring - Wawaxam 50 cents Referendum on July 10 to decide k-8 school B y Dave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo Tribal officials are emphasizing some im portant facts as the m em bership gets ready for the July 10 W arm Springs k-8 school referen dum. First, the tribal Senior Pension Fund and per capita will in no way be affected by the school referen dum. The pension and per capita were never considered among the fund ing options, said tribal secretary-trea surer Jody Calica. Instead, there are two main funding options, he said. O ne involves the new Indian H ead Casino. Last year, the tribes invested $13.5 million in the gam ing enterprise, in order to finance the casino construction. This was to be repaid in dividends to the tribes. Now, after several m o n th s o f operation, the casino has a track record regarding revenue, w hich could allow refinancing o f the ca sino construction debt through a bank. This would free up the $13.5 million for another use, such as for the school, said Calica. The tribes would need about $10 million to m atch the $10 million com m itm ent from the school dis trict for construction o f the new school. A second funding option: The U.S. D epartm ent o f Agriculture has a loan guarantee program, whereby t h e U S D A w ill g u a r a n t e e u p to 90 Getting out the vote a top priority for school advocates to-one in favor. B ut the result o f the May vote was inconclusive. “It is very im p o rtan t fo r o u r m em bers to vote,” Calica said, “so we can get a sense o f w hat they are thinking, and the value they p u t on education.” T he quality o f the school build ings Communicates directly to the students the value the adults place on educafiop.He said- T he existing W arm Springs El ementary School buildings are the oldest in the school district. A nd the school location by Highway 26 is a problem. Too many students are miss ing school, or even dropping out, at an early age. A k-8 school in W arm Springs would help reduce truancy among students from the reservation, said U rbana Ross, tribal chief operations officer. “I f they can stay here, and go to school locally,” she said, “they would miss fewer classes, and stay in school.” A local k-8 school would elimi nate the long daily bus ride to Madras for m iddle school stu dents. Parents could be m ore involved w ith the school, as it would be local. Ross and others in the com munity have been and continue io w ork diligently at getting out the vote on July 10. T-shirts and lawn signs, family, district and G eneral C ouncil m eetings are part o f the effort to get oufcdthe vote. “It is a priority o f Trjbal Council to get a consensus on this question,” Ross said. I f th e tr ib a l re fe re n d u m passes on Tuesday, July 10, then the target date for opening the new school would be the 2Ó14 school year, Ross said. 'The building w ould be 80,000 square feet, about the size o f the T he W arm Springs school would be located on E ast Tenino Road, at the intersection with Chukar. There is a 20-acre parcel at the site designated for the school. N ew school facilities w ould include approximately 26 class room s, science, m usic and art room s, com puter lab, gym na sium, athletic fields, cafeteria, li brary, etc. This is a roughly $20 million project, w ith the school district and the tribes splitting the cost. The district would fund the op eration o f the school. T h e sch o o l d istrict v o ters passed a levy in May that includes the funds for the W arm Springs school, plus another $16 million for a perform ing arts center in Madras and improvements at the district schools. W ith a k-8 school in W arm Springs, middle school students w ould have the option o f attend ing the new school or the middle school in Madras. “The district has open enrollment,” Ross said. School advocates are optimis tic about the July referendum , as the one in May show ed over whelming support for the new school. .. (More on the referendum on S e e R EFER EN D U M o n p a g e 7 J e ff e r s o n C o u n ty M id d le S ch o o l. page 12.) Dave McMechan/Spilyay At the Pi-Ume-Sha Traditional Parade, these students, recent fifth- grade graduates, gathered by the float sponsored by the Office of the Chief Operations Officer. The theme of this float was participation ih the July 10 school referendum. percent o f the school loan. This would greatly reduce the risk to a bank in providing a loan to the tribes for the school, Calica said. The guarantee reduces the interest rate; and there are now two banks that have expressed interested in participating in such an arrangement, Calica said. “We have at least th ese tw o banks, and they b o th have a track record working with the USDA,” he said. T he school referendum in May fell short by 374 votes o f the mini m um needed for a valid vote. Those w h o d id v o te w e re m o r e th a n th re e - Parade, BBQ, fireworksfor Fourth o f July Pi-Ume-Sha 2012 The rain cleared up just in time for Pi-Ume-Sha. There was serious rain as late as Saturday morning, but the clouds mostly cleared by the start o f the parade and the powwow on Saturday afternoon. The Warm Springs Fourth o f July celebration will begin w ith the pa rade. The parade preparation begins at 9 a.m., lineup and judging at 10, and the parade wiU start at 11. T he July 4 parade starts at the elementary school, ending behind the community center. The barbe cue ham burger and hotdog lunch starts at 12:30 p.m. Family games start at 2, and there’s also a horse shoe tourney planned for 2:30. Sign up w ith A ustin Greene. The fire works begin at dusk on Wednesday, July 4. Beaded Tapestries at museum — Travel Center considered along highway Tribal Council has approved two locations on Miller Flat for a pos sible travel center along Highway 26. The travel center would be a new tribal enterprise. A number o f other tribes operate profitable travel cen ters, said tribal secretary-treasurer Jody Calica. T h e Cow C reek B an d o f Um pqua Indians, for instance, op erates the Seven Feathers Truck and Travel Center on Interstate 5 at Canyonville. And the Umatillas own and operate the Arrow head Travel Plaza o ff Interstate 84. These and similar tribal travel centers are open 24-hours, seven days a week. They offer truck sup- phes and services, diesel and gaso line, the service, convenience store, clean restrooms and private show ers. T he Arrowhead Travel Plaza in cludes a M cD onald’s Restaurant. Seven Feathers has the Creekside Restaurant. The Arrowhead and the Seven Feathers are just two o f several ex amples o f tribaEy ow ned and oper ated travel centers, CaEca said. C o u n cil c o n sid e re d ‘a n d a p proved two possible locations for a travel center on the W arm Springs reservation. O ne site is at milepost 93.5 o n Highway 26, and the other is near the B I40 road, o n MiUer Flat. T he tribes have had som e initial discussion with the BIA regional director regarding a loan guar antee for a travel center, CaEca said. The tribal economic develop m ent coordinator is w orking on a e c o n o m ic an aly sis o f th e project. “We’re working on pre paring docum entation to possi bly get BIA funding, maybe this year b ut m ore Ekely next year,” CaEca said. — by Dave McMechan T he Warm Springs Beaded Tapes tries exhibit opened to a fuE house last T hursday at the M useum at W arm Springs. The exhibit features an outstand ing coUection o f beaded heirlooms from tribal members. “T he them e for this year is ‘Feel the Spirit,”’ Evaline Patt said. “We’re very p roud o f the beautiful beaded items in our coUection because it comes from our people.” T he Beaded Tapestries display will be in the changing exhibit gal lery at the m useum until Septem ber 16. The exhibit opened with a parade lead by C hief Delvis H eath. C om m unity m em bers displayed their horse regaEa.
