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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 2015)
Spilyay Tymoo Coyote News, est. 1976 July 8, 2015 Vol. 40, No. 14 July – Pat’ak-Pt’akni – Summer - Shatm Tribes urging water conservation Tribal Utilities is urging residents to conserve as much water as pos- sible for the near future. The problem is a pump that is down at the water treatment plant, leaving just one pump in operation. Utilities is expecting the replace- ment part for the second pump to come in this week, said Roy Spino, tribal water engineer. Once the new part is in and the second pump is running, the system will take a few days to build up the reservoirs, Spino said. Meanwhile, residents on the wa- ter system should stop watering their lawns. Drought conditions Tribal Council this summer de- clared a drought on the reservation. This is not directly related to the drinking water situation. However, the drought conditions do raise an increased risk of fires. In responding to fires, Warm Springs Fire Management uses avail- able nearby surface water sources. The use of fire hydrants, which are on the tribal water system, is a last resort. Warm Springs Fire and Safety relies more on the fire hydrants, though recently the department has been drawing creek water to fill the tankers. The water trucks fill up at a site by the ballfields. Water concerns are not new on the reservation. Last year the res- ervoir tanks nearly went dry in August. The water system needs im- provements to stop leakage, and tribal Planning has been work- ing on a long-term solution, in- volving the installation of resi- dential water meters and a pos- sible rate system. The Confederated Tribes in June celebrated the Forty-Sixth Annual Pi-Ume-Sha Treaty Days, commemorating the 160th anniversary of the Treaty of 1855. Jayson Smith photos TERO focusing on jobs, local economy The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs now have a Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance, or TERO, office. Mary Sando-Emhoolah is the Warm Springs TERO director. Her office is at the Ventures-Tribal Con- struction building at the industrial park. Mary and husband Michael own and operate the construction truck- ing company Emhoolah Trucking Co. They started the business in the 1990s. Over the years they have worked with the Grand Ronde and Umatilla TERO offices. “We’ve al- ways wanted to see a TERO office in Warm Springs, and now it’s fi- nally happened,” Mary was saying this week. The benefits of the program will be many for Warm Springs, she said. The office will facilitate the hiring of tribal members and other Native American residents for Or- egon Department of Transportation and other construction projects in the region. There will be the jobs for local residents, which will help keep money circulating on the reserva- tion, providing more economic op- portunities, Emhoolah says. Too often the money flows one- way off the reservation: “It’s like someone having a barbecue in your backyard, and you’re not invited,” she says. Among the first tasks for the TERO office will be negotiating the boundary area with ODOT. The TERO office will work with the regional contractors to get them certified in the TERO program. Another project will be iden- tifying the local residents with the qualifications to participate in the program, such as heavy- equipment operators. Training for the local workforce is another aspect of the program. Tribal Council earlier this year approved the TERO program. Royal Legacy P.O. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 ECR WSS Postal Patron U.S. Postage PRSRT STD Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents Tribes, feds meet on Measure 91 Oregon tribal leaders met re- cently at Kah-Nee-Ta for discussion of the impact on Indian Country of Oregon Measure 91, legalizing recreational marijuana in the state. On hand were the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, and a special agent with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Major crimes on the reservation, such as drug crimes, are prosecuted federally. Stan Speaks, BIA regional direc- tor, and Dean Seyler, Portland Area IHS director, were among the speak- ers at the conference. Tribal Gov- ernment Affairs Director Louie Pitt was the moderator. Discussion focused on law en- forcement questions raised by Mea- sure 91, as well as health and wel- fare, and youth issues. “Marijuana is still a controlled substance,” said Cam Strahm, Drug Enforcement officer. It is still illegal under federal and tribal law, he said, but recent devel- opments at the state level are taken into consideration. The 2013 Cole Memorandum provides a federal policy as to pros- ecution priorities in states where marijuana is legal. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Simmons summa- rized the main points of the memo- randum. The Colo memo lists eight pri- orities for law enforcement to keep in mind when determining how to handle a marijuana case. The pri- orities include: Preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors; preventing rev- enue from the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises, gangs or cartels. Preventing the diversion of mari- juana from states where it is legal to other states; preventing violence and the use of firearms in the culti- vation and distribution of marijuana; among other priorities. See MARIJUANA on page 7 Fourth saw small blazes There were nine small fireworks- related fires on the reservation on the Fourth of July. These were small blazes, averag- ing about a tenth of an acre in size, as reported by Fire Management. This year saw added July 4 pre- cautions from Fire and Safety, as the reservation is experiencing a drought. Earlier in the week, before the Fourth, a 40-acre blaze burned in the Simnasho area. The cause of this blaze was still under investigation by Fire Manage- ment, as of earlier this week. The Museum at Warm Springs hosted the opening of the new exhibit Royal Legacy: Miss Warm Springs Past and Present. The exhibit opening featured a horse parade, and traditional dancers. Alyssa Macy photos