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Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Reward for fatal arson information
The FBI is offering a
$10,000 reward for infor-
mation leading to the ar-
rest and conviction of
whoever was responsible
for a fatal arson fire May
17 on the Warm Springs
Reservation.
The FBI says the fire
killed 77-year old Lamont
Brown. A second person in
the home suffered critical
injuries, and a third resident
escaped but not before be-
ing seriously burned.
A fourth person escaped
through a window and was
uninjured.
Anyone with information
can call the Bend or Port-
land FBI office. The Bend
office number is 541-398-
1202.
Or call the Warm Springs
Police. The dispatch number
is 541-553-1171.
Information can also be
left on the FBI tips website:
tips.fbi.gov
Lionshead, other fires update
The fight against the
Lionshead Fire is getting
more help from the sky and
on the ground. The fire
continues to burn 14 miles
west of Warm Springs.
Last weekend the
weather finally provided
some relief. This allowed
firefighters to fly sections of
the fire for the first time in
seven days.
Having
favorable
weather has been extremely
helpful in this regard. Heli-
copters were able to accom-
plish water bucket work and
helispots for future work
were identified, according to
Fire Management.
Containment
of
Lionshead was above 10
percent. The fire has burned
198,763 acres.
Resources from the Na-
tional Guard to fight the fire
arrived last week. The
troops, along with other
crews coming to combat the
Last day to register is coming up
The last day to reg-
ister to vote in Novem-
ber 3 General Election
i s Tu e s d ay, O c t o b e r
1 3 . You can register
online at sos.oregon.gov.
Or see the site:
jeffco.net/cc
And there is a link at
kwso.org
Other dates to keep in
mind: October 14: The
first day ballots are
mailed out.
October 28: Last day
to mail return ballot.
November 3: Election
Day.
The ballot will include
the U.S. Presidential can-
didates. On the Oregon
ballot will be one U.S. Sen-
ate seat, in a race between
Sen. Jeff Merkley, Demo-
crat, incumbent; and Jo Rae
Perkins, Republican. Other
candidates: Gary Dye, Lib-
ertarian. Ibrahim Taher, Pro-
gressive-Pacific Green.
The Oregon Second Con-
gressional District represents
the reservation.
The candidates on the
November 3 ballot for this
position are: Cliff Bentz, Re-
publican. Alex Spenser,
Democratic. Robert Werch,
Libertarian.
In the state legislature, the
reservation is part of Or-
egon Senate District 30,
also covering much of
eastern Oregon.
The candidates on
the November 3 ballot
are Carina Miller of
Warm Springs, Demo-
crat; and Lynn Findley,
of Vale, Republican.
The reservation is part
of District 59 in the Or-
egon House of Represen-
tatives. The candidates
this year are incumbent
Daniel
Bonham,
Repbublican; and Arlene
Burns, Democrat.
Candidates
for
Jefferson County Com-
mission are Wayne
Fording, Republican; and
Kim Schmith, Demo-
crat.
Dave McMechan
IHS data update on Covid-19
fire, achieved more work on
the fire.
Good progress was
made, including on the east
side of the fire on the res-
ervation, which approaches
containment.
Evacuation notices were
in effect for Sidwalter and
Miller Flats areas.
Roads and trails near the
fire were closed to the pub-
lic Forest closures were in
place for Deschutes, Mt.
Tribal Council summary
September 8
The meeting was called to
order at 9 a.m. by Chairman
Raymond Tsumpti Sr. Roll
call: Chief Delvis Heath,
Chairman Raymond Tsumpti
Sr., Lincoln Jay Suppah,
Raymond (Captain) Moody,
Anita Jackson (by phone),
Wilson Wewa Jr. (by phone),
Vice
Chair
Brigette
McConville, and Glendon
Smith. Minnie Yahtin, Re-
corder.
Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs update with Floy Lori
Anderson, Superintendent.
Office of Special
Trustee call with Kevin
Moore.
Four Chairs meeting –
Chairman Tsumpti:
· Raymond, Delvis, Bruce
Jim, Chairman, Fish and
Wildlife Off Reservation
Committee and Ronald
Suppah, Chairman, Fish and
Wildlife On Reser vation
Committee will attend the
meeting at Wild Horse Ca-
sino.
Indian Health Service
update
with
Hyllis
Dauphinais, chief executive
officer, Warm Springs IHS,
and Dr. Locker
Covid Team update
with Hyllis Dauphinais,
Danny Martinez of Emer-
gency
Management,
Caroline Cruz, Health and
Human Ser vices general
manager, Car men Smith,
Public Safety general man-
ager, Louie Pitt, Govern-
mental Affairs directors, and
Sue Matters KWSO man-
ager:
· By consensus, Tribal
Council accepted the team’s
recommendation to remain
at 50% organizational open-
ing and will review informa-
tion from the Holiday week-
end later this week.
· Oregon Department of
Transportation Safety Corri-
September 23, 2020
dor update wtih Robert
Townsend, area manager,
and Abbey Driscoll, project
manager:
· Motion by Delvis
adopting Resolution No.
12,719 that the Tribal Coun-
cil hereby approves Amend-
ment No. 1 to the Highway
Safety Corridor Agreement
(Attachment A to the Reso-
lution). The Secretary-Trea-
surer is hereby authorized
to execute and sign
Amendment No. 1 to the
Highway Safety Corridor
Agreement on behalf of
the Tribes. Second by Cap-
tain. Question: 5/1/0,
Anita/No, Chairman not
voting. Motion carried.
Hood and Willamette Na-
tional Forests.
Statewide
Lionshead was one of 10
large wildfires that were
burning this week in Or-
egon. The number was
down from a high of 17 ear-
lier in September.
In all across the state,
close 2,300 homes have
been destroyed this summer
by the wildfires.
· Federal and state legis-
lative update calls with Mat-
thew Hill and Michael Ma-
son.
· Tribal attorney update
with Josh Newton, Ellen
Grover and Howard Arnett:
· Reviewed ongoing busi-
ness.
· Motion by Captain ap-
proving the Chairman to
sign a letter to Lisa Gambee,
County Clerk, Wasco County
Courthouse requesting a
Ballot Drop Box at
Simnasho. Second by Jay.
Question: 6/0/0, Chairman
not voting. Motion carried.
Tribal attorney update
with John Ogan:
· Reviewed ongoing busi-
ness.
· Motion by Brigette to
adjourn at 5:20 p.m.
Each week the Indian
Health Service updates
its Covid-19 data for In-
dian Country.
Most recently, the IHS
data shows that 45,598
of its Covid-19 tests
among its service popu-
lation have returned posi-
tive.
That represents an in-
crease of 0.88 percent
from the 45,198 reported
the previous week.
Altogether, 748,137
IHS coronavirus tests
have been administered
through mid September.
Overall, the most re-
cent IHS covid testing
numbers show a low rate
of increase, “reflecting a
general slowdown of
coronavirus activity re-
ported by the IHS, with
fewer tests being admin-
istered and fewer positive
results being reported
since late July.”
Overall, almost 6.1
percent of IHS corona-
virus tests have returned
positive, according to the
data. But the rate is far
higher in the IHS Phoe-
nix Area, where 14.3 per-
cent are positive.
Next is the Navajo
Area, which serves the
largest reservation in the
United States. But even
with 13.5 percent of tests
returning positive, the rate
The Portland
Area... has a
comparably high
rate of 8 percent.
has fallen steadily over the
last couple of months, fol-
lowing a noticeable decline
as the region with the high-
est rate.
The Tucson Area, which
covers southern Arizona,
shows a high positive rate
of 8.6 percent. It recently
overtook the Nashville Area
as the region with the third
highest rate within the IHS
system. The Portland Area,
though, also has a compara-
bly high rate of 8 percent.
Still, the high rates in the
Phoenix, Navajo and Tuc-
son regions indicate a dispro-
portionate toll of the
coronavirus among IHS pa-
tients in the state of Arizona.
On the other end of the
spectrum, aggressive efforts
in the Alaska Area are turn-
ing up very few cases. Out
of 171,429 tests adminis-
tered in Alaska, only 0.88
percent have returned posi-
tive, the data shows.
The Alaska Area also far
outnumbers every other
area—including Navajo—
in terms of tests adminis-
tered. The Oklahoma City
Area remains in the sec-
ond spot.
The data, however, is
incomplete. While 100
percent of facilities run
directly by the IHS are
reporting data, only 33
percent of tribally man-
aged facilities and 44 per-
cent of urban Indian or-
ganizations are doing the
same, the agency has told
Indianz.Com.
Based on the most re-
cent data: The IHS ser-
vice population across In-
dian
Country
is
2,562,290. So based on
that figure, 29.2 percent
of American Indians and
Alaska Natives have been
tested for the coronavirus
since the IHS began re-
porting data in March.
The IHS user popula-
tion, on the other hand,
is a much smaller num-
ber. As of 2019,
1,662,834 American In-
dians and Alaska Natives
have lived within a ser-
vice delivery area and
have received health care
at an IHS or tribal facil-
ity during the previous
three years. Based on the
user population, almost
45 percent of Native
Americans have been
tested for the coronavirus
since the IHS began re-
porting this data in
March.