Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Jet crash
in Mutton
Mountains
A small private business jet
crashed last weekend in the Mut-
ton Mountains on the reserva-
tion. The pilot of the Cessna Ci-
tation jet and the one passenger
on board were killed. This kind
of plane can carry up to 11 pas-
sengers.
Warm Springs Dispatch at 2:30
p.m. Saturday, January 9 received
notification from air traffic con-
trollers in Seattle, said William
Elliott, Warm Springs Public Safety
general manager.
The Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration controllers said they had
lost communication with the
Cessna an hour before, while the
plane was near Pine Grove, just
north of the reservation. An
alert notice went out a short time
later.
U.S. Air Force military and Or-
egon State Police flyovers con-
firmed the plane had crashed in
the Mutton Mountains
See PLANE CRASH on 8
Wiyak’ik’ila – Winter - Anm
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
509-J planning for in-person classes
Students in the Jefferson
County School District 509-J
may return to in-person classes
in February. With input from
families and students, school
officials are working out details
this month, with resolution of
some issues pending as the con-
ditions develop.
This week the district is con-
tacting families about their
thoughts on the question. As a
survey of the district, a ques-
tion to the students and fami-
lies is whether the individual
families would like their stu-
dents to return to classes in-
person, safely; or continue with
a virtual option.
The results of the questions
will guide the allocation of the
teachers and staff, buses and
other resources, said Ken
Parshall, school district super-
intendent. “We need the in-
formation as to student num-
bers on-site, and the numbers
on-line,” Mr. Parshall said.
Gov. Kate Brown in late
December announced a prior-
Covid, vaccine updates
The Warm Springs Health
and Wellness Center has admin-
istered all 400 Covid-19 vac-
cines the clinic received in its
December 23 delivery. More
vaccines were expected soon, as
the program continues on the
reservation.
Following IHS and CDC
guidelines, the clinic is giving the
vaccination to individuals 75
years and older; and the front-
line essential workers of the
tribes and clinic. For informa-
tion on scheduling a Covid-19
vaccine, call 541-553-2610.
Meanwhile since the start of
the pandemic in March, the
Clinic has conducted close to
7,000 tests among the tribal
community. Of the tests, a to-
tal of 6,338 have come back
negative; while there have been
January 13, 2021 - Vol. 46, No. 1
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
617 positive results. Including posi-
tive tests from other facilities, the
total number of positive cases is at
692 among the tribal community;
and there have been 18 deaths due
to Covid 19. Two of the deaths hap-
pened this month.
Last week there were 13 new
positive results for the reservation.
As of early this week, there were
five membres in the hospital due
to the virus (see page 3 for recent data) .
The St. Charles Health System
hospitals’ Intensive Care Units were
at 87.5 percent occupancy. St.
Charles hospitals’ Critical Care was
at 93.3 percent capacity.
As of early this week, there were
20 persons with active Covid-19 on
the reservation receiving daily
monitoring by Tribal and IHS staff.
In addition, 11 close contact indi-
viduals were receiving daily moni-
D.McMechan/Spilyay
At the Warm Springs Academy (still closed to the general
public) front office staff Lana Leonard and Wanda Calica.
ity for agencies and districts of re-
turning students to in-person
classes. Gov. Brown said this
should be done safely for students,
teachers and staff, while pursuing
the overall goals of reducing the
spread of Covid 19 and returning
to school.
Meanwhile, the Oregon De-
partment of Education will issue
new guidance for returning to
school on January 19. In planning
and preparing for students to re-
turn to class, “We can’t wait for
January 19,” Mr. Parshall said. So
the district this week is seeking input
regarding families who are interested
in having students in class, versus
those who wish to continue online.
The current teaching method is
Comprehensive Distance Learning
with the emphasis being online
learning from home. This would
change sometime in the next semes-
ter, which starts February 1. The
new method would involve the face-
to-face classroom learning for stu-
dents who return; and some form
toring by Tribal and IHS staff.
And this week Tribal Council
returned the workforce back to
100 percent. Workplace buildings
are still closed to the public. Ev-
eryone entering a building needs
to have a temperature check.
Masks and social distancing of 6
feet are required. Emloyees should
disinfect work places several times
a day; and flexible work schedules
are encouraged.
About the vaccination
The Covid-19 Nurses line is
541-553-5512. The Clinic recep-
Mitchell Lira/KWSO
At the clinic Gwen Leutwiler, contract employee of the Confederated
Tribes, just receives her Covid-19 vaccine from CDR Amy Whisler.
of online and home learning
for students and families who
choose this option.
“We know face-to-face
learning is best,” Parshall said.
Going to school also has the
important social aspects of stu-
dents being among their peers.
Since the beginning of this
school year, the district has fo-
cused on providing teachers
and staff the resources to meet
students’ needs under the
Covid-19 guidelines, while giv-
ing the students and families re-
sources to stay engaged as the
coursework has progressed.
Many students have stayed
engaged with their classes and
school work; however, and un-
derstandably, there are cases
where some disengagement
happens. This then creates the
challenge of catching up some-
time later on the work. Clearly,
a safe return to classes would
be welcome for students, fami-
lies, teachers and staff. (See Ma-
dras High School message to stu-
dents and families on page 2.)
tion is 541-553-1196.
As total positive Covid-19
testing among the membership
is now at close to 700, health
officials share the following:
Should people who have re-
covered from Covid-19 get vac-
cinated?
Answer: Re-infection is pos-
sible with Covid-19. So even if
you have already had the virus
and recovered, you may still be
advised to get a Covid-19 vac-
cine.
According to the guidelines,
vaccination should be offered to
persons regardless of a history
of Covid-19 infection, with or
without symptoms: Natural im-
munity, gained from having the
infection, varies from person to
person. It is still unknown how
long natural immunity lasts,
though some evidence already
indicates that it is not for an ex-
tensive period of time.
Water systems upgrades funded for this year
This year will see some signifi-
cant water infrastructure improve-
ments on the reservation. Toward
this goal Tribal Council last month
approved contracts to assist in the
funding of the improvements. The
work will be on the Agency drink-
ing water systems.
Last summer Oregon lawmak-
ers—led by Rep. Daniel Bonham,
R-The Dalles, and state Sen. Lynn
Findley, R-Vale—approved $3.58
million for improvements to the
reservation water system. This was
through the state legislative Emer-
gency Board.
At the time of the allocation, the
tribes had been under a boil water
notice. The notice began June 25,
finally ending in late August 2020.
During those months the tribes
were experiencing a Covid-19 in-
fection rate 16 times the state av-
erage: Clearly, covid safety mea-
sures—frequent hand-washing and
remaining at home, for instance—
were interrupted by the water situ-
ation. Not to mention the hardship
of having to boil all domestic water
before use. And some households for
a time had no water at all.
The state funding contracts ap-
proved last month by Tribal Coun-
cil—totaling $1.01 million—are
through the Oregon Business De-
velopment Department, as pro-
vided in last year’s state legislative
Emergency Board allocation. The
specific funding sources are the
Water Infrastructure Improve-
ments for the Nation Act (WIIN),
and the Small and Disadvantaged
Communities Drinking Water Pro-
gram Match. According to the
contract ‘Project Description’:
“The project consists of plan-
ning, designing, engineering and
procurement of equipment to
implement improvements to the
Dry Creek Water Treatment Plant’s
monitoring, instrumentation, con-
trol, automation and reporting, and
community telemetry system.” Spe-
cific spending allocations in the con-
tracts include $400,000 for con-
struction, $239,000 for procure-
ment of equipment, $161,000 for
planning, $155,000 for design and
engineering,.
There is a Covid-19 aspect to
how last year’s $3.58 million Emer-
gency Board allocation came
about. The year before, in 2019,
the state legislature earmarked $7.8
million in state lottery dollars for
reservation water projects. The fol-
lowing spring the pandemic arrived,
and the state lottery—with the clo-
sure establishments with lottery
machines, for instance—saw no-
where near its usual revenue, and
the $7.8 million became untenable.
Last summer Rep. Bonham and
Sen. Findley, whose constituency
includes the reservation, sponsored
the $3.58 million. The tribes’ Utili-
ties general manager Travis Wells
had written a letter of explanation
to the lawmakers. With a list of
critical water projects for the tribes,
Mr. Wells wrote, “These are projects
that need to be completed to ensure
our communities receive a basic need
for clean potable water.”
To the legislative Emergency
Board, Sen. Findley wrote: “Few
state priorities could be more im-
portant than providing drinkable
water and working sewers.”
WATER continues on page 8