Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
March 24, 2021 - Vol. 46, No. 6
March – Wiyalppt – Spring - Wawaxam
School sports are back at high school
Madras High School athletics
are back in full swing, after a year
of teams not being able to com-
pete. The current sports include
volleyball, boys and girls soccer,
cross country and football.
Tradiotionally, these are fall sports,
now in play because school was
closed last fall.
School sports activities are pos-
sible because the Jefferson County
Covid-19 risk level in March im-
proved from ‘extreme’ to ‘high,’
and then last week to ‘medium.’
Improvement in the county
covid risk level also means that fall
sports can bring back a handful of
spectators, including at home Fri-
day night football games.
As of last week, boys and girls
soccer, volleyball and football—
both junior varsity and varsity—
were able to have two spectators
per athlete, or a maximum of two
spectators per family, join them in
the stands. Visiting teams are still
prohibited from having spectators.
Spectators will not be charged
admission into games; however,
they will have to produce a ticket
to get in.
Each athlete is provided his or
her tickets in advance of each
game. For contact tracing pur-
poses, these tickets will require
each spectator’s name and phone
number, and will be collected at the
gate. Lost tickets cannot be re-
printed or replaced.
It’s imperative that spectators
Edward Heath Photography
Cross Country runner Dylan Heath for Madras in a meet with
Mountain View; and below, Buffalos football home game.
maintain 6-fee social distancing
at all times, and wear masks—
regardlessof whether the sport
is happening inside or outside.
Spectators may also be
asked a series of health screen-
ing questions in advance of en-
tering the sporting event. For
events taking place inside a
school facility, temperature
checks are also required.
During all sporting compe-
titions, spectators can expect
covid monitors on-site; those
that are unwilling to follow the
social distancing and mask
guidelines will be asked to leave
the event.
“This is the only way we can
ensure that our athletes are pro-
tected,” said Mark Stewart, Ma-
dras High School interim ath-
letic director. “We’re excited to
bring our supporters back to the
bleachers for our athletes.”
All Madras High School
home games, both JV and var-
sity, will be live streamed going
forward. The link will be pro-
vided via the Madras High
School Facebook page , and the
school homepage the day of the
event.
“We’ve never had to config-
ure live streaming before, but
with covid it’s yet another learn-
ing curve for us,” Mr. Stewart
said. “We appreciate the
community’s patience as we
fine-tune our technology.”
Tribal Ski
Day at
Meadows
Mt. Hood Meadows hosted
the Tribal Ski Day in March.
This year the event saw
turnout of about 30 tribal
members. Meadows provided
the ski and snowboard gear,
lessons, lift tickets and lunch.
Attendance was down a little
this year, as the bus space
was limited for safety.
Sue Matters photos/KWSO
Senior Center closed for a time
The War m Springs Senior
Wellness Center will remain closed
until further notice due to water
damage from vandalism. The floor-
ing needs to be replaced, so Senior
program staff this week have fo-
cused on removing everything from
the building; and beginning to re-
move the damaged flooring tiles.
All programming, including the
Seniors Meal program, are on hold.
The cooks are planning to use the
Agency Longhouse kitchen, in or-
der to resume the Meals program,
which many Elders rely upon.
The Senior Meals are provided
weekly to hundreds of people in the
Warm Springs community.
The water damaged happened
when someone turned on an out-
side faucet of the Seniors building.
The water apparently ran during the
weekend of March 12-14, until
staff arrived and turned it off.
By then, however, the damage
was done, as water had seeped un-
der and into the building. Anyone with
information about who may be
involved, please call the Warm
Springs Police, 541-553-3272.
D.McMechan/Spilyay
Berlyn Yazzie Jr., Seniors food product manager, and program
director Councilman Wilson Wewa Sr. at the center, where furniture
and other items are drying out, as the flooring is being replaced.
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
New WSHA
rental help
now available
The Warm Springs Housing Au-
thority this week is starting the 2021
Covid-19 Emergency Rental Assis-
tance program.
This new program can assist in-
dividuals and families who have
experienced covid-related financial
hardship resulting in past, present
or future arrears in rental and util-
ity payments. Some of the terms:
The WSHA Emergency Rental
Assistance program is open to all
members of the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs, regardless
of where they live in the U.S.
The program is also open to all
federally recognized tribal members
residing in Jefferson, Wasco,
Gilliam, Hood River, Clackamas
and Marion counties. In addition:
All community members who
reside within the boundaries of the
Warm Springs Reservation are eli-
gible, regardless of race or ethnicity.
Rental Emergency Assistance is
available to households with income
not more than 80 percent of the
Area Median Income. For example:
In the Jefferson County area of the
reservation, a household of three
with an annual income of $44,240
or less could qualify.
The applicant must attest in writ-
ing to being financially impacted by
the pandemic. Impacts may include:
Loss of employment or reduced
hours; having to stay home from
work because of no day-care for
children; increased utility bills be-
cause of more people staying home
all day, and so forth.
The program can assist with past
bills going back to April of last year,
said Danielle Wood, executive di-
rector of the Warm Springs Hous-
ing Authority. The bills may be rent,
power, water, sewer, garbage, and
any source of heating. Payments are
made directly to the party owed, be it
the landlord, the power company, etc.
The program is open only to
renters, and runs through Septem-
ber. Ms. Woods encourages all quali-
fying tribal and community mem-
bers to apply:
Applications are available at the
Housing Authority office, 1238
Veterans Way. For more informa-
tion call 541-553-3250. You may
also request an application via email
by writing to:
era@wsha.us
A downloadable copy of the ap-
plication is available through the
Housing Authority.
Easter this year will be on
Sunday, April 4. As hap-
pened last Easter, safety pre-
cautions on the reservation
prevent the Warm Springs
youth Easter Egg hunt. This
year for families and young
people, the Confederated
Tribes and Health and Hu-
man Services will host an
Easter Bags Giveaway. For
safety, this will be done in a
drive-by fashion. Listen to
KWSO for time and place details,
as Easter weekend approaches.