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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2002)
4 JULY 15, 2002 Smoke Signals Community Fund's Paula Cook Helps Spread The Goodwill By Ron Karten Paula Cook gets almost 40 re quests a month for money. And she is happy about it. As a recent addition to the Tribe's Spirit Mountain Community Fund office, Cook is the first contact most people have with the Tribe's pro gram of community giving. As part of the promise to return something to the community, the Tribe gives away more than $4 million a year to worthy causes in an 11 county region, said Cook. "I love this job," she said. "Being able to help people, all the good projects. All are important." As the administrative assistant for the Community Fund office, Cook takes in the requests and handles the initial calls. She evaluates the inquiries and drafts letters in reply. She prepares information for the board of directors and provides ad ministrative support to Fund Direc- i ; i i o. " - - .i . . i Paula Cook tor and Grand Ronde Tribal mem ber Angela Blackwell. Cook is no stranger to good work. Prior to her family's Oregon adven ture, Cook was a database manager for the Board of Higher Education & Ministry for the United Method ist Church in Nashville. "I used to work on 'studio row,'" she said, where all the houses had been converted into music studios for the Grand Ole Opry. But what she misses most about Nashville is not the music but the Opry Mills Mall, a three-mile long shopping center filled with specialty shops. And she also misses the fact that it doesn't rain all the time in Nashville. "The precipitation rates are about the same," she said. "But it comes in thunderstorms and then it's over, not like here where it drizzles all the time." A horse-person all her life, she and husband Joseph, who works as a mental Health Therapist in the Tribe's health clinic have acquired two horses for their new home in McMinnville. Blackie, Paula's horse, had been a racehorse but broke his leg and was about to be auctioned off to a slaughterhouse when a family in Sandy, Oregon bought him to save him. The Cooks got Blackie from them. And now, she rides him nearly everyday. They've just bought a horse trailer and hope this summer to bring the horses up to the moun tains for special outings. And if it weren't for Sadie, the Basset Hound who eats scraps from the table and nudges her out of bed with or without her Stephen King novel in hand, all would be well with Paula. Of her three children, Jessica, 8, is an artist who has some beautiful pictures of "Blackie" on display in Cook's office, Nathan, 12, is a football player, and Jennifer, 19, starts pre-med at Portland State University in the fall and she'll be the family doctor, said Cook. But that Sadie... B Todd Fenk Joins Polk County Sheriff's Office As Deputy In Grand Ronde "Maybe an hour a week looks like a TV cop show." t "urn I'l ( t . By Ron Karten T o d d Fenk, 25, became a Deputy in the Polk County Sheriffs of fice in Grand Ronde on April Fool's Day last year but it was no joke. A volunteer cadet and reserve deputy since 1997, Fenk knew the job and the community pretty well by the time he came on full time. Among his most interesting expe riences so far, he counts the high speed chase of Orlando Johnson, who fled from a routine traffic stop reaching speeds of 110 miles per hour before wrecking in a ditch alongside Route 18 (see sidebar). "He didn't want to go to jail," said Fenk. Also, he reports an earlier case, before coming to the Grand Ronde area, when he was chasing a woman threatening to commit sui cide. He said that she disappeared down a gravel road and "I almost ran over my sergeant" hurrying to get to her. After they finally did block her in, got her out of her car, and walked her around to keep her awake (because she was full of sleeping pills), the fire department arrived and took over. They must have done a good job because a few days later, he said, she called, not so despondent, to thank him for a job well done. Fenk lives in Monmouth, where he went to Western Oregon Univer sity. He majored in law enforce ment and Spanish. He grew up on a dairy farm in Tillamook and sometimes thinks way in the future that he might like to retire to the farm, but not to a working farm. "Maybe a few cows," he thinks. The family has a wild spread of careers, from his parents who were farmers, to his brother who is an engineer at Intel to his half-sister who is a biologist with the Depart ment of Fish & Wildlife. Fenk started thinking about law enforce ment in high school, when he had a good friend who was interested. By the time he was a junior in high school, he was sure about it. Today, he said, "maybe one hour a week looks at all like the life of television cops maybe two hours on a hot week." With the rest of the time, he said, "there's a lot of paperwork and hoops to jump through but it's still worth it." "His greatest asset is his enthusi asm," said Sergeant Jeff Van Laanen of the Sheriffs Grand Ronde office. "And he speaks Span ish. It's fantastic to have someone who is bilingual." Down the line, Fenk said, "I'd defi nitely like to become a detective." B Protect Yourself Against Heat Stress! High temperatures can cause nausea, cramps, dizziness, confusion, or even loss of conscience. Heat stress can affect anybody even those in good health. That's why it's a good to take the proper precautions, whether you work inside or outside. Here are some things to protect yourself from heat stress: 1. Drink before you get thirsty. The natural inclination is to drink when you get thirsty, but if you're expose to high temperatures, you shouldn't wait that long. Drink at least one cup of water every 20 minutes. 2. Dress for the occasion. Wear fewer and lighter clothes. If you're working in temperatures above 95 then cover your skin well and wear fire-resistant clothes. 3. Eat light. Heavy meals can turn up the body's internal temperature. Eat lightly and snack more through the day rather than eating a heavy meal. Article courtesy of Safety Complicate Alert, May 31, 2001 edition. High Speed Chase Leads To Accident, Arrest Deputy Todd Fenk followed Orlando Johnson until he crashed his Camaro in Grand Ronde. By Ron Karten Early June was not a good time of year for Orlando Johnson, his two passengers, or the Camaro they rode in on. Johnson, a 37 year-old Salem resident, was stopped for speeding by Polk County Sheriffs Deputy Todd Fenk who is assigned to work the Grand Ronde area, around 9 p.m. at milepost 18 on Highway 18 in Grand Ronde. According to a report from the sheriffs office, Johnson took off and led Fenk eastbound on high speed chase. Johnson reportedly swerved into the westbound lane, then off the road into a ditch where he struck a cement culvert. Johnson's car rolled "several times," the report said, before Johnson emerged and again took off, this time on foot. Passengers in the vehicle were taken to hospitals. Dusty Lynn Wood, 23, of Salem, went to Co lumbia Willamette Valley Medical Center in McMinnville with mi nor injuries and was released. Laleana Crounse, 28, of Port land, went by Life Flight to Or egon Health Sciences University Hospital in Portland, where she was listed in stable condition and subsequently released. Johnson, meanwhile, was tracked down that night by the Salem Police K-9 Unit, after which he, too, was taken to Co lumbia Willamette Valley Medi cal Center, where he was treated for dog bites. Johnson also is "a person of in terest" in several Salem area rob beries, according to the Sheriffs report and has been taken into custody. Polk County charged him with two counts of Assault 2, felonies, for the passengers, and a count of Attempting to Elude, also a felony. Additional charges relating to the robberies were pending. B Venn Leaves The Wellness Center, Takes Post In McMinnville Christina Venn, a Family Nurse Practitioner for the Tribe's Health and Wellness Center, has resigned to take a position in the family practice urgent care clinic with Dr. James Molloy in McMinnville. "It has been a privilege to meet and work with the employees of the Health and Wellness Center," Venn wrote in an email saying goodbye. Health Clinic's Laboratory Supervisor Leaves After Four Years Lisa Gift, the Health and Wellness Center's Laboratory Supervisor for the last four years, has "traded the rainy Oregon weather for the sunny weather of California," according to Crystal Foster, medical technologist in the lab. "These past four years at Grand Ronde have been a tremendous expe rience for me," Gift wrote in her farewell email. She has taken a position as a medical technologist at California Poly technic State University in San Luis Obispo.
