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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2021)
PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 700 Lush chxi kHul january 1, 2021 Tribe begins administering COVID-19 vaccine By Danielle Harrison Smoke Signals staff writer T he Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde started administering the highly an- ticipated COVID-19 vaccine just before Christmas. Health Services Executive Director Kelly Rowe said the Tribe’s Health & Wellness Cen- ter received 200 doses of the recently approved Moderna vaccine on Tuesday, Dec. 22. “I am very happy to say we received the first allotment of the Moderna vaccine and we are starting to vaccinate clinic personnel, Tribal first responders, then adult foster care workers Tribe received $45 million in CARES Act funding in ’20 and residents, so we can start getting some herd immunity built up,” she said. As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 23, approxi- mately 20 essential health care workers at the Tribe had received their first dose of the vaccine, including Rowe. “I had mine this morning and had no side effects,” Rowe said. She said that only 20 doses would be admin- istered per day in case side effects resulted in essential clinic personnel having to stay home sick. “We don’t want to potentially have an entire department out,” she said. “We have identified staff who want the vaccine as priority and work- ing toward the ones who are ‘maybes’ and then See VACCINE continued on page 8 Welcome to the Hotel Willamina By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor T he Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde received more than $45 million in Coronavi- rus Aid, Relief and Economic Secu- rity Act funding in 2020, according to the federal government website www.usaspending.gov. The Tribe received a combined $44 million from the Treasury De- partment in three payments and $1.56 million from the Department of the Interior. The Tribe used approximately 42 percent of that emergency funding – $19.3 million – to fund a COVID-19 Relief Payment program that sent a total of $4,400 to each adult Tribal member in eight monthly payments from April through November. The relief payments approved on March 18 were designed to help Tribal members adversely affect- ed by the nationwide economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the suspension of quarterly per capita payments in June and September after Spirit Mountain Casino closed for 74 days from mid-March through May 31. “The COVID-19 pandemic has presented everyone with challeng- es that we couldn’t anticipate,” Tribal Communications Director Sara Thompson said. “The CARES Act funding has helped us provide for our Tribal members, students, community and staff during a year See CARES ACT continued on page 5 Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez Tribal member Matt Haller stands outside of the Wildwood Hotel and Restaurant in Willamina on Tuesday, Dec. 15. Haller and his wife, April, purchased the hotel and restaurant in October. The restaurant is currently takeout only, but the hotel ’ s six rooms are available. Tribal member Matt Haller purchases Wildwood and restaurant Danielle Harrison Smoke Signals staff writer W ILLAMINA — After being shuttered for almost six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wildwood Hotel and adjoin- ing restaurant are open for business, albeit with limited services for the time being. The hotel and restaurant were purchased by Grand Ronde Tribal member Matt Haller, 37, and his wife, April, who are also lifelong West Valley residents. “The previous owners (Meredith and Katie Kend- all) made it possible for us to purchase this,” Haller See WILDWOOD continued on page 9