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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2021)
sNok signflz JANUARY 15, 2021 Jenness elected chair of SMGI Board of Directors Former Tribal Council member An- drew Jenness, 55, was elected chairman of the Spirit Mountain Gaming Inc. Board of Directors on Monday, Jan. 4, succeeding former Tribal Council Chair- man Reyn Leno in the position. Jenness holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and two master’s degrees in Business Administration and Journal- ism, all from the University of Oregon. Jenness has served approximately four years on the board: more than two years in the mid-2000s and since January 2020. The board oversees the operations Andrew Jenness of Spirit Mountain Casino, the Tribe’s primary economic enterprise. “I am honored and humbled to serve the casino and Tribe in this capacity and look forward to working with the casino management, the Board of Directors and Tribal Council as we support and guide our main economic engine,” he said. Jenness also served one term on the Grand Ronde Tribal Council from 1992 to ’95. He also has served on the Grand Ronde Editorial Board, which oversees the editor of Smoke Signals, since June 2017. His election as the first item on the Jan. 4 agenda and Jenness chaired the remainder of the meeting. “I am an entrepreneur at heart and have started and managed several small businesses over the last 20 years,” he added. In addition to Jenness, current Board of Directors members include Tribal Council members Cheryle A. Kennedy, Kathleen George, Jack Giffen Jr. and Steve Bobb Sr., Spirit Mountain Community Fund Executive Director Mychal Cherry, Tribal members Matthew Kirk- land, Lisa Watson and April Campbell, and nonTribal member Drew Mahalic, who is former chief executive officer of Sport Oregon. Optometry hours • 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday • 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday • 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday (no eye exams, optical only) Please call to schedule your appointment at 503-879-2097 or 800-775-0095. PREVENTION CORNER January 2021 Happy New Year Staff Spotlight This past October Matt Bucknell joined the YEP Program as the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grant Coordinator (TPREP). Along with supporting YEP events and activities, Matt will also be assisting the Willamina SD in delivering personal health curriculum to the school’s 8th, 9th and 11th grade students. Matt has worked with our CTGR Office Closures: Jan. 18th MLK Jr. Day Feb. 15th Tribal Chiefs Day Tribal/Native youth and their families in Grand Ronde since August of 2000, and is eager to meet the challenges of his new position. Emotional Well-Being Into the New Year & Beyond Being emotionally healthy doesn’t mean you’re happy all the time. It Cooking with Shannon: means you’re aware of your emotions. Emotionally healthy people still feel stress, anger and sadness, but they know how to manage their Jan. 27th and Feb. 25th negative feelings. Emotional health allows you to be productive, cope Facebook LIVE: with the stresses of everyday life and can help you realize your full potential. There are many ways to improve and/or maintain good Virtual Valentines Family Event Feb. 11th in the evening Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up-to-date on program activities, to win cool prizes and to participate in the fun online “LIVE” events. ctgryouthempowerment Grand Ronde Youth Empowerment and Prevention emotional health. Here are some examples: Be aware of your emotions and reactions Express your feelings to others in appropriate ways Think before you act or speak Manage your stress using relaxation methods and techniques Strive for a healthy balance between work and play Take care of your physical health through exercise and diet Don’t abuse drugs or alcohol, and be aware of excess gambling Connect with others, we all need positive people in our lives As always, use the following hashtag ,and post your pictures Find purpose and meaning in your daily work and life choices #ctgrwellnesswarriors Stay positive, focus on the good and forgive yourself for mistakes *American Academy of Family Physicians 7 Tribal Council to possibly extend the COVID-19 Relief Payment Program COVID-19 continued from front page and 46 patients who had recovered from the virus in Grand Ronde. The Tribe received its first 300- dose shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 22 and the Tribe will have given out be- tween 130 to 150 doses by Wednes- day, Jan. 13. Rowe said the Tribe is still giv- ing out doses to those in the Phase 1A class (clinic staff, Tribal first responders and adult foster care staff and residents) and hopes to soon move on to those in Phase 1B (teachers, school staff and child care workers and those 75 or older). The Moderna vaccine must be in administered in two doses about 28 days apart to be effective. Once a 10-dose vial is thawed and opened, it is viable for about six hours, which is why the clinic ensures it has 10 people ready to be vacci- nated. Rowe said she received the vac- cination and had a minor reaction. However, she said the Tribe will not offer vaccinations in the Portland area office because there is a chance that someone could have a more serious allergic reaction and there would not be the medical personnel and equipment available to treat the person in that circumstance. “At this point, we are not looking to do that,” Rowe said. The 42-minute Facebook Live event was the 15th held by the Tribe since the COVID-19 virus became a public health concern in mid-March 2020. About 220 people signed on to hear the update on what is occurring with the Tribe. In addition to Rowe, Tribal Coun- cil Chairwoman Cheryle A. Ken- nedy, Spirit Mountain Casino General Manager Stan Dillon, General Manager David Fullerton and Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Hernandez participated in the event. Kennedy opened the Facebook Live event by announcing the Tribe is expanding its technology grants to include all Tribal members and descendants. Previously, the grants were only available to Tribal mem- ber students and Elders. Because the deadline to spend CARES Act funding has been ex- tended to the end of 2021, the Tribe will be using the funds it has remaining of the $45 million it received to fund the $200 per person grants. “We believe in education,” Kenne- dy said. “We are delivering a key to their future.” Kennedy also announced the Tribe is finalizing a loan program where Tribal members can borrow up to a $1,000 from the Tribe and have two years to repay the loan. The interest rate is yet to be deter- mined and applications will start to be accepted in late February. Kennedy added that Tribal Coun- cil will be possibly extending the COVID-19 Relief Payment Pro- gram that sent adult Tribal mem- bers eight payments between April and November of last year that to- taled $4,400. The program used the CARES Act funding to help Tribal members adversely affected by the economic downturn caused by the pandemic and the suspension of two per capita payments because Spirit Mountain Casino closed for 74 days between mid-March and May 31. Dillon said that since the casino re-opened seven months ago on June 1 that it has had a “mini- mal” amount of issues related to COVID-19 considering it is the most popular gaming facility in Oregon. He said the casino sees as many as 6,000 customers a day and has about 1,000 employees. “I think that shows we are doing a good job trying to keep everyone protected,” he said. “I think our protocols are working.” In response to several questions from those watching the Facebook Live event, Dillon said that table games are now limited to three players per table to ensure appro- priate social distancing and that poker probably will not return until there is absolutely no fear of the virus anymore. “I want to wish you all a Happy New Year and as we all move for- ward into this year, I know that we have greater strength, greater wis- dom, greater resilience and greater hope. … I know that as I look at the past year, I know that I have gained strength, I have gained more under- standing and I believe that the thing that has happened with all of this is we have become a kinder, gentler people,” Kennedy said. To watch the entire Facebook Live event, visit the Tribe’s Face- book page at www.facebook.com/ CTGRgov.