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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2021)
PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 700 Community Fund clears $87 million in giving — pg. 7 september 15, 2021 Cherry picked for Tribal Council Newcomer joins Kennedy, George in securing new three-year terms By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor F irst-time Tribal Council candidate Michael Cherry joined incumbents Cheryle A. Kennedy and Jon A. George in securing new three-year terms during the Saturday, Sept. 11, election. Cherry, who is Spirit Moun- tain Community Fund’s execu- tive director, received 661 votes. She follows in the footsteps of Michael Cherry her mother, Candy Robertson, who served on Tribal Council from 1984 to 1994, and her sister, Angie Blackwell, who served on Tribal Council from 2004 to 2007. “I am greatly pleased and honored to be elected to represent the Tribal membership as a council member,” Cherry said. “A responsibility I do not take lightly and will not take for granted. I want to sincerely thank all of the Tribal members See ELECTION continued on page 11 Casino’s vaccine mandate dominates Facebook Live event By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor A decision by Spirit Mountain Casino to mandate that its 934 employees all become vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus dominated the Thursday, Sept. 9, Facebook Live event held by the Tribe. Spirit Mountain Casino General Manager Bruce Thomas and Hu- man Resources Director Camille Mercier explained the decision that was arrived at after consultation with Tribal Council and the Spirit Mountain Gaming Inc. Board of Directors. Thomas said the decision was to prevent a “runaway situation” at the casino that could affect so many employees that Spirit Mountain Casino would have to shut down like the Siletz Tribe’s Chinook Winds Casino did in late August. “The vaccination program was our only viable option that we had,” Thomas said, adding that testing doesn’t solve the problem or protect the casino from loss of employees to the disease. The vaccination mandate was discussed by Tribal Council on Wednesday, Sept. 1, and approved See FACEBOOK LIVE continued on page 5 Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez Great Circle Recovery Operations Director Jennifer Worth talks about the services available to patients on Tuesday, Sept. 7. The medication-assisted opioid treatment program is the first Tribally owned and operated clinic in Oregon. Roads to Recovery Help is available for Tribal members (Editor’s note: This is the sixth and final in a series of Smoke Signals stories in 2021 that examines addic- tion and recovery.) By Danielle Harrison Smoke Signals staff writer T Smoke Signals screenshot Human Resources Director Camille Mercier and Spirit Mountain Casino General Manager Bruce Thomas discuss the casino’s vaccination mandate for all employees during a Facebook Live event held on Thursday, Sept. 9. ribal members seeking drug and alcohol recovery services have a multitude of options. In Grand Ronde, they can make an appointment with Behavioral Health for an intake and assessment. Once that is See RECOVERY continued on page 8 Grand Ronde chemical dependency treatment options Great Circle Recovery: For more information about the medica- tion-assisted treatment clinics in Salem and Portland, contact Jenni- fer Worth at Jennifer.worth@grandronde.org or call 503-983-9900. The Salem clinic is located at 1011 Commercial St. N.E., Suite 110. Walk-ins are allowed and clinic business hours are 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7 to 11 a.m. Saturday. The Port- land clinic is not open for clients yet. Behavioral Health: For more information on various services, con- tact 503-879-2026. Medication-assisted treatment in Grand Ronde: Services are lo- cated inside the Health & Wellness Center. Call Medication Assisted Treatment Coordinator Linda Gehrke at 503-879-2032 or e-mail her at linda.gehrke@grandronde.org to request more information. n
