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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 2021)
PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 700 Tribal member purchases insurance agency— pg. 9 october 15, 2021 Tribes express concern about new historic racing machines in state By Dean Rhodes Joyeux No-ale Smoke Signals editor S ix Tribal leaders, including Grand Ronde Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris Mercier, signed an Oct. 6 letter to Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon legislative leaders to express their concerns about a new generation of historic racing machines that may be introduced into the Oregon gaming landscape at the proposed Flying Lark in Grants Pass. The Tribal leaders also sent a separate letter to Secretary of State Shemia Fagan asking her office to review whether the small Oregon Rac- ing Commission has the regulatory framework, statutory authority, security controls and staff expertise to adequately regulate a gaming facil- ity with more than 200 of the machines. “We are at a critical moment where the state is about to approve the largest expansion of state-regulated gambling in decades without public or legislative input,” the Tribal leaders’ letter states. “If something isn’t done, HHRs will arrive in Oregon without any serious discussion of their impacts on the state, on Tribes and the citizens of both.” Dutch Bros founder Travis Boersman is ex- pected to soon submit an application to state regulators to build the entertainment center adjacent to his Grants Pass Downs racetrack. The centerpiece will be the 250 historic racing machines that allow guests to bet on horse races that have previously occurred on machines that are similar to slots. Accompanying the letters, Tribal leaders sub- mitted two studies by C3 Gaming Consultants Consortium and ECONorthwest that estimate the introduction of 250 historic racing machines at Grants Pass Downs will siphon off revenues currently being made by the Oregon Lottery and Oregon Tribes to the tune of $13 million and $6 million, respectively. The ECONorthwest study also estimates that if the machines expand in the same amount to the other four fairgrounds race tracks in Union, See MACHINES continued on page 9 Contributed photo Grand Ronde Tribal member Steph Littlebird designed the artwork to promote Deschutes Brewery’s seasonal beer release, the Jubelale. She received the commission after participating in a residency program at Caldera Arts Center in Sisters. Tribal member designs label artwork for Deschutes Brewery’s seasonal beer By Kamiah Koch Social media/digital journalist E ach year as winter ap- proaches, Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Ore., selects an artist to design the artwork for its popular season- al beer, the Jubelale. This year, the brewery select- ed Indigenous artist and Grand Ronde Tribal member Steph See ARTWORK continued on page 6 Tribe takes over fire, emergency services operations Supervising Deputy Fire Marshal Jason Cane, front, Battalion Chief Sean Hoxie, third from left, Firefighter/ EMTs Kaylene Barry, center left, and Erika Alcantar, center right, help push a fire truck during the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde dedication ceremony of its Emergency Services Department on Friday, Oct. 1. Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez By Danielle Harrison Smoke Signals staff writer O n the morning of Friday, Oct. 1, Grand Ronde officially be- came one of only a hand- ful of Tribes in the United States to operate its own fire and emergency services department. That’s when operations were formally handed off from the West Valley Fire District to the Grand Ronde Tribal Emergency Services Department, the culmina- tion of two years of work and more than three years ahead of schedule. The Tribe expressed its desire to add fire to its list of sovereign nation public safety responsibilities in December 2019, but the seed was planted well be- fore then. During Friday’s dedica- See SERVICES continued on page 8
