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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2022)
8 NOVEMBER 15, 2022 Smoke Signals Tribe’s takeover of West Valley fire, emergency services is now complete By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor The Grand Ronde Tribe’s assum- ing of all fire and emergency medical response services in the West Valley is nearing completion after Tribal Council approved a new intergov- ernmental agreement with the West Valley Fire District that will see the Tribe operate the fire station in Willamina for the next five years. According to the agreement, the Tribe will staff and operate fire services in Willamina starting on Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2027. “Tribal Council believes it is in the best interest of the Tribe to enter into the intergovernmental agreement … because the five-year fire service agreement provides an enhanced level of fire and emer- gency medical services to the local communities and promotes Tribal sovereignty,” the resolution states. The agreement caps a 12-year evo- lution of the Tribe becoming a ma- jor provider of fire and emergency medical services in the West Valley. In June 2010, the Tribe opened the $1 million fire station in Grand Ronde at McPherson and Grand Ronde roads and provided funding to staff it in an effort to reduce response times to the community. In 2020, the Tribe and West Val- ley Fire District agreed to a tran- sition plan under which the Tribe would assume control and opera- tions at the Grand Ronde Station. Earlier this year, the Tribe and district agreed that the Tribe would expand its emergency medical re- sponse services and provide staffing for those services at the Willamina station. The new agreement consum- mates the Tribe’s and district’s “de- sire to transition complete control and operation” to the Tribe. Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez Tribal Council approved an intergovernmental agreement on Wednesday, Nov. 9, that will see the Tribe operating the Willamina Fire Station for five years beginning on Jan. 1, 2023. Tribal Council also approved a $687,800 contract with Scholten Construction of Willamina to pro- vide early work and construction at the site of the new Grand Ronde Fire Station and emergency manage- ment facility expansion project that will be built immediately east of the current fire station at McPherson and Grand Ronde roads. In other action, Tribal Council: • Approved an amendment to the cooperative agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency that will bring the Tribe $277,563 to pay for its Portland Harbor cleanup consultant; • Approved applying to place 884 acres of Tribal Tillamook County forestlands into trust with the federal government; The Tribe has owned the property since December 2016; • Appointed Tribal Council mem- ber Brenda Tuomi to replace Jack Giffen Jr. on the Spirit Mountain Community Fund Board of Trust- ees with a term that expires in September 2023; • Approved a pipeline easement with the city of Keizer at the Che- mawa Station property co-owned by the Grand Ronde and Siletz Tribes. The easement will allow for installation of water lines to the property; • Approved amendments to the Independent Tribal Press Or- dinance that governs the oper- ations of Smoke Signals. The amendments designate the paper as an essential service, clarify the process for appointing Editorial Board members, ensure all staff members adhere to journalism ethics and increase the years of experience necessary to be the editor from five to 10 years; • Approved a new five-year mem- orandum of agreement with the Willamina School District, which is comprised of approximately one-third Native students who are mostly Grand Ronde Tribal members or descendants; • Approved a maximum $2.5 mil- lion loan to Spirit Mountain Gaming Inc. to build an outdoor smoking lounge at Spirit Moun- tain Casino. The Tribe will use its line of credit to fund the loan; • And approved amendments to the Fish & Wildlife Ordinance that update ceremonial hunting and fishing programs, limit the number of transfer tabs a Tribal member can carry at one time and restrict the use of drones for hunting and fishing, among other changes. Also included in the Nov. 9 Tribal Council packet was an approved authorization to proceed that allows the Emergency Services Department to apply for an Oregon Fire Service Capacity Grant that would fund two additional firefighter positions. To watch the entire meeting, visit the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and click on the Government tab and then Videos. Drop box installed The Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department, 9655 Grand Ronde Road, has a medication drop box located in the front lobby. Lobby hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The drop box is for any prescribed or over-the-counter medication. If the containers are too large to fit in the drop box, please repackage them in a zip-lock plastic bag. Tribal Police employees cannot handle the medications so the person dropping them off must repackage them. Needles and liquids are not allowed in the drop box. Tribal Police suggest mixing liquid medications with cat litter or coffee grounds and then throwing them away with the household trash. For more information, call 503-879-1821. • Grand Ronde Community • Clothes Closet • Open to All • YAHOO continued from front page SERVICES OFFERED: Children’s Clothing Women’s Clothing Men’s Clothing Blankets Free Dog & Cat Food Diapers and Toilet Paper Emergency Hygiene Kits Camping Supplies (Tents, Tarps, Wood) Small Appliances and Household Items Toys SEASONAL PROGRAMS Backpack & School Supply Giveaway For children ages K-12 at the start of school Christmas Shop Adults can pick out 1 new gift for each child in their household. Children can shop for 1 gift for each adult in their household. The Grand Ronde Clothes closet is located on the Tribal Campus near the Elders Activity Center at the end of Blacktail Drive. The Clothes Closet accepts donations in clean and good condition. Please put donations in plastic bags for sanitation purposes and drop them off during open hours. Please use the Community Board to post large items. For more information or emergency clothes, contact Lori Walker-Hernandez at 559-847-7565. “When you’re in the discipline of art, those are very different disci- plines and it’s cool to cross over.” Although Littlebird has worked with large clients in the last few years, Yahoo using her art as its social media profile picture and publishing her in an article is going to be the largest audience to see her artwork. In 2021, Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Ore., selected Littlebird to design the label on their popular seasonal ale, the Jubelale. But for Littlebird, this is just the beginning. “I have some pretty exciting stuff coming out next year that will like- ly supersede this,” she hints with a laugh. Although she is unable to discuss some projects now, she shares she is looking forward to the publication of her first ful- ly-illustrated book called “My Power- ful Hair” in March 2023. The book is a collabora- tion with Car- Steph Littlebird ole Lindstrom, who also wrote the award-winning children’s book “We Are Water Protectors” pub- lished in 2020. Littlebird will be busy next year working on her artwork and going on a national book tour. “I’m getting a lot of opportunities to represent our community and I’m really proud of that opportunity,” she says. Yahoo is an online service pro- vider co-owned by Apollo Global Management and Verizon Commu- nications Inc.