10
DECEMBER 15, 2022
Tribe offering warming
centers during winter
Smoke Signals
Youth Summit attendee
The Tribal Emergency Services Department recently announced its plan
to activate a warming center if needed during the daytime hours at the
Elders Activity Center if the temperature dips to 25 degrees or lower for
more than four hours and there is a need for the center to open.
In addition, the plan includes a nighttime overnight center, but only
for the hours from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. at the Tribal gym if the temperature
reaches 25 degrees or lower for more than four hours in duration.
If there is a need for either of the centers, people should call Emergency
Preparedness Coordinator Brandy Bishop at 503-879-1837.
<If more services are needed, we will help to guide the appropriate
agencies and departments to try and meet the needs of the individuals,=
Bishop said. þ
Contributed photo
Tribal nonemergency text line
The Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department has a nonemer-
gency text line at 541-921-2927.
<If you have a nonemergency situation or question, feel free to
contact my ofocer via text through this line,= said Grand Ronde
Tribal Police Chief Jake McKnight. <When one of my ofocers
receives the text, they will call you back when they have time.=
McKnight said that emergency situations still require calling
911.
For more information, contact McKnight at 503-879-1474. þ
8Our priority is be as
efficient as possible9
WASTE continued
from front page
in the trash.
Enter Chapul Farms located
outside of McMinnville on North
Alpine Avenue.
According to its website, Chapul
Farms is <an insect agriculture
project development company
that designs, builds and operates
commercial-scale black soldier ny
larvae facilities.=
<Our mission is to restore biodi-
versity to agriculture, soil and plan-
et Earth for a more sustainable,
resilient and secure food system,=
the website adds.
Casino Public Relations and Com-
munications Administrator Jocelyn
Huffman said the casino is in the
beginning stages of incorporating
Chapul Farms into its existing food
waste program and hopes to have
the company on board before the
end of December.
<We9re still working out the logis-
tics,= Huffman said. <Our priority
is be as efocient as possible. Our
to-go containers have become more
efocient and more green. It9s a con-
tinuing work in progress.=
Tribal Council member Kathleen
George, who also serves on the Spir-
it Mountain Gaming Inc. Board of
Directors, briefed the membership
on the new waste recycling program
during the Tuesday, Dec. 6, Legis-
lative Action Committee meeting.
<At any restaurant, food waste is
a very real issue,= George said. <At
a facility with multiple restaurants,
it9s even more so. We took a sub-
stantial step in the right direction
when the buffet closed because
buffets are hugely wasteful.=
<They are currently throwing
away anything that isn9t produce,=
Huffman added. <However, it9s
much less waste now than prior to
the buffet closing.=
Chapul will receive food waste
from all casino dining outlets and
feed it to the larvae, which will eat
almost any kind of organic waste
ranging from animal waste to food
scraps. As they mature, the larvae
grow into grubs and climb out of
their food source and turn into
pupae.
For those who instinctively think
of nies as dirty and disease-born,
those negative qualities do not
apply to black soldier nies. They
are considered non-pests since the
adult does not have mouth parts
and does not feed upon waste. They
do not bite and are not associated
with transmitting any diseases.
According to the Chapul Farms
website, insects leverage millions
of years of microbiological evolu-
tion to process organic material
into healthy protein and fat, add
microbial life to agricultural soils,
eliminate food waste and reduce
reliance on fossil fuels and <un-
sustainable inputs= to plant and
animal agriculture.
Chapul Farms was founded in
2018 to focus speciocally on black
soldier ny larvae applications.
<I am regularly convinced that
adding insects into the broader land-
scape of agriculture is a profoundly
pivotal course of action to ensure
long-term food security on planet
Earth,= says Chapul Farms founder
Pat Crowley on the company website.
To watch a video about Chapul
Farms and how it turns food waste
into useful products, go to www.
youtube.com/watch?v=xCbFRg-
212Cw. þ
Izaiah Fisher, a Siletz Tribal member and Grand Ronde descendant,
attended the White House Tribal Youth Summit held in Washington,
D.C., on Monday, Nov. 14. During the Youth Summit, Fisher snapped
a selfie with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native
American Cabinet member in the history of the United States. Fisher
also is a former member of the Grand Ronde Youth Council.
Clothes Closet open Fridays
The Clothes Closet is open from 9 a.m. to noon Fridays on the Tribal
campus near the Elders Activity Center at the end of Blacktail Drive. The
Clothes Closet accepts clothing, small appliances, small pieces of furniture,
electronics and household goods that are clean and in good condition. It does
not accept books, large TVs or furniture, but there is a community board
where people can post those items.
For more information or emergency clothes, contact Lori Walker-Hernan-
dez at 559-847-7565. þ