News Stories Jun. 28, 2018

At approximately 4:00 pm yesterday, Warm Springs Executive Management was notified of a system failure in the Schoolie Flat Water system. Specifically, a check valve had malfunctioned at the booster station and found as staff were taking steps to repair a pump. The Branch of Public Utilities is working to address the issue as soon as possible, according to a public notice. A contingency plan was put in place for fire protection in the area as tank levels were very low.  Schoolie Flat residents can pick up bottled water at the Simmasho Fire Hall and the Simnasho Longhouse will be open until 8:00 this morning for local residents to access showers.

Earlier this week, the U.S House of Representatives passed a bill allowing permit holders to kill sea lions along the Columbia and Willamette Rivers in an effort to protect threatened fish populations. Sea lions gather at Bonneville Dam and gorge themselves on salmon and steelhead that try to make their way upriver to spawn. Officials in Oregon and Washington have tried using non-lethal methods of removing sea lions, but they eventually return to the dam. The Marine Mammal Protection Act has kept these mammals from being killed. The bill details a plan for issuing permits that will allow for no more than 100 sea lions to be killed each year. The states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington would be permitted to allow sea lion killing. Others include the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.

A Water & Wastewater Open House has been set for July 9 at the Warm Springs Community Center Social Hall. The meeting will provide an opportunity for community members to ask questions about the Notice of Violation for Sidwalter and Warm Springs Water Treatment Plants and the Consumer Confidence Reports that will be distributed for all three community water systems. This information will be posted by the end of this week on the Tribes website, posted in the community, and will be included in the upcoming issue of the Spilyay Tymoo.  Additional information will also be provided on several other water and sewer projects on the reservation.

The public is invited to help welcome newly appointed Oregon Poet Laureate Kim Stafford and thank outgoing Poet Laureate Elizabeth Woody at the Oregon Poets Laureate Celebration on the evening of July 17, at the Rockwood Boys & Girls Club in East Portland. The reception will celebrate Oregon’s Poet Laureate program, which is funded by the Oregon Cultural Trust and administered by Oregon Humanities. The event is free but registration is required. The Oregon Poet Laureate fosters the art of poetry, encourages literacy and learning, addresses central issues relating to humanities and heritage, and reflects on public life in Oregon. Woody served as Poet Laureate since April 2016.  Find out more on the Oregon Cultural Trust website.