Chiloquin News

The Oregon Department of Transportation is warning drivers of snow and ice covered highways today.

Juniper Works and its subsidiary, West Coast Juniper Distributing, are working with Altree Inc.

Talent Irrigation District manager, customers wonder if agreement to remove four Klamath River dams could lead to water cuts locally Loading... Pear grower Ron Meyer walks by a holding pond at his orchard in Talent.

Water for Life Files Lawsuit Challenging Secret Water Right Negotiations By Helen Moore, Water for Life , A - Water for Life and a half-dozen individual irrigators have filed suit against the Oregon Water Resources Department and its Director for denying public access to the Tribal water rights negotiations surrounding the Klamath Basin Restoration ...

Group attempts to illegally remove council from offices

By TY BEAVER

H&N Staff Writer

CHILOQUIN - Klamath County sheriff's deputies were at the Klamath Tribes' administrative offices in Chiloquin MOnday to keep the peace between two political factions fighting for control of the Tribes.

About 15 people attenpted to have tribal council members removed from their offices, claiming the elected officials were recalled and new members were voted into office.

The tribal government said the group's election was invalid, and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs sent a letter to the tribal government and the sheriff's office stating the group's actions were illegal.

"We're going to go along with business as usual," said Taylor David, spokeswoman for the Tribes.

Deputies Present

Sheriff Tim Evinger said deputies were not present to enforce tribal law, but to be on hand in case there was some kind of altercation between the two groups.

Obtained from an insider at the Klamath Tribes Administration, the following is the letter sent to the Tribes from the BIA following Saturday's revolutionary act by General Council to oust 7 of the 10 members of Tribal Council.

The letter was attached to an email sent out by Kathleen "Myrt" Mitchell, wife of council member Jeff Mitchell, who is one of the ousted council members. Following is the email and letter.

"From: Kathleen Mitchell

Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 1:19 PM

To: _Everybody

Subject: BIA Letter

Everybody –

Attached is a copy of the BIA letter received early this afternoon from Stan Speaks, Northwest Regional Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I hope this correspondence will resolve some of the questions regarding the governing Tribal Council.

It was hard to concentrate on work today and I understand and realize today has been a difficult one for all of us. I appreciate your calm and patience with the situation and hope that the coming days will remain peaceful for everyone’s sake.

Kathleen Mitchell

General Manager"

_________________________________________________

Sheriff's deputies called to Chiloquin to keep the peace

Monday, November 23, 2009 11:45 AM PST

Klamath County sheriff’s deputies were at the Klamath Tribes’ administrative offices in Chiloquin Monday to keep the peace between two political factions fighting for control of the Tribes.

About 15 people attempted to have tribal council members removed from their offices, saying they held an election this weekend after a tribal general council meeting was cancelled. The group said those in attendance recalled the council and voted its members into office.

The tribal government has said the group’s election was invalid, and tribal officials have asked the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to help settle the matter.

The Klamath Tribes Meeting Notice:

“REGULAR” GENERAL COUNCIL AGENDA

For Saturday November 21, 2009 @ 10:00 a.m.

Administration Auditorium – Chiloquin, OR --

Quorum Count @10:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m.

I. Quorum Count, Call to Order, Invocation, Approve Agenda.

II. 1. “Regular” General Council minutes for August 29, 2009

III. Travel Center – update (Closed session)

IV. Klamath HydroAgreement KHA – brief discussion.

V. Other Business:

1. Motions & Actions from 8/27/09 to 10/22/09

2. Treasurer’s Reports

VI. Adjourn.

*Lunch will be at Kla-Mo-Ya Casino

* The petition submitted by GeorGene Nelson will not be heard at this meeting.

Hello All,

Regrettably I must inform you that I have recently resigned my position as Mayor of Chiloquin and would like to explain my reasons for doing so.

There are plenty of Willamette Valley communities that would warmly greet the Klamath tribes if they came to town to develop manufacturing, retail shopping or a medical center to create jobs and care for tribal members.

Oregon Police are asking for help finding the family of a Reno man killed in a motorcycle accident on Highway 97 north of Chiloquin, Oregon on October 2nd.

CHILOQUIN, Ore. - The names of the two motorcyclists who fell victim to an SUV passing a truck on Highway 97 are being released.

Oregon State Police troopers are continuing the investigation into Friday afternoon's fatal traffic crash that caused the death of two men on a motorcycle and injuries to a Redmond-area couple on Highway 97 north of Chiloquin.

Two people died and two others were seriously injured in a traffic accident today on U.S. 97 north of Chiloquin, Oregon State Police reported.

Associated Press A October 2, 2009 A CHILOQUIN, Ore. -- Oregon State Police say two people have died in a crash involving a motorcycle and a sport utility vehicle.

By Ron Brown A September 25, 2009 A MEDFORD, Ore. - When the clatter of horses hooves and rattle of the wooden wheels gave way to the hiss of steam and the rumble of iron on steel rails, the pace of settlement and development in Southern Oregon took a giant step forward.

The key spawning grounds for what was once the greatest run of salmon on the North Coast are close to being as dry as they have ever been, according to biologists and the U.S. Geological Survey.

As California bakes under a third year of drought, the Scott and Shasta rivers, near the California-Oregon border, have become little more than dry beds of rock and dirt.

Recent measurements showed the water volume in both rivers approaching record lows for this time of year. The two tributaries of the Klamath River are historic breeding grounds for salmon and are considered critical to the recovery of the species.

"Large areas of the (Scott) River have gone completely dry, stranding endangered coho salmon as well as chinook and steelhead in shallow, disconnected pools of water," said Greg King, president of the nonprofit Siskiyou Land Conservancy, which has fought to protect the salmon runs in the Klamath River system.

"This could be the year that causes the coho to go extinct if they can't get upstream in the Scott and Shasta."

The Klamath River dams, located about 30 miles from Ashland, are slated for removal in 2020.

For the past five years, twists and turns on this major river restoration effort have commanded regular headlines in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Oregonian, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Seattle Times and the Sacramento Bee. The Eureka Times-Standard, located 230 miles from the Klamath dams, covers the issue approximately twice per month.

The Mail Tribune has covered this issue lightly, to say the least.

It concerns us that the Tribune has chosen to use what little ink it has for the Klamath dams on a one-sided "news" story on how two rafting companies feel about this issue.

We learn that dam removal will change rafting runs, but we don't learn how the dams have blocked fish from 300 miles of habitat for nearly a century, or how the dams cause toxic algae blooms so dangerous that hazard signs warn recreationalists not to go in the reservoirs or the river downstream.

After a 77-year-old man reported some man pounding on his home with wooden sticks and breaking his bedroom window late Wednesday night, Klamath County sheriff's deputies found a "highly intoxicated" neighbor passed out in his bed across the street, still holding an 18-inch wooden handle in each hand with a gunshot wound to his arm.

Shari Brown, Klamath Tribes Community Services worker is the mother of the man, 24-year-old Calvin Lee Brown.

County Chairwoman Lynn Peterson and commissioner Bob Austin listen to a staff report on the urban and rural reserves designations for land around Clackamas County on Thursday.

The county's Policy Advisory Committee recommended that the more than 2,000 acres south of the river be designated as a rural reserve, meaning that it could not be added to the Metro urban growth boundary for the next 40 to 50 years. However, in the past few weeks, there has been increased activity by the Klamath Tribes to put the land into trust. This action could lead to the development of 385 acres of French Prairie.