Joseph Adams, custodian, and Andrew Lofting, security supervisor, were two of the staff members that sanitized Wildhorse Resort & Casino during a temporary closure.
Joseph Adams, custodian, and Andrew Lofting, security supervisor, were two of the staff members that sanitized Wildhorse Resort & Casino during a temporary closure. CUJ Photo/Casey Brown

Casino, schools re-open after coronavirus scare: Wildhorse employee is third positive test in Oregon

By Casey Brown of the CUJ MISSION – Wildhorse Resort & Casino and Nixyaawii Education Center re-opened Wednesday, March 5, two days after Tribal officials learned that an employee of the gaming facility had tested presumptive positive for coronavirus. It was the third person in Oregon who was presumed positive for COVID-19, commonly referred to as novel coronvirus. The other…

Two horses stranded on an island during flooding.
Two horses stranded on an island during flooding. CUJ Photo/Casey Brown

February flood hammers Reservation

By Casey Brown of the CUJ UMATILLA INDIAN RESERVATION – A State of Emergency was declared Feb. 6 by the Board of Trustees for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) when the Umatilla River breached its banks Feb. 6-7. Heavy snow topped by four inches of rain and unusually warm temperatures caused a melt that resulted in…

Enola Dick, Family Violence Services advocate for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, in last year’s Sexual Assault Awareness Walk. This year’s walk is scheduled for April 16 and is part of a month of awareness activities.
Enola Dick, Family Violence Services advocate for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, in last year’s Sexual Assault Awareness Walk. This year’s walk is scheduled for April 16 and is part of a month of awareness activities. CUJ File Photo, 2019/Casey Brown

Tribal youth will ‘paint the town teal’ in April

By Casey Brown of the CUJ MISSION – Enola Dick is on call 24/7/366. She answers calls, day and night, from sexual assault and domestic violence victims. But that’s not all she does. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), and Enola is going to paint to the town teal –  with a little help from tribal youth. Students from…

Wus Gone sits in a chair at the DaVita Dialysis Center on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Gone spends four hours, three days a week, on a machine that does the work his kidney is supposed to do. He was born with one kidney and it no longer functions. Now he’s waiting for a kidney transplant.
Wus Gone sits in a chair at the DaVita Dialysis Center on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Gone spends four hours, three days a week, on a machine that does the work his kidney is supposed to do. He was born with one kidney and it no longer functions. Now he’s waiting for a kidney transplant. CUJ Photo/Phinney

Young son inspires Wus Gone to hold steady

By Wil Phinney of the CUJ Wus Gone was born with one kidney. Now he needs a transplant so he can see his sixth-grade son, Harley, graduate from high school. Two years ago, his poor eating habits – “whatever was greasy, sweet or salty” – caught up to him. His kidney has virtually shut down. He sits for 12 hours…

Tyasin Burns, who was named Player of the Year in the Old Oregon League, posterizes Elgin’s Tristan Simpson in the first half of Nixyaawii’s 69-38 would-be victory Feb. 14. However, the Golden Eagles had to forfeit the game. Read about it below. At left, Magi Moses posts up Joseph’s H. Miller at the Old Oregon League finals in Baker City.
Tyasin Burns, who was named Player of the Year in the Old Oregon League, posterizes Elgin’s Tristan Simpson in the first half of Nixyaawii’s 69-38 would-be victory Feb. 14. However, the Golden Eagles had to forfeit the game. Read about it below. At left, Magi Moses posts up Joseph’s H. Miller at the Old Oregon League finals in Baker City. Photo by Robert McLean.

Nixyaawii boys wins Old Oregon League title

By the CUJ MISSION – The Nixyaawii Community School boys strung together what looked like seven conference wins in February, including the Old Oregon League championship in Baker City March 21 and 22. That would have given the Golden Eagles their second straight undefeated season in the Old Oregon League. But alas, their conference mark was marred on Valentine’s Day,…

The bench was going crazy as the Nixyaawii girls mounted a comeback against Elgin in their next-to-last conference game. From left, the coaches and players included Coach Kaitlynn Melton, Coach Taryn Doiminguez, Ally Maddern (hidden), Ivory Herrera, Christina Kaltsukis, Adilia Hart, Mackenzie Kiona, Susie Patrick, Chelsea Farrow (back to camera), and Celia Farrow.
The bench was going crazy as the Nixyaawii girls mounted a comeback against Elgin in their next-to-last conference game. From left, the coaches and players included Coach Kaitlynn Melton, Coach Taryn Doiminguez, Ally Maddern (hidden), Ivory Herrera, Christina Kaltsukis, Adilia Hart, Mackenzie Kiona, Susie Patrick, Chelsea Farrow (back to camera), and Celia Farrow. CUJ Photo/Megan Van Pelt

NCS girls finish in wild one against Elgin

By the CUJ MISSION – A two-point loss to Elgin that had the Eagles Nest rocking Feb. 14 knocked the Nixyaawii Community School girls’ basketball team out of contention for the Old Oregon League district tournament. The girls were coming off a three-game winning streak and needed a win in their last two games against one of the two teams…

Inside a building under construction. A man, Dave Tovey, is on the far right of the frame wearing a hard hat and neon vest.
Al Tovey, General Manager of Wildhorse Casino, checks out the construction inside Whispering Aspen Lanes, the newest addition at Wildhorse Resort. The facility will feature 16 lanes for general bowling plus another eight “boutique” lanes that can be rented for parties and other occasions. A full bar, a 120-seat open-air food court, and a 35-game state-of-the-art arcade will also be under the roof of the new building. Not-so-distant plans include the addition of a second hotel tower. Wildhorse is celebrating its 25th anniversary in March with its big fireworks show scheduled for Saturday, March 14. Photo Credit: CUJ Photo/Phinney

Bowling alley to open before Round-Up

By the CUJ MISSION – Inside it’s still a huge expanse of hanging cable, steel beams and concrete, but it’s not hard to imagine the shiny hardwood lanes, the clatter of pins scattering at the impact of a bowling ball, or the rat-a-tat-tat of the firing-range arcade games. Or maybe you can smell Brigham’s Fish and Chips or Moe Pho’s…