OPB’s First Look: Fry bread tacos and the future of the Umatilla reservation

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Good morning, Northwest.

The growth of the casino and resort on the Umatilla Indian Reservation has helped the tribe reinvest in its community. It’s built a health clinic, high school and governance center.

But a lot of the money generated by the casino doesn’t stay at home as people seek goods and services off the reservation.

OPB reporter Antonio Sierra writes this morning about how the tribe hopes to hold onto its values while building out a community where tribal members want to stay.

Also this morning, a 71-year-old grandmother arrested at the Canadian border with her family has been released after months in custody. Her daughter and son-in-law, who live in Portland, are still detained.

Here’s your First Look at Friday’s news.

—Bradley W. Parks

Umatilla Tribes navigate modern development on reservation land

For aspiring small business owners looking to establish food trucks on the land of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation, the problem isn’t demand — it’s legality and location.

But the tribes are figuring out ways to respond to the community’s needs. Nixyaawii Community Financial Services, a financial institution geared toward Indian Country, is building a food truck park.

It’s a part of a wider movement from the tribal government and affiliated organizations to build a more modern community on land that has belonged to the tribes for thousands of years.

Doing so requires navigating cultural challenges and legal obstacles that off-reservation areas don’t often face. (Antonio Sierra)

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3 things to know this morning

• Juana España Lopez, 71, was released Tuesday from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention center in Tacoma. She spent nearly three months in federal custody in spite of her pleas to return to home to Honduras. (Troy Brynelson)

• Portland State University trustees will today vote on a multiyear plan to close a $35 million budget gap. Consistent multimillion-dollar deficits brought on by higher personnel costs, shrinking state funding and declining enrollment are hurting Oregon public universities. (Tiffany Camhi)

• Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and first lady Aimee Kotek Wilson will head to South Korea and Japan in October for a trade mission. News of the couple’s first official trip overseas comes on the heels of the governor’s announcement last week directing all state agencies to halt out-of-state travel plans that are considered “non-essential.” (Lauren Dake)

Inside one of Portland’s new homeless shelters

We’re now nine months into Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s term and quickly approaching his self-imposed Dec. 1 deadline to get everyone off the streets. So let’s check in on the system and its progress. (Dirk VanderHart, Alex Zielinski and Andrew Theen)

Listen

Headlines from around the Northwest

• Staff shortages pull Idaho Forest Service office workers into fire roles (Lauren Paterson)

• Josephine County commissioner awarded $100,000 in libel suit against website (Justin Higginbottom)

• Wyden presses US Treasury secretary to release Epstein financial files (Alex Baumhardt)

• AI reviews rolling out for Medicare in Washington state for some procedures (Jake Goldstein-Street)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

• From Oregon prison to college basketball captain, Brett Hollins helps prisoners find purpose and hope 

• The first US solo exhibition of late Japanese artist Yoshida Chizuko comes to Portland Art Museum 

• After $30 billion and 23 years, Hanford glassification of radioactive waste set to begin

Superabundant recipe: Pan-fried rainbow trout with green tomato pico de gallo

It’s almost time to put our grills and camping gear away for the year, and that’s why, in these fleeting warm days, it’s important to relish opportunities to cook outdoors.

Whether or not we harvest them ourselves, the rainbow trout most of us eat today still largely come from farms in the Northwest — some of the most sustainable farmed fisheries around.

It cooks quickly, and trout is also a super versatile fish, being as suited to a dredge in cornmeal as they are to a delicate butter sauce à la meunière.

This recipe makes use of the green tomatoes that may be piling up on your kitchen counters, which happen to make a bright little salsa. (Heather Arndt Anderson)

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