Category: Local News

Coal train traffic to be studied

By Bill Sheets, The Herald

People who oppose a plan that would bring more trains carrying coal through Snohomish County might have one more firearm in their arsenal by next year.

The Puget Sound Regional Council, a regional transportation planning group, has decided to spend up to $100,000 to study the economic effect — particularly with regard to traffic — of more trains running through the central Puget Sound region.

The planning group, headed by a board of 32 elected officials from Snohomish, King, Pierce and Kitsap counties, studies trends and sets priorities for spending of federal transportation dollars in those areas.

The $650 million Gateway Pacific terminal would be built at Cherry Point north of downtown Bellingham. It would generate 4,400 temporary, construction related jobs and 1,200 long-term positions, according to SSA Marine of Seattle, the company proposing the plan.

Those jobs, however, would likely be concentrated in Whatcom County, meaning that if the study focuses on the economic effect of more traffic backups at rail crossings in the affected counties without the benefit of more nearby employment, it’s not likely to paint a pretty picture of the plan.

Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, a member of the regional council board, said the study would give local officials some hard numbers to bring to the table. A draft environmental study on the plan is expected to begin sometime in 2014. That study is expected to include economic issues.

“An economic analysis on Whatcom County is one thing,” Stephanson said. “This will do an economic analysis for the Puget Sound region, per se.”

Rick Olson, a spokesman for the regional council, acknowledged that the study applies to a proposal outside the regional council’s jurisdiction.

Still, “there are hundreds of at-grade rail crossings in our region,” he said. “We have communities up and down our four county region who are interested in this study.”

The regional council board members’ vote March 28 to approve money for the study was unanimous, Olson said.

This includes the four Snohomish County board members who were present: Stephanson, Snohomish County Councilman Dave Somers, Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine and Mukilteo City Councilwoman Emily Vanderwielen.

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon is also on the board but was not present at the meeting, Olson said. In February, Reardon announced his intention to resign as county executive at the end of May. He has yet to submit a resignation letter, however.

The Gateway Pacific terminal would serve as a place to send coal, grain, potash and scrap wood for biofuels to Asia. Trains would bring coal from Montana and Wyoming across Washington state to Seattle and north to Bellingham.

The terminal is expected to generate up to 18 more train trips through Snohomish County per day — nine full and nine empty.

Proponents, including U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, point to job creation. Opponents say the plan could mean long traffic delays at railroad crossings and pollution from coal dust.

Craig Cole, a spokesman for SSA Marine, offered a brief comment on the regional council study.

“Rail is one of the underpinnings of our economy,” along with ports, airports and roads, he said.

Several conservation groups on Tuesday announced plans to sue Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and several top U.S. coal producers, claiming they spill coal into Washington state waterways in violation of federal law.

Railroad spokeswoman Courtney Wallace, in a written statement, said the lawsuit was without merit.

“BNSF is committed to preventing coal dust from escaping while in transit,” she said.

The approval process for the terminal is expected to take at least a couple of more years. Three different agencies are involved in reviewing the terminal plan: the state Department of Ecology, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Whatcom County.

About 14,000 people registered comments on the proposal at hearings and in writing from September through January. More comments will be taken after the draft environmental study is done and before the final study begins.

Meanwhile, the Puget Sound Regional Council expects to finish its study by next February.

“Our study will help jurisdictions up and down the corridor and individuals in the region communicate on that draft,” Olson said.

The regional council plans to advertise in May for a consultant to do the economic study.

Herald writer Noah Haglund and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Pre-Order your Mother’s Day Flowers from Salal Floral

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Boutique 360.716.6847  Facsimile 360.716.6109 Email information@salalfloral.com<mailto:information@salalfloral.com> Online www.shopsalalfloral.com<http://www.shopsalalfloral.com/>

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1st Annual Hibulb Center Film Festival, April 12-14

1st Annual Hibulb Center Film Festival, April 12, 13, and 14, 2013

Event Location: Tulalip Tribes Hibulb Cultural Center & Natural History Preserve, 6410 23rd Avenue NE
Tulalip, WA 98271, www.hibulbculturalcenter.org

The 1st Hibulb Cultural Center Film Festival will be held April 12, 13, and 14, 2013, at the Hibulb Cultural Center in Tulalip, Washington. This year’s theme is ‘Our Land, Our Relations’. The Hibulb Cultural Center is seeking features, documentaries, short films, and animation. Films with strong voices of old cultures and connections to land and families are particularly welcome in anticipation of Earth Day.

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month

Please Join us in Protecting Tulalip Children from Child Sexual Abuse
The Legacy of Healing Child Advocacy Center is Hosting 3 Lunchtime Events at the Tulalip Tribes Administration Building:
 
Wednesday April 10th 12-1 Room 162
Question & Answer format: Ask your Questions about Preventing & Healing from Child Abuse.
No need to sign up-Pizza provided Room 162
 
 
Wednesday April 17th 12-2 Room 162
Stewards of Children-Free abuse prevention training. Designed for adults to learn how to prevent, recognize and react to child sexual abuse. One hour of education leave in addition to your lunch break (with supervisor approval).
Space is limited please contact RaziLeptich with questions or to register. rleptich@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov 716-4100
Lunch provided
 
 
Wednesday April 24th 12-2 Room 162
Stewards of Children-Free abuse prevention training. Designed for adults to learn how to prevent, recognize and react to child sexual abuse. One hour of education leave in addition to your lunch break (with supervisor approval).
Space is limited please contact RaziLeptich with questions or to register. rleptich@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov 716-4100
Lunch provided
 
More information regarding the Stewards of Children training can be found at their website:
 

Gearing up for Tulalip Great Strides Walk 2013

Source: Kelsie Dry, Co-Founder/Co-Chair, Tulalip Great Strides, Keldan2006@comcast.net

 

Team Keldan 2011
Team Keldan 2011

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s “Tulalip Great Strides 2013” planning is underway for the July 13, 2013 walk. Kelsie Dry, Brandy Krug and Megan Talbot announced today that they already have 8 walking Teams signed up for the event and all are busy recruiting pledges and additional teams.

As it gets closer to the walk more teams are expected to sign up at www.cff.org/great_strides, three of the original teams that signed up were the first to resign, Keldan’s Team, Brenna’s Butterflies, and Tulalip Lions Club Team, a new team this year that is already signed up is the Marysville Wrestling Team.

As you may not be aware this is the only event for Snohomish County, and it is an easy walk, only 3 miles and it is not uphill both ways. The course is flat, from the Tulalip Amphitheatre past the Seattle Outlet Mall around the back of the Tulalip Casino down towards Wal-Mart them back to the Amphitheatre for lunch and entertainment.

The Tulalip Great Strides was started by Kelsie Dry and Brandy Krug, both parents of children who are afflicted with Cystic Fibrosis and felt the need to do something to make life easier for those suffering with CF.

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation designates 90% of the monies collected to go to research for the cure for Cystic Fibrosis. In order to keep costs down the committee has invited local business to make an in kind donation of services and or items for the live raffle to be held at the time of the event following the light lunch.

Why We Stride
In 2012, nearly $40 million was raised to help support life-saving research, quality care, and education programs. Real progress toward a cure has been made, but the lives of young people with CF are still cut far too short. We urgently need the public’s continued support to fulfill our mission and help extend the lives of those with the disease

Thank you team captains for getting signed up and working on fund raising. Please keep up the good work.

Cabela’s teaches outdoor classes for women

Source: The Herald

Hey, sisters!

Want to learn how to cast a fly rod? Or maybe shoot a gun?

The Tulalip Cabela’s is having a day for women to do all that — and cook.

The event is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 6 at Cabela’s, 9810 Quil Ceda Blvd.

Sessions are: hunting, 10 a.m.; fishing, 11 a.m.; fly fish, noon; handguns, 1 p.m.; archery, 2 p.m.; and outdoor cooking, 3 p.m.

For more information: www.cabelas.com or 360-474-4880.

 

Wood Heat and Your Health: Invitation to Participate in Survey

TULALIP – Fires have a long cultural tradition at Tulalip, and heating a home with wood is both affordable and comfortable. But wet wood, an old stove, a broken seal, or even just cold outside air means our cozy fires can create too much smoke and soot. When this happens, some in our community can be at risk of asthma episodes and even premature heart attacks.  For our kids, woodsmoke is one reason they cough, wheeze and get more infections in the wintertime, when we use wood heat more often. For adults with asthma, bronchitis or emphysema, woodsmoke is known to put more of those folks in the hospital. Others at risk include elders, because woodsmoke weakens their body’s ability to fight off infections.

The good news is that there are things we can do to burn cleaner and safer. In fact, there are many solutions, like drying (seasoning) your wood, upgrading to a new wood stove, or using the clean-burning Presto type log.  The Tulalip Air and Indoor Environment program wants to know which solutions work best here at Tulalip, so that we can then seek grants and resources. To do this, we’d like to invite those who rely on wood heat (burn more than four times a week), and have a tribal member living in the home, to participate in a survey. It takes about 35-40 minutes and can be done on-line or over the phone. When you are finished, we will send you a $30 gift card. Our goal is to learn more about burning practices, firewood use, and health effects. (All information will be confidential and will be used to help us find programs and funding for cleaner wood heat.)

To find out if you are eligible to participate in the survey, please contact Gillian Mittelstaedt, Tulalip Air and Indoor Environment Program, at (206)512-3293, or by email: gillianmitt@hotmail.com

Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project awarded $37,500 grant

NAFSI grant will aid Muckleshoot in their efforts to access more traditional foods

By Monica Brown Tulalip News writer

The Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project has been awarded a $37,500 grant from the First Nations Development Institute. The grant will help fund the project s explorations of the Muckleshoot Tribe’s food assets and increase access to local, healthy and traditional foods. Through explorations, participants will gain an understanding of Native foods and build food security throughout the community.

Project participants enjoy community engagement through workshops, harvesting and feasts. Hands-on workshops are designed to teach traditional food principles and how to approach preparing them in a more modern way. Project coordinator, Valerie Segrest states

“The Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project is community driven and aims to increase access and revitalize a traditional and local healthy food system.”

Tribal cooks and established community groups are coming together to develop a new policy about food which will focus on a more traditional and nourishing food program. The new policy development is facilitated by professional chefs who are invited to meet with tribal cooks and the community groups during cook retreats.  The project participants are working to join tribal kitchens and create a menu program. By creating a reliable menu that can be used throughout tribal kitchens they will be able to assess the food quantities needed for when they are ready to produce their own food. The menu program will also inform the five-year food sovereignty/action plan that is currently being organized.

The project comes from a community based participatory research project which was conducted in partnership with Northwest Indian College and the Burke Museum in 2007.  The project operates year round and is open to all community members.

The First Nations Development Institute’s Native American Food System Initiative (NAFSI) grant is intended to help tribes and Native communities build sustainable food systems such as community gardens, food banks, food pantries and/or other agricultural projects related to Native food-systems control. The 31 grants were made possible by the generous support of the AARP Foundation, The Christensen Fund, CHS Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Advocacy and Outreach, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, Walmart Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  

To read more about the Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project please visit their website at

 Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project

 

 More reading:

 NWIC Plant and Foods

Indian Country Media Network

 

Spring gardening at Hibulb

 

 

Tribal member Malaki Hernandez tranplants
Tribal member Malaki Hernandez tranplants

By Monica Brown

TULALIP, Wash. Attendees at the Tulalip Hibulb garden work party gathered together on Friday, March 22 to do some needed garden preparations. Gardeners and gardening volunteers worked together to prepare the garden for the growing season.

Pruning encourages fruit production, so Master Gardeners Frank Sargent and Rob and Richelle Taylor pruned fruit trees located in the orchard on the north side of the Hibulb Museum.

Master Gardeners Frank Sargent and Rob Taylor prune the fruit trees. Photo by Richelle Taylor

Community gardeners worked in the greenhouse, transplanting over 100 seedlings of cabbage and sowing new seeds. Seedlings are being started and kept warm in the heated greenhouse and soon the plant beds around the museum will be made ready for transplanting.

The community is invited to attend the garden work parties and the Gardening Together as Families events. Gardeners will help tend the beds throughout the season and enjoy the rewards at the end of season harvest. Gardeners will learn about the many aspects of gardening through hands-on experience, working side-by-side with master gardeners.

To learn more about the Hibulb Gardening events please contact Veronica Leahy at 360-716-5642 or vleahy@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

Residents vacate land owned by the Tulalip Tribes

By Andrea Brown, The Herald

Dan Bates / The Herald(From left) Susan Marshall, Tanner Bellows and Karrington Jessup relax on a comfy white leather couch, just above the tide line, while they watch the house moving.
Dan Bates / The Herald
(From left) Susan Marshall, Tanner Bellows and Karrington Jessup relax on a comfy white leather couch, just above the tide line, while they watch the house moving.

MISSION BEACH — Kippy Murphy brought tissues. Her brother, Mike Dutton, brought beer.

It was a sentimental occasion for the Everett siblings. The two-story gray house on the beach where they’d spent decades of summers was being moved across the Sound to Whidbey Island, where it would have a new family.

“I had to come out and have my last beer at the beach house,” Dutton, 53, said Tuesday as he stood on the flat white shore southeast of Tulalip Bay.

It marks the end of an era for generations of tenants of more than 20 homes on a quarter-mile stretch of beach owned by the Tulalip Tribes. The tenants owned the homes, but not the land, and the tribes want to restore it back to natural beaches for use by members.

Tenants had seven years notice to not only vacate the premises, but to take their homes with them. Most houses were stripped and demolished.

Murphy, 46, didn’t want to destroy her family’s summer getaway — a five-bedroom, 3,000 square-foot home built in 1993 to replace a rustic fishing cabin.

“My dad built it to be barged because he knew that eventually the leases would expire,” she said. “Our parents have passed, so it made us feel good to know that we saved the house.”

Murphy and her brother sold it for $1 through the house moving company, Nickel Bros.

“It’s sad,” she said, “but I’m happy that somebody is going to use it.”

The home’s new owners, an Issaquah couple with two young kids, couldn’t be happier.

“It was the perfect house for us,” said Annie Schinnerer. “I’m excited. I can’t wait.”

It cost about $60,000 to move their $1 vacation home to Mutiny Bay in Freeland, she said. “When it’s all said and done, it will be about $150,000, which is still $50 a square foot and a great deal.”

The two families chatted on the beach Tuesday evening as workers bustled around the jacked-up house for its daunting sprint to the nearby barge.

Spectators brought chairs, blankets, beer, dogs and grandkids to watch the work take over place over several hours Tuesday.

A crew of men in orange coveralls and hardhats put planking over the sand using what looked like giant Tinker Toys.

From there, the boxy home was hoisted onto a flatbed truck that had to pull a tight sharp turn away from a retaining wall. The crunch of wooden planks resounded from the home’s weight, stirring the crowd of onlookers armed with cameras at the ready.

The truck lurched forward, groaning. It slowly carried its oversized cargo up a skinny steel ramp tilted over the shore.

Silence prevailed at the precarious spectacle. Would the house topple?

A few people stepped back, just in case.

A cheer erupted when the house rolled onto the barge deck intact.

But it wasn’t smooth sailing from there. The barge got stuck in the sand and couldn’t leave until Wednesday morning.

Andrea Brown; 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com.

Videos
To see other homes moved by Nickel Bros., go to www.nickelbros.com/featureproj.html.