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Monsanto Set to Sue Vermont for Requiring GMO Labeling

OccupyReno MediaCommittee/Flickr Creative CommonsA Monsanto protest in Reno, Nevada — OccupyReno MediaCommittee/Flickr Creative Commons
A Monsanto protest in Reno, Nevada

Indian Country Today

On May 8, Vermont set history by becoming the first state in the country to require genetically modified (GMO) food to be labeled.

When Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) signed the bill into law, he released the statement: “We believe we have a right to know what’s in the food we buy.”

But one hurdle still stands in the state’s way: a likely lawsuit from Monsanto, the world’s largest GMO producer.

According to a recent report on labeling requirements from the nonprofit Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, at least 25 states are considering similar legislation, but with trigger clauses like Connecticut and Maine that require multiple other states to pass GMO labeling laws before theirs take effect.

“If Vermont wins, it might not be long until the entire country mandates GMO labeling, giving consumers the information to make their own choices,” states a petition by the SumOfUs community (sumofus.org) that urges people to sign to protest Monsanto suing Vermont for its decision to label GMO foods.

Attorney General Bill Sorrell told Vermont Public Radio in May that he would be “very surprised” if Monsanto doesn’t sue the state, reported the Washington Post. State officials have even guarded against a lawsuit with a copy.5 million legal defense fund, which would be paid for with settlements won by the state.

Among Monsanto’s outlandish claims is that a labeling requirement would be a violation of the company’s freedom of speech. In recent years, Monsanto has even gone as far as to partner with DuPont and Kraft Foods to grossly outspend and defeat supporters of similar laws in California and Washington, explains sumofus.org.

Sign the SumOfUs petition here.

Report: US births up for first time in 5 years

By Mike Stobbe, Associated Press

NEW YORK — The baby recession may be at an end: After a five-year span in which the number of children born in the United States dropped each year, 2013 saw a minute increase.

According to a new government report, the number of babies born last year rose by about 4,700, the first annual increase since 2007.

It’s a “very, very, very slight” increase, said the lead author of the new report, Brady Hamilton of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Experts have been blaming the downward trend mainly on the nation’s economy, which was in recession from 2007 to 2009 and wobbly for at least two years after that. Many couples had money problems and felt they couldn’t afford to start or add to their family, they believe.

Now the economy has picked up and so has child-bearing, at least in women ages 30 and older — the teen birth rate dropped sharply once again, and birth rates still fell for women in in their 20s.

Falling deliveries was a relatively new phenomenon in this country. Births were on the rise since the late 1990s and hit an all-time high of more than 4.3 million in 2007. Then came the drop attributed to the nation’s flagging economy.

Both the number of births and birth rate fell fairly dramatically through 2010. Then the declines became smaller. In 2012, the number of births was only a few hundred less than in 2011.

Last year’s tally was a little under 4 million.

The nation also may be seeing a more pronounced shift to having children a bit later in life, said Rob Stephenson, an Emory University demographer focused on reproductive health. That follows a trend western Europe experienced more than a decade ago, he said.

“Maybe the new norm is having children in your 30s,” he said.

The birth rate for women in their early 30s inched up in 2012 for the first time since 2007. It rose again in 2013, by 1 percent. The birth rates for women in their late 30s and early 40s rose by 3 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

Some of these older moms probably were women who put off having kids a few years ago, when money was tighter, but now are responding to their biological clocks, said John Santelli, a Columbia University professor of population and family health.

“At some point, you can’t wait any longer,” he said.

But he also agreed that it’s become more common for women to pursue education and career goals through their 20s and delay starting families until later.

The CDC report is based on a review of more than 99 percent of U.S. birth certificates from 2012. The government released the report Thursday.

Other highlights:

—The number of births rose a little for both white and black women. It stayed the same for Hispanic and Native American moms. And for some reason experts can’t explain, it fell 2 percent for Asian moms.

—The birth rate dropped less than 1 percent, to just under 63 births per 1,000 women of child-bearing age. That’s the lowest it’s ever been, according to U.S. health records.

—The total fertility rate also fell, by 1 percent. That statistic tells how many children a woman can be expected to have if current birth rates continue. The figure was 1.87 children last year. Experts say 2.1 is a goal if you want to keep the population at its current size.

—A little under 33 percent of births last year were delivered through Cesarean section — a slight drop from the rate over the previous two years. C-sections are sometimes medically necessary. But health officials believe many are done out of convenience or unwarranted caution, and in the 1980s set a goal of keeping the national rate at 15 percent.

—There was a continued decline in the rate of births delivered at less than 37 weeks into the pregnancy. The preterm birth rate, as it is called, fell to about 11 percent in 2013. It has been declining since 2006.

—The teen birth rate fell 10 percent from 2012, the largest decline since the 10 percent drop between 2009 and 2010. Birth rates for teen moms have been falling since 1991 and this marks yet another historic low. The number of babies born to teens last year — about 275,000 — is less than half the peak of nearly 645,000 in 1970.

Experts attribute the decline to a range of factors, including less sex and more use of contraception. But they admit being stunned by the velocity of the drop.

“Everybody’s wondering why, but everybody’s really excited about that,” Santelli said.

—

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2014/05/28/3153620/report-us-births-up-for-first.html#storylink=cpy

Tulalip’s 2nd Annual Community Wellness Conference, June 10-11

Could Diet Soda Really Be Better Than Water For Weight Loss?

By Allison Aubrey NPR.ORG

May 28, 2014

Answering the question of whether diet soda helps or hinders dieters’ efforts to lose weight has been the focus of much research. And buzz.

Unfortunately, the answer is still murky.

On one hand, as we’ve reported, long-term studies suggest that some diet soda drinkers’ efforts to lose weight are stymied when they compensate for the zero-calorie beverages by eating more food. Call it the Diet Coke and french fry conundrum. Or perhaps artificial sweeteners mess up our metabolisms, as some have theorized.

But there’s also research showing that when people swap sugary drinks for zero-calorie options, they lose weight. And, when people combine a diet drink habit with an overall healthy pattern of eating, the combination seems to work to lower the risk of metabolic syndrome, according to research.

Better than water for losing weight? A study funded by the beverage industry says yes.

Now a new study, funded by the American Beverage Association, suggests that diet drinks might be more effective than water alone in helping dieters shed pounds.

We had to ask: Really?

The study, published Tuesday in the journal Obesity, included about 300 overweight participants, all of whom were enrolled in a weight loss and exercise program. As part of the intervention, each participant was randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group was told to avoid all diet drinks and drink mostly water. The other group was told to consume a combination of zero-calorie drinks (for example, diet soda or artificially sweetened teas) and water.

At the end of three months, the participants in the diet-drink group had lost about 13 pounds on average. That was four more pounds than the average of nine pounds lost by those in the water group.

“We were kind of surprised by the findings that showed that diet beverages actually did a little better than water” in the outcome, John Peters, one of the study authors, tells The Salt. He’s the chief strategy officer of the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Health and Wellness Center.

So, what explains the findings? How could diet drinks potentially lead to more weight loss?

“We did see that people in the diet-soda wing of the study reported less hunger during the trial than those in the water group,” says Peters. But he emphasizes that this is just speculation. “We can’t determine mechanism from this trial.”

That speculation doesn’t fly with some experts, who question using diet soda as a tool to curb appetites. “Studies suggest that consumption of diet soda makes people continue to crave sugar, thereby making it harder to quit,” says Laura Schmidt, a professor of health policy at the University of California, San Francisco.

Peters tells me he’s aware that people are questioning the results. And he’s surprised by that reaction to the study so far: “I’m kind of amazed how much people are trying to find a reason not to believe these findings.”

It’s possible that many people are still leery about the safety of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, despite years of studies aimed at establishing safety. “There’s always some lingering question: Are these good for you or not?” Peters says.

Or it could be that once people hear about the industry link, they’re just dismissive of the findings. But Peters says he and his colleagues carried out the study completely independently at their academic research sites.

“We responded to a [request for proposal] that was put out by the ABA to the scientific community” to study the effects of diet drinks, he says.

But, Peters explains, he and the other researchers made an agreement with the industry group in advance that whatever the findings — positive or negative — the results would be submitted for publication.

As industry funding of nutrition research has become more commonplace, there are protocols in place to keep separation between funders and scientists. But a 2007 meta-analysis in PLoS Medicine found that industry funding increases the odds of results favoring the industry’s position.

Beyond the study’s ties to the diet soda industry, other researchers say the new research doesn’t provide any closure to the murky science of diet sodas. “This paper is fatally flawed, and leaves us with little science to build on,” Purdue University researcher Susie Swithers tells us.

She points out that the paper does not include detailed information about what participants consumed in lieu of diet soda beyond the water they were told to drink. So it’s hard to know how many calories they consumed from other beverages. “Did they switch to regular sodas? [Did they] add sugar instead of artificial sweeteners to their coffee or tea?” Swithers wonders.

All in all, “this paper tells us nothing about the long-term health consequences that should be our real focus,” Swithers concludes.

$100,000 Food Security Award American Indian Elderly

First Nations Development Institute Awards $100,000 to Support Food Security for American Indian Elderly in Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota and Wisconsin

by Native News Online Staff / Currents / 23 May 2014

LONGMONT, COLORADO — First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) announced it has awarded four grants to American Indian communities in Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota and Wisconsin that will address hunger, nutrition and food insecurity among senior populations. The grants come as part of First Nations’ Native American Food Security project, which is generously supported by AARP Foundation.

These 2014 grants expand work that began in 2012 when AARP Foundation first partnered with First Nations on the food security project. Under the first phase, First Nations awarded funding to successful projects at the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, the Pueblo of Nambe and Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico, and Sipaulovi Development Corporation (Hopi) in Arizona.

The four organizations receiving $25,000 grants for 2014 are:

Painted Desert Demonstration Project / The STAR School, Flagstaff, Arizona. This project will devise and demonstrate a model that links community-based farms with local schools and senior centers. The goals are to provide elders a local source of nutritious, traditional foods at senior centers and intergenerational gatherings; decrease social isolation of elders through monthly celebrations featuring traditional Navajo foods, elder storytelling and cooking demonstrations. The project will serve the Navajo communities of Leupp and Tolani Lake, Arizona.
Pueblo of Tesuque, Santa Fe, New Mexico. This project will connect youth and elders through a healthy traditional foods program that concentrates on honoring and preserving elder knowledge regarding food, seeds and agricultural traditions. Elders and youth will work together to prepare and store seeds, cultivate traditional gardens, harvest in traditional ways, and preserve and prepare traditional foods. The program will include an educational component for both youth and elders, and will provide healthy foods and preparation instructions for families.
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Fort Yates, North Dakota. The Nutrition for the Elderly Program will further develop and enhance current tribal food initiatives such as the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program and the tribe’s Native Gardens Project. Community gardens will provide freshly grown fruits, vegetables and herbs for meals and nutrition education courses will expand knowledge of healthy food preparation and eating.
College of the Menominee Nation, Keshena, Wisconsin. The Gardens for Elders project will benefit elders from the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, located on the Menominee Reservation in Keshena. Gardens for Elders is an intergenerational, community-based project that focuses on helping elders grow fresh, healthy food sources in their own yards with assistance from youth in various tribal programs. The college intends to build a sustainable elder food-system model that brings together multiple community resources to ensure Menominee elders have locally grown, healthy food sources readily available to them.

“We are excited to expand work focused on ending senior hunger in Native communities,” said First Nations President Michael E. Roberts. “This year, First Nations received over $1.1 million in grant requests under the Native American Food Security project. We’re able to fund only about 10 percent of that amount now, which illustrates the critical need for additional support for Native American food security projects.” The Native American Food Security project assists Native American tribes or organizations working to eliminate food insecurity among senior populations.

National statistics document that Native Americans continue to experience high rates of poverty, contributing to significant food insecurity in many Native American communities. According to the most recent American Community Survey, about 26 percent of American Indians live at or below the poverty line. The same survey indicates that roughly 12 percent of all Native Americans living in poverty are age 55 and older. Other studies conducted by the National Resource Center on Native American Aging note that Native American seniors suffer from higher rates of obesity, diabetes and other negative health indicators when compared to other senior groups in the United States.

“We are confident that these new programs will continue to value the contribution of elders to Native communities, focused on solutions to combating senior food insecurity,” said Roberts.

Tulalip’s 2nd Annual Community Wellness Conference, June 10-11

By Alison Bowen

This year’s conference will focus on healthy relationships. Whether you struggle with your relationships or have a fantastic relationship with your partner, family or children, you will enjoy and learn a great deal from this conference. Presenters will provide helpful strategies to make all your relationships more stable, meaningful, caring and loving.

On June 10^th , Sheri Gazitt will speak about “Communicating With Your Teen.” Ms. Gazitt is a teen educator who works for Seattle’s TeenWise. In her presentations, she delves into difficult topics that parents and teens face every day. You will leave the presentation with a refreshing outlook and some new tools for parenting your teen.

On June 11th, Drs. John and Julie Gottman, world renowned experts on marriage, relationships and family will present on “How to Make Relationships Work” and “Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child.” Dr. Gottman and his wife, Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman are the founding co-directors of the Gottman Institute, the Relationship Research Institute and the Gottman Institute’s Relationship Clinic. The Gottman’s presentations will help you realize that there is hope for every relationship!

Board member Deborah Parker attended one of the Gottman’s presentations. “It was a great experience! The speakers are sensible, practical and down-to-earth about relationships. They also put humor in their work. I encourage all tribal members to attend this conference!”

Our families are the center of our community. We would do anything to keep our families together. They are very precious and important to us. These great presentations can provide information that will be helpful in keeping our relationships stable, secure and together. We look forward to seeing you at this important conference.

For more information please contact Ashley Tiedeman, 360.716.5719

Marijuana: menace, medicine or moneymaker? Tulalip tribal leaders hold community meeting on the decriminalization of marijuana

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

With the legalization of marijuana for recreational use in Washington State an ongoing discussion has emerged on the Tulalip Indian reservation about how the law will affect the Tulalip Tribes, if at all. Currently, marijuana remains illegal on the reservation in all forms, in accordance with federal policy. More than 100 people attended a community meeting on May 16, urging Tulalip to review its stance on marijuana, and consider whether the financial and medical benefits outweigh the potential risks that could jeopardize the tribes’ relationship with the federal government. A panel of experts made presentations at the meeting, speaking about the pros and cons associated with marijuana. The experts were; former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper, a proponent for legalizing or decriminalizing, and Officer Patrick Slack of the Snohomish County Drug Task Force, who gave a testimony to the use of marijuana in our community today.

“I do subscribe to the idea that the reefer madness propaganda of the 1930s created an unnecessary fear of marijuana,” began Norm Stamper, giving a brief historical overview of marijuana in America.

He said, “Marijuana prohibition has, in my view, done more harm than good. It causes more crime. Anyone who traffics in marijuana is a criminal, anyone who buys it is a criminal, and anyone who grows it. Sellers will arm themselves to protect their investments. We force people to seek out dealers, and they won’t card, they will sell to children. All too often they sell marijuana laced with harder drugs to cultivate a future customer. If it is legal, it can be controlled. We can regulate it, sell it, and use the money to fight it.”

That idea was well received at the meeting, as people spoke highlighting other drugs that plague the Tulalip community.

“It helps people stay away from that other stuff [meth and heroin]. We have a store out here, if we sell it we would have more money to treat other people that are on that stuff,” said tribal member Richard Jones.

An overwhelming majority of people in attendance echoed the potential use of marijuana as a safer means for addicts to get clean and stay clean, as well as the medical benefits marijuana users enjoy.

Patrick Slack did not take a stance on the matter, though he shared his experience with marijuana through his years on the police force which gave great insight to the history of marijuana culture and what it has become today.

He said, “There are many cannabinoids in marijuana that are beneficial. In my experience, most people smoke marijuana for the psychoactive experience, not the health benefits. Tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, is the psychoactive cannabinoid that gives users that signature euphoria from marijuana consumption.”

Historically, the THC in marijuana averaged less than two percent. According to Slack, what is being taken off the streets today ranges between twenty percent up to the mid-thirties. Something becoming more prevalent today is hash oil; also called dabs or budder. Through a reduction process using butane or octane (gasoline), people can pull more of the THC out of marijuana.

“The hash oil averages about ninety percent pure THC. It gets you very high, very fast, and is potentially dangerous to use because the effects last longer,” Slack explained.

Tulalip councilman Marlin Fryberg Jr. said, “For me as a leader, who looks out for the youth? That’s my responsibility. If legalizing marijuana will have a negative impact on them, then I can’t support it.”

Stamper noted, “People like Richard Nixon, JFK, Bill Gates, even Barack Obama have tried marijuana. Those people, had they been caught as a result of their youthful indiscretions, as Nixon called it, would not have enjoyed the careers they did, and we would not be enjoying the benefits of their success.”

Slack addressed the difference of underage use today than in Nixon’s time, and the implication from Initiative 502, the ballot measure that legalized marijuana for recreational use in Washington State.

“I502 makes the consumption marijuana illegal to persons under the age of 21, specifying that there is no tolerance for underage consumption. That means if you are driving and you get stopped, if you are suspected of marijuana use, and you are underage, then you will be subject to a blood test. If cannabinoids are found in your blood, you are guilty of a DUI (Driving Under the Influence), whether or not you are under the legal limit of five nanograms. That’s a felony. And today, that limits your ability to get scholarships, go to college, and get a job.”

The legalization of marijuana is a tumultuous issue that has many potential ripple effects for tribes which would extend far beyond the business and moral aspects, should they choose to legalize. For Tulalip tribal leaders, they are torn on the issue.

Tulalip tribal councilwoman Theresa Sheldon said, “Our grants require us to be in compliance with federal policy. NAHASDA (The Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act) for example explicitly says that the tribe’s program must comply with the all federal policies; that includes policies regarding drugs. Marijuana is still classified as a schedule 1 controlled substance at the federal level. It is unclear how legalization will affect our programs, but it is something that we need to understand fully before we proceed.”

“When it comes to medical marijuana, I am there,” said councilman Fryberg. “I’ve done a lot of research, and it took me some convincing, but I’m there. I don’t support the recreational use, though, and I don’t know that I ever will.”

Whether tribes decriminalize or legalize, the decision will have federal implications. The community and some tribal leaders seem to agree though, that the time has come to recognize marijuana as a medicine. What that means for regulation remains to be seen.

Andrew Gobin is a staff reporter with the Tulalip News See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department.
Email: agobin@tulalipnews.com
Phone: (360) 716.4188

The Vegetables Most Americans Eat Are Drowning In Salt And Fat

This isn't exactly what a healthy serving of veggies looks like.Lauri Patterson iStockphoto — This isn’t exactly what a healthy serving of veggies looks like.
Lauri Patterson iStockphoto

By Maanvi Singh, NPR

Popeye and our parents have been valiantly trying to persuade us to eat our veggies for decades now.

But Americans just don’t eat as many fruits and vegetables as we should. And when we do, they’re mainly potatoes and tomatoes — in the not-so-nutritious forms of French fries and pizza, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Americans eat 1.5 cups of vegetables daily, on average, the USDA finds. But the national nutrition guidelines recommend 2 to 3 cups a day for adults. And more than half our veggie intake comes from potatoes and tomatoes, whereas only 10 percent comes from dark green and orange veggies like spinach, carrots and sweet potatoes.

Of course, potatoes are great on their own — they’re a good source of potassium. But most Americans eat them with a hefty side of fat and sodium. According to the USDA’s handy chart, at home, most people get their potato fix in the form of chips. And when eating out, about 60 percent of the potatoes we consume are fried. Baked potatoes are also popular, but most people don’t eat the skin — a great source of fiber that fills you up.

Tomatoes start out healthy as well, and they’re a good way to boost your vitamin A and C intake. Tomato sauce, on the other hand, can pack in a lot of hidden sugar and salt. While a cup of raw tomato has about 9 milligrams of sodium, canned tomato sauce can contain more than 1,000 milligrams of sodium per cup, according to the USDA.

And even potatoes and tomatoes in their healthy forms don’t make for a complete, balanced diet. Americans eat far less fiber than they should, the researchers say, and fiber is found in dark green and orange veggies. As we’ve reported, fiber can make you gassy, but it’s essential to a healthy microbiome.

After a 2002 government nutrition report found that higher fruit consumption correlated with a lower body mass index but not vegetable consumption, USDA researchers decided to look more into how Americans are getting their vegetables.

“We started thinking about it, and realized it’s quite common to just pick up a piece of fruit and eat it as-is,” says Joanne Guthrie, a nutritionist at the USDA’s Economic Research Service who co-authored the report. “But that wasn’t the case for vegetables.” Vegetables often need to be peeled, cut and cooked, so they’re just not as handy.

So maybe this tomato and potato finding isn’t a huge shocker. Just a few years ago public health experts were debating whether school lunch programs should get to count a slice of pizza as a serving of vegetables, and fries have garnered their share of negative publicity in recent school lunch battles, too.

But, as Guthrie tells The Salt, the report is a reminder that we need to pay more attention to how we prepare our vegetables. “We all want to have a healthful diet,” she says. So mind the sugar and sodium, and branch out from pizza and French fries.

Cherokee veterans gain care options

New agreement links tribal service to VA health system

By Anita Reding, Muskogee Phoenix Staff Writer

Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr., left, and Principal Chief Bill John Baker sign the reimbursement agreement Friday. Next to Baker is James Floyd, the director of the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center. Watching from behind are Gayla Stewart, left, the victim witness coordinator for the regional U.S. Attorney’s Office; Dr. Ricky Robinson, the director of the Cherokee Veterans Center; Vickie Hanvey, the Cherokee Nation self-governance administrator; Jacque Secondine Hensley, the Native American liaison for Gov. Mary Fallin; Connie Davis, the executive director of Cherokee Nation Health Services; Tribal Council Speaker Tina Glory-Jordan; Deputy Chief S. Joe Crittenden; and John Alley and Bunner Gray, Indian health liaisons for the VA center.

TAHLEQUAH — Veterans who are members of the Cherokee Nation can now choose from several locations to receive health care.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker signed a reimbursement agreement with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday.

The Cherokee Nation is one of several tribes that have contracts with the VA, said James Floyd, director of the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center in Muskogee.

The contract allows the tribe to be reimbursed by the VA for services rendered to Native American veterans using Cherokee Nation health centers for primary care. The contract also allows the Cherokee Nation and the VA to share patient information and charts. The VA will provide medication for veterans.

Now that the contract has been signed with the Cherokee Nation, veterans’ care can be tied to the VA system, Floyd said.

The contract will make it possible for veterans with the Cherokee Nation to receive vital services and not have to travel as far as they have been, said Baker.

“I think it’s a win, win, win for the veterans, for the Cherokee Nation and for the VA hospital,” Baker said.

The agreement with the Cherokee Nation provides health care at W.W. Hastings Hospital and eight clinics. The Cherokee Nation also is planning to build a hospital in Bartlesville, Baker said.

The initial users who can benefit from the contract total 4,500, and that number could easily increase by 1,000, Floyd said.

There are 37,000 users at the Muskogee medical center, and Native Americans are the second highest population group, he said.

“This helps us to grow as a system and to grow from within the tribe as well,” Floyd said.

Some veterans who are members of the Cherokee Nation have not used services at the VA, and this offers them an opportunity to be a part of the VA, he said.

“We are excited to partner with the Cherokee Nation in providing health care to our American Indian veterans,” Floyd said. “This agreement will allow for better coordination of care, allows tribes and IHS (Indian Health Service) to expand care for their users, shortens wait times for medical care and increases access at VA facilities for all veterans.”

Debra Wilson of Briggs is a member of an advisory committee with the VA. Many Native American veterans will be more comfortable receiving medical care at Cherokee Nation facilities, she said.

“This is something we have looked forward to for a really long time,” said Wilson, one of several veterans who witnessed the signing of the agreement.

Don Stroud of Tahlequah said he uses the Cherokee Nation Health System, and the funding that will be provided by the contract will benefit the veterans initially, “but it’s also going to impact the care that’s available for all the patients in the health system.”

“The less money spent on us, the more money available to treat that next little kid that comes in and needs the care, or the next one of our elders that comes in and needs some medication,” he said.

The funds will be there to help them because another source of funding will be available, which will equal things out, he said.

Backyard Safety-NBSM Week 3

By Monica Brown, Tulalip News Writer

Tulalip,WA-The Farmer’s Almanac is predicting a dryer and warmer summer than usual for the northwest area. With the days heating up people will be heading out side to cool off and for that reason week 3 of National Building Safety Month focuses on backyard safety when using decks, pools and outdoor barbeques.

Inspect your deck, swing sets, playhouses or other yard structures to confirm that they are secure and in good shape. Keep either a fire extinguisher or hose on hand when cooking on a BBQ. Most importantly, learn to perform CPR/First Aid. According to a study by the Center for Disease Control, drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, and the highest rates are among children; reports from 2005 to 2009 show an annual average of 3,880 people died from unintentional drowning in the United States.

CPR/First Aid is a useful skill to know year-round and children as young as 9yrs old can learn to perform CPR effectively. Check with your local fire district, American Red Cross or YMCA for when and where you can attend a CPR/First Aid class.

Another threat found in pools are recreational water illnesses (RWIs), caused by germs and spread in contaminated water that is swallowed, or by simply having contact with contaminated water such as swimming pools. RWIs cause a variety of infections such as gastrointestinal, skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic, and wound infections. The following RWI’s can be passed through pool water; Cryptosporidium (“Crypto”) causes diarrhea, Giardia also causes diarrhea, Hot Tub Rash causes itching and blisters, Legionella causes a type of pneumonia, after using a public pool area be sure to watch for symptoms.

Chlorine does not kill all germs instantly and can take anywhere from minutes to days for the chlorine to kill them. On the other hand, too many chemicals in the pool can cause eye, nose and breathing irritation. Purchase a test kit for your pool and test the water regularly.

National Building Safety Month information can be found at www.iccsafe.org. NBSM is being hosted by the Tulalip Tribes Community Development Department, for handouts, resources or other information please contact Orlando Raez at 360-716-4214.

10 important tips for Backyard Safety

Pool & Deck safety

Make sure all pedestrian gates in the barrier fence for your pool are self-closing and self-latching. Other gates should be padlocked.

Remove all chairs, tables, large toys or other objects that would allow a child to climb up to reach the gate latch or enable the child to climb over the pool isolation fence.

Reaching and throwing aids like poles should be kept on both sides of the pool. These items should remain stationary and not be misplaced through play activities.

All pool and hot tub drains (suction outlets) must have a cover or grate that meets industry standards for suction fittings marked to indicate compliance with ANSI/ASME A112.19.8 2007. Check to see that these covers are not broken or in disrepair, and that they are anchored firmly over the drain openings.

Install a pool alarm to detect accidental or unauthorized entrance into the water. While the alarm provides an immediate warning, it does not substitute for the barrier fences, door alarms and safety covers required by the code.

Install either an automatic or manually operated, approved safety cover to completely block access to water in the pool, spa or hot tub. Never allow anyone to stand or play on a pool cover.

Check for warning signs of an unsafe deck, including loose or wobbly railings or support beams, missing or loose screws that connect a deck to the house, corrosion, rot and cracks.

Grill Safety

Place the barbeque grill away from siding, deck railings and out from under eaves and overhanging branches. It is also unsafe to use grills in a garage, porch or enclosed area that could trap carbon monoxide. Never grill on top of anything that can catch on fire.

When grilling, have a fire extinguisher, a garden hose or at least 4 gallons of water close by in case of a fire.

Keep children away from fires and grills. Establish a safety zone around the grill and instruct the children to remain outside of the zone. A chalk line works great for this purpose. Never leave the grill unattended.