TULALIP — The Marysville School District’s third annual Opportunity Expo is coming on Tuesday, April 22.
The Expo is a dynamic college and career fair designed to help prepare students for life after high school.
The event will take place at the Tulalip Resort Orca Ballroom and Chinook rooms from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
There will be three sessions for students — 8 a.m., 9:45 a.m. and noon — and one session open to parents, students, staff and community members at 1:45 p.m.
Marysville School District juniors will be bused to the morning sessions.
The Expo is provided through a partnership between the Marysville School District, the Tulalip Tribes, the Marysville Rotary and the Rotary Education Foundation.
More than 120 college, tech, trade, vocational, civic and military representatives will be in attendance, to help students prepare for their futures, and support them in their dreams and goals.
At Priest Rapids Dam workers practice transporting salmon in trucks. They’ll have to transport hundreds of fish a day so the salmon can get past the lowered water and several dams. Anna King Northwest News Network
The Columbia River will remain drawn down at least until June because of the cracked Wanapum Dam in southeast Washington.
That means fish can’t reach their traditional ladders, so now hundreds of Chinook salmon are being rounded up and loaded into tanker trucks to hitch a ride around the problem.
A short-term solution
Engineers are working on extensions and “water slides” to get fish ladders at the dam working again. But work to install this new equipment has been difficult with cranes, man baskets and the whipping Columbia River wind.
“You’re up here now and it’s kind of a nice cool breeze. But imagine it with 60 to 70 mile per hour gusts,” says Grant County utility district’s Thomas Stredwick. “And workers and man lifts and trying to haul equipment around — you can see how in pretty short order things can get pretty dicey.”
Workers are installing massive steel structures with wooden slides to help the fish over the dam.
This crew could start to see 12,000 fish collecting per day at the dam in the peak of summer. Already some early migrating fish are forcing a short-term solution that could turn into something longer.
At Priest Rapids Dam, about 20 miles down the Columbia River, Grant County utility district workers are trapping these early migrators so they can be trucked around the dams.
Trucks will fill up with thousands of gallons of river water and about 150 fish per load.
“The most endangered fish we have”
“It’s unthinkable for anyone in the state that we wouldn’t get a salmon run up the river,” says Jeff Korth, a major fish manager for Washington’s Fish and Wildlife.
At the peak of the fish run, Korth’s crew and Grant County utility district employees could be moving about 1,500 fish a day. They’re all hoping that engineers and construction crews can finish fixes on Wanapum and Rock Island dams soon so they won’t have to truck as many fish.
“One thing that’s not fortuitous is that the first run of salmon just happens to be the spring Chinook,” says Korth. “And they are the most endangered fish we have up here. We are going to have to deal with the most critical population, right out of the gate.”
“Never put anything past a fish”
Korth worries that even with the best plans and engineering, working with salmon is still unpredictable.
“That falls under the category that I call never put anything past a fish. If you’re absolutely sure they won’t do something, they’ll end up doing it.”
And if the modified ladder systems don’t work by the time the larger summer run arrives, Korth says, “We’d have to make some very hard decisions. But we’re pretty optimistic we’re not going to get there.”
He adds, “The logistics of hauling something like a half million fish would be pretty difficult.”
Korth says inept ladders would probably mean deciding which runs of salmon to save. Korth says a lot of engineering, policy and sweat has gone into getting salmon past the cracked dam, but we won’t know for at least a few weeks whether all this hard work will pay off.
Plans to put a dam on one of Washington’s most scenic rivers have been called off.
The Snohomish County Public Utilities District says it has a better plan for the area on the Skykomish River near Index. But opponents of the project say it’s still too early to declare a victory.
Snohomish County PUD was planning an inflatable weir for the bend in the river near Sunset Falls, not far from Index. The utility said it had a design that would rise and fall with the river, making it safe for endangered fish runs and minimally disruptive to the scenic value of the area.
“We no longer need a dam, weir or in-river structure,” said assistant general manager Kim Moore.
A Switch To ‘Better Designs’
Moore says extensive studies of the area led the utility to see they could forego the dam, but still put turbines and a tunnel in at the bend in the river near Sunset Falls. And he says it would still produce enough power for about 10,000 homes on average, but would save $10 million and a whole season of construction.
“We’ve just come up with better designs that accomplish reduced cost, reduced impacts, reduced construction. We know the area much better now than we did a year ago,” Moore said.
Opponents Concerned About Preserving The Scenic Waterway
Opponents of the project say it’s risky to divert any water from a river that is home to endangered salmon. And the river is one of just a handful designated as state scenic waterways in Washington.
‘There have been only four rivers that have made that cut, and the Skykomish is one of them,” said Andrea Matzke, a local property owner and president of a new group, Wild Washington Rivers.
Matzke says she’ll keep fighting any hydro project at Sunset Falls, whether a dam is involved or not, because it’s an inappropriate place to put an industrial project. Among the mounting concerns is the potential for mudslides in the area.
“This is an unstable area. Why would they be risking people, even their workers, by bringing in heavy equipment and blasting?” Matzke said.
Early Days Yet
The PUD says it’s still one of the best potential areas they have for developing new sources of alternative energy.
And it’s early days yet. The new plan must be submitted to federal regulators, and getting it licensed would likely take at least three years.
After nearly eight months of work, the Red Curtain Foundation for the Arts has completed
Phase 1 of the project to transform a large commercial building at 1410 Grove Street in Marysville into a community art center. To celebrate, an official ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for Monday, April 21, at 1 p.m.
The non-profit arts education organization moved into the building, which formerly housed Dunn Lumber, in August of 2013, and has spent the past eight months raising funds, doing community outreach, and renovating the former lumber store.
Phase 1 consisted of the installation of a monitored fire alarm system, upgrading an existing restroom to more closely meet ADA standards, safety upgrades that included emergency lighting, cosmetic and clean-up work, and other minor improvements. The organization was able to raise the funds for this phase through private donations, grants, a crowdfunding campaign through Indiegogo, and a donors’ luncheon.
With this first phase completed, Red Curtain will open the building for arts classes and meetings. The facility will be available for some rentals, but there are still usage limitations until the installation of a fire sprinkler system and the addition of new restrooms.
At the ribbon-cutting on Monday, Mayor Jon Nehring will officially welcome the public to the new community arts center. Other guests who may be in attendance include Superintendent of Marysville School District Becky Berg, Kenneth Kettler from the Tulalip Casino, and members from the Kiwanis, the Sunrise and Noon Rotaries, Soroptomists, Marysville Public Library, and the Marysville Arts Coalition.
The Spring Session of classes will begin that day with piano lessons by Stephanie Bowsher in the afternoon and Adult Acting Class, taught by Red Curtain founder and board president Scott B. Randall, that evening. Other classes offered this spring are Acting Potpourri by Hollywood veteran Steven Marlo, Shakespeare by Jay Rairigh, and Mid-Century Playwrights, also taught by Randall.
TAHOLAH, WA (4/15/14)– The Quinault Indian Nation (QIN) Business Committee passed regulations Monday night to reopen Lake Quinault to non-tribal use, but only under specified regulations and restrictions, according to Fawn Sharp, QIN President.
The lake, which belongs to the Quinault Nation, was closed to non-tribal use on June 6, 2013 to safeguard it from pollution, invasive species and other issues of concern. Since that time, numerous nearby non-tribal residents, property owners and business owners in the area have spoken out in support of the Tribe’s actions, saying they appreciate the work being done by Quinault to protect the lake for future generations.
“That has always been our intent,” said Sharp. “Safeguarding our sacred lake for our children and for all the life it sustains is one of our highest priorities. If we can achieve those objectives, and share this precious resource with our non-tribal members, that’s what we will do. We believe it is time to try.”
The Quinault Business Committee passed the Lake Quinault 2014 Fishing, Boating and Use Regulation 2014-01, which allows uses of and on Lake Quinault for a one year time span.
Lake Quinault is located within the boundaries of the Quinault Indian Reservation and is owned up to the Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM) entirely by the QIN; all persons who enter onto Lake Quinault, within the boundaries of the OHWM, are required to conform to Quinault tribal laws. Violators who resist or refuse to obey will be subject to confiscation of all gear and boats and enforcement under the Quinault Tribal Code in the Quinault Tribal Court at Taholah.
A series of fiery explosions expanded opposition and heightened scrutiny of a Tesoro Corp. and Savage Cos. oil train terminal in Vancouver, Wash., a project that promises to be a bellwether for a growing number of facilities in development along the West Coast.
As we noted in a weekend story, a majority of Vancouver City Council members recently announced they opposed the $110 million terminal, which could process 360,000 barrels of oil daily.
Here are six things you should know about the terminal proposal.
1. It’s big.
It could unload four mile-long trains a day. It could move 131 million barrels of oil annually – seven times more than moved through Washington last year. It would allow Tesoro to move oil to its California refineries for less than the full rail journey would cost.
2. After three major oil train explosions, safety concerns are now driving the debate about the Vancouver terminal.
Building the biggest oil train terminal in the Pacific Northwest was always going to be controversial. But the string of fiery oil train wrecks turned an environmental debate about oil spills and fossil fuels into one about whether the project will put residents’ lives at risk.
Here’s how Jack Burkman, a three-term Vancouver city councilman, put it: “I’m stopped everywhere in town by people I never would’ve expected to be concerned about this. There’s too much lack of understanding. While the likelihood of an accident may be really, really low, the problems we’ve seen have been horrific. That’s what people are having a hard time wrapping their arms around.”
Todd Coleman, the Port of Vancouver’s executive director, put it this way: “(For) people who would’ve otherwise been neutral – fear is powerful.”
3. The string of accidents undercut arguments that something similar couldn’t happen in Vancouver.
When an oil train derailed in Quebec last July, exploding and killing 47 people, the port and Tesoro-Savage said something similar couldn’t happen in Vancouver. They said the BNSF Railway Co., which operates the main line through Vancouver, operated under stricter standards than the rail company in Quebec.
Then a major accident happened on a BNSF rail line in North Dakota in December.
4. The Port of Vancouver has kept secret key details about the terminal.
The port signed a lease in July 2013 with Tesoro-Savage but redacted information in the contract, keeping secret how many trains could go to the site each day.
The Oregonian has asked the port to release an unredacted copy of the lease. A spokeswoman Friday said the agency was re-considering its decision.
5. The Port of Vancouver is trusting that state and federal authorities will address oil train safety.
Uncertainties about tank car safety and crude oil composition led the Port of Portland to reject crude-by-rail terminals until safety gaps are addressed. But in Vancouver, the port is counting on stronger safety standards being in place by the time the project – worth $45 million over 10 years in lease revenue to the port – finishes a state permitting process expected to take a year or longer.
There’s no guarantee safety standards will be ready by the time the terminal is, though. Improving the country’s tank car fleet, for example, could take a decade.
Coleman, the Port of Vancouver official, said his agency may have approached the project differently and gotten safety questions answered up front if it had known more accidents would follow the first major accident last July.
6. The port says a required safety plan will be a backstop if others don’t address safety issues first. But it’s unclear how robust that plan must be.
If federal and state regulators don’t improve oil train safety, Coleman, the port official, said his agency will be able to step in and require key safety measures.
The basis? Two sentences from the port’s 429-page lease with Tesoro-Savage. It says little about what’s required. The lease says:
Lou Dematteis/Spectral Q, via Bold Nebraska The crop art image with HEARTLAND #NoKXL protests the proposed Keystone XL pipeline on a corn field outside of Neligh, Nebraska
It’s a message not from an alien species, but from opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Last week a crop-art image the size of 80 football fields was installed along the controversial pipeline’s proposed path in Neligh, Nebraska. The image includes the bust of a man in a cowboy hat and an American Indian in a porcupine roach with two feathers. Under the pair of heads is an illustration of water waves and the text, “HEARTLAND #NoKXL.”
The massive art installation, which was executed by artist John Quigley in partnership with the anti-Keystone XL Pipeline Cowboy and Indian Alliance, is meant to tell President Barack Obama to protect the heartland and reject the pipeline, according to Bold Nebraska, a coalition of groups and individuals opposing the project.
Opponents argue that it will contaminate drinking water and pollute the soil. Conversely, proponents state it will bring jobs to the U.S. The project has been controversial from the start, and now that the decision is down to the wire, the opposition is digging in even further.
“Jobs are not worth the risk of the future of our land,” Tessa McLean, Anishinaabe, a member of the Colorado American Indian Movement and an Idle No More activist, told Indian Country Today Media Network. “Even if the pipeline is safe, even if it never ever spills, it still takes the rights away from land owners. It goes through Indian country, and we don’t want anything going through our country without [our] consent. And Indians will never consent.”
The section of pipeline that still needs approval would cross the border from Canada, where the viscous bitumen originates in the Alberta oil sands, and cut through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.
Ranchers, farmers and Native Americans who live on the pipeline route plan to descend on Washington, D.C. and camp near the White House beginning on April 22, which is Earth Day, to encourage the president’s support, according to the Cowboy and Indian Alliance website. On April 26, thousands of opponents are expected to join the campers and protest the pipeline.
Several camps are already installed along the pipeline route in Indian country. Descendants of the Ponca Tribe erected a camp in Nebraska in November. A second was established on the Rosebud Sioux reservation on March 29, and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe opened one on Saturday April 12.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/14/4059932/hall-of-famer-lawsuit-exposes.html#storylink=cpy
Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson in 2005. DANNY JOHNSTON / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Renowned baseball Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson plunged six feet from an unsecured stage during a charity event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood two years ago and is now suing the Seminole Tribe for almost $10 million for his permanent injuries.
But whether the 76-year-old Baltimore Orioles superstar will collect enough to even cover his medical bills is an open question, said his Miami attorney, Jack Hickey, because under Florida law the tribe’s liability is limited.
Robinson still experiences bleeding on the brain, cracks in his spine, and has lost five inches in height as a result of his injuries, Hickey said. He requires constant care, and “has aged 10 years since the fall.”
Under the state’s legal agreement with the tribe, if someone is injured at a tribal casino and wants to sue, the tribe’s payment is capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, the same limits that apply when the state is sued for negligence.
A victim suffering from serious injury “can blow through that pretty quickly,” Hickey said. But, unlike the state, victims who sue the tribe cannot appeal to the Legislature for more money when a jury awards more than the liability limits.
Hickey is asking the tribe to waive the liability cap and pay $9.9 million to compensate for Robinson’s surgeries, medications and physical therapy. He estimates Robinson has lost almost $3 million in income to his family and his charities, and he believes the case exposes a weakness in the compact between the state and the tribe.
“The tribe is going to make billions of dollars and then not take responsibility for it,” he said. “If the state allows them to get away with it, shame on the state of Florida, and shame on the governor.”
Seminole Tribe spokesman Gary Bitner defended the arrangement. Under the compact with the state, the tribe has already agreed to waive its complete immunity from liability under state law. Without the waiver — which also caps the tribe’s liability — injured parties would “get zero,” he said.
“The tribe wanted to do this from the get-go for consumers to be sure that people had the sense of being protected on the property,” he said. “The tribe is in the business of welcoming people to its casinos and making sure people feel they are in a safe and protected environment while they are there.”
He said he was confident that the tribe would negotiate a fair resolution with Robinson, but “can’t discuss any negotiations.”
The compact between Florida and the Seminoles — which Gov. Rick Scott is now renegotiating — spells out what kind of gambling the tribe can offer at its casinos in exchange for sharing revenue with the state.
Robinson’s injury occurred in January 2012, when he was sitting at the top of a three-tiered stage during a player recognition and auction event for Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital.
Robinson apparently tried to get up from his chair and leaned back against a curtain that had no railing or wall behind it. He fell to the ground, suffering a concussion and fracturing his shoulder and back, his lawyer said in a letter sent to the tribe’s insurance company, Zurich Insurance.
Hickey believes the stage was set up improperly and employees should have taken action to make it safe. He noted that 45 minutes before Robinson’s fall, another baseball player, Paul Casanova, fell off the same stage.
“The curtain provided the illusion that there was some support, partition, wall, railing or some other structure to prevent people from falling off the stage,” Hickey wrote.
Robinson, who played in consecutive All Star games from 1960 to 1974, was considered one of the best third basemen of all time.
Before the fall, he attended numerous paid appearances at memorabilia shows, was a frequent presence on television and radio, and worked as a part-owner in several business ventures. Since the fall, he has limited his appearances, suffers chronic back pain, has “slowness in his thought process and speech” and is “always exhausted,” Hickey wrote.
State Sen. Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican who helped negotiate the compact with the tribe, said he recalled that it was considered a victory when the state persuaded the tribe’s lawyers to agree to any liability at all.
“We spent a lot of time on that section because they didn’t want to waive their immunity at all and come under the jurisdiction under local and state courts,” he said. “The idea was [that] through the very thorough pre-suit procedures most of these claims would get resolved.”
Hickey, who plans to file a federal lawsuit later this year, has a different opinion.
“Shame on the state for allowing them to have a cap like that,” he said. “I’m sure the tribe has their lawyers. Who’s representing the hundreds of people on their property? I would venture to say almost nobody.”
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/14/4059932/hall-of-famer-lawsuit-exposes.html#storylink=cpy
Lawrence SpottedBird will take over as general manager of STA on Monday, April 14. (Photo by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska)
The Sitka Tribe of Alaska has hired a new general manager. Lawrence SpottedBird, currently of Washington State, will start work on Monday.
STA’s previous manager, Ted Wright, resigned in October, after about two years on the job. Tribal Attorney Allen Bell has been serving as the interim manager since then.
Speaking with KCAW on Thursday, SpottedBird, a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, said he has spent the last 34 years working with tribes and Native American entrepreneurs on business and economic development. He currently runs a consulting firm, SpottedBird Development.
“I consult with primarily tribes and Native American individuals in business development, with a focus on federal contracting development, looking for opportunities in contracting with the U.S. federal government,” SpottedBird said. “A lot of tribal governments and Native American entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the many incentive programs in the federal government and developing contracting enterprises to do so.”
SpottedBird has also spent time in Southeast Alaska: from 1999 to 2000 he served as general manager of Shaan Seet, the village Native corporation in Craig, on Prince of Wales Island.
Tribal Council Chairman Michael Baines said SpottedBird’s background in economic development is exactly what the Sitka Tribe needs. One key priority for STA in coming years will be finding new sources of revenue, Baines said.
SpottedBird agreed.
“Getting a solid footing financially and budgetarily is very important,” he said. “So I will be focusing on looking at ways to address the budget and financial situation that any tribe – or any government really – faces around the country.”
Baines said the Council received about sixteen applications for the position, and flew in three finalists for interviews. All of the finalists came from outside of Sitka.
SpottedBird will be formally introduced to the Tribal Council and public at 6 p.m. next Wednesday, April 16, at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Na Kahidi, immediately before the council’s regular meeting.
A Native American group is asking the international community to charge the United States with human rights violations in hopes of getting help with a land claim.
The Onondaga Indian Nation says it plans to file a petition at the Organization of American States on Tuesday, seeking human rights violations against the United States government. It wants the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to declare that the U.S. government’s decision not to hear its lawsuit asking for the return of 2.5 million acres in upstate New York to be violations of international human rights agreements.
The nation has argued that about 4,000 square miles in 11 upstate New York counties stretching from Pennsylvania to Canada was illegally taken through a series of bogus treaties. More than 875,000 people live in the area, which includes Syracuse and other cities.
U.S. courts have refused to hear the lawsuit asking for the return of their land, with the Supreme Court turning away a final petition in October.
Onondaga Nation lawyer Joe Heath, left. ((AP Photo/Mary Esch))
“The problem is that we can’t get the governor to sit down with us and the United States to live up to its treaty rights,” said the Onondaga Nation’s attorney, Joe Heath.
While in Washington, the group plans to display a belt that George Washington had commissioned to commemorate one of the treaties that was supposed to guarantee the Onondaga their land and “the free use and enjoyment thereof.”
The group says it is not seeking monetary damages, eviction of residents or rental payments. Instead, it wants a declaration that the land continues to belong to the Onondagas and that federal treaties were violated when it was taken away. Onondaga leaders have said they would use their claim to force the cleanup of hazardous, polluted sites like Onondaga Lake.
The petition against the United States was brought by the Onondaga Nation and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, which is made up of the Onondaga, Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga and Seneca Nations.
It could be years before the commission decides whether to hear the nation’s complaint, Heath said. Even then, there is nothing that could force the government to follow international recommendations, Heath said. The hope is that public pressure would bring state and federal officials to the table.
“Yes, they can just ignore it but there’s only so long we think can they do that,” said Heath.
Even if nothing happens, they will have made their stand, they said.
“We’re here, we’re speaking out and they know where we stand,” Onondaga Clan Mother Freida Jacques said. “Maybe you won’t write it in history, but we’ll know we made this effort and we’re not letting the people down.”
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Follow Jesse J. Holland on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jessejholland
4. The Port of Vancouver has kept secret key details about the terminal. 
