News Archives - Page 415 of 446

SR 529 bridge nears completion

Kirk Boxleitner, The Marysville Globe

MARYSVILLE — The ongoing replacement of the State Route 529 Ebey Slough Bridge has seen some significant milestones since this winter, and if the weather permits, March 8-11 will mark yet another key step toward the completion of the nearly three-year construction project.

“We’ve completely demolished the existing bridge structure, well below the ground line, to the point that no remnants are visible,” said Joe Rooney, chief inspector for the project with the Washington State Department of Transportation. “Once that was complete, we were able to build the approach fills on the west side of the new bridge, which put us in place to pave the full width, not including the final overlay we’ll be doing in April.”

According to Rooney, so long as the construction work doesn’t get rained out, SR 529 is set to be closed from First Avenue to Milepost 6, including the Ebey Slough Bridge, starting at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 8, and lasting until 5 a.m. on Monday, March 11.

“We’ll finally be pulling out that temporary barrier to put in temporary striping along where the permanent channels will be,” Rooney said. “The plastic imprinted striping will go in place this spring, but the new bridge will be at full capacity for the first time. With a little bit of landscaping work left, we should be completely out of here by May.”

Rooney noted that the original construction timeline afforded WSDOT and its contractor, Granite Construction, well into the summer months to wrap up their work, so they’re ahead of schedule and well within their budget.

“We’ve just been extremely fortunate,” Rooney said. “There haven’t been any significant change orders or design errors or surprising site conditions, and when you’re working that far under the surface, who knows beforehand what you can find. Granite Construction have been great partners as well.”

The project typically employed between 50-60 personnel on site, between subcontractors and specialists in fields such as pile-driving stone columns into the ground to form the supports for the new bridge.

“We built the new bridge well before we demolished the old one, which allowed us to keep traffic flowing throughout construction,” Rooney said. “We also benefitted from replacing a two-lane bridge with a four-lane bridge, so we were able to set up the two lanes on the west side of the new bridge as a staging area for construction without reducing the existing traffic capacity of the bridge. People had two lanes of traffic on the old bridge, and they’ve had two lanes of traffic on the new bridge, so they haven’t seen much difference yet.”

Rooney acknowledged the challenges of demolishing an old bridge directly over a waterway in an ecologically conscious fashion, so as not to contaminate the surrounding wetlands.

“We couldn’t have any debris at all, which is pretty difficult when you’re taking out a 700-foot-long span,” Rooney said. “To their credit, Granite Construction took this task seriously, and still managed to take out the existing structure to 10 feet below the mud line.”

Rooney reiterated that the scheduled closure of the SR 529 Ebey Slough Bridge from 8 p.m. on Friday, March 8, until 5 a.m. on Monday, March 11, is entirely weather-dependent, so check the WSDOT site at www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Public_Works/Services/Roads/roadsup for the latest information.

‘By the grace of God’: How workers survive on $7.25 per hour

Meet Crystal Dupont and John White. Both are both struggling to live on minimum wage, one at the start of her career and the other toward the end of his.

By Allison Linn, Staff Writer, NBC News

Working from the bedroom she shares with her mother, Crystal Dupont fields customer service phone calls for a national appliance brand. Dupont, 25, subsists mainly on minimum wage pay. She is living without health insurance because she can’t afford it. Photos: David Friedman, NBC News

Crystal Dupont knows what it’s like to try to live on the federal minimum wage.

Dupont has no health insurance, so she hasn’t seen a doctor in two years. She’s behind on her car payments and has taken out pawn shop and payday loans to cover other monthly expenses. She eats beans and oatmeal when her food budget gets low.

When she got her tax refund recently, she used the money to get ahead on her light bill.

“I try to live within my means, but sometimes you just can’t,” said Dupont, 25. The Houston resident works 30 to 40 hours a week taking customer service calls, earning between $7.25 and $8 an hour. That came to about $15,000 last year.

It’s a wage she’s lived on for a while now, but just barely.

About 3.6 million Americans were earning at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour in 2012, and those weren’t all high school students flipping burgers.

About half of them were 25 or older, a little more than one-third were working full time and a little less than three-fourths had graduated from high school, according to the most recent government data.

A person working full time for minimum wage would take home an annual salary of $15,080. That’s a shade higher than the poverty threshold for a household containing two adults, and about $8,000 less than the poverty line for a family of four.

These are the workers who answer your customer service calls, deliver your pizzas, take care of your children, bag your groceries and serve your food.

President Barack Obama has called on Congress to give them a raise by increasing the minimum wage to $9 an hour by 2015.

Liberal-leaning economists say the move would help millions of workers without better prospects pay their bills. It would also pump more money into the economy through higher consumer spending, they argue.

“Unfortunately, for far too many people, the ladder that they’re on doesn’t have a whole lot of rungs,” said Doug Hall, director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network at the progressive Economic Policy Institute.

But conservative thinkers argue the move would hurt both the economy and low-wage workers. They say employers would have to cut benefits or jobs so they could afford to pay the higher wages to remaining employees. Some say the minimum wage already keeps people out of a job.

“There (are) the people who are already working and are getting the minimum wage, and there’s the other group of people who are not working because of the minimum wage,” said Mark Perry, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

Caught in the middle of this debate are the workers themselves, millions of whom are preoccupied with the daily worries of getting by.

White rests on the back of an old Dodge pickup truck loaded with firewood at the homestead that has belonged to his family for more than 50 years. White heats his home with firewood, which is plentiful on the 100 acres he shares with his brother, and which costs far less than heating oil. He is also part of a program that helps subsidize energy costs for low-income residents.

Workers like John White, 61.

“It’s by the grace of God that I am having ends meet,” said White, who was out of work for 20 months before he got his current, part-time job delivering pizzas.

White has applied for a number of jobs, but he worries that at his age he is often overlooked for younger, more highly trained workers.

He earns a base salary of $7.25 an hour when he is prepping or doing other chores, but that drops to $4.50 an hour when he goes out on a delivery because he is supposed to also earn tips.

The Department of Labor allows tipped employees to be paid a base salary that is below minimum wage, but the employer must be able to show the employee receives minimum wage when tips are included.

In the past few years, White has relied on help from his church when he couldn’t pay his electric or phone bill, or needed car repairs. His fellow parishioners also helped him pick up odd jobs.

He gets $135 a month in food stamps, now known as SNAP, but lost his state-subsidized health insurance after he got his pizza delivery job. A lifelong bachelor, he lives in a family home in Robesonia, Pa., that he and his sibling inherited.

White’s wages have fallen steadily over the past decade. He worked in a warehouse of a regional department store for nearly 14 years and was earning $12.50 an hour before he was let go in 2003 after a dispute with a co-worker.

He was unemployed for about half a year until he got a job as a security guard in 2004. He earned $10.60 an hour in that job, and held it for six years until he was let go in June of 2010.

He’s been in the part-time pizza delivery job for nearly a year, but his financial situation remains precarious.

He’s hoping to pick up more hours. But unlike steadier jobs he’s had in the past, he’s learned that with this kind of job, there’s no guarantee of stable hours.

“You don’t even get eight hours in one day, (and) you might be lucky to get eight hours in one week,” he said.

Hoping for a better future

Dupont didn’t expect her working life to start out this way. She graduated from high school in 2006, a year after her father passed away, got a job and moved out of the family home.

But Dupont soon found that she couldn’t earn enough money to live on her own. She also needed to be home to help her mother, who is disabled and can’t drive because she has seizures.

Without her father’s income, Dupont and her mother couldn’t keep up on house payments, and the home they’d lived in since 1998 went into foreclosure in 2009. They moved into an apartment and now live on Dupont’s salary and her mother’s disability benefits and food stamps.

In January, Dupont started taking classes at Houston Community College, where she is in the business technology and computer science programs.

She took out a $3,500 student loan but is hoping that she can use scholarships and grants, or perhaps find a second job, to avoid taking on more debt.

On her days off, she’ll sometimes spend six hours studying, working ahead two or three weeks in her classes because she enjoys it so much.

“It tells me that there’s more than what I’m doing now out there – there’s more to life than this,” she said.

Action plan to protect scared sites

By Monica Brown, Tulalip News Writer

President Obama along with four cabinet-level departments joined with the Historic Preservation Advisory Council to develop an action plan that will strengthen the protection on Indian scared sites and enable access by tribes. The action plan created March 5, 2013, is required by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that had been signed in December 2012, by the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and the Historic Preservation Advisory Council.

“Through collaboration and consultation, the signatory agencies are working together to raise awareness about Indian sacred sites and the importance of maintaining their integrity,” said Milford Wayne Donaldson, chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. “The tools to be developed under this action plan will help agencies meet their Section 106 responsibilities while affording greater protections for sacred sites. The Advisory Council is very pleased to be part of this historic initiative to address the protection and preservation of Indian sacred sites.”

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Since 2009, USDA has stepped up Tribal consultation efforts. We understand the importance of these sites and will continue to make sure Tribes have full access to the resources they need in their communities.”

The MOU will remain in effect for five years and commits the signing parties to work together so that they may coordinate and collaborate ways to improve the protection of tribal sites and ensure tribal access to Indian sacred sites. It is understood that special care and confidentiality of some sites is necessary in some which involve sensitive information. Sacred site locations may be geological features, bodies of water, archaeological sites, burial locations, traditional cultural properties, and stone and earth structures. The sacred sites that have religious and cultural significance may be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places

Energy Secretary Steven Chu stated “Protecting America’s air and water and our nation’s heritage is an important part of the Energy Department’s commitment to Tribal Nations across the country, particularly those that are neighbors to the Department’s National Laboratories, sites and facilities. I look forward to continuing this important work and collaborating with other federal agencies and Tribal Nations to protect Indian sacred sites throughout the United States.”

The Action Plan includes:

A Mission Statement that commits the agencies to work together to improve the protection of and tribal access to Indian sacred sites, in accordance with Executive Order 13007 and the MOU, through enhanced and improved interdepartmental coordination, collaboration and consultation with tribes;
A list of actions the agencies will undertake together;
A commitment to consultation with Indian tribes in developing and implementing the actions outlined in the plan to ensure meaningful strategies for protecting sacred sites;
The establishment of a standing working committee made up of designated senior staff from the participating agencies, as well as other subject matter experts from the participating agencies as needed, to carry out the stipulations of the MOU; and
The commitment of the Agencies to designate senior level officials to serve as members of a Core Working Group, which the Department of the Interior will Chair.

Secretary Salazar also announced that Interior plans to provide a report on the Department’s Tribal Listening Sessions on Sacred Sites. Last year, the Department held several Tribal Listening Sessions across the country to elicit tribal and spiritual leaders concerns regarding sacred sites.

View the action plan here.

Congresswoman Votes Against VAWA Because of LGBT Inclusiveness

Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn said she rejected the VAWA because of its LGBT inclusion.

By Michelle Garcia, Advocate.com

A Republican congresswoman admitted that the only thing preventing her from voting in favor of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act because of its’ LGBT-inclusive provisions, among others.

Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn told MSNBC that she voted against the newly approved House version of the VAWA due to added protections for LGBT people subjected to partner violence, as well as Native American people and immigrants. Blackburn was one of the 138 to vote against the bill, with 286 in favor. Eighty-seven Republicans supported the LGBT-inclusive VAWA.

“I didn’t like the way it was expanded to include other different groups,” she said. “What you need is something that is focused specifically to help the shelters and to help out law enforcement who is trying to work with the crimes that have been committed against women and helping them to stand up.”

Ore. report says coal-train dust data too sparse

Industry data is too scant to gauge the health effects of coal dust blowing off of trains headed from the Great Plains to export terminals along the West Coast, according to a review by Multnomah County’s health department.

The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. — Industry data is too scant to gauge the health effects of coal dust blowing off of trains headed from the Great Plains to export terminals along the West Coast, according to a review by Multnomah County’s health department.

County Chairman Jeff Cogen, a coal export opponent, requested the report on health effects, The Oregonian newspaper (http://bit.ly/Z6n9yg) reported.

Local governments can’t stop the export projects, he said, but “the burden should be on the coal companies and the train companies to prove that this is not going to damage the health of our residents.”

One in nine Multnomah County residents lives within a third of a mile of potential coal-train routes, the report said.

Three of the five terminals being considered for coal exports could send trains through Portland – one in Coos Bay and two along the Columbia River in Longview, Wash., and at a Port of St. Helens industrial park near Clatskanie.

The analysis looked at the impact if all three projects succeed, bringing up to 90 million tons of coal through the county on 16 to 19 trains each day. But some of the traffic might be on the Washington side of the river, and two of the terminals haven’t applied for permits.

“The bottom line is a lot of the information on coal dust dispersal is proprietary, and it’s not well validated,” said Gary Oxman, who recently retired as county health officer and oversaw the report. “It doesn’t mean there’s a terrible risk from train transport, but it needs to be illuminated more.”

The report says the federal government should do a regional study of export proposals, a call similar to one made by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber.

The dust contains harmful metals, including cadmium. But little is known about how it’s dispersed or the size of the particles. Smaller particles are more likely to lodge in the lungs.

BNSF Railway has estimated that up to a ton blows off of a single car. But terminal and rail officials say most of the dust is lost near mines in Montana and Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.

Coal shipments have been going through Washington to export ports in British Columbia for decades with no complaints made to regulators there, say advocates such the Alliance for Northwest Jobs and Exports, a trade group that includes railroads and coal companies.

“Coal dust is one issue where people involved in the alliance feel very, very comfortable that it’s not a concern,” said spokeswoman Lauri Hennessey. “I really feel it’s a red herring.”

The report concludes the trains a mile long would generate relatively small increases in diesel pollution and noise, but they would go through areas already heavily affected by pollution. The trains could create cumulative delays of up to two hours per day at at-grade rail crossings, the report said.

—

Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com

3 rail cars derail in Missoula, spilling coal

Crews work to clean up spilled coal and repair tracks on Tuesday where three Montana Rail Link rail cars derailed. The derailment near Railroad Street West and Trade Street in Missoula. Photo: Tom Bauer/Missoulian

Associated Press

MISSOULA, Mont. — Three cars on a Montana Rail Link train derailed in Missoula with one of the coal cars spilling some of its contents.

MRL spokeswoman Lynda Frost tells the Missoulian ( http://bit.ly/XLR53U) the train cars derailed about midnight Monday. Frost says one car was upright, one was tilted and one tipped on its side.

No one was injured. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.

Frost expected the derailment to be cleaned up by Tuesday evening.

A conservation group that opposes plans to increase the number of coal trains from the Powder River Basin says Tuesday’s spill is a reminder of the risks.

The Northern Plains Resource Council says the export terminals proposed in Oregon and Washington could mean up to 40 trains a day moving through Montana.

Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com

Washington’s ex-governors get into it for TV

Former governors John Spellman (left) and Chris Gregoire sit down for a taping of "The Governors: A KCTS 9 Special" on Tuesday afternoon. 9. Photo: Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald — Former governors John Spellman (left) and Chris Gregoire sit down for a taping of “The Governors: A KCTS 9 Special” on Tuesday afternoon. 9. Photo: Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald

By Jerry Cornfield, Herald Writer

SEATTLE — Four former Washington governors spent an hour in a television studio Tuesday dishing on the high, low and unforgettable moments each experienced as the state’s chief executive.

And then it got interesting when the two liberal Democrats and two moderate Republicans detoured into politics.

Democrats Chris Gregoire and Mike Lowry and Republicans Dan Evans and John Spellman all praised last week’s Supreme Court ruling toppling a voter-approved requirement for a two-thirds majority to raise taxes.

“Two-thirds doesn’t make any sense,” said Evans, the state’s only three-term governor who served from 1965-77. “You can’t let the minority run the government or the state.”

But Gregoire, who left office in January after two terms, said not to expect a flood of new taxes this year because lawmakers know how popular the supermajority rule is with voters.

“I would be shocked if legislators run wild right now,” she said.

Then Evans added a spirited exclamation: “No legislator likes to do it unless they have to do it. Doggone it; the people have the last say.”

The gubernatorial quartet gathered in the KCTS9 studio in Seattle to tape an hour-long special to air April 16. Enrique Cerna of KCTS and Joni Balter, assistant political editor of The Seattle Times, moderated the conversation.

While each of the four ex-governors served in a different decade, they shared a similar passion for public service when they ran for the office.

Of course, not every one had an equally easy time getting the job.

Spellman first ran in 1976 and lost to Democrat Dixie Lee Ray, the state’s first woman governor.

“We didn’t see her coming on and it was kind of a shock,” he said. “We didn’t know how to lay a glove on her.”

Four years later he ran again. He expected a rematch but she lost in the primary. Spellman went on to defeat Democrat Jim McDermott and is the last Republican to serve as governor.

Gregoire etched her place in state history with a nail-biting defeat of Republican Dino Rossi in 2004 following recounts and a court case.

When asked to describe her experience, she joked: “One word comes to mind, refresh.” She was referring to continually checking online for the updated tallies of votes during the final hand count.

Once in office, each dealt with budget shortfalls. Three — Spellman, Lowry and Gregoire — raised taxes to help fill the gap.

“It had to be done,” Spellman said, adding the money was needed for schools and social services. “It didn’t help me politically.”

Evans, meanwhile, tried twice without success to win voter approval of an income tax as part of a larger reform package.

“We got our heads handed to us” the first time, he said. “We tried it one more time and it was almost three-to-one. People will live with the taxes they know. When something new comes up, they get skeptical.”

Lowry, who served from 1993-97, sounded much like a candidate again when he called today’s opposition to taxes “self-defeating. I think we’ve kind of lost sight of the importance of a well-run government. We need to get more revenue into this state.”

The potential of initiatives to handcuff lawmakers and governors in budget-writing and policy-making united the foursome.

“I think initiatives are leading us to anarchy,” Spellman said, adding he’d like to see some areas of government immune to change through initiatives.

As for achievements, Lowry cited his expansion of the Basic Health Program providing subsidized health insurance to the poor while Spellman said it was establishing a relationship with China which is now the state’s leading trade partner. Evans said he’s most proud of creating the community college system and the Department of Ecology.

One of the more emotional moments came when they discussed their toughest decisions.

For Gregoire, it was endorsing marriage for same-sex couples. She said she struggled with it mightily and “the weight of the world was lifted” when she went public.

Her most difficult day was the one when four Lakewood police officers were gunned down.

Lowry said he regrets not commuting the death sentence for convicted Snohomish County triple murderer Charles Campbell in 1994. Lowry opposed the death penalty but said he could not override the actions of the courts which had rejected Campbell’s repeated appeals.

One of the last questions they faced is how they prepared for life after being governor.

For Gregoire, it meant re-learning how to drive after eight years of getting chauffeured everywhere. She said she’s gaining her confidence, though not so much with parallel parking.

“It’s an adjustment,” she said. “Parking the car is an adjustment.”

Evans, who also served as a state lawmaker and U.S. senator, welcomed not being in the spotlight.

One of the frustrations of being governor, he said, is everyone recognizes you and you can’t get away with your family.

“It ultimately fades away and anonymity returns,” he said.

Ivar’s Birthday Wishes and More Fishes

Ivar’s Birthday Bargain: $1.08 Menu Items Served up on March 19; plus free cake pops for the first 108 guests.

SEATTLE, March 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — He recently missed having a ferry named in his honor, but Ivar Haglund would have never missed a chance to shell-ebrate with a party! In that spirit, on Tuesday, March 19, all Ivar’s Seafood Restaurants, including Seafood Bars and full service restaurants throughout Washington State, will commemorate what would have been Ivar Haglund’s 108^th birthday by offering special $1.08 dining deals in honor of their “flounder.”

Ivar's Birthday Offer (March 19, 2013). (PRNewsFoto/Ivar's Seafood Restaurants) — Ivar’s Birthday Offer (March 19, 2013). (PRNewsFoto/Ivar’s Seafood Restaurants)

As part of Ivar’s annual birthday festivities, throughout the day guests can purchase one full-priced entree and receive a second entree from a special birthday menu for just $1.08, simply by exclaiming “Happy Birthday, Ivar” when placing the order. In addition to the birthday discounts, Ivar’s will also treat the first 108 guests at each of its locations to a delicious blueberry birthday cake pop, one of Haglund’s favorite flavors.

To add to the festivities, Ivar’s is also hosting a two-week “Ivar Haglund Birthday Video and Photo Contest” (March 6-20) on its Facebook page. Fans can enter by uploading a creative video or photo wishing happy birthday to Haglund, for a chance to net a $108 Ivar’s gift card or other great prizes. Winners will be selected based on originality and creativity by a panel of Ivar’s judges. Enter at www.facebook.com/IvarsRestaurants by March 20.

Ivar Haglund began the popular restaurant chain bearing his name in 1938, when he opened a fish and chips stand at his Seattle aquarium, which was located on the Waterfront at Pier 3 (now Pier 54). He was well known for his popular radio ditties, as well as his comical stunts such as clam eating contests, taking advantage of a train-car syrup spill, and an Ivar’s clam postage stamp. He passed away in 1985 just shy of his 80th birthday. The history behind Ivar Haglund can be found on Ivar’s website. This year also marks a significant milestone, as it’s the company’s 75^th anniversary, with more details revealed later this spring.

The birthday bargain is available all day long at any of the 23 Ivar’s Seafood Bars throughout the state, excluding stadium locations. All Ivar’s full service locations are also in on the action, including Ivar’s Acres of Clams on Seattle’s waterfront, Ivar’s Salmon House on north Lake Union, and Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing overlooking Possession Sound.

About Ivar’s
Ivar’s Seafood Restaurants began on Seattle’s waterfront in 1938. Today, there are 23 Ivar’s fast casual Seafood Bars and three full-service restaurants: Ivar’s Acres of Clams, Ivar’s Salmon House and Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing. Ivar’s Seafood, Soup and Sauce Company markets and sells its award-winning soups, chowders and sauces both nationally and internationally. The company also operates regional stadium concessions including Safeco Field, CenturyLink Field, KeyArena, Bank of America Arena, Husky Stadium and Cheney Stadium. Learn more at http://www.ivars.com/.

SOURCE Ivar’s Seafood Restaurants

Tribes sample elk DNA to track population

Wildlife biologists from Stillaguamish, Tulalip and Western Washington University sample DNA from elk scat.

Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

Wildlife biologists from the Stillaguamish and Tulalip tribes are testing a new way to track the population of the Nooksack elk herd using the animals’ scat.

Tribal biologists have partnered with Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment to determine the most efficient way to collect DNA from elk scat. Genetic material can be found in the intestinal mucus coating the pellets. This winter, biologists sampled fresh scat using toothpicks and cotton swabs, submitting the samples to a genetics lab to determine which method is most effective at providing an animal’s unique genotype.

“This is a non-invasive method that does not require collaring animals or helicopter time to survey them,” said Stillaguamish biologist Jennifer Sevigny.

While the current method of using tracking collars and aerial surveys is expensive, it allows state and tribal wildlife managers to determine the bull-to-cow and cow-to-calf ratios needed to set harvest levels. To fit elk with tracking collars, the animals must be captured and tranquilized.

In the spring, the Stillaguamish and Tulalip tribes plan to coordinate a large population survey, sampling elk scat in the North Cascades Mountains, including forested landscapes that are hard to monitor during aerial surveys.

“Once individual elk are identified by their DNA, a population estimate can be obtained by re-sampling an area and comparing the number of originally identified individuals – the marked animals – to the newly identified animals – the unmarked animals,” said Tulalip wildlife manager Mike Sevigny.

During the past two decades, tribal and state co-managers completed numerous habitat restoration projects to improve forage for the Nooksack herd, which had declined to about 300 animals by 2003. According to 2012 aerial surveys, the herd has rebounded to as many as 1,400 elk.

Not all Native American Veterans able to get adequate care

By Monica Brown, Tulalip News Writer

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released a comprehensive report in September 2012, of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) veterans. There are over 154,000 AI/AN veterans in the U.S. with over 6,000 in Washington state.

“American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) Veterans have played a vital role in the United States military for over two hundred years. Recognizing their long history of distinguished service, this report seeks to provide comprehensive statistics on this important cohort of Veterans through an examination of AIAN Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard data together with demographic, socioeconomic, and health status statistics for AIAN Veteran, “states the U.S. dept of veteran affairs.

Native Americans serve in the U.S. Armed Forces at a higher rate per capita than any other ethnic group and have had more female servicemembers than any other group of servicemembers. The report, titled “American Indian and Alaska Servicemembers and Veterans,” shows that AI/AN alos have higher unemployment rates and aren’t recieving health care.

The Veterans Health Administration Office of rural Health states, “Native Veterans face many challenges to receiving adequate care. These challenges include long distances to care with few transportation resources and limited access to specialty care. Rural Native Veterans must sort out an often confusing mix of local and federal health care providers with overlapping and sometimes inconsistent coverage across Native, local, state, and federal levels. Frequently, Native practices in health and healing are not well-integrated into care they receive from clinics or hospitals. Finally, rural Native Veterans often are among the most impoverished with little access to training opportunities and few viable prospects for employment—all factors which are closely tied to poor health outcomes,”

Here are some statistics from the study:

The unemployment rate of AI/AN vets is 7.1%

The unemployment rate for vets of all other races is 4.9%

15.3% of AI/AN vets who do not have health insurance

6.3%of vets of all other races who do not have health insurance

36.4% AI/AN vets who suffer from one or more disability

26.2% of vets of all other races who suffer from one or more disability

18.9% AI/AN vets who have a service-connected disability rating

15.6% of vets of all other races who have a service-connected disability rating