Category: News

Dry spring and summer forecast for Western states

Source: USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2013 – March streamflow forecasts show a decline in nearly every Western state and basin, according to water and climate experts.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service National Water and Climate Center hydrologists predict dry conditions to continue from the less-than-average precipitation during February, which indicates reduced spring and summer water supply for much of the West.

“With only one month remaining in the snow season, it’s highly unlikely the snowpack will recover to normal levels over the Four Corner States,” hydrologist Tom Perkins said.

Although other parts of the country got more snow, it didn’t have impact in the western mountains, he said.

“What fell in the West didn’t really amount to much,” Perkins said. “New Mexico, Utah and Colorado are especially vulnerable, because their reservoirs are at low levels due to sustained drought conditions.”

At this point, it looks like water supply conditions will end up below average for most of the West’s rivers. Water resource managers will need to make some difficult decisions in the coming months due to this shortage, Perkins said.

There are a few exceptions to the dry forecasts. Spring and summer streamflow forecasts as of March 1, are calling for near normal levels across Oregon, Washington, Idaho and western Montana. Below normal flows are predicted over the rest of the Western U.S.

Although some are at normal levels now, March 1 snowmelt runoff forecasts trends indicated worsening conditions as compared to the Feb. 1 report. Forecasts decreased 5 to 10 percent in Washington and Oregon; 10 to 20 percent in Montana, Idaho and Utah; 10 to 15 percent in Colorado. Forecasts increased 5 to 10 percent in north-central New Mexico, but this was not enough to make up the shortfall.

“Although NRCS’ streamflow forecasts do not directly predict drought, they provide valuable information about future water supply in states where snowmelt accounts for as much as 50 to 80 percent of seasonal runoff,” according to Perkins.

In addition to precipitation, streamflow in the West consists largely of accumulated mountain snow that melts and flows into streams as temperatures warm into spring and summer.

The March forecast is the third of six monthly forecasts issued each year between January and June by the national center. The forecast compares the current level of water content in snowpack in the 12 Western states with historical data to help the region’s farmers, ranchers, water managers, communities and other stakeholders make informed decisions about water use and future availability.

The snowfall, air temperature and numerous other factors taken from remote climate sites ultimately contribute to water supply. Typically, decision-makers and water managers wait until April for a more complete picture that accounts for these variables before making final management decisions

NRCS will continue to monitor levels across the Western states to provide the most up-to-date water supply information each month.

“USDA streamflow forecasts play a vital role in the livelihood of many Americans,” said Jason Weller, NRCS acting chief. “With much of this region greatly affected by drought, our experts will continue to monitor snowpack data and ensure that NRCS is ready to help landowners plan and prepare for water supply conditions.”

Since 1935, NRCS has conducted snow surveys and issued regular water supply forecasts. NRCS installs, operates and maintains an extensive, automated system called Snow Telemetry, or SNOTEL, designed to collect snowpack and related climatic data in the Western United States and Alaska.

View March’s Snow Survey Water Supply Forecast map or view information by state.

Other resources on drought include the U.S. Drought Monitor and U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook map, which forecast drought conditions through March 31. For information on USDA’s drought efforts, visit www.usda.gov/drought. And to learn more about how NRCS is helping private landowners deal with drought, visit the NRCS site.

 

SnoCo teens drinking less; thinking more about suicide

The 2012 Healthy Youth Survey reflects ups and downs among local older kids

Source: Snohomish County Health District
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. – The state’s recently released 2012 Healthy Youth Survey (HYS) shows that Snohomish County’s youth are having their ups and downs when it comes to healthy choices and experiences. The biennial report issued by the Washington State Department of Health offers health-risk information reported anonymously by students statewide in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12.
 
Issues of concern among Snohomish County teens include an increase in planning and seriously considering suicide, and worrisome reports of physical abuse by adults. The good news is that the teens who are depressed or considering suicide are more likely to seek help.
 
Use of cigarettes in the last 30 days was the lowest since 2002 in all grades, dropping to 15% for 12th graders. Use of hookah tobacco, however, hit 19% in that age group, and more than 25% reported marijuana use.
 
Alcohol use was lower in Snohomish County than in Washington State across the board among all grades, decreasing 4-5% at each grade level. Most kids still are not getting enough exercise, with about 20-27% reporting that they are physically active for 60 minutes per day.
 
“When we focus on the kids in our community, we actually are focusing on the adult population of the immediate future,” said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, Health Officer and Director of the Snohomish Health District. “This is important information we use in planning as we attempt to meet the public health needs of the whole community.”
 
Data from select topics of concern in the 2012 survey are highlighted in new fact sheets on the Health District website at www.snohd.org. Health District staff has just begun analyzing this new data to identify trends and recommendations. The Snohomish Health District used data from the last Healthy Youth Survey in a community health assessment report that will be released in late April.
 
Find the state’s complete survey and fact sheets online at http://www.askhys.net/.
 
The 2012 HYS is the thirteenth survey since 1988 to sample Washington’s students about health risk behaviors that contribute to their illness, death, and social problems.
 
Students in each grade answered about 100 questions in six broad topics: demographics; alcohol, tobacco and other drug use; school climate; quality of life; risk and protective factors; and healthy weight, eating and physical activity.
 
The survey is a joint effort of the Department of Health, Department of Social and Health Services, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Liquor Control Board, the Family Policy Council, and the Department of Commerce. Results are used to plan, implement, and evaluate state youth programs.
 
Established in 1959, the Snohomish Health District works for a safer and healthier community through disease prevention, health promotion, and protection from environmental threats. Find more information about the Health District at www.snohd.org.

International Wildlife Trade Group Votes to Protect Hundreds of Species

Shawn Heinrichs for the Pew Environment GroupSharks are so coveted throughout Asia for their fins that a good 30 percent of the world's species are in danger of extinction.Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/14/international-wildlife-trade-group-votes-protect-hundreds-species-148190

Shawn Heinrichs for the Pew Environment Group
Sharks are so coveted throughout Asia for their fins that a good 30 percent of the world’s species are in danger of extinction.
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/14/international-wildlife-trade-group-votes-protect-hundreds-species-148190

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

In its final plenary vote, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) formalized the protection of hundreds of species, including manta rays and five species of shark, at its closing session in Bangkok on March 14.

It brings to eight the number of shark species that fall under CITES protection, The New York Times reported. Trade in two species of manta ray is also protected.

“This is a major win for some of the world’s most threatened shark species, with action now required to control the international trade in their fins,” said Susan Lieberman, director of international environment policy at The Pew Charitable Trusts in a statement. “This victory indicates that the global community will collaborate to address the plight of some of the most highly vulnerable sharks and manta ray species. Today was the most significant day for the ocean in the 40-year history of CITES.”

The Pew Charitable Trusts has dubbed 2013 the Year of the Shark to bring attention to the danger that these marine animals are in worldwide. Shark fins, meat, gill plates and aquarium animals are in high demand, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which has 143 shark species on its endangered list.

“The rising demand for shark fins, shark meat, gill plates, and aquarium animals is seriously threatening the survival of these species,” the IUCN said in a statement after the vote. “Up to 1.2 million oceanic whitetip sharks, which are fished for their large and distinctive fins, pass through the markets of Southeast Asia every year, and over 4,000 manta rays are harpooned for their gills.”

The manta rays are harvested for their gill rakers, which filter their food from the water and are used in an Asian health tonic, Pew said.

In all, hundreds of species were awarded protection, CITES said in a statement, among them rhinos and elephants, which have been hunted nearly to extinction by poachers. A U.S.–sponsored ban on trading polar bear parts was defeated, in a move that was lauded by Inuit peoples.

Two thirds of CITES’ 177 member governments and organizations voted in favor of the shark and ray protections. The international body meets every three years to discuss the preservation of 35,000 species, its delegates representing 178 governments, businesses, non-governmental organizations and indigenous groups, according to the Associated Press.

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/14/international-wildlife-trade-group-votes-protect-hundreds-species-148190

United Way Recognizes Winners of Community Caring Awards

Mayor Jon Nehring of Marysville, the incoming chair of the United Way campaign joins Bob Throckmorton and Joyce Eleanor, both of Community Transit. Eleanor, CEO of Community Transit, chaired the just completed 2012 Campaign. (Photo Credit: William Wright for United Way of Snohomish County)
Mayor Jon Nehring of Marysville, the incoming chair of the United Way campaign joins Bob Throckmorton and Joyce Eleanor, both of Community Transit. Eleanor, CEO of Community Transit, chaired the just completed 2012 Campaign. (Photo Credit: William Wright for United Way of Snohomish County)
Press Release, United Way
(Everett, WA) – On Wednesday, March 6 almost 600 representatives of Snohomish County companies, nonprofits, school districts and government agencies celebrated the close of the 2012 Community Caring Campaign at an awards dinner hosted by United Way of Snohomish County.
 
After three years of seeing revenues hold steady despite difficult economic times, this year’s campaign saw a slight increase in revenue. The United Way Community Caring campaign includes contributions to the various United Way campaigns, the Combined Federal Campaign and the Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound.
 
“We so appreciate that Snohomish County always works together as a community.” said Dr. Dennis Smith, the organization’s president and CEO. “It’s a testament to our County’s caring and can-do spirit.”
 
Although United Way is also raising money for its endowment, is actively seeking grants and works with policymakers to leverage state and federal dollars, the annual campaign through various worksites continues to be the group’s primary source of revenue. Final numbers for the year will be reported in July.
 
“United Way was able to help hundreds of thousands individuals in Snohomish County because the community is able to come together behind the goals of ensuring that our kids are ready to learn, that families have financial stability and our community as a whole is healthy,” said Joyce Eleanor, CEO of Community Transit and chair of the 2012 Campaign.
 
In addition to several of its own initiatives, United Way supports 102 programs through 39 local nonprofits touching the lives of 330,000 people each year.
 
The top organizational award of the evening, the President’s Award was a tie, given to Fluke Corporation and United Parcel Service. The top individual award, the Executives of the Year Awards, were given to Phil McConnell of Work Opportunities and Jerry Goodwin of Senior Aerospace AMT, Absolute Manufacturing and Damar AeroSystems
 
The largest contributions came from The Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound ($1.86 million) and The Boeing Company ($800,000) – co-winners of the Premier Partner Award.
 
With the close of the 2012 campaign year, the community thanked Joyce Eleanor for her leadership of the campaign welcomed Mayor Jon Nehring of Marysville as the 2013 Campaign Chair.
 
Event sponsors included The Boeing Company and AT&T; Union Bank; The Everett Clinic, Jamco America, Inc. and Providence Regional Medical Center Everett; Fluke Corporation and Puget Sound Energy; The Herald, Comcast and Stadium Flowers.
Here is a full list of award winners:
 
President’s Award
Fluke Corporation
United Parcel Service
 
Executive of the Year Award
Phil McConnell, Work Opportunities
Jerry Goodwin, Senior Aerospace AMT, Absolute Manufacturing and Damar AeroSystems
 
Premier Partner Award
The Boeing Company
Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound
 
Employee Campaign Manager of the Year Award
Tess Hernandez, Work Opportunities
Jessica Aldecoa and Gem Malone, B/E Aerospace
Nicole Allard and Laurie Ollestad-Adams, Aviation Technical Services, Inc.
 
Positive Change Award
Everett Public Schools
Jamco America, Inc.
Premera Blue Cross
 
Local Community Hero Award
Vine Dahlen PLLC
Target – Marysville
Tulalip Gaming Organization
 
Labor Partnership Award
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1576
IAM & AW Local 130
 
Best New Campaign
American Girl
United Way is a community impact organization serving Snohomish County for more than 70 years. In addition to funding 102 programs through 39 agencies with a special focus on local health and human services, United Way of Snohomish County supports a number of initiatives focusing on early learning and education, financial stability for families, a youth program, North Sound 211 and an emerging initiative in survival English. 

Indian Country Responds to the International Olympic Committee Putting Wrestling on the Chopping Block

By Vincent Shilling, Indian Country Today Media Network

Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Photo: AP/Paul Sancya
Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Photo: AP/Paul Sancya

In February, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Switzerland announced that wrestling will likely be voted out of the Olympics. Wrestling has been a fixture of the Olympics since 708 B.C. and is considered by many to be the oldest competitive sport.

According to the Associated Press, the IOC reviewed the 26 sports listed on the current Olympic program and could eliminate wrestling–both freestyle and Greco-Roman–in a final vote later this year to make way for the inclusion of a new sport such as rugby or golf in the 2020 games. The IOC’s recent decision has drawn massive criticism in banning a sport that has long been connected to the Olympics and is even mentioned in the Bible.

“This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics,” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams. “In the view of the executive board, this was the best program for the Olympic Games in 2020. It’s not a case of what’s wrong with wrestling; it is what’s right with the 25 core sports.”

Wrestling was voted out from a final group that also included the modern pentathlon, taekwondo and field hockey. Wrestling now joins baseball, softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu (full contact Chinese martial arts) as candidates for the 26th and final spot. Though the IOC’s decision is based in part upon contemporary sports popularity, some in Indian country say there are consequences that the IOC committee may not have considered.

“When you are a basketball player you dream of the NBA, when you are a football player you dream of the NFL. When you are a wrestler, it is the Olympics, that is the pinnacle,” says Troy Heinert, the varsity wrestling coach for Todd County High School on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota and a South Dakota State Representative. “When you are taking that away, the ones I really feel bad about are the college wrestlers right now. They are going through tough college seasons looking forward to tryouts and maybe making the Olympic team once their college career is finished.

“I think this was a terrible decision by the IOC,” says Heinert. “This means for the 2016 Games that will be the end of wrestling. I cannot see why this is a logical choice especially when so many countries around the world participate in wrestling in the Olympics.”

South Dakota State Representative Troy Heinart will take the IOC to the legislative mat.
South Dakota State Representative Troy Heinart will take the IOC to the legislative mat.

According to Heinert and Stephanie Murata, Osage and a former national women’s wrestling champion, the efforts to completely remove the sport from the Olympics have not as of yet been finalized, despite wrestling being voted out in the initial round of voting for 2020.

“Wrestling has not really been removed yet, it is just a recommendation as far as the different sports from which and will be removed,” says Murata. “There has not been a final decision yet, there are two more Olympic IOC meetings. One will be in St. Petersburg and the other, final decision, which is the one that is the most concerning, will be in Buenos Aires in September.”

Champion wrestler Stephanie Murata, Osage, thinks the IOC is making a bad decision.
Champion wrestler Stephanie Murata, Osage, thinks the IOC is making a bad decision.

 

Both Murata and Heinert say that the IOC’s decision is most likely based on a desire to embrace contemporary sports, but wrestling–with all of its tradition and history—should not be removed. For Murata, a woman wrestler feels an even greater desire to see the sport retained. Women’s wrestling wasn’t admitted into the Olympic program until 1996.

“All of this is ironic because women’s wrestling in relation to men’s wrestling just got into the Olympics. We as women, have been in this situation of wanting to be in the Olympics for a significant period of time and everyone still trained, because they wanted to be in the Olympics and they wanted to be ready once it was,” Murata said.

Regardless of the recent vote by the IOC, the international wrestling world is not going to go down without a fight.

“I know there has been a push by the wrestling community and governors from different states across the country and they are petitioning the IOC to reinstate wrestling,” says Heinert. “The talk I have heard is that the United States, Russia, Iran, China – the bigger countries that have competed in the Olympics and European countries are going to have to make that big push. Russia has former Olympic wrestlers in Parliament and they are working very hard and putting pressure on the IOC.”

Heinert is even taking the matter into the legislative system. “Our governor here in South Dakota signed onto a bill of legislation with other governors to ask for wrestling to be reinstated. South Dakota does have an Olympic gold medalist. I am a legislator in South Dakota and next year I will be bringing a resolution to both houses to be sent to the IOC,” he said. “This may flood [mixed martial arts] with potential Olympic wrestlers. You went to high school, you went through college… a lot of these guys have wrestled since they have been four years old, for the last 20 years, they have been training themselves to be a wrestler.

“Without the Olympics, what is your draw? When you see a trainer who is an Olympic gold medalist or an Olympic wrestler, that draws you to that camp instantly. You will see a decline in camp enrollment I think. “Wrestling is important to us, it goes back to when we were training for warfare. Not just in the Roman days but we as Lakotas,” says Heinert. “It has been here, since we have been here.

“A national title, and being All-American is something to be extremely proud of, it takes a lot of skill and a lot of hard work. But I cannot imagine there’s anything like holding a gold medal for your country,” said Heinert. “Hopefully the IOC will see the mistake it is making and reverse its decision.”

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/14/indian-country-responds-international-olympic-committee-putting-wrestling-chopping-block

Mary Brave Bird, Author of Lakota Woman, Walks On

By david P. Ball, Indian Country Today Media Network

American Indian activist, author and educator Mary Ellen Brave Bird-Richard walked on at age 58 on February 14, of natural causes.

But for many of her comrades—stretching back to the 1970s Trail of Broken Treaties and the standoff at Wounded Knee—Brave Bird’s struggle for her people will never be forgotten. Her story was immortalized in her American Book Award-winning 1977 memoir, Lakota Woman, which became a made-for-TV film.

“She was one of the strongest women I’ve ever known,” her 34-year-old son, Henry, told Indian Country Today Media Network. “She never went after anyone. She was a really kind, and a really private, person. She’d always teach us to have self-respect and honor. Both of my parents were raised by their traditional grandparents, and that’s how they raised us, too.”

Brave Bird was born in 1954 on Rosebud Reservation, and grew up in poverty, often called a “half-breed” because her father was white. She attended St. Francis Boarding School, where she was forbidden to speak Sioux and forced into Christianity. But as a teenager, her life as an advocate began when she published a newspaper exposing her abuse in the mission school.

She married Leonard Crow Dog, a Sundance Chief and spiritual leader in the American Indian Movement, and had four sons and two daughters. Last year, she remarried, but her husband was killed in an automobile accident only weeks after the wedding, according to her son.

“The first time I saw her, we were at Wounded Knee,” New York-based photographer Owen Luck told ICTMN. “Leonard [Crow Dog] was talking to a bunch of us. Mary just came up and asked who I was and what I was doing there, out of blue. She was just like that—very direct, but very kind. She was very protective of AIM… What I remember most about Mary was she was very kind. She was incredibly loyal to Crow Dog. The word that comes to mind is steadfast.”

Reached at his South Dakota home—the site of annual Sundances known as “Crow Dog’s Paradise”—Crow Dog said Mary’s passion was always freedom for her people.

“From when Lakota Woman was born, she lived a traditional way of life,” he explained. “She respected the waters of life—of the generations. Mary protected the Indian generations of our national tribes. She read a lot of history. What brought her to that was that there is no freedom here in America for Native Americans.”

Brave Bird was buried in Clear Water Cemetery on February 24, on Rosebud Reservation’s Grass Mountain. And though she is remembered for her doting attention for visitors to Crow Dog’s Paradise, she carried inside her a story of suffering which she kept mostly to herself.

“One time she told me, when we were sitting around, what it was like to be raped in the mission school—the nuns had participated in this,” Luck recalled. “She had to trust you to do that. I remember having conversations… when people would come into the room she didn’t know, she’d become immediately silent. She didn’t talk a great deal until she got to know people.”

Luck, a non-Native supporter who kept in touch with Brave Bird in the decades since Wounded Knee, said her biggest lesson for him was how to balance anger at injustice with forgiveness.

“If anything, I learned from her—after Wounded Knee—that you have to have forgiveness,” Luck said. “Of course, there’s still an enormous amount of anger. But I noticed Mary was very, very quick to forgive. I’m not that forgiving.”

For her son Henry, Brave Bird’s legacy is one that affected many. She published her second memoir, Ohitika Woman, in 1993, as well as a book on educational abuses, Civilize Them with a Stick.

“My Mom really opened a lot of doors for Indian country,” Henry said. “When they were going to close our Indian schools, she stood up to the U.S. government and told them, ‘We need Indian education, for Indians.’ She’s pretty well known in Indian country. She did a lot of good things for the tribes. Now it’s official: Her work will go into the future.”

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/14/mary-brave-bird-author-lakota-woman-walks-148164

Michelle Williams Sports Controversial Indian Look on Cover of ‘AnOther Magazine’

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Actress Michelle Williams, who appears in the film Oz: The Great and Powerful, is featured on the cover of the Spring/Summer issue of AnOther Magazine dressed as an Indian — a styling choice that is not going over well in Indian country.

In the photo, Williams wears long braids, beads, feathers, and what Ruth Hopkins described at Jezebel.com as “a decidedly stoic expression.” But Wiliams’ outfit eschews regalia, consisting instead of flannel jeans, and a robe. “Are they endeavoring to capture the spirit of the American Indian Movement (AIM) circa 1973?” Hopkins, an ICTMN contributor, wondered. “Is this an ad for the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) or the American Indian College Fund (AICF)? Nope. It’s a 33 year old white actress hyping her latest Hollywood project by wearing a cheap costume designed to make her look like she’s the member of another race.”

Connecting some dots, Hopkins and others see an issue that goes beyond a single ill-advised photograph.

For starters, Williams’ current screen role is as Glinda, a witch in the fantasy world created by L. Frank Baum of Wonderful Wizard of Oz fame. (Note the tagline on the magazie cover: “There’s No Place Like Home”) It is a lesser-known fact — though better known among Indians than non-Indians — that Baum wrote two virulently anti-Indian editorials while he was editor of the Aberdeen, SD-based Saturday Pioneer. It is safe to say that Baum isn’t Indian country’s favorite children’s author. It’s a pity Williams didn’t know that, or keep it in mind, when she sat for an interview with the L.A. Times last week. “Quadlings, Tinkers and Munchkins didn’t mean much to me; it wasn’t my language,” Williams said, referring to various races depicted in Baum’s world. “But when I thought of them as Native Americans trying to inhabit their land or about women getting the right to vote, it made a lot more sense.”

That remark was the basis for the headline of Aura Bogado’s piece at TheNation.com: “Native Americans Are Not Munchkins: An Open Letter to Michelle Williams.” “I hope you’ll read through this letter and think twice before once again choosing to participate in actions that preserve deeply racist convictions in popular culture,” Bogado writes. “By wearing a braided wig and donning feathers, and calling that ‘Native American’ in a photo shoot, you’re perpetuating the lazy idea that Natives are all one and the same. Because you were born and spent your childhood in Montana, I expected more from you.”

The cover in question is one of a few that AnOther Magazine is featuring on its Spring/Summer issue. All were shot by Willy Vanderperre and can be seen at FashnBerry.

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/12/michelle-williams-sports-controversial-indian-look-cover-another-magazine-148137

American Indian College Fund to Administer Cobell Scholarship Fund

Courtesy American Indian College FundDr. Cheryl Crazy Bull is the president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund.
Courtesy American Indian College Fund
Dr. Cheryl Crazy Bull is the president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund.

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

The Cobell Education Scholarship Fund will be administered by the American Indian College Fund with a fifth of the annual scholarships awarded by the American Indian Graduate Center, announced Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on March 12.

“This scholarship fund for Native American students will be a lasting, meaningful legacy of the Cobell Settlement that will help strengthen Indian communities, advance tribal progress and secure a better future for the first Americans,” Salazar said in a press release.

As part of the Cobell settlement a copy.9 billion land buy-back program was established to purchase land for tribal governments. For each purchase, a donation will be made to the scholarship fund. The Interior is authorized to set aside up to $60 million for fund from these purchases. According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, for land purchases less than $200, copy0 will go to the scholarship fund; for land purchases between $200 and $500, $25 goes to the fund; and for any land purchases over $500, five percent of the purchase price is donated to the fund.

“My mother, Elouise Cobell, cared deeply about the next generation of Native people and she insisted on this scholarship as part of the settlement,” said Turk Cobell in the release. “It is a fitting tribute to her courageous work and will be a longstanding and appropriate legacy of her extraordinary perseverance and vision.”

Salazar named the American Indian College fund after receiving nominations from the lead plaintiff and evaluating them through a selection committee. The committee recommended the college fund as the recipient organization saying the money it receives should be devoted to scholarships for vocational certificates and four-year accredited colleges, including tribal colleges. The graduate center will provide 20 percent of yearly scholarships to encourage Native graduates to continue their education and get professional and doctoral degrees.

“We are honored to have been selected to administer the largest scholarship fund ever established on behalf American Indian and Alaska Native students,” said Dr. Cheryl Crazy Bull, president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, in the release. “I look forward to working with the American Indian Graduate Center to provide greater opportunities for higher education to the next generation of Indian leaders and professionals.”

The graduate center is looking forward to fulfilling its end of the scholarship fund as well.

“We congratulate our colleagues at AICF on the award of this historic scholarship fund to their administration. AIGC is humbled and honored to be part of it. Elouise Cobell’s legacy will live on through our future scholars,” said Sam Deloria, director of AIGC, in a press release.

Now comes the task of appointing a Board of Trustees to oversee the college fund. The board will consist of no more than five members—two to be selected by the secretary, two to by the lead plaintiff and one to be selected by the college fund.

Board members will serve an initial four-year term and can be reappointed for an unlimited number of successive terms.

Tribal nominations for board members should send a curriculum vitae, letter of intent which indicates willingness to serve and a 250-word statement to:

Lizzie Marsters

Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary

Department of the Interior

1849 C Street NW

Room 6118

Washington, DC 20240

Nominations should be postmarked no later than April 11, 2013.

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/13/american-indian-college-fund-administer-cobell-scholarship-fund-148157

Bill to expand background checks for guns appears dead

By Jerry Cornfield, The Herald

OLYMPIA — A controversial bill that would have required background checks on private gun sales appears doomed after its supporters failed Tuesday to round up enough votes to pass it in the state House.

An apparent deal seemed in place Tuesday morning after the author agreed to put the matter before voters this November.

While the move helped Rep. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, pick up the votes of a couple of undecided Democrats, it reportedly cost him support of other Democrats who disliked placing it on the ballot as a referendum.

As a result, Pedersen and House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, spent the afternoon and evening trying to pull together the 50 votes needed for passage in the chamber.

Shortly before 8:30 p.m. they gave up as the House adjourned, leaving Pedersen disappointed and sounding defeated.

“It was too big of a stretch for this year,” Pedersen said.

The bill could still be pushed to the floor today before a 5 p.m. deadline to act on House and Senate bills not tied to the budget.

Melinda McCrady, spokeswoman for the Democratic caucus, said it is not expected to come up “but I can’t say that it won’t happen.”

Backers of the bill huddled Tuesday to consider making another run at approving the bill today.

“I don’t know what happened. They couldn’t get the right combination but I am telling you it’s not over,” said Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Seattle.

Supporters of gun control began the session confident they could toughen Washington laws with the slayings of Sandy Hook elementary students fresh in the mind of the public.

They ran into a wall of opposition from Republicans as only Rep. Mike Hope, R-Lake Stevens, committed to voting for this bill. The National Rifle Association organized a strong counterattack by arguing the proposed check wouldn’t stop gun violence.

Pedersen teamed with Hope to introduce House Bill 1588 to ensure background checks are conducted in the course of most gun sales in the state.

Gun buyers currently must undergo a background check when they purchase a weapon from a federally licensed firearms dealer. It is conducted through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. House Bill 1588 would extend such checks to cover private gun transactions including those at gun shows.

Under the bill, exemptions are provided for people with proper law enforcement credentials or a valid concealed pistol license because they would already have the proof needed to complete a private gun purchase.

Those who don’t have such documentation could go to a licensed gun dealer or local law enforcement agency, pay a fee and get a background check. A certificate good for 30 days would be issued. A person would show the certificate when they acquire a weapon from a private seller.

Buyers of antique firearms — defined as weapons made and sold before 1899 — are would be exempt from undergoing the checks.

Pedersen radiated optimism before lunch after he agreed to add the referendum clause. He has said polls show the public backs universal background checks by a wide margin.

“I feel a pretty good amount of confidence that it works and that we can defend it at the ballot box,” he said.

Hope, a Seattle police officer, has said the bill won’t stop gun violence but may put a crimp in the ability of criminals to buy guns illegally through private transactions.

Long before the House adjourned, most lawmakers had made up their minds and were ready to vote.

“We have to do something. If this is all we can do then it is a start,” said Rep. Luis Moscoso, D-Mountlake Terrace.

Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett, called it a “pretty modest proposal to try to keep guns out of the hands of felons.”

Focusing on background checks is too narrow an approach, said Rep. Dave Hayes, R-Clinton, who is a Snohomish County sheriff’s detective.

He said he wanted the state to do a better job at preventing people with mental problems from obtaining weapons. He also said laws governing when a person can be committed for care either voluntarily and involuntarily need revision.

“I want to take a step back and take a really thoughtful approach,” he said.

Debating gun control laws is personal for another opponent, Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish.

He said he had an uncle murdered in Minnesota years ago and nothing in the bill would have prevented that killer from obtaining a weapon.

However, he said the bill will make it tougher in Washington for an honest person to “have that equalizer” in such a situation.

Meanwhile, backers of stronger gun control laws are ready for a potential ballot battle.

They formed Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility last month and put veteran political tactician Christian Sinderman at the helm.

“We’d like to see something move forward,” Sinderman said as action stalled in the House. “For too long this debate has been too narrowly focused and dominated by a single special interest.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.