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Wolf comeback spurs hunt for nonlethal controls

Robert Millage shows his rifle with a wolf he shot Sept. 1, 2009, on the first day of wolf hunting season along the Lochsa River in northern Idaho. Photo: Associated Press

Oregon may serve as a model for limiting livestock losses without having to kill wolves.

By Jeff Barnard, Associated Press

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — As long as wolves have been making their comeback, biologists and ranchers have had a decidedly Old West option for dealing with those that develop a taste for beef: Shoot to kill. But for the past year, Oregon has been a “wolf-safe” zone, with ranchers turning to more modern, nonlethal ways to protect livestock.

While the number of wolves roaming the state has gone up, livestock kills haven’t — and now conservation groups are hoping Oregon can serve as a model for other Western states working to return the predator to the wild.

“Once the easy option of killing wolves is taken off the table, we’ve seen reluctant but responsible ranchers stepping up,” said Rob Klavins of the advocacy group Oregon Wild. “Conflict is going down. And wolf recovery has got back on track.”

The no-kill ban has been in place since September 2011. That’s when the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it planned to kill two members of the Imnaha wolf pack in northeastern Wallowa County for taking livestock. Conservation groups sued, arguing that rules allowing wolves to be killed to reduce livestock attacks did not comply with the state Endangered Species Act. The Oregon Court of Appeals stepped in, prohibiting wolf kills while the two sides work to settle, although ranchers who catch wolves in the act of killing livestock may still shoot them.

At the end of 2012, wolf numbers in the state had risen to 46 from 29 in 2011, according to state fish and wildlife officials. Meantime, four cows and eight sheep were killed last year by two separate packs, while 13 cows were killed by one pack in 2011.

Wallowa County cattle rancher Karl Patton started giving nonlethal methods a try in 2010, after he fired off his pistol to chase off a pack of wolves in a pasture filled with cows and newborn calves. State wildlife officials provided him with an alarm that erupts with bright lights and the sound of gunshots when a wolf bearing a radio-tracking collar treads near. He also staked out fladry at calving time. The long strings of red plastic flags flutter in the wind to scare away wolves. The flags fly from an electrically charged wire that gives off a jolt to predators that dare touch it.

The rancher put 7,000 miles on his ATV spending more time with his herd, and cleaned up old carcasses that put the scent of meat on the wind. And state wildlife officials text him nightly, advising whether a wolf with a satellite GPS tracking collar is nearby.

“None of this stuff is a sure cure,” said Patton, who worries the fladry will lose its effectiveness once wolves become accustomed to it. Such measures also can’t be used in open range.

Seen as a scourge on the landscape, wolves were nearly wiped out across the Lower 48 by the 1930s. In 1995, the federal government sponsored the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho. They eventually spread to Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington and California.

With wolf numbers approaching 1,800, the federal government dropped Endangered Species Act protection in 2011 in the Northern Rockies, eastern Oregon and eastern Washington, and turned over recovery management to the states.

While ranchers are not happy with the wolf comeback, the wider public is. A 2011 survey for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife found 74.5 percent of Washington residents believe it acceptable for wolves to recolonize their state.

Wolf advocates hope the Oregon experiment can spread elsewhere, especially Idaho, which had 746 wolves in 2011. In 2012, hunters and wildlife agents killed 422 wolves, compared with 296 for 2011. Sheep and cattle kills, meantime, went up from 192 in 2011 to 341 in 2012.

Idaho Fish and Game biologist Craig White said it “raised eyebrows” on both sides of the wolf debate when the livestock kills rose even as more wolves were killed. Previously the trend had been for livestock kills to go down as wolf kills went up. The state plans to continue killing wolves until elk herds — their primary prey and a popular game animal — start increasing, he said.

The Idaho numbers show “you can’t manage wolves using conventional wisdom and assumption,” said Suzanne Stone of Defenders of Wildlife in Idaho. “Using these old archaic methods of managing predators by just killing them is not working.”

In “no-kill” Oregon, ranchers disagree. Wallowa rancher Dennis Sheehy puts bells on his cattle to help scare away wolves. He also spends more time with his herd, and cleans up old bone piles. Nevertheless, he believes a kill option should always be on the table for wolves that prey on livestock. The 2011 ban, he said, “really upset people around here.”

Patton has never lost a cow while using the fladry and alarms. But two were killed on the open range and one in a large pasture where such protection measures are impractical. He has also found tracks showing wolves crossed the fladry and walked among his cows without, for some reason, attacking them.

He still believes the only way to deal with wolves that attack cattle is to kill the whole pack.

“It’s frustrating, more than anything, because we have our hands tied,” he said. “You can kill a man (who) comes into your house to rob you. Wolves are more protected than people.”

4 in Congress back bill to halt removal of wilderness lookout

A bill in Congress would overturn a court order to remove the historic Green Mountain lookout.

By Gale Fiege, Herald Net

DARRINGTON — Lawmakers are pushing to protect the Green Mountain forest fire lookout and establish federal wild-and-scenic status for Illabot Creek, both in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Four members of Washington state’s congressional delegation — Democratic U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Democratic Reps. Suzan DelBene and Rick Larsen — introduced legislation this past week.

In the case of Green Mountain Lookout, the aim is to protect the lookout, located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. The legislation comes after a Montana-based group filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service for using a helicopter and machinery to repair the lookout, in violation of the federal Wilderness Act.

The Forest Service maintained that the lookout’s historical significance made it an allowable project. As a result of the lawsuit, the U.S. District Court in Seattle ordered the Forest Service to remove the lookout from the 6,500-foot mountain.

George Nickas, director of Wilderness Watch, the group that sued, says the proposed legislation picks away at the Wilderness Act.

Federal wild-and-scenic status for Illabot Creek would protect it as an important habitat for threatened wild chinook salmon, steelhead, bull trout and other wildlife, while maintaining recreational opportunities such as hunting and fishing, said Murray’s staff in a joint press release from the four law makers.

Martha Rasmussen, the head of the volunteer group Darrington Area Friends for Public Use, said she has a mixed reaction to the proposed legislation.

Rasmussen and many people in Snohomish County support the protection of the Green Mountain lookout, one of few surviving fire lookouts in the West, she said.

“It’s a shame that those who want it torn down pit history and heritage against wilderness. The effort to save the lookout failed in court because of the language presented. It needs to be challenged,” Rasmussen said.

Illabot Creek is actually in the Skagit County part of the forest, but it always has been a destination from Darrington, she said.

“The thing I worry about with the wild-and-scenic designation is that repairs to access roads may be too expensive or not be allowed in the protected area, so we stand eventually to lose Illabot as a destination,” Rasmussen said. “I don’t want the designation.”

Green Mountain’s lookout was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Along with its use as a key fire lookout in the logging heyday, Green Mountain also was an early warning station for aerial attacks during World War II. The lookout is on national and state registers of historic places.

Illabot Creek flows into the Skagit River watershed, which includes parts of northeast Snohomish County. The watershed supports one of the largest concentrations of wintering bald eagles in the country.

The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by Congress in 1968. It prohibits dams and other water projects that impair the free-flowing nature of listed rivers and establishes a protected corridor on both sides of the river.

The proposed laws are the same as those that were presented last year, according to Larsen’s office. The bills expired at the end of the past congressional session and had to be re-introduced. Green Mountain and Illabot Creek now are in DelBene’s 1st Congressional District, redrawn last year and removed from Larsen’s 2nd district.

Celebrating the Historic Ties of Native Americans to the Bison

Posted by Wildlife Conservation Society on March 1, 2013

By John Calvelli

[Note: This is the third in a series of blogs by Calvelli celebrating the history and conservation of the American Bison.]

Native American groups joined with bison producers and conservation organizations in 2012 to initiate a campaign called Vote Bison. The campaign, which grew to include 35 coalition members across the nation, had a simple goal: to urge all members of the U.S. Congress to support the National Bison Legacy Act, which would designate the American bison as our country’s National Mammal.

The Vote Bison campaign continues in 2013 and is currently working with Congressional champions in the 113^th Congress.The participation of Native American tribes derives from cultural and spiritual connections to the American bison, or buffalo, spanning many centuries – one that is richly reflected in Native American historical and religious narratives.

Read the rest of the article here.

A pair of American Bison at the Bronx Zoo. (Julie Larsen Maher/WCS)

The Garage in Everett is indoor haven for skaters

Professional skateboarder Jordan Sanchez clears out a stack old skateboards in his downtown Everett indoor skatepark on Thursday. The Garage will open this Saturday after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Photo: Annie Mulligan / For The Herald

By Julie Muhlstein, Herald Columnist

Sunny spring days are just about here, but Jordan Sanchez doesn’t mind rainstorms. He’s about to open an indoor skateboarding venue, The Garage.

He and his wife, Anah, will hold an open house at their downtown Everett business Saturday, giving skaters a chance to check out the new facility. The 3,500-square-foot space is at 2927 Rucker Ave.

Skateboarders will find a long, narrow venue, with a high ceiling and concrete floors. Sanchez, 27, said they are leasing the site from Rick Lapinski, who owns multiple properties in downtown Everett.

The Garage is filled with features, including movable ramps, designed to lure skaters in out of the rain. At one end are quarter-pipe ramps. Wall rides, ledges, hand rails and a surface covered with faux brick called a “sketchy bank,” offer skateboarders the sorts of places they would find at outdoor skate parks or on property that’s officially off-limits.

Jordan and Anah Sanchez also run a coffee stand, the Mocha Station, at Frontier Village in Lake Stevens. To open The Garage, they had a lot of help — more than 100 donors.

In late December, they launched a fundraising drive on the Kickstarter website. Kickstarter, started in 2009, is a platform for people to make a pitch for funding for creative projects. Creators set funding goals and deadlines, then spread the word through friends and social media.

It’s an all-or-nothing deal in which donors make online pledges to projects, which are described on a Kickstarter page. If those pledges reach the creator’s financial goal, donors’ credit cards are charged. If the deadline arrives and pledges fall short, no one is charged and the project isn’t funded.

Kickstarter makes its money by taking a cut. Through his “Open The Garage” page on Kickstarter, Sanchez said, $17,031 was raised by Jan. 27, far surpassing the $15,000 goal. “We ended up with $15,300,” he said, adding that donations ranged from $1 into the thousands.

In his online pitch, Sanchez wrote: “My wife and I are seeking $15,000 to pay for wood, screws, paint, steel, sheet metal and labor to construct a one-of-a-kind indoor skateboarding facility.”

Dan Eyler worked with Sanchez on ramp construction. “They’re all hand-built, with plywood, two-by-four construction, and masonite,” Sanchez said. His brother, Brian Sanchez, and Kyle Schuman painted murals. The place has a couch, music and a soda machine.

Posted on the Kickstarter page is a link to a YouTube video called “Vic’s Market,” which shows Sanchez’s friends skateboarding on Everett streets, in parking lots, at a school and other public places, and on private property around the city. In one shot on the video, an adult is shown telling a skater, “You need to take it someplace else.”

That need — for places skateboarders are welcome to do what they love without breaking the law — motivated Sanchez to open the indoor facility. A skateboarder for 16 years, Sanchez said he is sponsored by Manik Skateboards and BLVD, another skateboard brand.

“This is an alternative to skating in parking lots and other places, which are completely illegal. And it’s rain or shine,” he said.

Skaters will be charged $8 per day at The Garage, or $5 a day with an annual $150 membership. Sanchez said pads and helmets will be provided. Skaters under 18 will be required to have parents sign waivers. The state issued The Garage a business license Jan. 6, and Sanchez said they also have a specialty business license from the city.

The Garage will be available for private parties, and Sanchez said summer camps are planned. A taco truck and free ice cream will be part of Saturday’s opening.

“This was a big group effort,” said Anah Sanchez, 26.

Does she skate?

“No,” she said with a laugh. “I can’t afford to get hurt.” – See more at: http://heraldnet.com/article/20130301/NEWS01/703019919/-1/News#The-Garage

Charges filed in stabbing death of Marysville man, 82

Diana Hefley, Herald Writer

MARYSVILLE — Prosecutors don’t believe the killing of a Marysville man was motivated by his criminal past.

Instead, evidence indicates that Arthur Schroeder, 82, was stabbed to death in his trailer during a robbery.

Prosecutors on Friday charged two people with second-degree murder in connection with the Jan. 24 killing.

They say the suspects, Delaney Henry and Robert Kennedy, admitted to several people that they killed Schroeder inside his small trailer. They also reportedly told people that they robbed Schroeder of about $200 and the key to a safety deposit box they believed held $20,000.

Henry, 28, allegedly told some people that she killed Schroeder because he raped her. She later told detectives that Schroeder propositioned her for sex in the past, but she denied that he ever sexually assaulted her, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Andrew Alsdorf wrote.

Schroeder was a convicted sex offender, but “there is no evidence that his prior convictions had any connection to his murder,” court papers said.

Prosecutors also noted, however, that Schroeder enjoyed the company of “much younger adult women, to whom he would provide cash or prescription pills in exchange for sexual favors.”

Henry was Schroeder’s neighbor at the Brookside Mobile Home Park on State Avenue. She allegedly told detectives that she visited his trailer every other weekend.

Phone records indicate that Henry called Schroeder twice the day he was killed. The records also show that she called Kennedy. Video surveillance shows the suspects together on a bus the afternoon before the slaying. Henry was wearing a scarf similar to the one detectives found at the crime scene.

Schroeder’s grandson told police he discovered his grandfather’s body around 11 p.m. He said he’d gone there to borrow some money or alcohol. Once inside, he found the elderly man lying bloodied and unconscious on the floor. He didn’t call 911 right away. Instead, he and a friend walked to a convenience store and later smoked some marijuana, Alsdorf wrote. He called police about four hours later after he brought his mother to the trailer, court papers said.

Schroeder had been stabbed four times. His heart had been pierced and his throat had been slashed.

His tidy trailer had been ransacked. His cell phone, wallet and a jewelry box were missing. Schroeder’s truck was gone.

The pickup truck was discovered the next day abandoned in Arlington. Someone had torched it.

Detectives eventually heard from witnesses who reported that Henry had confessed to killing Schroeder, court papers said. Another witness told investigators that Henry and Kennedy showed up together the night of the slaying. They allegedly had blood on their clothes and were in possession of three bloodied knives. They also reportedly were sorting through some paperwork.

Police have since recovered the safety deposit box key and confirmed that it opens a box at a local bank. There wasn’t $20,000 inside.

The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Snohomish County Superior Court. If convicted, Kennedy, 26, is facing a mandatory life sentence under the state’s persistent offender act. He has prior convictions for robbery and attempted robbery. Henry faces up to 20 years if she is convicted.

Detectives continue to investigate Schroeder’s death. Earlier this week, police arrested a Tulalip man who allegedly gave Henry a ride on the evening of a fatal stabbing. He allegedly threatened someone, warning the person not to talk to police about the homicide.

See more at: http://heraldnet.com/article/20130302/NEWS01/703029936#Charges-filed-in-stabbing-death-of-Marysville-man-82%0A

Saving the Dance: Hopi/Winnebago Dancer Louis Mofsie Is Striving to Preserve Pow Wow Tradition

Photos by Robert MastrianniLouis Mofsie, second from right, with dancers from the group Thunderbird American Indian Dancers — Photos by Robert Mastrianni
Louis Mofsie, second from right, with dancers from the group Thunderbird American Indian Dancers

Tish Leizens, Indian Country Today Media Network

At the age of 76, Louis Mofsie, Hopi/Winnebago, an accomplished dancer, choreographer, educator and artistic director of the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, which he founded 50 years ago, is as busy as ever.

Forget about retirement. From January 25 to February 3 he led his Native dance group to perform its Annual Dance Concert and Pow Wow at the Theater for the New City in New York City.

The concert was a theater presentation where the troupe performs dances from the Inuit of Alaska, the Iroquois of New York, the Hopi and Yaqui of the Southwest and the Plains Indians of the Great Plains. Plans are also underway for their annual Queens County Farm Museum Pow Wow at the end of July and their 50th anniversary pow wow at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York on April 20. There are also a number of school workshops and appearances lined up around the metropolitan area throughout the year.

Brooklyn-born Mofise is well loved in his home state. In 1984, he was awarded the New York City Indian of the Year. His leadership was recognized with a New York City Leadership Award by the Law Department and Mayors Office in 1991.

His choreography credits in New York include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Mercer Arts Center; Operation Sidewinders, Lincoln Center Repertory Company; Three Masked Dances, La Mama ETC.; and The Only Good Indian, Theater for the New City.

At a time when pow wows are evolving to be mega events with huge prize money, Mofsie looks back to the time when it was all about bringing people together and enjoying each other’s company through song and dance. He still believes in the pow wow tradition and has made it part of his mission to preserve Native dances that are no longer performed.

ICTMN caught up with Mofsie before his big concert at the Theater for the New City as he reflected on his 50th year of entertaining and educating the audience about Native culture.

What are your thoughts on the 50th year of the founding of your dance troupe, Thunderbird American Indian Dancers?

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of our dance company is overwhelming. I guess 50 years ago when we first organized our group no one would have thought we would last that many years, least of all me. It’s a credit to all those who have worked so hard over the years to help make it a reality.

Why did you start it? What is your recollection of when you started to form the group?

Before we became the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers we were called the Little Eagles. The Little Eagles were made up of a group of teenagers who grew up in Brooklyn. We had learned a great deal from our parents about their tribal backgrounds including dance and music. I think most of us grew up dancing and singing. So it only seemed natural that we would form a small group to continue our interests. We also branched out to learn the music and dance from other tribes.

Photo by Robert Mastianni

You are an MC, choreographer, dancer . . . what is it you enjoy doing most?

The most enjoyment I get out of what I do is to make contact with the people in the audience and the people I’m working with. I try to make the experience an enjoyable one, as well as an educational one. I find that most people want to learn more about something they thought they knew something about and I think people learn far better when the experience is enjoyable rather than a chore.

Why is educating non-Natives about Native culture important to you?

Educating non-Natives about our culture has been a primary part of the mission statement of our group. Addressing stereotypes and explaining the disrespect they reflect on native people, as well as, other misunderstood cultures is vitally important. We do many school residencies here in the metropolitan area and reaching children at a young age is the best time to influence their perceptions.

What else is in your mission statement?

Part of our mission statement is also to preserve and perpetuate the songs and dances of various tribes. In some instances some of the dances we do are no longer performed. If we can preserve these dances and songs we feel we are helping to keep the culture alive. All of our material is social music and dance. We do not do any dances or songs that have any ceremonial or religious significance.

What do you think is your major accomplishment in life?

I think my major accomplishment in life has been to feel proud of my Native heritage and to able to share what I have learned with both Native and non-Native people. Since I have been a classroom teacher for 35 years my emphasis has been on education. Helping people get a greater understanding of the richness and beauty of the Native people through music and dance.

What was the biggest obstacle in your life?

Like most people the general run of obstacles have affected me—lack of sufficient time and money to do what you would like to do at the time you feel it is most important. Living here in New York also presents it’s own set of problems. I think keeping calm and being patient have been a blessing for me since it seems, given enough time, most problems will solve themselves.

What else do you want to accomplish at this stage in your life?

I would like to stay as healthy as I can and continue to do the work we are doing. Between fulfilling the obligations we have here and traveling—we are on the go most of the year. I’m hopeful there will be someone who will carry on the work we have begun. There are so many people yet to meet and teach about our culture and it is our responsibility to get the work done.

Photo by Robert Mastianni

Looking Back to the Future of VAWA: Suzan Shown Harjo: “Congress, Make the Streets Safe for Indian Women, Too”

Prior to President Obama signing the Tribal Law and Order Act into law in 2010, Lisa Marie Iyotte delivered an emotional introduction, describing how she had been raped and assaulted on the Rosebud Reservation while her two small children hid. When she broke down, Obama stepped over to comfort her. Now, Obama can move to Stop the Violence Against Women by signing the VAWA reauthorization into law.

Indian Country Today Media Network Staff

In one of her columns for Indian Country Today, Suzan Shown Harjo wrote: “Only the reinstatement of tribal jurisdiction and remedies has a chance of reversing the epidemic levels of violence against Native women.” That commentary was published April 29, 2005.

Today, after years of struggle, tribal advocates are celebrating Congress passing the VAWA reauthorization, with tribal provisions. The act is now heading to President Obama for his signature.

Harjo, Cheyenne and & Hodulgee Muscogee, is an award-winning columnist and a poet, writer, curator and policy advocate, who has helped Native Peoples to protect sacred places and recover more than one million acres of land, is president of the Morning Star Institute in Washington, D.C. She’s also still regularly contributing to this publication.

The spotlight on the VAWA reauthorization, with tribal provisions, was magnified by Harjo’s 2005 ICT column, and it roused both regional and national mainstream media from their collective slumber concerning this crucial matter. There is something to the old saying “the pen is mightier than the sword.”

In light of the recent action on VAWA, and the impending action by Obama, it seems like an ideal time to revisit Harjo’s column, titled “Congress Make the Streets Safe for Indian Women, too.” Here is that work, in full.

Congress, Make the Streets Safe for Indian Women, Too, April 29, 2005

The streets of Indian country aren’t safe for American Indian and Alaska Native women.

Nearly 90 percent of the perpetrators of violent crimes against Native women are non-Indians—60 percent are white men—and Native nations can’t touch them.

Congress created this haven for non-Indian criminals on reservations and it’s up to Congress to fix it. The 109th Congress has a chance to do that very thing this year, when it considers reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.

VAWA 2005 is being drafted now to address the deplorable situation of women in American, where physical abuse is a feature of one-quarter of all marriages and where one-third of women who are treated in emergency rooms are victims of domestic violence.

While Native women also sustain injuries in abusive relationships, most of the men who assault Native women are strangers or acquaintances (80 percent), rather than intimate partners or family members (20 percent), according to a U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics report, American Indians and Crime (1992-2002), issued in December 2004.

This statistical profile and a raft of other studies, including the 2000 National Violence Against Women Survey, report that:

● American Indian and Alaska Native women are more than twice as likely to be victims of violent crime than other women in America.

● American Indian and Alaska Native women suffer sexual assaults at a rate of more than three times that of women of other races.

● more than one in three American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped during her lifetime.

● the rate of violent crime experienced by American Indian women is nearly 50 percent higher than that reported by black males, the second highest gender/race category victimized by violent crime.

Most violent crimes are committed intra-racially, as with white-on-white crime. This is not the pattern in Indian country, where 88 percent of the perpetrators of violent crime against Indians are non-Indians.

Why can’t Indian governments punish these violent non-Indians and why should Congress step in? It’s a long, complex history, but the short answer is that the federal government made this jurisdictional mess and should take every opportunity to clean it up.

Over a century ago in the name of “Indian civilization,” the federal government criminalized tribal traditions and took control of the reservations. When the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government did not have jurisdiction over Indian murders of Indians, Congress enacted the Major Crimes Act, authorizing federal jurisdiction over murder and other serious offenses involving Indian people.

Congress expanded federal jurisdiction, effectively restricting tribal authorities, under the Assimilative Crimes Act and myriad gaming, environmental, repatriation, arts and other laws.

Tribal jurisdiction and remedies were limited under the federal tribal termination policy. Starting in the 1940s, Congress gave selected states certain criminal and civil authorities over Indian offenses. In the 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act, Congress restricted the sentencing authority of tribal courts to one-year imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. The Supreme Court ruled in 1978 that Indian tribes cannot prosecute non-Indians in criminal matters.

That brings us to the present situation where Native nations cannot punish non-Indians who harm Indian women in Indian territory, or can only give them a slap on the wrist.

There are many reasons that the federal and state governments aren’t doing a better job at bringing these bad men to justice. Basically, it comes down to geography and connectedness. The federal and state agents don’t live where the crimes are being committed and the victims aren’t their neighbors.

Only the reinstatement of tribal jurisdiction and remedies has a chance of reversing the epidemic levels of violence against Native women.

In VAWA 2005, Congress can address the jurisdictional void that prevents Indian tribes from prosecuting non-Indians perpetrating these crimes.

VAWA was signed into law in 1994 and reauthorized in 2000. VAWA 2000 mandates that protection orders from one tribe or state be afforded full faith and credit in outside jurisdictions. It also clarifies that Indian tribes have full civil jurisdiction to enforce protection orders, including authority to enforce any orders through civil contempt proceedings, exclusion of violators from Indian lands and other “appropriate mechanisms.”

Some states do not comply with the federal mandate and exhibit hostility toward affording full faith and credit to protection orders issued by tribal courts. Alaska’s executive branch has challenged a state judge’s decision allowing enforcement of a banishment order issued by the Native Village of Perryville. The Minnesota Supreme Court in 2003 rejected a proposed statewide court rule for the consistent enforcement of all tribal court orders.

Advocates are working with legislators and staffers on the reauthorization of VAWA, which is set to expire this September. Advocates in Indian country would do well to work (and work fast) with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the Judiciary Committees to develop a bill that could stand alone or be folded into VAWA 2005.

A meaningful VAWA provision for Indian country would restore tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians in the area of violent crime against women. Proponents should be prepared for the inevitable discussion about review of tribal court decisions and opt-in/opt-out mechanisms.

At the very least, Congress should provide necessary funding to study full faith and credit implementation problems, in particular with regard to tribal domestic violence protection orders, and should withhold certain federal monies (unrelated to domestic violence prevention and response) from states that refuse to comply with VAWA’s full faith and credit mandate.

VAWA’s effect in Indian country would be strengthened by provisions ensuring tribal law enforcement officers’ access to national databases that track criminal history; a national database of tribal protection orders and tribal adult sex offenders to track serial offenders who travel between different Indian nations; an increase in funding for tribal governments and programs providing infrastructure and services to survivors of rape, stalking and domestic and dating violence; and a Tribal Division within the Office on Violence Against Women to act as the liaison to tribal governments on issues unique to Indian nations and Indian women.

Congress can continue with the same jurisdictional system that devalues Native women and handicaps Native nations, or it can fill the jurisdictional void with something that might just work.

If Congress fails to act, the reservation streets will remain safe for violent non-Indians and the Indian women and their children and grandchildren will suffer. How is that good for anyone but the bad people?

Expect traffic snarls this weekend in Seattle

March 1, 2013 at 10:15 AM

Posted by Nick Provenza in the Seattle Times

There’s the potential for some traffic snarls this weekend around the Sodo stadiums, the Alaskan Way Viaduct and on I-5, so be prepared and plan ahead.

Here’s a list of what’s happening:

The Viaduct is closed from 6 a.m to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 6 a.m. to noon Sunday, for its routine semi-annual inspection.
The on-ramp from the West Seattle Bridge route (elevated Spokane Street) to southbound I-5 will close from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday, to repair expansion joints between the elevated bridge spans.
Sounders FC play a match Saturday night at CenturyLink Field, against the Montreal Impact, drawing an expected 40,000 fans.
Emerald City Comicon runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday, bringing 19,000 people to the state convention center.
A running event, the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k, will close the Aurora Bridge on Sunday from 6:15 a.m. to 11 a.m., and draw up to 12,000 people to Seattle Center and surrounding streets.
Three of four southbound lanes of I-5, from Green Lake to the Ship Canal Bridge, will close Friday night and Saturday night, from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m., for pavement regrinding.

The state Department of Transportation’s homepage about weekend closures, and the DOT’s traffic app, can be found here.

Source

Microsoft: New lab envisions the future of work and play

Microsoft

March 01, 2013

Microsoft today unveiled its reimagined Envisioning Center, which offers a hands-on experience with the future of business and leisure — and also serves as a laboratory for the company’s engineering teams.

REDMOND, Wash. – March 1, 2013 – The future of work and play is on display at Microsoft’s reimagined Envisioning Center, the result of collaboration between the company’s Strategic Prototyping team and Office Labs. Visitors can work on interactive desks, talk with colleagues through digital walls, and cook in a Kinect-enabled kitchen. Microsoft expects thousands of customers to explore the new space each year.

“We want to excite customers about the direction we’re heading in and show that we are constantly thinking about new scenarios based on trends and real work in Microsoft Research and the business groups,” says Jonathan Cluts, director of Microsoft’s Strategic Prototyping team. “These scenarios are based on reality, not science fiction.”

“We don’t imagine that we’re predicting the future,” says Anton Andrews, director of Envisioning in Office Labs. “But it’s case of staying on the cutting edge of the conversation, and promoting that conversation.”

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Envisioning Center

March 01, 2013

The new Envisioning Center explores how technology will transform the way we live, work and play in the future.

Download: Web | Print

Microsoft believes that working from anywhere will reach new levels of ease and sophistication. Create and move work freely across devices and displays using natural language, ink, touch and gesture.

Natural Flow

March 01, 2013

Microsoft believes that working from anywhere will reach new levels of ease and sophistication. Create and move work freely across devices and displays using natural language, ink, touch and gesture.

Download: Web | Print

Interactive Workspaces

March 01, 2013

Interactive workspaces will let you bring your ideas to life naturally, easily connecting to the insights, information and expertise you need as you work.

Download: Web | Print

Workspaces that emphasize social activity help teams collaborate. Here, interactive whiteboards add smart assistance and remote participation to a brainstorming session.

Team Collaboration

March 01, 2013

Workspaces that emphasize social activity help teams collaborate. Here, interactive whiteboards add smart assistance and remote participation to a brainstorming session.

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In the workplace of the future, team meetings move from presentation and action items to real-time problem solving and execution. Technology in this action room amplifies the team’s ability to visualize projects, simulate real-time outcomes and make rapid decisions.

Team Problem Solving

March 01, 2013

In the workplace of the future, team meetings move from presentation and action items to real-time problem solving and execution. Technology in this action room amplifies the team’s ability to visualize projects, simulate real-time outcomes and make rapid decisions.

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In the future, you will be able to explore new cuisines with recipes that adapt to dietary needs, and even get help cooking and learn a few new tricks from your personal, digital chef.

Everyone Can Be a Chef

March 01, 2013

In the future, you will be able to explore new cuisines with recipes that adapt to dietary needs, and even get help cooking and learn a few new tricks from your personal, digital chef.

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Ecosystems of devices and sensors will work on your behalf, helping you without getting in your way.

Smart Stovetop

March 01, 2013

Ecosystems of devices and sensors will work on your behalf, helping you without getting in your way.

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With a 4k display and smart lighting, your living room can naturally transform from a movie theater to an art gallery to a personal chat with loved ones who live many miles away.

Home Entertainment

March 01, 2013

With a 4k display and smart lighting, your living room can naturally transform from a movie theater to an art gallery to a personal chat with loved ones who live many miles away.

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In the home of the future you can stay connected with loved ones in new ways, like creating a storyworld with Grandma at bedtime.

Storytime With Grandma

March 01, 2013

In the home of the future you can stay connected with loved ones in new ways, like creating a storyworld with Grandma at bedtime.

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Retail in the future blends the best of online and brick-and-mortar to personalize your shopping experience on the fly. Experience augmented shopping and safely share information across public and private displays.

Augmented Retail

March 01, 2013

Retail in the future blends the best of online and brick-and-mortar to personalize your shopping experience on the fly. Experience augmented shopping and safely share information across public and private displays.

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Charges filed in fatal Marysville hit-and-run

By Diana Hefley, Herald Writer reports

Published: Friday, March 1, 2013, 12:01 a.m.

MARYSVILLE — An employee at a Marysville bar offered to call Terrence Olesen a taxi, but the Everett man allegedly refused and got behind the wheel of his car.

Prosecutors allege that a few minutes later, Olesen, 27, plowed into two pedestrians and a bicyclist on Shoultes Road, then sped away. They allege that Olesen’s blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit.

Shane Santos, 18, died on the road before help arrived. He had multiple broken bones and a fatal head injury. His friends, 20 and 21, also had multiple broken bones. One of the men remains in a wheelchair some eight months later. He must wear a helmet to protect his injured head.

Prosecutors on Thursday filed multiple charges against Olesen for the June 9 incident.

His friend told investigators that he and Olesen had been drinking vodka and orange juice earlier in the day. He estimated that Olesen had consumed about 10 shots of vodka. Later that evening, the friends went to the Home Plate Tavern in Marysville. The witness told investigators that Olesen drank about two 24-ounce beers while at the bar. He reportedly got involved in an argument and patrons escorted him outside to his car. That’s when one of the employees offered to call a cab for Olesen, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow wrote.

Olesen reportedly refused the offer and drove his friend to a nearby fast food restaurant. An employee there later told detectives that Olesen was “obviously drunk” and had trouble maneuvering his car through the drive-thru. More witnesses reported seeing Olesen nearly hit at least two other cars. One woman had to pull her vehicle onto the shoulder to avoid a head-on crash with Olesen’s Volkswagen Golf.

Investigators believe Olesen plowed into Santos and his friends as they were on the shoulder of the road. He reportedly pulled over and the passenger exited the vehicle and surveyed the damage. A witness heard the passenger curse before he jumped back into Olesen’s car. They sped off.

Santos was dead when paramedics reached him. His friends were unconscious with obvious broken bones. They were rushed to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Police followed a trail from the scene. It crossed a roundabout toward 51st Street. An officer found a license plate and a bumper on top of the median. Eventually officers found Olesen’s car, which had crashed into a tree. Olesen reportedly emerged from behind some nearby shrubs.

He allegedly told police he had been driving the car. The officers noted that he smelled of alcohol. Olesen asked the officer if the situation would be “like a vehicle homicide, allegedly?”

Olesen was arrested and taken to the hospital for a mandatory blood draw. Lab results later concluded that his blood alcohol level was .24, Darrow wrote.

Olesen is scheduled to be arraigned later this month.

He has a drunken-driving conviction from 2007. He also has three convictions for driving with a suspended license.

If he is convicted in this case, state law allows for enhanced penalties because of the prior drunken-driving prosecutions.

The state Liquor Control Board has opened an investigation into the Home Plate Tavern in connection with the June 9 incident, a spokesman said Thursday. It isn’t clear when that investigation will be completed.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.

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