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NAFSA applauds President Obama’s nomination of Sally Jewell for Secretary of the Interior

Native American Group Urges Secretary-designate to Protect Government-to-Government Relationship between Tribal Nations and Federal Government

Native American Financial Services Association

http://www.mynafsa.org/

WASHINGTON, DC (February 8, 2013) – Following President Obama’s announcement earlier this week that he would nominate Sally Jewell, President and CEO of REI, to succeed retiring Secretary Ken Salazar at the helm of the Department of Interior, The Native American Financial Services Association (NAFSA) issued the following statement:

“With so many Department of the Interior bureaus and agencies impacting daily life on Native American reservations, Sally Jewell is an outstanding choice to succeed Secretary Salazar,” said Barry Brandon, Executive Director of NAFSA. “She understands the value of our precious wilderness and how important it is to protect our public lands. It is our hope that she will use her new post as Interior Secretary to continually strengthen the unique government-to-government relationship that our tribes share with the federal government. We applaud her nomination and look forward to working with her.”

The Department of the Interior (DOI) is accountable for the administration and preservation of most federal land and natural resources, as well as the management of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. Included within DOI is the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the oldest bureau in the Interior Department.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs provides services to approximately 1.9 million native peoples on reservations across the United States. Additionally, the bureau manages 55 million surface acres and 57 million acres of subsurface minerals held in trust by American Indians, Indian Tribes, and Alaska Natives. If confirmed by the Senate, Jewell will have immense jurisdiction around Native American life.

Jewell, a former oil company official and outdoor enthusiast, won the 2009 Rachel Carson award from the Audubon Society for work furthering environmental efforts. Jewell is vice chairwoman of the National Parks Conservation Association and additionally serves as a board member of the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust; a linked network of green spaces, and historic towns recreational opportunities in Washington State.

About NAFSA
The Native American Financial Services Association (NAFSA) formed in 2012 to advocate for Native American sovereign rights and enable tribes to offer responsible online lending products. Through the protection of consumer rights and sovereign immunity, NAFSA provides vital services to tribally operated lenders serving the under-banked with better short term financial services, furthering economic development opportunities in Indian Country.

Documentary crew to visit Tulalip

By Rikki King, http://www.heraldnet.com

A French film crew plans to visit the Tulalip Indian Reservation next week to work on a short documentary and conduct interviews regarding the reauthorization efforts there for the Violence Against Women Act.

Tulalip officials last year, including vice chairwoman Deborah Parker, were among those fighting to expand the act to include more tribal provisions. It ultimately didn’t happen. They plan to try again.

Herald columnist Julie Muhlstein wrote a story about Parker’s work last May.

The documentary crew with “Canal+” is expected in town Wednesday, tribal spokeswoman Francesca Hillery said. A private ceremony also is planned on the reservation next week as part of a national day of recognition for efforts to reauthorize the anti-violence law.

“What we will be doing essentially is sending up a prayer for all native women,” Hillery said.

For more information about the law and what’s happening nationally, read this Associated Press story from Tuesday.

Where Alaska wants to fly from Paine Field

By Bill Sheets, Herald Writer

EVERETT — Alaska Airlines wants to fly passengers to Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other West Coast destinations from Everett’s Paine Field.

Flying to destinations beyond the Northwest is a change from Alaska Airlines’ original request to run Horizon Air commuter flights per week at the airport, primarily to Portland and Spokane.

Also different: The airline will use 737-800 jets. The airline initially proposed using only smaller Bombardier Q400 turboprops.

Alaska proposes to run 98 flights per week in and out of the Snohomish County-owned airport within five years, according to a proposal it submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday. Included are 42 flights between Everett and Portland per week on the Bombardiers.

Allegiant Air also has asked to operate flights to Las Vegas from Paine Field and possibly other West Coast destinations. Allegiant is based in Las Vegas, Alaska in Seattle. Both airlines first approached Snohomish County in 2008.

The Federal Aviation Administration recently gave its go-ahead to flights at the airport following a drawn-out, three-year environmental study.

Mukilteo, Edmonds and community groups last week challenged that decision by filing suit in federal court.

Snohomish County still must build a terminal at Paine Field to accommodate passengers. That process would take more than a year, according to county officials.

The airport was built in the late 1930s. It primarily has served military operations, Boeing service and test flights, aircraft maintenance businesses and small, private planes. Except a short period around 1950 and briefly in the late 1980s, Paine Field has not had commercial airline service.

It’s unclear if or how Alaska’s latest proposal would affect the federal environmental ruling. The earlier plans would have brought 23 flights per day, combined between the two airlines, to Paine Field within five years.

The current plan would bring about 17 daily flights to the airport in the same time frame — fewer overall, but some with larger, louder jets.

“We’ve asked the FAA to determine if any further environmental review is needed because of our proposed jet service,” Alaska spokesman Paul McElroy said.

Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman at the FAA’s regional office in Renton, provided only a brief comment.

“We have in fact received a letter from Alaska Airlines and are reviewing it,” he said in an email.

Last year, Alaska Airlines officials said they were backing out of flying from Paine Field, citing the economy and improvements at Sea-Tac Airport and Bellingham International Airport.

Officials also said, however, that if another airline were to serve the airport, then Alaska would again be interested.

Allegiant officials have remained interested throughout.

Recent projects at Sea-Tac include the completion of a third runway; a remodeled terminal building, and Sound Transit’s extension of Link light rail to the airport.

Bellingham, about an hour’s drive north of Everett, is undergoing a $17 million expansion of its terminal.

“They have made Sea-Tac more convenient for travelers and they’ve better equipped Bellingham to handle more traffic,” McElroy said. “Serving a third airport between those cities undercuts our ability to provide travelers with the lowest fares possible.”

At the same time, he said, “the airline industry is extremely competitive, and we take all threats very seriously.”

In the first year Alaska would run 14 weekly round trips to Las Vegas, Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii on the 737-800s and 21 weekly round-trips to Portland. Not all destinations would be served daily.

By the fifth year of operations, Alaska would fly 49 weekly round-trip flights, or 98 one-way flights in and out of Paine Field. This would include 28 round-trips to Las Vegas, Honolulu, Maui, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Diego with 737-800s, plus the 21 weekly round-trips to Portland using Q400s.

Opponents of commercial service say opening Paine Field to commercial service could increase noise and traffic in surrounding communities. Supporters say flights could help the economy by bringing jobs to the county and convenience for travelers.

Lummis move to get trust land status worries local governments

JOHN STARK; THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Updated: Feb. 1, 2013 at 6:01 p.m. PST

FERNDALE – Whatcom County and the city of Ferndale have written letters to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs opposing Lummi Nation’s move to get trust land designation for an 80-acre site south of Slater Road and west of Interstate 5.

The land had been mentioned as a possible site for both a new county jail and a new Costco store before the tribe acquired it from Ralph Black and family for a reported $5.4 million in late 2011. Ten of the 80 acres are inside the Ferndale city limits, while the remainder is within Bellingham’s legally designated urban growth area. That means it is earmarked for eventual Bellingham annexation.

Tribal trust designation would move the parcel out of city, county and state jurisdiction and take it off property tax rolls.

In his letter to BIA Northwest Regional Director Stanley Speaks in Portland, Ore., Ferndale City Administrator Greg Young notes that in 2006 Ferndale supported Lummi Nation’s earlier move of 3.78 acres into trust status for construction of the tribe’s Gateway Center. The city threw its support behind the tribe’s plans after working out a deal to compensate the city for loss of tax revenue, making an annual payment to the city that is meant to be roughly equivalent to the taxes that would otherwise have been collected without the trust land designation.

Young’s letter says recent negotiations with Lummi over the 80-acre parcel have not borne fruit, and he expresses concern that more transfers of land into trust status could follow.

“While we supported this prior trust conversion and appreciated the Lummis’ desire to have direct freeway exposure, we are now extremely concerned over what may become a pattern of slow but continuous removal of essential land from Ferndale – as you may be aware, not only have the Lummis purchased this 80-acre site, they hold purchase options on additional property in this area. Apparently they have adopted a strategy of land purchase, trust conversion, and development in this area – leading to direct and unavoidable harm to the city of Ferndale.”

Young’s letter also suggests that Lummi Nation may be hoping to imitate the Tulalip Tribes’ big commercial development along Interstate 5 in Marysville.

“It is understandable that the leaders of the Lummi Nation want to mimic the development success of the Tulalip Tribes to the south, but this should not be accomplished and coupled with perpetual harm to the city of Ferndale,” Young wrote.

The Whatcom County Council approved a letter of opposition to the Bureau of Indian Affairs after discussing the matter in a closed session on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

“There is no information regarding the proposed use or development,” says the letter, signed by County Executive Jack Louws and County Council chairwoman Kathy Kershner. “Nor has the Nation consulted with Whatcom County or entered into any agreements regarding the use of the land with any of the three impacted jurisdictions.”

In her own letter to Speaks at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bellingham Mayor Kelli Linville does not flatly oppose tribal trust land status.

“The City of Bellingham values its relationship with the Lummi Nation and is confident that, if given an opportunity, the concerns can be addressed through a government-to-government agreement that respects the self-determination of the Lummi Nation,” the letter says. “However, we believe these issues need to be addressed prior to a determination on the (trust) application.”

Linville’s letter states that the impact on the city goes far beyond the 70-acre section of Lummi Nation property that is inside the city’s urban growth area: Another 445 acres in the growth area would be cut off from the city if the 71-acre section is converted to trust status and cannot be annexed by the city.

Those 445 acres are industrially zoned.

“Bellingham has a shortage of industrial-zoned parcels that are sufficient in size and unencumbered by wetlands,” Linville’s letter says. “Conversion of the subject property to trust status would significantly erode Bellingham’s future industrial land base.”

In a later interview, Ferndale’s Young said as he understands it, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ regional director has the discretion to approve trust status to the Lummi land, with or without the approval of local governments. But the local governments could appeal that approval, if it comes, to the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C.

In his talks with Lummi officials, Young said he got the impression that the tribe may not yet have definite plans for the property.

Linville said she got the same impression during a Thursday, Jan. 31, phone conversation with Lummi chairman Tim Ballew.

“He restated that the tribe didn’t have any plans,” Linville said. “There were no details to give me.”

Linville also agreed that the city and other local governments have a right to comment, but the BIA can give the property trust status despite local objections.

Linville said she told Ballew she would like to work with the tribe to find a mutually beneficial approach to development of the tribe’s property.

Lummi Nation and the BIA did not respond to requests for comment.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/02/04/2458700/lummis-move-to-get-trust-land.html#storylink=cpy

Inslee guarded on tribe casino, Governor says he hasn’t made decision

By Jim Camden of The Spokesman-Review

Article:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/feb/07/inslee-guarded-on-tribe-casino/

Feb 7, 2013

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee wouldn’t say Wednesday which way he’s leaning on the Spokane Tribe’s proposed casino on the West Plains. Inslee has the final ability to block the project near Fairchild Air Force Base even if federal officials sign off on it.

“It will be important for me to make the decision based on the facts and the evidence,” he said.

Inslee, taking questions at a morning news conference, said he would make “the right decision” but quickly added: “I won’t tell you what that is right now, because I have not made it.”

The decision will come after a “clean, academic, dispassionate review” but beyond that, he said he believed it was best not to discuss the casino or whether he would support more gambling facilities in the state.

“There are ramifications for the state beyond this specific application. I will be considering those in the decision,” Inslee said.

In his campaign for governor, Inslee received support from both the Spokane Tribe, which wants to build the casino, and the Kalispel Tribe, which owns the nearby Northern Quest casino and is opposed to the proposed facility. Each tribe gave Inslee $3,600, the maximum contribution from an individual source.

Overall, Indian tribes contributed $60,675 to Inslee’s gubernatorial campaign compared to $11,600 to his Republican opponent, Rob McKenna. Neither the Spokanes nor the Kalispels contributed to McKenna’s gubernatorial campaign.

Last week the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs released an environmental impact statement that said its preferred alternative was the largest of three construction options the Spokane Tribe has proposed for land north of U.S. Highway 2, across from the base. The agency continues to take comments before issuing its “record of decision,” after which the secretary of the interior must decide whether the casino is in the best interests of the tribe and the surrounding community. After that, Inslee must agree with the secretary’s decision before gambling can occur on the property.

The bureau looked at three construction options as well as building nothing on the property. It said a plan for a casino with about 98,500 square feet for electronic gaming devices and tables, a 300-room hotel with a 145-foot tower, restaurants, bars, convention space and a 96,000-square-foot shopping

Heated hearing airs distrust over SPD drones

A public hearing Wednesday on the Seattle Police Department’s plans to deploy drones drew sharp criticism from numerous speakers.

By Christine Clarridge, Seattle Times

There was no shortage of strong opinions — or strong words — when a Seattle City Council committee took up the issue of unmanned police drones during an often heated hearing Wednesday.

“You’re more dangerous than Nazi,” Alex Zimmerman, an activist with Stand Up America, told the members of the council’s Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee. “You’re more dangerous than Communist; more dangerous than Gestapo; more dangerous than KGB.”

Another speaker called committee members “idiots” for even considering an ordinance that would govern the Seattle Police Department’s use of drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Systems.

“Not only ‘no drones,’ but no more council. You guys are crooks. You guys are idiots. You’re telling us they got them already, we have to use them … You guys are becoming a police state … The people do not want this,” said Samuel Bellomio, also with Stand Up America.

The meeting, called to discuss a proposed ordinance that would set restrictions on how and when the police department can use the tiny aircraft, ended with committee Chairman Bruce Harrell saying the conversation had been helpful and would likely lead to the measure being refined.

The proposal is to go back before the committee for a possible vote Feb. 20, then on to the full council Feb. 25.

Jennifer Shaw, the deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, said the ACLU would prefer that Seattle police did not have drones. However, since the department had purchased two with money from a federal Homeland Security grant, she said, it’s important for the city to establish “strong restrictions.”

She recommended that the ordinance be refined to include a more “robust audit provision” and language stating the drones are part of a pilot program.

“We’d like to be able to see if it’s effective and then have the council determine if it should still be going on,” Shaw said.

The proposed restrictions were written after the police department received approval last year from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate drones, sparking an uproar among residents, privacy advocates and civil-rights activists.

The FAA approval was granted after President Obama signed a law that compelled the agency to plan for safe integration of civilian drones into American airspace by 2015.

The restrictions would ban the use of drones for general surveillance or for flights over open-air assemblies.

It also would require a warrant be obtained in all but “exigent” or emergency circumstances, such as situations involving hostages, search-and-rescue operations, the pursuit of armed felons, bomb threats and the detection of “hot spots” in fires, or for the collection of traffic data.

The proposed restrictions would ban the use of drones for the collection of information on anyone not specifically named in a warrant, but specify that information collected inadvertently while an unmanned system was being operated in good faith would not violate the ordinance.

That last clause was troubling to members of the audience, including Chris Stearns of the Human Rights Commission, who said the city should make it illegal to use data inadvertently collected by drones in criminal prosecutions.

Committee member Nick Licata said the term “exigent” was too broad and that he would like the ordinance to specify that the drones can only be used for hostage situations and bomb threats.

He also suggested the ordinance specify that the use of drones in emergency circumstances would require the written authorization of an assistant police chief or captain, instead of a lieutenant as proposed.

The ordinance also states that any data collected by drones would be deleted after 30 days unless there was a “reasonable belief that the data is evidence of criminal activity or civil liability.”

The measure would also set up provisions for audits and an annual review.

The issue has ignited strong feelings among opponents. During a public meeting in October, protesters shouted down police speakers during a presentation on the aircraft.

Google crossing the creepy line

By Monica Brown, Tulalip News Writer

Google is selling ad space according to what you talk about in your emails. Curiosity overcame me and I decided to check these solicited ads out myself and I found that they were there. I sent emails containing key words back and forth between two accounts and sure enough the ads adjusted to them. You can see in the photo they solicited diamond engagement rings, a Subaru Forester and home mortgage rates.

Opting out for the ads is not possible and changing your ad settings will continuously bring the user to a server timeout page. This is what Google has to say for their actions,

“…There’s what I call the creepy line and the Google policy about a lot of these things is to get right up to the creepy line but not cross it.” Says Eric Schmidt, Google executive chairman. Whether it’s about privacy or a large company profiting off of your private conversations it’s still your choice to partake.

Outlook.com has launched the Don’t Get Scroogled by Gmail national campaign in order to inform and educate people about how Google goes through your email contents in order to sell target ads. The campaign can be seen here at http://www.scroogled.com

Outlook.com wants to send the message to Google that going through personal email messages to sell ads is unacceptable and is encouraging consumers to sign the petition and tell Google to stop going through their emails to sell ads.

If consumers want to prioritize their privacy they can switch to Outlook.com, where they don’t read your emails and sell for ad space.

How the email skimming is done, Google goes through every single word of personal Gmail messages and uses that information to sell and target ads.As Google explains on its website,

“In Gmail, most of the ads we show appear next to an open email message and are related to the contents of the current email conversation or thread.” For example, if you write a friend to let her know you are separating from your husband, Google sells ads against this information to divorce lawyers, who post ads alongside it. Or if you ask a friend for vacation suggestions, Google will use this information to target you with ads from travel agencies or airlines that want your business.

Google will even use information from the emails of non-Gmail users to generate advertising income. Gmail goes through all incoming email messages, from any email provider, and sells ads based on the content of those emails — a practice that nearly 90 percent of Americans agree should end.

Currently, Google has six active class action lawsuits against them, all alleging illegal eavesdropping or interception under federal and state wiretapping laws, related to Google’s scanning of emails.

“Emails are personal — and people feel that reading through their emails to sell ads is out of bounds,” said Stefan Weitz , senior director of Online Services at Microsoft. “We honor the privacy of our Outlook.com users, and we are concerned that Google violates that privacy every time an Outlook.com user exchanges messages with someone on Gmail. This campaign is as much about protecting Outlook.com users from Gmail as it is about making sure Gmail users know what Google’s doing.”

New GfK Roper Poll: Public Largely Unaware and Strongly Disapproves of the Practice

A new GfK Roper poll, commissioned by Microsoft, shows that only 30 percent of Americans are aware that any email service goes through the content of personal emails to sell ads, and 88 percent of consumers disapprove of this practice.

Key results from this survey include the following:

88 percent of Americans disapprove of email service providers scanning the content of your personal emails in order to target ads, and 52 percent disapprove strongly.
89 percent of Americans agree that email service providers should not be allowed to scan the content of personal emails in order to target ads.
83 percent of Americans agree that email service providers scanning the content of your personal emails to target ads is an invasion of privacy.
70 percent of Americans didn’t believe or didn’t know that any major email service provider scans the content of personal emails in order to target ads.
88 percent of email users believe that email service providers should allow users to “opt out” if they prefer that the content of their emails not be scanned in order to target ads.

Outlook.com believes their users should be informed about Google’s email privacy intrusions and consumers have a choice to switch to Outlook.com.

“Outlook.com believes your privacy is not for sale,” Weitz said. “We believe people should have choice and control over their private email messages, whether they are sharing banking information or pictures of their family or discussing their medical history.”

Weitz added, “Outlook.com does not scan the contents of your personal email to sell ads. Outlook.com is an email service that prioritizes your own and your family’s privacy. You wouldn’t let the post office look inside your mail, so why would you let Google?”

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

¹ About this study: The RDD telephone survey was conducted Feb. 1-4, 2013 by GfK’s Public Affairs & Corporate Communications division, among a nationally representative sample of 1,006 adults ages 18 or older. Interviews were conducted with 753 respondents on landlines and 253 respondents on cellular telephones. The data were weighted on age, sex, education, race and geographic region. The margin of error on results based on the full sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Source: Scroogles.com

Death confirmed as sixth from flu

By Sharon Salyer, Herald Writer

A suspected flu death in Snohomish County has been confirmed, bringing the total to six who have died in the worst flu season since 2009.

The most recent death was of an Everett man in his 90s, who died on Jan. 24, according to the Snohomish Health District.

The previous deaths were of an Everett woman in her 70s, a Stanwood man in his 90s, a Bothell woman in her 40s and two women in their 80s, one from Everett and one from Edmonds.

For comparison, three people died of influenza during the previous two flu seasons combined, said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District.

The number of people hospitalized with flu or its complications this season — 84 — also far exceeds the numbers from the past two flu seasons.

“This has been a particularly brutal, severe year for influenza deaths and hospitalizations,” said Dr. Yuan-Po Tu, who tracks flu issues at The Everett Clinic.

Statewide, 28 people have died from the flu, according to the state Department of Health. That’s the largest number since the swine flu epidemic of 2009-10 when 98 people died in Washington.

“What we’ve seen is an influenza that spread pretty widely, specifically for the older residents of the county, the state and nationally,” Goldbaum said. “It certainly is more severe.”

Flu this season, both locally and nationally, has caused the most serious illness in people 55 and up.

It’s not just the initial onset of influenza that can cause people to become so ill that they need to be hospitalized, Tu said.

Some people have several days of classic flu symptoms of high fever, sore throat, sniffles and body aches and seem to get better, but then get sick again two to four weeks later. “All of a sudden you develop a ‘late’ fever,” Tu said, indications of health problems such as more severe asthma or a bacterial infection, such as pneumonia.

The influenza virus damages the linings of the respiratory system in a way that makes it far easier for these health problems to occur, Tu said.

Although flu has hit older adults far harder than children, seven schools in Snohomish County have reported high absenteeism rates from students with flu-like symptoms.

Flu outbreaks also have been reported at 11 long-term facilities such as nursing homes and assisting living facilities.

The good news is that flu season seems to have peaked about two weeks ago, based on reports from area clinics and the number of patients being hospitalized.

“I would hazard a guess that we’re in the last month of flu season,” Tu said.

Detectives witness carjacking on Tulalip reservation

By Rikki King, Heral Writer, http://www.heraldnet.com

TULALIP — A drug-related carjacking on the Tulalip Indian Reservation on Tuesday was interrupted when three undercover tribal police detectives happened by.

The detectives were in an unmarked car driving 81st Street NE about 4:15 p.m., according to a police affidavit.

Near the intersection with 30th Drive NE, they saw a maroon Honda Civic suddenly stop and block a white Cadillac Seville.

Two men got out of the Honda and approached the Cadillac. One of them reportedly had a large knife concealed behind his arm.

The detectives got out of their car, yelling, “Police! Stop!” according to court papers.

At that point, one of the men from the Honda reportedly took a plastic baggie from his pocket and threw it into the Cadillac through a window. The Cadillac’s driver then grabbed the baggie and threw it back outside.

The bag contained 5.49 grams of heroin.

Arrests ensued. Some of the people in the two cars apparently were acquainted.

Also recovered was the knife, the blade of which measured more than 10 inches.

The people in the Honda reportedly were trying to get the Cadillac back. It had been sold a couple of times, and they planned a carjacking to settle a related debt. Police have identified the car’s registered owner.

Two of the men from the Honda were booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of attempted first-degree robbery. One also is being investigated for possessing a controlled substance and resisting arrest.

Schools take proactive approach to safety

From left, Marysville Police School Resource Officer Dave White takes a moment during lunch at Marysville Getchell High School to chat with students Dalton Adcock, Curtis Combs and Bionca Perez. Photo: Kirk Boxleitner.

By Kirk Boxleitner, Marysville Globe Reporter

MARYSVILLE — In the wake of December’s school shootings in Connecticut, schools across America have become more conscious of their safety and security procedures, and the Marysville School District is no exception.

However, the district’s security manager and one of its school resource officers from the Marysville Police Department explained that Marysville schools have already adopted a proactive approach to safeguarding their children.

Marysville Police School Resource Officer Dave White has built up a rapport with the students at Marysville Getchell High School over the course of the past four years, since a year before the campus opened, and while he also covers the district’s three middle schools, he credits his presence on campus at Marysville Getchell with elevating his visibility and approachability with students and staff alike.

“It’s been brought to my attention when students have been doing things they shouldn’t, and I’ve been lucky enough to talk to them in ways that have preempted them from committing criminal acts, either at school or elsewhere,” White said. “After [the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.], the staff has been even more interested in using our expertise to make the schools safer.”

Just as the Tulalip Tribal Police Department has donated a part-time SRO to cover the Quil Ceda and Tulalip elementary schools, as well as the 10th Street Middle School and the Heritage and Arts & Technology high schools, so too is the Marysville Police Department providing its two SROs to the school district free of charge, with White’s fellow SRO covering the Marysville-Pilchuck and Mountain View high schools. However, this leaves the rest of Marysville’s elementary schools relatively uncovered, which is why White explained that Marysville Police regular patrol officers are conducting walk-throughs of those elementary schools several times a day.

“We appreciate the huge service that the Marysville Police Department is doing for us here, because we have absolutely no money for it,” said Greg Dennis, security manager for the school district. “After Sandy Hook, everyone asked, ‘What if that happened here?’ Here at Marysville, we’ve been asking, ‘How do we prevent that from happening here?’”

The school district’s measures already include SROs, 11 FTE security guards, rapid-response maps that allow 911 responders to arrive at exact locations within 1-2 minutes, and regular drills for fires, lockdowns and earthquakes.

“Going forward, we’re working with our safety committee and law enforcement to review our campuses and our emergency plans,” said Jodi Runyon, executive assistant to the superintendent. “The city police and county sheriff’s office have been very willing to work with us. As the president and state legislators weigh in on what can and should be done, we will take a second and third look at our procedures to make cost-effective adjustments.”