Posted: Feb 1, 2013 10:20 AM by Marnee Banks – MTN News
HELENA – The Montana Senate Fish and Game committee is considering a comprehensive bison management bill.
Senator John Brenden’s (R-Scobey) Senate Bill 143 would establish a year round bison hunting season and prohibit any translocation of the species. He says he is bringing his bill in response to farmers and ranchers.
Bill Hoppe is an outfitter and rancher in Gardiner who says the bison come out of Yellowstone National Park and cause havoc on private land.
“Bison are very destructive, Hoppe testified. “While on our land they destroy trees, shrubbery, landscaping, then tear down huge amounts of fence.”
American Indian tribes testified against the bill, saying the bison is a spiritual animal and if the Legislature passes the bill it could face litigation.
Other opponents to the bill are calling it “radical” and say the bison should not be managed as a pest but instead as wildlife.
Greater Yellowstone Coalition Executive Director Mike Clark said there are three main reasons he opposes the bill.
“First it will completely disrupt the relationship between the federal government, the state and the tribe. Secondly, it will polarize people throughout this country over how the bison will be slaughtered. Thirdly, it will prevent the movement of healthy bison to the tribes,” Clark said.
The Senate Fish and Game committee will vote on the bill at a later date.
Please join us in the “2013 Watch D.O.G. Orientation, Recognition and Desert Meeting” February 6th Wednesday, 6 to 6:30pm Totem Library
Overview
WATCH D.O.G.S.® (Dads Of Great S tudents) is an innovative program of the National Center for Fathering focusing on preventing violence in our nation’s schools by using the positive influence of fathers and father-figures. WATCH D.O.G.S.® was founded by Jim Moore and joined with the National Center for Fathering in 2006. It serves to inspire and equip men to be the involved fathers, grandfathers and father-figures their students need. For more information, visit the website at www.fathers.com/watchdogs
Who are WatchDOGS?
WatchDOGS are fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and other father-figures who volunteer for at least one day each year at an official WATCH D.O.G.S.® school. During the day, WatchDOGS may read and work on flash cards with students, play at recess, eat lunch with students, watch the school entrances and hallways, assist with traffic flow, mentor students, and any other assigned activities where they actively engage with not only their own students, but other students as well. Their mere presence and assistance is appreciated every day!
Program Recognition
The WATCH D.O.G.S.® program has been recognized by the United States Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and has been involved in the U.S. Department of Education’s P.F.I.E. (Partnership For Family Involvement In Education). The program has been recognized on the floor of Congress as a program that “can be a great tool in our efforts to prevent school violence and the improve student performance because it can increase parental initiative and involvement in their children’s education. (Congressional Record, February 7, 2000 page S392)
What Totem WatchDOGS Are Saying?
• 90% thought their experiences in the school was rewarding.
• 90% thought the students were excited to see them in the building.
• Selected comments
o “I participated in one-to-one reading in first grade and liked being with the kids at recess”
o “Seeing my child at school and getting to know her friends.”
o “I gained a new appreciation of what teachers do every day.”
Get Involved and be a WatchDOG today!
• Talk to one of the WatchDOGS at the Dad/Deserts Event. You can also contact Timothy Hall 657-6231 or timothy_hall@msvl.k12.wa.us, Daniel_Natividad@msvl.k12.wa.us
• Commit to one day or more at Totem Middle School during the school year
• Complete the Registration form & Background Check for the district
Bring your calendar and Line Up and Sign Upfor your day.
Photo: Genna Martin / The Herald The 3 p.m. Mukilteo ferry heads toward Whidbey Island on Wednesday. A project is in the works to build a new Mukilteo ferry terminal just east of the current dock.
OLYMPIA — Two hurdles to building a new ferry terminal in Mukilteo should be cleared this spring, but state leaders must deal with a looming lack of money to build it.
After years of efforts, there is a $38 million hole in the budget for a new terminal at the former Air Force tank farm, east of the existing terminal. And there are signs it could grow larger.
Ground won’t be broken until 2015, at the earliest, giving ferry officials time to pull together funds from state and federal sources to cover the $140 million tab.
“I’m confident. This has been too long in coming,” said Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine. “Everybody knows this project has to be done.”
Rep. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, serves on the House Transportation Committee, which is drafting a new transportation budget. The state has made its commitment clear by paying several million dollars for environmental work thus far, he said.
“My goal is to make sure we keep the project on track, because it’s a critical improvement that needs to be done,” said Liias, a former Mukilteo councilman. “We need all the money identified before we start.”
The Mukilteo ferry terminal is among the busiest in the state’s marine highway system. It has not had significant improvements for almost 30 years and frequent users know well the congestion and conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians with the current layout.
Last May, the state chose as its preferred site at the old fuel depot. Of three alternatives, it is the closest to the transit center and Sound Transit commuter rail station. The other options were to renovate the ferry dock at its current location or build at the far east end of the tank farm.
As proposed, the state will erect four new toll booths and a new building and entryway for walk-on passengers.
The final environmental impact statement on the project is expected to be released in April. Then the Air Force can transfer its land to the Port of Everett, which will then give a slice to the state for the ferry terminal.
Agreements need to be reached with tribes regarding protection of cultural resources and treaty rights for fishing. The goal is to wrap those up this year, ferry officials said.
Lawmakers and former Gov. Chris Gregoire only socked away $102 million in the current state transportation budget for preliminary engineering and construction through 2019.
The $38 million hole could grow to $58 million because Washington State Ferries wants to use some of those construction dollars now, knowing that the big checks for the Mukilteo terminal won’t need to be written for a couple of years.
David Moseley, assistant secretary of transportation in charge of ferries, said he’s optimistic that federal money can be secured and, maybe, extra state dollars too if a new transportation funding package wins voter approval in the next couple of years.
“I don’t think we’ll have it solved in 2013,” he said
Published January 30, 2013 at 8:25 PM
By Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Times staff reporter
A Native American vest donated to Goodwill was passed on by sharp-eyed staff to Seattle’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, where it is now in the museum’s permanent collection.
You just never know what you might find at your local Goodwill store: something old, something new — and sometimes, treasures worthy of a museum collection.
So it was with a beaded American Indian vest dropped off at the Dearborn Goodwill at South Lane Street in Seattle. Sharp-eyed staff thought it might be something special, and an independent appraiser estimated its value for Goodwill at $5,000.
Now the early 20th-century Plains Indian-style beaded vest has just been accepted by Seattle’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture for its permanent collection.
“It is just gorgeous and we are thrilled to have it,” said Julie Stein, director of the museum.
Goodwill donated the vest to the museum so that it could benefit the entire community, said Katherine Boury, communications manager for Seattle Goodwill.
Usually, items are sold by Goodwill through its stores, or to other users with the proceeds used to run its free job-training and education programs. The nonprofit will take just about anything, for which it will find a recycler or buyer, Boury said. But sometimes, only a museum will do.
The vest was dropped off in a trunk back in 2006, and Goodwill has been working all that time to find out what it was, and what the best disposition for the item would be, Boury said. The Burke, with its Native American collection, made sense, Boury said.
The front of the vest is delicately beaded with Italian glass beads sewn onto hide. It is lined with cotton, and has a buckle cinch decorating its black velvet back. Seams give it a perfect drape and its colors, including a rosy pink, are rare, said Justin McCarthy, Burke ethnologist. Beads accenting the shoulders have a white core covered with red glass, giving them a special glow.
The vest, probably of Flathead, Gros Ventre, Kalispell or Fort Belknap origin, is an adult man’s garment that might have been made to sell, or been reserved for use on special occasions, said Katie Bunn-Marcuse, director of the Bill Holm center at the Burke.
Think you might be sitting on something special that you would like identified? The museum’s annual artifact day is open to the public from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 9. Items of all types, from fossils to carvings, will be evaluated for free by Burke staff. Come early, the line of curious collectors often forms all the way down the sidewalk.
Spokane County commissioners, freed from an agreement that previously prevented them from commenting, have passed a resolution opposing the Spokane Tribe’s plan to build a big casino complex at Airway Heights, near Fairchild Air Force Base.
SPOKANE, Wash. —
Spokane County commissioners, freed from an agreement that previously prevented them from commenting, have passed a resolution opposing the Spokane Tribe’s plan to build a big casino complex at Airway Heights, near Fairchild Air Force Base.
The commissioners on Tuesday afternoon voted unanimously to oppose the project in large part because they fear it could imperil the future of the base, which is Spokane County’s largest employer.
“We are literally being asked to gamble the 5,000 current jobs provided by Fairchild on a project that may provide significantly fewer than that,” Commissioner Todd Mielke said in a news release. “If we guess wrong, it will take decades for this community to recover.”
Air Force base officials have not taken a position on the casino, which would be about a mile from the base.
Leaders of the Spokane Tribe didn’t immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
The Spokane Tribe is seeking rare federal approval to build the casino in the city of Airway Heights, miles from the boundaries of its reservation. A decision is expected in the next 45 days.
The project is opposed by the Kalispel Tribe, which already has a large and successful casino in Airway Heights.
In 2010, the city of Airway Heights reached an agreement with Spokane County commissioners in which the commissioners would remain silent on the proposed casino in exchange for payments to the county of $120,000 a year from casino revenues to deal with impacts. But the two county commissioners who supported that deal have since left, and the new commissioners threatened to sue if the agreement was not torn up.
The city of Airway Heights released the county from the agreement last week, and county commissioners wasted little time in voicing their opposition. The commissioners’ position will be sent to the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the state of Washington, which all must approve any proposal for off-reservation gambling by the Spokane Tribe.
Casino supporters say the project will provide revenues to lift many members of the Spokane Tribe out of poverty, and provide some 1,200 jobs in the region.
But opponents, including many Spokane area political and business leaders, worry the proposed casino is too close to the base and may prompt the Air Force to restrict operations or even close the base in the future because of encroachment issues.
Airway Heights continues to support the casino project.
Stafford Act passes Senate on 62 – 36 vote – Headed to President Obama’s Desk for Signature
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
Embassy of Tribal Nations
1516 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 466-7767
Jan 29, 2013
Washington, DC – Tribal nations will soon have the same ability provided to states to make disaster relief declarations and requests for assistance directly to the President of the United States. In a 62-36 vote on Monday night, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 152, the Hurricane Sandy Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill, which includes amendments to allow tribal governments to make direct requests for emergency assistance to the President under the Stafford Act. Under current law, tribes must seek assistance through a state governor’s office, often causing critical delays in emergency response on tribal lands. The legislation, which also includes $50 billion in Hurricane Sandy relief funding, passed 241-180 in the House of Representatives two weeks ago and now goes to President Obama’s desk to be signed into law.
“Some tribal nations in the U.S., many in remote areas, are larger than some states and every tribal nation has unique disaster response and recovery requests. The final passage of this bill marks a historic moment in tribal emergency preparedness and response. Our nations, devastated too often by natural disasters with disproportionate impacts, will be more capable to respond immediately to major disasters, and the bipartisan support for this legislation should not go unnoticed,” said Jefferson Keel, President of NCAI. Keel is also the Lt. Governor of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.
NCAI further acknowledges that the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) made the tribal amendments to the Stafford Act its sole legislative priority under Administrator Craig Fugate’s direction. The need for this critical policy change has been called for repeatedly in FEMA tribal consultations and meetings with tribal leaders during NCAI conventions.
“State and tribal governments will now be able to access disaster assistance as needed to aid the people, local communities, and regions in recovering quickly from catastrophic situations. NCAI looks forward to the signature of this landmark legislation by President Obama. NCAI is prepared to work with FEMA to ensure its implementation contains fair and inclusive eligibility criteria and will benefit the maximum number of tribal communities,” concluded Robert Holden, NCAI’s Deputy Director and longtime coordinator of emergency management policy and response efforts at NCAI.
From left, Brandon Dully of Guy F. Atkinson Construction, Marysville City Council member Rob Toyer, Sally Hintz with the office of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring, City Council members Steve Muller, Michael Stevens and Donna Wright, and former Mayor Dennis Kendall officially dedicate the 1-5 overcrossing at 156th Street in north Marysville on Jan. 28. Photo by Kirk Boxleitner.
MARYSVILLE — Three months after it opened, and two weeks after it was closed for final tweaks, the 1-5 overcrossing at 156th Street in north Marysville was officially dedicated on Jan. 28.
“As we were setting this date, we joked that the one thing we could be absolutely certain of was that it would be snowing, sleeting, hailing or raining today,” said Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring, as he and his fellow dedication ceremony attendees shivered under tents while rain poured down on the temporarily closed road.
Nehring extended credit for the overcrossing not only to the Marysville City Council and former Mayor Dennis Kendall, as well as contractors Guy F. Atkinson Construction, but also to the city’s partners in funding, from the Tulalip Tribes to the members of the public/private Local Improvement District.
“It’s a testament to what can be done even when state and federal dollars are drying up,” Nehring said, even as he acknowledged that, “Yes, this is designed to become a full interchange, so I hope we’ll be able to apply for federal grants and have senators [Maria] Cantwell and [Patty] Murray, as well as Rep. [Rick] Larsen, see our degree of need.”
Nehring touted the overcrossing as key not only to easing traffic congestion on the I-5 interchange at 172nd Street, but also for further paving the way for a dedicated manufacturing and light industrial center in north Marysville where a great deal of infrastructure has already been established to support such a venture.
“Last November, the manager of the Costco in Lakewood was calling me up and asking to make sure this overcrossing would open on time,” Nehring said. “Sure enough, it was finished in time for ‘Black Friday’ shopping right after Thanksgiving. It just needed to be closed these past two weeks for a few final touches to be added.”
Brandon Dully of Atkinson Construction shared a laugh with Nehring under the tent about the day’s downpour.
“This is just a normal Marysville day for us,” Dully said. “Most of our jobs north of Everett are in weather like this, but we’re up to the challenge.”
Dully proudly touted Atkinson’s safety record on the site by pointing out that only “two very minor accidents” occurred during the project.
“One of the best parts of this job is that we were able to support local labor by giving jobs to guys just down the road,” Dully said. “Just let us know when we need to put on- and off-ramps on this thing, and we’ll be back.”
Nehring concluded the ceremony by crediting the decision to go with an overcrossing to a committee made up of area residents and various governmental organizations.
“Marysville didn’t just dream this up in a vacuum all by ourselves,” Nehring said. “We were committed to the best alternative possible.”
Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring emphasizes the importance of carefully managed spending to the city’s long-term well-being during his Jan. 25 State of the City address. Photo by Kirk Boxleitner.
MARYSVILLE — Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring reflected on a year of transitions and partnerships during his Jan. 25 State of the City address for 2013, at the same time that he pledged that the city would continue to meet its citizens’ needs through disciplined methods.
“There is no higher priority than public safety,” Nehring told the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce during its Business Before Hours. “In the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen the work of our SWAT team, and our strike team made 100 arrests in its first month, in May of last year. Crime is on the rise throughout the county and the state, but we’re sending the message that Marysville is not a good place to be a burglar.”
Nehring credited cautious budgeting with allowing the city to reach a 10 percent emergency reserve mark, and noted that other savings are already being reinvested in much-needed infrastructure improvements, from equipment and vehicle replacements to signals, streets and sidewalks. He praised the Tulalip Tribes for their financial support of these projects, as well as the 156th Street overcrossing that was completed in time for “Black Friday” shopping last November, just as he lauded the city’s citizens for participating so fully in Marysville’s “Clean Sweep.”
“Part of revitalizing our downtown is making those areas more attractive,” Nehring said of the volunteers who painted out graffiti, took part in the Shred-A-Thon and dropped off their trash at Marysville First Assembly of God’s borrowed dumpsters. “Volunteers gave 4,400 hours of service to this city last year, which adds up to $93,000 in value to the city, which is why I encourage you to nominate Volunteers of the Month to be recognized.”
Among the positive signs that Nehring sees for the city are its uptick in building permits issued, facilitated by the city’s online permitting process, and the arrival of the Armed Forces Reserve Center and the Everett Clinic in Smokey Point last year, as well as the new Walmart and Honda dealership that will open their doors in Marysville this year.
“The new Ebey Slough Bridge will open a whole host of possibilities, especially if we can get on- and off-ramps to make it an alternative I-5 access-way to Fourth Street,” Nehring said. “A manufacturing and light industrial center in Smokey Point will also grow our jobs base. We’ve got great plans for 2013, so we should continue to promote this city and make it a community we can all be proud of.”
On January 22, 2013, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Michael Crapo (R-ID) reintroduced bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The legislation closely mirrors their bipartisan bill that passed the Senate with a significant (68-31) margin last spring.
Thanks to the hard work of advocates across the country, the Senate’s VAWA bill (S. 47) already has 49 additional co-sponsors. Our goal is to get 60 co-sponsors by January 31st so that VAWA can move to the Senate floor for a bipartisan victory – and we need your help! If your Senator has not yet signed on to VAWA, call them now and urge them to join as a co-sponsor. If they are already a co-sponsor, call to say thanks. You can access an updated list of S. 47’s current co-sponsors here.
Action Item:
Call the Capitol switchboard at 888.269.5702 and ask the operator to connect you to your Senators. If you don’t know who your Senators are, you can look them up here. When you’re connected to their offices, tell the person who answers the phone:
1) I am a constituent from (city and state) and my name is _________.
2) I urge Senator____ to co-sponsor the S. 47, a strong, bipartisan bill that would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.
3) Thank you and I look forward to hearing that the Senator is a co-sponsor.
Background on VAWA:
The Senate could vote on VAWA as early as next week. When that happens, we want to ensure that the bill has the broad, bipartisan support it needs to pass swiftly.
VAWA is the cornerstone of our nation’s response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, and because of VAWA, millions of victims have received lifesaving services and support. Despite VAWA’s proven ability to substantially improve lives, it has not reached all victims. VAWA’s reauthorization provides an opportunity to build upon the successes of the current law by including key improvements to protect and provide safety and access to justice for Native American, immigrant, and LGBT victims, as well as victims on college campuses and in communities of color. Additionally, a reauthorized VAWA must include strengthened housing protections that provide emergency housing transfer options for survivors, as well as implementation of transparent and effective accountability measures that support and strengthen, rather than endanger, those programs that assist victims.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Jan 24 that they had made significant progress on a coordinated five-year plan to address health risks posed by uranium contamination on the Navajo Nation. The plan is an invested $100 million.
Their efforts have reduced the most urgent risks to Navajo residents by remedying 34 contaminated homes, providing safe drinking water to 1825 families, and performing stabilization or cleanup work at 9 abandoned mines. Additionally, the EPA has useed the Superfund law to compel the responsible parties to make additional mine investigations and cleanups amounting to $17 million.
“This effort has been a great start to addressing the toxic legacy of uranium mining on Navajo lands,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “The work done to date would not have been possible without the partnership of the six federal agencies and the Navajo Nation’s EPA and Department of Justice.”
The Navajo Nation encompasses more than 27,000 square miles in the Four Corners area of Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. The unique geology of the region makes the Navajo Nation rich in uranium, a radioactive ore in high demand after the development of atomic power and weapons at the close of World War II. Approximately four million tons of uranium ore were extracted during mining operations within the Navajo Nation from 1944 to 1986. Many Navajo people worked the mines, often raising their families in close proximity to the mines and mills.
“On behalf of the Navajo people I appreciate the leadership of Rep. Henry Waxman and the members of Congress who requested a multi-agency response to the Navajo Nation’s testimony presented at the October 2007 hearing,” said Ben Shelly, President of the Navajo Nation. “While there have been accomplishments that improved some conditions, we still need strong support from the Congress and the federal agencies to fund the clean-up of contaminated lands and water, and to address basic public health concerns due to the legacy of uranium mining and milling.”
Uranium mining activities no longer occur within the Navajo Nation, but the hazards of uranium contamination remain. More than 500 abandoned uranium mine claims and thousands of mine features, such as pits, trenches and holes, with elevated levels of uranium, radium and other radionuclides still exist. Health effects from exposure to these contaminants can include lung cancer, bone cancer and impaired kidney function.
The progress is from cooperation with the Navajo Nation, together with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Indian Health Service (IHS).
