TULALIP — They toured alongside John and Tom Fogerty during the 1960s as the driving rhythm for Creedence Clearwater Revival, and they’ll be performing at the Tulalip Amphitheater Sunday, Sept. 7.
Credence’s original drummer, Doug “Cosmo” Clifford, and bassist, Stu Cook, perform as Creedence Clearwater Revisited — a tribute band.
“We take the music seriously, but we don’t take ourselves seriously,” Clifford said. “It’s a recipe for a good time.”
In 1995 Cook and Clifford formed Credence Clearwater Revisited to pay tribute to their original sound.
Sometime before that, Clifford was living on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, and Cook was residing in California. The two thought about relocating to some place in California. When reunited in the same state, Cook and Clifford jammed for a bit but that grew old quickly, and the two committed to a new project.
The project started out small, but grew in popularity and were eventually promoted by a friend.
“We were doing private shows for about three or four months just as something to do,” Clifford said. “The shows went well.”
Now the band tours nationally and internationally for rock and roll and CCR fans.
Though Revisted stays true to its classic sound, the kind of music is still relevant to the “single-digiters,” Clifford said.
“We have more young fans than older fans, and we continue to bring in younger fans,” Clifford said. “We do get a lot of airplay on the classic rock stations.”
Clifford and Cook look forward to spending some time in the Pacific Northwest.
“We certainly have been around the Northwest. It’s a beautiful place,” Clifford said. “There’s lots of rain, and we got the ‘rain song,'” he said, referring to Who’ll Stop the Rain?”
TULALIP – The annual Tulalip Tribes Youth Services backpack distribution kicked off the farewell to summer as hundreds of Tulalip youth attended a block party held on Tuesday, August 26, at the Don Hatch Jr. Youth Center.
The annual event, held at the Quil Ceda & Tulalip Elementary School in the past, was held for the first time at the youth center, which accommodated space for a large lunch, education booths, backpack distribution, and the highlight of the event: games and carnival-like activities.
Tulalip tribal youth and other Native youth, Pre-K through 12th grade enrolled in the Marysville School District, were provided a backpack filled with basic school supplies required by grade, which helps to lessen the back-to-school cost experienced by parents.
Tulalip Tribes Youth Services distributed over 1,400 backpacks during the event. Youth not present at the block party to receive a backpack may contact the Youth Services Department at 360-716-4902 to collect their backpack.
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com
The next Food Handlers class being offered at Tulalip is Thursday, September 4th from 10:00am – 12:30pm at the Tulalip Tribes Administration Building off Marine Drive. Anyone preparing or serving food on the reservation is required to have a current food worker card. Upon completion of the class and a passing test score, a food worker card will be issued which will be valid for three years from the test date. This card is valid for employment on the reservation only.
Heroin users who inject the drug have been showing up at Harborview with Clostridium botulinum wound infections, better known as botulism.
Increased botulism infections seen in the region’s heroin users
Tulalip, Niki Cleary
In an alert from the Snohomish County Health District, local health officials were notified that Harborview Medical Center is seeing more heroin users coming in with Clostridium botulinum wound infections. Their conclusion? Likely an infected batch of heroin is being sold in this area. While many community members may not recognize the bacterium, they’ll probably recognize it’s affects, widely known as botulism.
“Normally we see this [botulism] in preserved foods,” said Bryan Cooper, ARNP Family Practice Provider at Tulalip’s Karen I Fryberg Health Clinic. “Tar heroin comes from a plant, it’s sap from the poppy, so basically the sugars there provide food for this particular bacteria. We talk about pasteurizing food, we kind of flash heat them to kill the bacteria, but they [drug dealers] don’t do that with heroin, because they don’t care.”
In any case, killing the bacteria with heat won’t solve the problem.
Cooper continued, “When users heat heroin to melt it and inject it, they kill the bacteria. But it’s not the bacteria that cause the symptoms. The bacteria produce a neurotoxin as a waste product, so even though the bacteria is dead, the neurotoxin is still there. The neurotoxin causes the double vision, slurred speech and other symptoms.”
The neurotoxin causes paralysis. When the paralysis affects the heart or lungs, the affected person dies.
“The treatment is to get an anti-toxin as soon as possible,” said Cooper. “Here’s the thing, if the onset is rapid, if it’s a high dose or you are susceptible to it, it can progress so fast that you don’t have signs and symptoms. When it goes to your respiratory system, it’s all over.”
Things to look for: Double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth and muscle weakness. The user may also note blood colored discharge at the injection site.
“People who have been around a heroin user will notice that they ar acting differently.” Cooper described the effects, “You don’t necessarily get slurred speech with heroin. Here, we’ll actually see drooping eyelids while the user is awake. There will be difficulty swallowing, and even when they’re not high, these symptoms won’t go away.
“It can progress to death pretty quickly depending on the dose,” Cooper warned. “If you experience any of these symptoms, you need to neutralize the toxin as soon as possible. If we saw someone here with a confirmed case, we would send them to the emergency room and call the Snohomish County Health District so they could get the anti-toxin there right away.
“You can liken it to a snakebite,” Cooper said. A rattlesnake bite might be a low enough dose that you’ll live through it, but it’s not worth the risk of waiting. The sooner you receive the anti-venom, or in this case, the anti-toxin, the less damage it will cause.
“Recovery from botulism can last for months,” Cooper explained. “You want to administer the anti-toxin as early as possible to reduce the severity. Even though you’ve given the anti-toxin, the damage is already done. Your body has to recover from that damage.”
Injection is the likeliest way to contract botulism from heroin, but even smoking heroin doesn’t guarantee that you won’t be exposed to the disease.
“Bad teeth, bleeding gums, these can all be entry ways for botulism toxin,” described Cooper. “According to the World Health Organization (WHO), inhalation botulism is similar to foodborne botulism, but symptoms become noticeable from one to three days after exposure. It’s possible that smoking contaminated heroin could cause a user’s clothing to be contaminated. The contaminated clothing could then expose others to the toxin. The WHO’s recommendation is for the patient to shower and their clothing to be stored in plastic until it can be decontaminated by washing in soap and water”
Although, he acknowledges that heavy drug users may not notice if they are affected, Cooper explained that community members and other users can save a life by looking for these symptoms.
“There are some of us who give people rides,” said Tulalip citizen Willa McLean, “so, awareness is crucial. In case we see something on the individual, we’ll know what to do.”
Cooper pointed out that this won’t affect all needle users, for example, if you have diabetes and inject insulin, you are safe because the legal product you receive goes through numerous safeguards to ensure that it’s free from contaminants. Likewise, you can’t catch botulism the way you can catch the common cold.
“Botulism is a toxin given off by bacteria, so when the user injects contaminated heroin and therefore the toxin, they are essentially poisoned. If the needle is shared, there’s a risk that there may be a small amount of toxin in the needle or syringe. It’s not a pathogen, therefore not blood borne, airborne or contagious.”
Tulalip Early Head Start students move on to preschool
Families gathered at the Tulalip Amphitheatre August 12 to celebrate the children of the Tulalip Early Head Start program that will be starting preschool this fall. Photo: Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News
TULALIP – The Parent Committee of the Tulalip Early head Start program gathered with staff and students Tuesday, August 12, at the Tulalip Amphitheatre to celebrate their children as they transition into preschool, beginning their academic careers.
“I think it’s a great event where we can honor our children. The parents and staff worked together to make this event happen,” said Alicia Horne, who chairs the EHS parent committee.
The program curriculum is focused on developing basic skills through sensory learning. As children advance in academia, these first few years are crucial in determining how a child will perform in school. The EHS staff are committed to preparing these young children to excel in school.
As much as the event is for students, parents take the time to honor the staff for the work that they do with the tribal children.
Tulalip Councilwoman Marie Zackuse said, “Thank you for setting that foundation for our kids, helping them towards success in their education.”
“I think it’s a great way to honor the teachers for what they do for our children,” said Felicia Holland, one of the parents on the committee.
Children enter the EHS program as early as two, and move through three levels of the program. When they do move on, they are entering the beginnings of public school. Many of the students will advance to the Tulalip Montessori or Tulalip ECEAP.
Jordan and Alex Bontempo. Jordan, who already moved up to the Tulalip Montessori, is a proud big brother as Alex begins school. Photo: Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
The event is funded solely through fund raising. In addition to honoring the staff and advancing students, there was an art auction of student work in an effort to continue fundraising for other EHS events. Two walls featured traditional hand drums with unique designs that the parents and students worked on together.
Tulalip tribal council members and Quil Ceda Village planning staff joined Panera Bread’s Seattle region representative Jayson Levich, for a groundbreaking ceremony on August 14, for the new Panera Bread restaurant opening in December 14. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News
TULALIP – Tulalip tribal council members and Quil Ceda Village planning staff joined Jayson Levich, equity partner with Panera Bread for the Seattle region, to break ground for a new Panera restaurant on Thursday, August 14.
According to Quil Ceda Marketing Manager, Teresa Meece, the Tulalip Tribes and Panera Bread have signed a lease agreement to build a 4,300-square-foot restaurant. The new restaurant will be located on a vacant lot near the Home Depot in Quil Ceda Village on the Tulalip Indian Reservation and will feature the Panera menu of sandwiches, salads and baked goods, as well as a drive-through window.
“Panera Bread is a perfect addition to Quil Ceda Village,” said Meece. “In addition to their amazing food they share our values of giving back to our community. We are really excited and can’t wait for their doors to open.”
Wilcox Construction is currently completing prep work at the site. The restaurant is slated to open December of this year.
“It is very critical and important decision in who we partner with,” said Tulalip Tribal councilwoman Deb Parker shortly before the groundbreaking. “When we make these decisions we do it all together with one heart and one mind.”
Interim Quil Ceda Village General Manager, Martin Napeahi, explained that the Tribe carefully selects businesses for the Quil Ceda Village business park to continue building the local econcommunity. The lot that Panera will fill has sat vacant, waiting for the right business to present itself.
“How blessed we are to have been accepted as a partner after 15 years of searching for the right partner for this lot,” said Levich at the groundbreaking. “I feel humbly confident that our team will bring in the things that you want to see out of this partnership. We pride ourselves in taking great care of our customers and providing exceptional service, and quality food. On behalf of Panera Bread I am honored to become partners here and thank you for welcoming us. This is our going to be our 24th location in the Northwest and I am proud to say that it will be our very best.”
Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com