Eagles on the mend after scavenging euthanized horses

Seven eagles poisoned nearly to death after feeding on carcasses of euthanized horses in Lewis County should be well enough for release from wildlife shelters this week.

 

By Lynda V. Mapes, The Seattle Times

A volunteer at the West Sound Wildlife Shelter on Bainbridge Island nurses one of the eagles sickened by eating carcasses of euthanized horses. Photo: Dottie Tison
A volunteer at the West Sound Wildlife Shelter on Bainbridge Island nurses one of the eagles sickened by eating carcasses of euthanized horses. Photo: Dottie Tison

 

Seven eagles poisoned nearly to death after feeding on euthanized horse carcasses are expected to be released this week.

The eagles are alert, getting feisty and are being moved to outdoor cages, said Mike Pratt, wildlife director at the West Sound Wildlife Shelter on Bainbridge Island, which cared for six of the eagles. The shelter, funded by donations, takes in wild animals of all sorts that have been injured or orphaned.

The shelter started getting calls over the weekend about first one eagle, then a second found nearly dead on private property in Winlock, Lewis County. By the time shelter staffers arrived to pick up the birds on Sunday, four more had become sick, Pratt said. The six birds — five juveniles and an adult — were so ill they were convulsing, vomiting, and could not stand. Two were comatose.

Back at the shelter, volunteers and two veterinarians were waiting. They administered a charcoal purgative around the clock and, by Tuesday morning, even the sickest birds had revived. They may be released by the end of the week, right back where they came from, Pratt said.

A seventh poisoned eagle had been taken to the wildlife shelter at the Audubon Society of Portland on Friday. That eagle, a first-year male, looks excellent and will be released Wednesday, said Lacy Campbell, operations manager at the wildlife center.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the incident, said spokeswoman Joan Jewett. It is a federal offense to poison an eagle, even accidentally.

It all started with horses, euthanized and left by their owner in a field, said Jewett, who added that the carcasses have since been buried.

Stephanie Estrella, director and wildlife rehabilitator of Raindancer Wild Bird Rescue in Olympia, which cared for the birds before the larger Bainbridge shelter could come collect them, said this was the first time she had encountered raptors poisoned by tainted carcasses.

Most of the raptors she has cared for were victims of car strikes, or torn up in fights with other raptors.

She got the first call from Sharon Thomas, a Winlock resident who saw an eagle acting strangely in a field in front of her house.

“It flopped and flew, and flopped and flew. It crashed several times,” Thomas said. “Then it came right to me, it sat right at my feet as if it had come for help.”

Thomas took the eagle to her house, put it in a kennel, took photos of it, and put them on Facebook asking for help. Ultimately, it was Estrella from Raindancer who came to collect the eagle.

Little did Thomas know she was in for a long weekend of more of the same, as she and her neighbors walked and drove the area, on the alert for more animals in distress. “It was heart-wrenching,” Thomas said. “Seeing a large, majestic bird falling over on its head is very sad. Picking them up, seeing them unresponsive and lethargic. Picking up the two others that seemed dead, their eyes were not open, they were barely breathing.”

Eventually, she and the neighbors walking the field and thickets found two horse carcasses, with eagles feeding on them. “I picked an adult off one of the horses. He was covered in rotten meat and blood and so was I,” Thomas said.

She and other neighbors collected six sick eagles, and drove off others trying to feed on the carcasses. “It was very hard to drive away from the work Monday morning,” Thomas said. “I don’t know what other wildlife may have been affected.”

The Longview Daily News reported Monday that the horses’ owner, Debra Dwelly, said she had no idea she had created a hazard until federal wildlife agents, alerted by the animal-shelter operators to the eagles’ plight, showed up at her home on Sunday, after cruising the area in a small plane and spotting the carcasses.

Dwelly told the Daily News the poisoning was an honest mistake that occurred because a friend’s backhoe had broken down, delaying burial of the horses she had put down earlier last week.

Washington state law requires the owners of animals or owners of land on which animal carcasses are found to bury or incinerate carcasses within 72 hours so they do not become a hazard.

Attempts by The Seattle Times to reach Dwelly were unsuccessful Tuesday.

Meanwhile, all seven eagles were getting stronger by the hour. Thomas said she is eager to seeing them released.

“I look forward to them returning and behaving as an eagle should,” Thomas said. “They should be aggressive. You shouldn’t be holding them in your arms.”

Underwater robot will assist with rescue and recovery

By Rikki King, The Herald

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office's newly acquired SeaLion-2 underwater robot, dubbed "Batman" by deputies, cruises in a South Everett swimming pool last week. Its controllers are seen above the robot. Photo: Mark Mulligan / The Herald
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office’s newly acquired SeaLion-2 underwater robot, dubbed “Batman” by deputies, cruises in a South Everett swimming pool last week. Its controllers are seen above the robot. Photo: Mark Mulligan / The Herald

EVERETT — In the water, the robot looked like a curious critter.

It glided through the pool, poking its nose up to the surface to nudge at obstacles.

The robot is construction-equipment yellow, about the size of a small dog.

Nearby, specially trained deputies watched its movements on a computer screen, scanning the water through its “eyes.”

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office recently acquired an underwater robot, a JW Fishers SeaLion-2, through a federal grant.

They call it “Batman.”

Batman went for a test drive last week at a community pool in south Everett. It splashed around and posed for pictures.

Its true missions are more somber.

The sheriff’s office got Batman in January, Lt. Rodney Rochon said.

Later that month, Batman helped them gather underwater visuals as they pulled a car from the Snohomish River. The bodies of two missing people were inside.

On March 16, Batman found the body of a fisherman who drowned in Silver Lake the day before.

Batman’s worth about $40,000, Rochon said. As part of the federal grant that paid for the acquisition, the dive team and the robot can be called to help with rescue and recovery operations throughout the region.

At least two children and two adults drowned in Snohomish County in 2012.

Rescues are the team’s top priority, Rochon said. In the cases when they can’t rescue someone, they try to find the body.

“We need to recover the victim so the family can get closure,” Rochon said. “It’s not just about the investigation.”

The robot also can be used to gather intelligence and limit the time human divers spend in the water, he said. It can weather harsher conditions and dive deeper — up to 1,000 feet — and for longer than people can. Deputies only can dive 100 feet for safety reasons.

The SeaLion-2 design is most popular with law enforcement, said Chris Combs, a spokesman for JW Fishers, the Massachusetts-based manufacturer. It weighs about 40 pounds. It has high-resolution color cameras in front and back and four motors to propel it forward, backward, up and down. Some models have sonar technology.

“The SeaLion-2 is really a pretty neat little machine,” Combs said.

The sheriff’s office also got to lease a SWAT robot for free for a while last year. On one mission, it helped dissolve a standoff in Marysville.

The lease ended a while back, and that robot went back home.

Prep Roundup

Source: North County Outlook, March 26, 2013

Baseball:

Marysville-Pilchuck: Thanks to last week’s crazy weather, Marysville-Pilchuck baseball started off the year playing three games in as many days. The Tommies lost 5-4 against Meadowdale to kick off the season, but won their next two games thanks to strong pitching performances from Cody Anderson and Jake Luton.

M-P’s first win came Friday over Shoreline, 4-0. Jake Luton struck out nine and walked two through five innings. Kacey Walker was 1-3 with two RBI, and Jake Merrick was 2-2 with an RBI.

The Tommies defeated Lake Stevens 4-1 in a non-league game on Saturday, pushing their record this year to 2-1. Cody Anderson pitched 4 innings of scoreless ball, and Kacey Walker went 2-3 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI.

Marysville Getchell: Marysville Getchell started the season off on the proper foot with a victory over Mariner 5-1, but then dropped two straight. Rylan Fausett pitched a complete game, striking out six and giving up just 6 hits in the Charger’s win. Mariner’s only run came in the top of the seventh inning. Jake Lund was 2-3 for MG with a double and three RBI.

On Wednesday MG gave up 11 hits and committed two errors against Shoreline. The game was called after the fifth inning, and Shoreline won 12-2. MG’s John Clark was 2-3 with a triple.

Getchell lost 14-1 on Friday against the Meadowdale Mavericks. Scoring was not reported for that game.

Arlington: The Eagles are 2-1 on the year after splitting a pair of games this week. Arlington lost on Monday 12-3 at Oak Harbor.

The Eagles were down by just a run heading into the bottom of the sixth, but Oak Harbor put up a pair of big innings, scoring four in the sixth inning and four more in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

On Saturday Ryan Walker picked up his second win of the year and scored the winning run. The Eagles relied on some late inning heroics, tying the game in the fifth, and winning in the bottom of the seventh. Walker was 2-4 with two doubles. Bryce Human drove in the winning run, and Isaiah Vaughn was 2-4.

Lakewood: The Lakewood Boys split a pair of games this week, and their record now sits at 3-1.

The Cougars started the week off with a big 13-2 win over South Whidbey. The five-inning contest saw Lakewood notch nine hits while South Whidbey committed 11 errors in the field. Bradley Keen was credited with the win.

 

Softball:

Arlington: The Eagles picked up two wins this week to push their record to 3-0. In the three games the Eagles have outscored their opponents 40-1.

On Tuesday Arlington defeated Stanwood in a five inning contest 16-1. Hayley Fields struck out nine, giving up just two hits and one run. Marisa Rathert was 4-4 with three stolen bases, Katelynn McDonald had two doubles, and Lynsey Amundson finished with a double and a triple. The Eagles amassed 21 hits in all.

Hayley Fields was at it again on Friday. She struck out 13, gave no runs, and pushed her record to 3-0 on the year. Fields also went 2-4 with a double. Lynsey Amundson and Marissa Rathert each hit a triple.

Lakewood: Lakewood split a pair of games this week, pushing their overall record to 3-1 on the year.

The Cougars took a tough loss against Cedarcrest 10-9 on Tuesday. Mikalya Holmes and Terah Barrio were both 3-4, and Hailey Malakowski added a dobule. Lakewood mounted a sixth inning rally, and out-hit the Redwolves 14-9, but the Cougars couldn’t claim the victory.

On Thursday Lakewood squeaked out a win against Archbishop Murphy, 3-2. Maddie Holmes collected three hits again, and Hailey Malakowski was credited with the win.

Marysville-Pilchuck: M-P went 1-2 this week in three tough non-conference games. They are 2-3 on the year without a conference game yet.

The Tomahawks first loss this week came against Monroe. Monroe scored 12 runs on 14 hits and the Tomahawks committed four errors. Hayley Fritz was 2-3 with two doubles and Rachael Delamare added two doubles for the Tomahawks in the losing effort.

It was more of the same when the Tomahawks hosted the Snohomish Panthers on Thursday. The Panthers scored 13 runs on 17 hits, and M-P again registered four errors. Abigail Otto doubled for the Tomahawks who scored three runs on four hits. Jordan Willard took the loss.

It was a different story in Sammamish when the Tomahawks traveled to play Skyline on Friday. The girls won 5-4, scoring two runs in the top of the seventh. Haley Fritz was the winning pitcher, and M-P moved to 3-2

Marysville Getchell: M-G split two games this week, picking up their first win of the year, and moving to 1-4 in the overall standings.

The Chargers dropped the first game of the week to Cascade in six innings of play on Monday. Aubrey Peterson three-hit the Chargers, and the Bruins scored 11 runs on 11 hits. Savannah Duce doubled in the loss.

MG turned the tables on Tuesday, when they beat Mariner 10-0 in six innings. Kymber Devlin allowed one hit in six innings, and she recorded a double at the plate. Ashlynne Hood was 2-3 with a HR.

 

Girls Tennis:

Marysville-Getchell: The Getchell girls lost 7-0 at Shorecrest on Monday and 4-3 at Oak Harbor on Tuesday. Marina Ciferry, Savaddy Lee, and Sammy Wallace all easily won their matches, but Oak Harbor dominated in the doubles. Thursday’s matchup against Marysville-Pilchuck was postponed until Friday, March 29.

Marysville-Pilchuck: M-P lost 5-2 at Monroe on Friday. Savannah Pearce won in three sets, and the doubles team of Sarah Cronin-Kailee Esser won in two sets.

Arlington: The Eagles dropped Tuesday’s match at Monroe 4-3, and then fell 7-0 to Stanwood on Saturday. Macy Mackey and Chloe Erickson easily won their singles matches in Monroe, and Maya Manzano and Sally Hatfield won their doubles match in three sets.

Lakewood: The Lakewood girls lost to Coupeville 4-1 on Monday, and had Thursday’s match at Granite Falls rescheduled for Friday, only to have that match postponed again. Match results for Coupeville were not reported.

 

Track:

Lakewood: The Cougars hosted Archbishop Murphy on Thursday, and both the boys and girls teams bested their Wildcat foes. The boys won 99-42, and the girls won 87-61.

Arlington: The Eagles track team was at the Lake Stevens event on Thursday. The boys scored 11 points to Glacier Peak’s 75, and 70 to Lake Stevens’ 75. The girls scored 82-67 vs. Glacier Peak and 96-53 vs. Lake Stevens.

Marysville Getchell: The Chargers didn’t fare well in Stanwood, where Jackson took the top honors 95-44 against the boys and 110-46 against the girls. Alfredo Diaz scored the only victory for the Chargers boys by winning the shot-put event. The girls fared better, winning the 400 relay (Weikel, Terrell, Cannal, Jarvis), 800 (Rachel Lefstad), the 1,600 relay (Lefstad, Jarvis, Weikel, Terrell) and the high jump (Kaitlyn McCormick).

Marysville-Pilchuck: The Tomahawks hosted Meadowdale and Shorecrest on Thursday. Both the boys and the girls scored victories. The boys beat Shorecrest 84-61 and Meadowdale 87-58. The girls beat Shorecrest 74-60 and Meadowdale 81-52.

 

Golf:

Marysville Getchell: Mikaela Schwartz came away the medalist at Cedarcrest G.C when the MG girls faced off against Shorecrest. Schwartz beat out two Shorecrest golfers, Audrey Penner and Claire Mrozek, by a stroke, 48-49. Shorecrest finished at 269, and MG finished at 274.

Earlier in the week, at Whidbey Golf and Country Club, Jacqueline Martin led the Chargers with a 53 and Schwartz shot a 56. Oak Harbor finished at 268, MG at 293 and Everett at 372.

The boys played Arlington at Cedarcrest on Wednesday, where Gage St. John and Conner Lindgren both shot 44. Arlington finished with 220 and MG finished at 235.

The boys also finished fourth in a five-team tournament in Everett on Thursday. They finished the par 72 at 452. Ryan Clausen shot an 86, 11 strokes back of the leader.

Marysville-Pilchuck: The girls attended the Stanwood tournament on Thursday, and shot a 386 at the par 36. They finished third in the three-team field. Cassie Coate led the Tomahawks with a 54, seven strokes back of the leader. The girls also attended the Whidbey shootout last Tuesday. They finished 13th in a field of 16. Shanna Sterling shot a 104, 23 strokes back of the leader.

The boys finished fifth at the five-team tournament in Everett, shooting a 458 at the par 72. Connor Martinis shot an 81, six strokes behind the leader.

Arlington: The girls attended the Monroe tournament on Thursday and finished fourth in a five team field. They shot 312, and were led by Emmi Modahl, who shot a 58, 12 strokes back of the lead.

The boys played Marysville Getchell at Cedarcrest on Wednesday, where Anthony Allen led the pack with 36. Cody Mclane and Cory Taylor both shot a 44. Arlington finished with 220 and MG finished at 235. The played at Gleneagle on Tuesday, where they shot a 201, 11 back from the leader, Snohomish. The Eagles finished second in a field of five. Anthony Allen led the pack with a 36.

Lakewood: The Cougars girls’ team traveled to South Whidbey for 9 holes on Tuesday where they shot a 43 to South Whidbey’s 72. Hailey Duitsman finished with 13, Nina Forsell 12, and E. Dowell 12.

The Cougar boys went to Cedarcrest to shoot with Sultan on Thursday, scoring a 253 to Sultan’s 235. Christian Case and Brady Camp each shot 44, six strokes back of the leader.

 

Boys Soccer:

Lakewood: The Cougars defeated Coupeville 1-0 on Friday on the strength of Antino Bellizzi’s first half goal, but dropped a 5-2 match to Archbishop Murphy earlier in the week. Randy Anaya and Antino Bellizzi each scored a goal for the Cougars, who were shut out in the second half of that game.

Arlington: The Eagles dropped two matches this week beginning with a 5-1 contest against Mount Vernon. Mason Herrera scored the Eagles goal off a Danny Herrera assist.

On Friday the Eagles fell 3-0 against Lake Stevens. They open the year 0-3-1 overall.

Marysville-Pilchuck: M-P lost their first game this week at Bothell 4-2. Julio Aguilar scored two goals for the Tomahawks.

Fabian Panduro led the Tomahawks to victory over the Chargers on Friday night scoring the games only goal off a free kick. The Tomahawks are now 2-1-1.

Marysville Getchell: The Chargers lost two conference games this week, first falling to Oak Harbor 4-2, and then to M-P 1-0. Christian Fuerte and Cody Probst recorded the MG goals. Getchell drops to 0-5 overall.

Two Tribes Move Closer To Securing FM Radio Stations

American Indian tribes hold less than one percent of the roughly 15,200 radio station licenses issued by the Federal Communications Commission.”

March 24, 2013 as published in Diverse Education

By Felicia Fonseca, Associated Press

 

FLAGSTAFF Ariz. — Two Southwest tribes are moving closer to securing radio stations that others in Indian Country have turned to for emergency alerts, health tips, the latest rodeo news, traditional stories and language lessons.

American Indian tribes hold less than one percent of the roughly 15,200 radio station licenses issued by the Federal Communications Commission, a figure the commission has been trying to boost through a rule it approved in 2010 to give federally recognized tribes priority in the application process, and help preserve language and culture.

“Telling one’s own story, broadcasting in one’s own voice, in an exercise of self-determination and self-reliance, is so important a goal of so many broadcasters in tribal communities that its value cannot be overstated,” the FCC said in its 2012 annual report.

Earlier this month, the FCC set aside the first two FM allotments under its Tribal Radio Priority for the Hualapai Tribe in northwestern Arizona and Navajo Technical College in northwestern New Mexico. The tribe and the college owned by the Navajo Nation are now waiting for the FCC to open a filing window so they can secure construction permits and build their stations.

“Radio will give them tremendous community outlook,” said Fred Hannel, a consultant for the Hualapai Tribe. “They can rally the whole community around a radio station, give them a sense of identity.”

Other tribal entities will have an opportunity to apply for the same allotments for the commercial stations after the FCC’s order takes effect April 15. The Hualapai Tribe says it isn’t expecting to lose out because no other tribe is located in the area it wants to broadcast.

Applicants who want to be considered under the tribal priority must be a federally recognized tribe or an entity, like the college, that is majority-owned by a tribe and propose to cover at least 50 percent tribal land. Successful applications are processed without going through an auction.

Navajo Technical College had faced competition in applying for a construction permit for a non-commercial educational station under a points-base system. But the college did not build the station before the permit expired in August 2008, and the FCC denied a request for an extension and to downgrade the service area. The college said it erroneously believed that grant funding it secured to set up the radio station and the construction permit would expire at the same time, and it also couldn’t get electricity to its original transmitter site, according to FCC documents.

At the time, the college said it was “virtually guaranteed” to prevail under the Tribal Radio Priority for a commercial FM station. The FCC said it wouldn’t prejudge a future proceeding nor apply the tribal priority retroactively. The station would reach out to 13,500 people in remote, isolated areas around Crownpoint, N.M., and be broadcast in Navajo, the college wrote in FCC documents.

The Hualapai Tribe already has been using the Internet to broadcast morning blessings, results of tribal elections, a radio drama aimed at improving health, traditional Hualapai music and community service announcements. The FM radio station would allow anyone within a 30-mile radius of the station to tune in, particularly those who can’t access the Internet.

“Once we get our FM frequency on, it’s really going to build a lot of interest,” said tribal member Candida Hunter.

The spread of information on the reservation otherwise comes through fliers posted at government offices, a tribal newsletter or word of mouth. Terri Hutchens, project coordinator, said tribal members could have benefited last year from an announcement over the radio about water contamination, which led to a temporary school closure. She said some people received fliers but others didn’t find out until days later when the problem was fixed.

“That’s something certainly that could be addressed through the emergency alert system,” she said.

The radio station won’t reach the entire 1-million-acre reservation along the southern edge of the Grand Canyon on the western corridor.  Hutchens said the tribe has plans to expand the range within five years. The funding is in place for terrestrial radio equipment, and the tribe will use existing towers for the transmitter.

For now, community members are encouraging each other to listen to the Internet broadcast and volunteers are pitching in to provide content in the Hualapai language.

“We’ve actually been having fun. We’ve been bringing them in to train them on how to be a DJ,” Hutchens said.

A Book for Those Serious About Defeating Diabetes

Defeating Diabetes
Brenda Davis & Tom Banard | Healthy Living Publications
280 pp | $14.95
ISBN 9781570671395

Levi Rickert, Native News Network

 

It is no secret to any American Indian or Alaska Native that there is a strong preponderance of the possibility of developing diabetes.

Defeating Diabetes book review

 

The numbers speak for themselves.

American Indians and Alaska Native are 2.2 times more likely to have diabetes compared to non-Hispanic whites. The death rate due to diabetes among American Indians and Alaska Natives is three times higher compared with the general US population. American Indians and Alaska Natives are three to four times higher at risk for developing cardiovascular disease with diabetes than Natives without diabetes.

Even with the dismal numbers associated with diabetes among American Indians and Alaska Natives, there is hope.

Earlier this year, hundreds of American Indians participated in the Longest Walk 3 – Reversing Diabetes. The Longest Walk was a walk across America, from the West Coast to Washington, DC, that sought to bring attention to the devastating effect diabetes has had within Native communities. The message of the Longest Walk also was American Indians can reverse diabetes.

American Indians are fighters; American Indians are survivors.

Beyond Native communities, we know diabetes is at epidemic rates among society.

A book called “Defeating Diabetes: A No-Nonsense Approach to Type 2 Diabetes and the Diabesity Epidemic” by a registered dietitian Brenda Davis and medical physician Tom Banard is a great tool for American Indians to pick up to read about how to defeat diabetes. Even the book’s title takes a position of strength.

Published in 2003, “Defeating Diabetes” is about making lifestyle changes about diet and exercise. Most would agree that that is a lot easier said, than done. But, the book is a quick read that provides common sense, backed with medical rationale, to alter lifestyles.

“Defeating Diabetes” contains many tables with information on fat counts, sugar content, and some 50 healthy recipes. Some of the numbers of contained in the book will make one think. For instance, one Mister Misty DQ Slush, 32 oz. contains 28 teaspoons of sugar; an ounce of hard candy has five teaspoons of sugar.

Weight control is paramount to one trying to defeat diabetes. The book’s authors provide “Seven Simple Steps to Lifelong Healthy Weight”:

  1. Set realistic goals
  2. Center your diet on whole plant foods
  3. Use beverages to your advantage
  4. Limit fat intake to not more than 25 percent of calories
  5. Build healthy habits
  6. Make physical activity a priority in your life
  7. Take care of your inner being

One chapter, “Kitchen Wizardry: Tricks of the Trade” will help the reader to better understand what to buy at the grocery store, with suggestions on where to shop, how to read food labels and food storage guidelines.

“Defeating Diabetes” is a practical guide on how to defeat diabetes. Do not buy this book for your bookshelf, it must be read and used. American Indians and Alaska Natives should have this book at their fingertips if they are truly serious about maintaining a healthy lifestyle and want to defeat diabetes.

Noted writer to read at Everett library event

Source: The Herald

Timothy EganWhen you team up a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist with one of the most renowned photographers in Pacific Northwest history, you get an adventure story.

That story turned into the book “The Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis.”

The book is written by Seattle-based journalist Timothy Egan, who will read excerpts at a Friends of the Everett Public Library literary event.

The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 6 at the Everett Performing Arts Center, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett.

It’s free and open to the public. Donations will be accepted to support the annual children’s Summer Reading Program.

Books and wine will be for sale. There will also be a question-and-answer session with National Public Radio commentator, author and librarian Nancy Pearl, known for her spots on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and her best-selling book “Book Lust.”

Egan follows the story of Curtis, a Seattle resident and portrait photographer of great acclaim (President Theodore Roosevelt paid him to photograph his daughter’s wedding).

Though his renown was well-established, Curtis decided in 1900 to pursue his life’s work: to photograph all the intact Native American tribes left in North America.

After 30 years, Curtis completed the 20-volume set, “The North American Indian,” which left him broke and divorced.

Egan is sympathetic to Curtis’ plight in this journey and with journalistic detail, Egan delivers not just an adventure story but a biography as well.

For more information go to www.epls.org/.

Norovirus hitting younger kids hard

By Sharon Salyer, The Herald

Norovirus, the same viral bug that sickened more than 200 people attending a cheerleading competition at Comcast Arena last year, is now the leading cause of tummy and intestinal illness among children four and under.

The virus, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, is so common and widespread that one in six children age four or younger will be treated in clinics for norovirus, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated one in 14 children in this age group will be treated at an emergency room for the infection.

“The message that norovirus has been increasing, especially among those under age five is disturbing,” said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District. “Those are the ones that get sick enough to end up in the doctor’s office.”

Although the disease can cause short-term, but very uncomfortable, problems for people of any age, it is of extra concern among the very young, he said. “They don’t tolerate getting dehydrated very well,” he said.

For some of the same reasons, norovirus can be a problem with older adults. Last year, 10 outbreaks of suspected norovirus were reported in facilities that care for the elderly, such as adult family homes and nursing homes, Goldbaum said.

Norovirus is sometimes called cruise ship disease because of outbreaks that move rapidly on such ships, sickening many people.

The virus “hits people really hard and then in a couple days, it gets better,” Goldbaum said.

Each year, noroviruses sickens more than 21 million people in the United Stats and approximately 800 people die, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Patients have been coming to area medical clinics with norovirus symptoms almost continuously for the past several months, said Dr. Yuan-Po Tu, who helps track communicable diseases at The Everett Clinic.

“It’s not an epidemic, but there’s always some level of it going around,” he said.

The virus typically sickens people for two to seven days, he said, often causing only a slight fever of 99 to 100.5 degrees.

Norovirus is extremely contagious. People near a person when they become ill can easily become infected themselves, Goldbaum said.

Those who are sickened by norovirus are contagious from the moment they begin feeling ill to at least three days and as much as two weeks after they recover, according to federal health officials.

The steps to help stop its spread include careful hand washing and not sharing food or drinks with someone who is ill.

The disease was blamed with sickening 229 teens and adults who were attending a cheerleading competition at Comcast Arena in February last year. Thirty-three people sought medical care for severe vomiting and diarrhea.

A Monumental Day

“Samuel Gomez, the war chief for Taos Pueblo, was in Washington, D.C., on Monday as President Barack Obama proclaimed a new national monument near the tribe’s reservation in northern New Mexico.”
 
Originally posted ABQ Journal
By Jackie Jadrnak / Journal North Reporter
on Tue, Mar 26, 2013

Not a single dissenting voice was heard when community meetings were called to discuss making Rio Grande del Norte into a national monument, according to Taos Mayor Darren Córdova.

It should be no surprise, then, that the Taos County Commission Chamber was full to bursting with some 150 residents applauding Monday’s signing of the presidential proclamation declaring the 242,555 acres in Taos and Rio Arriba counties a national monument.

Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., hosted that local gathering, while the official signing ceremony itself took place in Washington, D.C. Area residents who joined President Barack Obama in the Oval Office included former U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, who was credited with spearheading the preservation of this land; Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; Questa Mayor Esther Garcia; and Taos Pueblo War Chief Samuel Gomez.

“This is a great day for New Mexico,” Bingaman said in a news release. “I’m glad that President Obama found northern New Mexico’s landscape so compelling that he was willing to make the Río Grande del Norte his largest monument designation to date.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the community, which has strongly supported this effort, will benefit from the conservation and cultural protections that come with this designation,” he said.

Vice President Joe Biden, center, reacts after President Barack Obama signs legislation under the Antiquities Act designating five new national monuments on Monday in the Oval Office. From left are Samuel Gomez, war chief for Taos Pueblo, Biden, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. (susan walsh/the associated press)

Vice President Joe Biden, center, reacts after President Barack Obama signs legislation under the Antiquities Act designating five new national monuments on Monday in the Oval Office. From left are Samuel Gomez, war chief for Taos Pueblo, Biden, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. (susan walsh/the associated press)
Vice President Joe Biden, center, reacts after President Barack Obama signs legislation under the Antiquities Act designating five new national monuments on Monday in the Oval Office. From left are Samuel Gomez, war chief for Taos Pueblo, Biden, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. (susan walsh/the associated press)

That local consensus was key in moving the project forward, Heinrich said in a telephone interview last week. Without it, action on the federal level often is stalled, he said.

“It’s one of those really special places,” Heinrich said, adding that in the mid- to late 1990s, as director and an outfit guide with the Cottonwood Gulch Foundation, he took kids all over the Southwest, including to raft and explore the Rio Grande Gorge.

That gorge is only a piece of the new national monument, which stretches to the Colorado border. Obama’s proclamation lists the riches found in the area, including canyons, volcanic cones, natural springs and native grasslands.

“The river provides habitat for fish such as the Río Grande cutthroat trout, as well as the recently reintroduced North American river otter,” the proclamation reads. “The Río Grande del Norte is part of the Central Migratory Flyway, a vital migration corridor for birds such as Canada geese, herons, sandhill cranes, hummingbirds and American avocets. Several species of bats make their home in the gorge, which also provides important nesting habitat for golden eagles and numerous other raptor species, as well as habitat for the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher.”

Besides bald eagles and other birds, the area includes Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, pronghorn and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, and rare Gunnison’s prairie dogs, as well as the ringtail, black bear, coyote, red fox, cougar and bobcat, according to the proclamation.

Petroglyphs, some dating as far back as 7,500 B.C., are found concentrated near hot springs in the gorge, along with a number of artifacts tracing ancient habitation. The Rio San Antonio gorge also contains such historic reminders, while San Antonio Mountain is thought to be the source of dacite used to make stone tools, states the proclamation.

Ute Mountain, at 10,000 feet, is the tallest of the extinct volcanic cones that dot the area. Remnants of homes and people who settled the area right after World War I can be found on the slopes of Cerro Montoso, while other artifacts throughout the area mark the passage of Spanish explorers and settlers.

“The Río Grande del Norte has long supported our cultural traditions in northern New Mexico, such as hunting, irrigation and grazing,” said Udall. “As a permanently protected national monument, it will drive even more economic progress and job growth through tourism in communities that desperately need it.”

The Rio Grande Gorge, looking north from the Taos Gorge Bridge is now part of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument near Taos, NM, photographed on Monday March 25, 2013. (Dean Hanson/Journal)
The Rio Grande Gorge, looking north from the Taos Gorge Bridge is now part of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument near Taos, NM, photographed on Monday March 25, 2013. (Dean Hanson/Journal)

For tribes, prosecuting non-native abusers still a challenge

“The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon could be the first in Indian Country to assert jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit domestic violence offenses.”
 
Originally published in PBS Frontline
March 25, 2013, 4:17 pm ET
By Sarah Childress
Follow @sarah_childress

 When President Barack Obama signed the Violence Against Women Act earlier this month, he spoke of cracking down on domestic abuse in Indian Country, where the violent crime rate is more than 2.5 times the national rate and impunity is deeply entrenched.

“One of the reasons is that when Native American women are abused on tribal lands by an attacker who is not Native American, the attacker is immune from prosecution by tribal courts,” Obama said.

“Well, as soon as I sign this bill, that ends,” he said. “That ends.”

But for most tribes, closing that loophole against abusers will take time. For some, it may not happen at all.

The law has two provisions that already apply nationwide. Tribal governments can now enforce protection orders filed in state or federal court. The law also imposes stiffer penalties on anyone who inflicts substantial bodily injury on a partner, such as strangling or suffocation.

It’s the law’s controversial provision of trying non-Natives in Native court systems — one that initially held up its passage — that poses the challenge.

Tribal justice systems vary in their capabilities. On some reservations, attorneys and judges aren’t required to have a law degree. Defense attorneys may not be provided. Tribal law enforcement officers often don’t have the proper training to handle major crimes cases.

At the moment, no tribe has a system currently capable of enforcing the new law as it’s written. The law requires that tribes provide non-Native defendants with the same rights they would have in U.S. courts, including a right to an attorney, trained judges, and trial by their peers, meaning the court must at least attempt to include non-Indians in its jury pool.

“It’s Going to Start Small”

Only about 100 of the 566 federally recognized are likely to be able or interested in implementing the new protections over the next five years, according to John Dossett, the general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians, a D.C.-based group that represents the interests of Native Americans.

Of those, only 10 to 20 are likely to come into compliance in the next two years.

Many tribes are just too small to have their own justice systems and leave law enforcement to the state and federal authorities entirely. Others have remote reservations with few non-Native residents, so that prosecutorial power isn’t as much of a priority.

As always, there’s also the question of money. The law provides $5 million a year for five years — a total of $25 million — to help tribes strengthen their justice systems. That’s assuming Congress allocates the funding, which could be jeopardized by the sequester.

“The tribal criminal jurisdiction is more of a long-term project, and I think everyone understands that — I hope they do,” said Sam Hirsch, the deputy associate attorney general at the Justice Department’s Office of Tribal Justice.

Hirsch said the office will consult with the tribes before drawing up a written policy outlining the next steps, and work with those who want to take advantage of the new provision. The office will also help the tribes find the funding they need, he said.

“It’s going to start small, and it’s going to spread and build,” he said.

A Symbolic Victory

Even if only a few tribes enforce it, the law is important as a symbolic victory, said Sarah Deer, a professor at the William Mitchell College of Law in Minnesota and a tribal justice expert.

“It provides more options to tribes, and that’s what I think sovereignty is about, being able to make decisions that are best for your community,” she said. “The less federal intrusion we have in sovereignty, the better off Indian people are going to be.”

Tribal advocates pushed for this new legislation in part because without it, domestic violence crimes were left to the federal government to prosecute — which often didn’t happen.

The federal government declined to prosecute 50 percent of the cases in Indian country referred to U.S. attorneys from 2005 to 2009, according to a 2010 Government Accountability Report (pdf). That rate was higher for violent crimes, at about 52 percent. For sexual abuse, the rate was 67 percent.

Federal officials have said the high declination rates occur in part because evidence is difficult to come by, especially in assault cases, and witnesses are often reluctant or unwilling to testify.

According to a 2010 law, the Justice Department is required to report its declination rates for cases on Native American reservations to Congress, but has yet to report rates for recent years. A Justice Department spokesman said it would be filing a report to Congress with that information in April.

One federal prosecutor told FRONTLINE that the declination number for major crimes has since gone down, in part because cooperation between tribes and federal officials has improved, making it easier to gather the evidence needed to try and win cases. But he declined to provide specific figures.

One Tribe on the Fast-Track

For the most part, justice on the reservation for the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla in northeastern Oregon looks a lot like justice elsewhere in America.

Tribal law enforcement officers receive the same training as state police, and the judge has a law degree. Defense attorneys are provided for those who ask for them, and the tribe is able to prosecute major felonies. Those who are convicted serve their time in the county jail.

But when it comes to domestic violence, it’s almost as if the system doesn’t exist.

About half of the 3,000 people living on or near the Umatilla reservation are non-Native, many of them married to women from one of three tribes: the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla. Tribal officials have no jurisdiction over non-Native men on the reservation.

Women there often don’t even bother to report abuse, said Brent Leonhard, an attorney for the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla’s Office of Legal Counsel.

“There’s real reluctance because of the belief — which was correct — was that it wouldn’t be prosecuted, which just makes it more dangerous for the victim,” he said.

Leonhard said the lack of domestic violence prosecutions had led some to buy into the false belief that abuse doesn’t even exist on the reservation, further isolating victims and emboldening their abusers.

The law could change that.

At Umatilla, it’s a practical matter of updating the tribal code to allow the tribes’ courts to prosecute non-Indians. Under the Tribal Law and Order Act, passed in 2010, tribes were allowed to prosecute some felonies, and even to impose jail sentences of up to three years. Most tribes didn’t use the new power because their systems weren’t strong enough, and they lacked the funds to upgrade them.

But for the communities that did, like the Umatilla, their legal codes are current enough that they won’t need to make as many adjustments, Leonhard said.

Leonhard hopes to have the provisions in place by the end of the year. Then, he’ll petition the attorney general to expedite the process to begin prosecutions of non-Native abusers.

“I think, and I hope, it will make a very large difference,” he said.

 

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