If you’re not busy, you might want to drive, fly, walk or crawl (kidding) to Phoenix, Arizona to catch Shoni Schimmel play in her first WNBA All-Star Game.
According to the Courier-Journal, Schimmel, who was the only rookie chosen to start, received the most votes of any Eastern conference guard and the third-most of any player in the league with 25,601 votes. Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx received 28,389 votes and Elena Delle Donne of the Chicago Sky received 26,129 votes.
Schimmel also got more votes than some of the biggest names in the WNBA, including Candace Parker, Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins and Diana Taurasi, and she’ll start the All-Star game even though she’s started only two of 18 games for the Dream, the paper reported.
“For the fans to go out and vote, I definitely have to give it to them. For them to have my back and sit there and vote for me every day is just something they took pride in,” Schimmel told theAssociated Press. “They obviously want to see me in the game, so for them to do that means a lot to me.”
The WNBA All-Star Game will take place at US Airways Center in Phoenix on Saturday, July 19, and will be televised on ESPN, with tip-off at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT).
PORTLAND — The public got its first chance to weigh in on the government’s plan to kill nearly 16,000 cormorants nesting on an island near the mouth of the Columbia River.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proposed the lethal approach as the best way to reduce the number of birds that congregate at East Sand Island and feast on young salmon and steelhead making their way beyond the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.
Supporters and critics spoke out Thursday at the Matt Dishman Community Center in Northeast Portland.
State and federal officials discussed the proposed action with around 40 attendees, many representing bird and wildlife advocacy groups or sportfishermen.
Norman Ritchie is with the Association of Northwest Steelheaders. He said the cormorants are severely harming the fish runs on the Columbia.
“Right now the situation’s pretty bad,” Ritchie said. “We’re talking millions upon millions of smolts being killed by the cormorants each year and we need to deal with that.”
Columbia River tribal representatives have also voiced support for killing cormorants to protect salmon and steelhead, although none spoke out at Thursday’s hearing.
Scientists estimate cormorants on East Sand Island ate 18 million protected salmon and steelhead last year and are regularly consuming 10 to 15 percent of the populations swimming through the Columbia River estuary.
Joyce Casey is with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She said her agency is following the National Marine Fisheries Service’s call for a reduction in cormorants.
The service’s biological opinion for the Columbia River hydropower system gives until 2018 to reduce 14,900 breeding pairs of cormorants down to less than 5,900 breeding pairs. The goal is protect salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act. The fish also die by the thousands as they try to get past dams operated by the corps.
The cormorant-killing strategy would be in place from 2015 to 2018. Shotguns would be used to shoot the cormorants in the air first and, if necessary, on the colony during nesting season.
Kahler Martinson is an Audubon Society volunteer and former regional director with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Martinson argued that the corps is blaming the birds rather than the dams on the Columbia.
“There’s got to be a better way to do it than killing these birds,” Martinson said. “If you manage the river for fish instead of for power and navigation you can certainly handle the problem.”
The corps says the reduction in cormorant population would be localized and would not jeopardize the larger population.
Tribal prosecutor will have Special Assistant US Attorney status to implement VAWA 2013 provisions
Herman Williams, Chairman of the Tulalip Tribes, United States Attorney for the Western District, Jenny A. Durkan, and Tulalip prosecutor Sharon Jones Hayden Photo/Francesca Hillery
Source: Tulalip Tribes
Tulalip, WA—July 11, 2014—Herman Williams, Chairman of the Tulalip Tribes signed a memorandum of understanding today with the United States Attorney for the Western District, Jenny A. Durkan, which calls for the appointment of Tulalip prosecutor Sharon Jones Hayden to Special Assistant United State Attorney (SAUSA). The SAUSA designation will help the Tulalip Court continue to implement the new tribal provisions under the reauthorized Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2013.
The Tulalip Tribes has already begun to implement the Special Criminal Domestic Violence Jurisdiction (SCDVJ) that expands tribal jurisdiction to non-Indians who have committed domestic violence crimes against Native Americans on the Tulalip Reservation. Tulalip is one of three pilot tribes who are rolling out the new provisions before other U.S. tribes begin to implement in March 2015.
“We value our relationship with the US Attorney here in the Western District and the new SAUSA appointment will help our tribal court better protect our people,” said Tulalip Tribes Chairman Herman Williams. “We have worked hard to build a justice system that makes our community safer for everyone.”
“This is the first Tribal Prosecutor SAUSA appointment in this District and is an important recognition of this Office’s partnership with tribal communities in Western Washington to foster and promote the reduction of violence and enhance public safety for tribal communities,” said Jenny A. Durkan, US Attorney for the Western District.
As a SAUSA, Ms. Jones Hayden will work closely with the US Attorney Western District’s Assistant United States Attorney Tribal Liaisons in handling cases involving domestic violence crimes committed by Indian and non-Indian offenders occurring within the Tulalip Tribes’ territorial jurisdiction, and particularly those cases that fall within the newly enacted Violence Against Women’s Act Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction.
Today, the Senate failed to advance S. 2363, a bi-partisan sportsmen bill designed to boost hunting and fishing protections on federal public land, reauthorize the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA), wetland and fishing conservation programs, and would allow online sales of duck stamps. The bill, introduced by Senator Kay Hagan, (D-NC) and co-sponsored by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), was meant to help several incumbents who face tough reelection races this year. Seen as a political boon for red-state Democrats, the bill died by a vote of 41-56 due to disagreements over a slew of amendments that would have forced vulnerable incumbents to take tough votes on tweaking gun laws. Among the amendments filed today was one that would have protected tribal treaty and other rights of tribes. The amendment, sponsored by Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and co-sponsored by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, stated in part: “(b) Effect of Act.–Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act affects or modifies any treaty or other right of any Indian tribe, including the protection of sacred and cultural areas. (c) Duties of the Secretaries with Respect to Treaty Rights. In carrying out this Act or the amendments made by this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall take appropriate measures to uphold treaty and other rights of Indian tribes, including protecting and preserving sacred and cultural areas of Indian tribes located on Federal public land.” Mapetsi reported on February 13th, that the House passed H.R. 3590, its version of a sportsmen bill. Even though the House bill also included language to protect tribal treaty rights on federal public land, the Heinrich/Tester amendment that was filed today would have provided greater protections for tribal rights by requiring Interior and USDA to take “appropriate measures to uphold” tribal treaty and other rights. Key differences between the House and Senate bills over environmental, FLTFA reauthorization and other issues all but guarantees that Congress will not pass a sportsmen bill this year. In February, Senator Heinrich introduced S. 368 a stand-alone bill to reauthorize FLTFA, which facilitates the administrative sale or disposal of certain federal public land. Heinrich has expressed support for inclusion of provisions to protect treaty and other rights of tribes in his FLTFA reauthorization measure. Mapetsi will continue to provide updates on this issue.
Attachment:
Senators Heinrich and Tester amendment to S. 2363–
About 70 people gathered in May, 2014 to protest the proposed coal export facility in Boardman, Oregon. Yakama Nation and Lummi Nation tribal members spoke at a ceremony before people fished at treaty-protected fishing sites. | credit: Courtney Flatt
This blunt response comes after two years of talks between the tribes and Ambre Energy – the company that wants to build a coal export terminal on a part of the river that the tribes consider historic fishing grounds protected by their treaty with the federal government.
For Ambre’s export terminal, 8.8 million tons of coal per year would be transported by rail from Montana and Wyoming to Boardman, in Eastern Oregon. From there, it would be barged down the Columbia River and transferred to ocean-going vessels to be shipped to Asia.
Ambre Energy has offered to pay the tribe up to $800,000 per year (the same amount it’s offered the Morrow and Columbia County school districts). The company is also offering $500, 000 toward salmon and stream enhancements and $100,000 toward culture and history celebrations during the Morrow Pacific Project’s construction.
A tribal spokesman said the tribes have been in discussions with Ambre Energy for two years. Chuck Sams said that’s when the tribe began raising concerns about treaty fishing sites near the company’s proposed dock.
“We will not abdicate, nor will we trade, any of our treaty rights,” Sams said. “We’ve already proven to them time and time again that the place where they wish to site their facility is a usual and accustomed fishing station.”
Sams said there is no way Ambre could make up for damage that could be done to the fishing site because people fish there now.
Members from the Yakama Nation and the Lummi Nation recently held fishing demonstrations at the site where the coal terminal construction is proposed.
An Ambre Energy spokeswoman says the company chose this site specifically because it did not impact fishing sites.
“It’s important to remember that the proposed dock is on private Port of Morrow property in between two existing docks. And even with that, from the beginning we have sought a partnership with the tribes based on mutual respect, shared benefits, collaboration, and cooperation,” said spokeswoman Liz Fuller.
Sams said no formal reply to the company is in the works because the Umatilla tribes have already expressed concerns to Ambre Energy in face-to-face meetings.
Sams went on, however, to say the Umatillas are open to further discussions.
Referring to offers from Ambre Energy, Sams said, “I think that they read the public wrong – our public, our tribal citizens – and where we stand. The tribal members themselves are pretty strong on environmental issues, especially in protection of their treaty rights. … Putting out a letter that dangled out financial gain for the tribe really does not resonate well within the tribal membership.”
The Australia-based Ambre Energy is still waiting on a permit from the Oregon Department of State Lands to build the dock at its Boardman site. The permit decision has been delayed multiple times. Right now a permitting decision is scheduled for Aug. 18.
According to DSL rules, the permit can be issued if the dock doesn’t “unreasonably interfere” with preservation of water for navigation, fishing and public recreation.
Remains of mentally ill reunited with surviving family as part of project
Remains of mentally ill reunited with surviving family as part of project
By JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. — They were dubbed the “forgotten souls,” the cremated remains of thousands who came through the doors of Oregon’s state mental hospital, died there, and whose ashes were abandoned inside 3,500 copper urns.
Discovered a decade ago at the decrepit Oregon State Hospital, where “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” was filmed, the remains became a symbol of the state’s — and the nation’s — dark history of treating the mentally ill.
A research effort to unearth the stories of those who moved through the hospital’s halls, and to reunite the remains with surviving relatives, takes center stage today as officials dedicate a memorial to those once-forgotten patients.
“No one wants to be laid to rest without some kind of acknowledgement that they were here, that they contributed, that they lived,” said state Senate President Peter Courtney, who led the effort to replace the hospital and build the memorial.
Between 1913 and 1971, more than 5,300 people were cremated at the hospital. Most were patients at the mental institution, but some died at hospitals, the state tuberculosis hospital, a state penitentiary or the Fairview Training Center, where people with developmental disabilities were institutionalized.
Hospital officials have worked for years to reunite the remains of their former patients with surviving relatives. Since the urns were found by lawmakers on a tour of the hospital in 2005, 183 have been claimed.
The 3,409 that remain and have been identified are listed in a searchable online database. Thirty-eight urns will likely never be identified; they’re unmarked, have duplicate numbers or aren’t listed in ledgers of people cremated at the hospital.
They came from different backgrounds, for different reasons. Some stayed just days before they died, others for nearly their entire lives. Twenty-two were Native Americans. Their remains won’t be part of the memorial; they’ll be returned to their tribes for a proper ceremony. Members of the local Sikh community are working to claim the remains of two people.
Many of the 110 veterans still there will eventually receive proper military burials, though some are ineligible due to dishonorable discharges or insufficient information available.
Some patients spent a lifetime at the hospital for conditions like depression and bipolar disorder that, in modern times, are treated on an outpatient basis.
“At the time, they just put them in a safe place and treated them with what they knew to treat them,” said Sharon Tucker, who led the two-year research project.
Records are sparse, even for people who lived for decades inside the walls. Some had severe delusions; others had physical deformities. Some seemed to be institutionalized because their families just didn’t know what to do with them.
But what does survive is a window not only into who they were, but the time in which they lived.
The remains of thousands have been transferred from the copper canisters to ceramic urns that will better protect them. The old canisters will be preserved to give visitors to the memorial a sense for how they once were housed.
“I think it will be very difficult to forget them now,” said Jodie Jones, the state administrator leading the hospital replacement project.
Free seminars at Cabela’s Tulalip this weekend are pointed toward summer salmon seasons, and include the following highlights:
Saturday: 11 a.m., Catching Silvers on the Fly, with Mike Benbow; noon, Fall Salmon Fishing in the River, with Jim and Jennifer Stahl of NW Fishing Guides; 1 p.m., Chasing Salmon in the Salt, with Gary Krein; and 2 p.m., Egg Cure Secrets, with Cabela’s Outfitters
Sunday: 11 a.m., Rigging Your Salmon Rod, hosted by Jim and Jennifer Stahl; noon, Chasing Salmon in the Salt, with Nic Kester; 1 p.m., Salmon Love Herring, Strategies, Tips and Secrets, with Cabela’s Outfitters; and 2 p.m., Fall Salmon Fishing in the River, with Jim and Jennifer Stahl.
The San Francisco Giants are considering a policy that could prohibit fans from wearing items such as fake headdresses in what American Indian activist Suzan Shown Harjo believes would be a first for a major-league sports franchise.
The proposed policy, which is still in the working stages, could potentially say that fans who wear culturally insensitive attire to games or use culturally insensitive language could be asked to stop by Giants security or potentially be asked to leave the stadium.
Staci Slaughter, Giants senior vice president, communications, and senior advisor to the CEO, said the Giants have policies about obscene language and offensive signs.
“We are considering expanding the policy to be more explicit about culturally insensitive signs and articles of clothing,” she told USA TODAY Sports
“I don’t want to overstate where we are,” she added. “We haven’t finalized the language. We are still in the process of revising it.”
The proposed policy comes after an incident at a Giants game last month when two Native Americans approached a group of men who were passing around a fake headdress to tell them it was disrespectful. One of the Native Americans asked for the headdress and then declined to return it. Security was called and the Native Americans were detained but not arrested. The incident occurred on Native American Heritage Night.
“We met with some folks as a result of the incident,” Slaughter said. “What we’re looking at is not just specific to Native Americans. We have a desire to educate folks. The reason we do these heritage nights is to raise the awareness of the diversity of our region.”
Some fans of sports teams with Indian-themed names have long attended games wearing feathers and war paint.
“It is not acceptable for anyone to wear blackface anymore,” said Jacqueline Keeler, a founder of Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry. “So why is it acceptable for fans to come to stadiums dressed in redface? The clowning of our culture must stop.”
Keeler’s cousin, Kimball Bighorse, is one of the American Indians who was detained in the incident at the Giants game and Keeler said Bighorse has been among those meeting with Giants officials about what they could do to prevent future incidents.
The proposed policy comes at a time when Indian team names are a flash point in the broader culture. Much of the attention has centered on the Washington NFL club, whose federal trademark registrations were canceled last month in a case that the team’s attorney said will be appealed.
Harjo, who launched the first of two trademark cases in 1992 and who has followed the issue of Indian mascots for decades, said she has not heard of any other pro franchise that has a policy like the one the Giants are considering.
“The teams with so-called Indian identities should take note and follow suit,” Harjo said. “But owners who are in the business of the commoditization of Indians are not really in a position to ask anyone else to tone it down.”
The National Congress of American Indians and Oneida Indian Nation said in a joint statement: “It is encouraging to know that this highly successful sports franchise is willing to address the cultural insensitivity that occurred within their ballpark. … Instead of ignoring these issues, the San Francisco Giants are exploring a method to create a respectful and welcoming environment.”
USA TODAY Sports contacted the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Blackhawks in the spring for a story about how pro teams other than the Washington NFL club were responding to criticism of Indian-themed team names and imagery. Among the questions asked: “Fans of teams with Indian names often dress as pretend Indians, with painted faces and feathers. Are you comfortable with your fans doing that?” None of those franchises answered the question.
