The Fight for Veronica, Part 4

Suzette Brewer, Indian Country Today Media Network

Editor’s Note: The Baby Veronica Case, recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, is one of the most important Indian legal battles of the last generation. It is the story of Dusten Brown, a member of the Cherokee Nation, who has invoked the Indian Child Welfare Act to prevent Christina Maldonado, the non-Indian mother of his baby daughter, Veronica, from putting their child up for adoption by Matt and Melanie Capobianco of South Carolina.

That bare outline does not begin to describe the convoluted dimensions of the case formally known as Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl. Its drama includes an unplanned pregnancy, a broken engagement, charges of bad faith, an adoption agency that did not comply with federal Indian law, a couple who fought to adopt a child who was never legally eligible, and even the intervention of the Cherokee Nation.

For more background, read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Auld Lang Syne

Chrissi Nimmo had taken a few days off. It was New Year’s Eve 2011, and she and her husband were on a camping trip at Cedar Lake in the Quachita National Forest in southeastern Oklahoma. They had been horseback riding that day and were ringing in the New Year around the campfire with his family when her cell phone started ringing.

Nimmo, assistant attorney general for the Cherokee Nation, thought it was strange that she was able to receive calls in a place that is notoriously void of cell service. She didn’t recognize the phone number, but she answered anyway, thinking it may be important. In fact, it was life-changing.

It was a reporter from South Carolina. The very public transfer of custody involving Baby Veronica to her father was happening that very moment in downtown Charleston—did Ms. Nimmo wish to comment on behalf of the Cherokee Nation?

“Of course I wasn’t going to comment,” says Nimmo. “We don’t comment on confidential juvenile matters, which is what this should have been. But the other side was already out there on television with names, facts and identifying information that was clearly under seal by Judge Garfinkel. But there they were, the Capobiancos, their attorney and the guardian ad litem, all parading this child around the streets of Charleston in front of the cameras. It was, to say the very least, unethical and appalling.”

Nimmo hung up and immediately called the tribe’s then-attorney general, Diane Hammons, to give her boss the heads up in the event that any reporters tried to contact the tribe. Based on the Capobianco’s denied attempt at a stay of transfer until they could file another appeal, Nimmo knew that it was just a matter of time before the case would be back in appellate court.

“We knew when the hand-off happened that they were going to appeal [to the South Carolina Supreme Court],” says Nimmo. “So from that point on, we were focused on two things: Upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act and preparing for the South Carolina Supreme Court.”

Two days later, Nimmo went back to work with no time to waste. For the next four months, Nimmo put in 18-hour days gathering records, going through case files, reading case law, reviewing potential arguments, and collaborating with the appellate attorneys for Brown in South Carolina. She also worked around the clock coordinating the legal and media strategy with national Indian organizations, states’ attorneys general and a growing number of Indian tribes, all of whom had been cautiously watching the case, but were now on red alert for the upcoming legal showdown.

One of those observers was Terry Cross, executive director of the Portland, Oregon-based National Indian Child Welfare Association, who monitored the ongoing dispute with growing unease.

“We try to watch cases where we know it may become contentious and we try to help, but this case just spun out of control,” says Cross. “Look, every adoptive family knows that anything could go wrong at any time in the adoptive process and that it could fall through. But after losing in the lower courts, the first thing this family did was hire a PR firm and start talking to the media about things they know they were not supposed to talk about. That does not portend a happy ending.”

Back in South Carolina, John Nichols, a Columbia-based appellate attorney, had been already been working with Shannon Jones on legal strategy for Adoptive Couple for several months. As of January 2012, however, he was now taking the lead on the subsequent state supreme court hearing.

“This case has taken a track like no other case I’ve ever seen in all my years as an attorney,” says Nichols. “This was expedited before the Supreme Court of South Carolina in just four months, which is record time under any circumstance, but especially for one of this nature.”

Operating under new administrative rules established by the South Carolina Supreme Court in cases where parental rights are being terminated, both sides were required to submit all briefs and responses within a mandatory 30-day filing period, with no extensions granted. The court set April 17, 2012 for the hearing.

In the meantime, growing increasingly frustrated by the Capobianco’s continued media presence, Nichols filed a motion to put a stop to their activities. On their behalf, Trio Solutions, had launched an ugly media campaign designed, said Nichols, to eviscerate his client and undermine the rights of all Indian parents under ICWA. In addition to violating the law and codes of ethics, he says, they displayed a stunning lack of regard for the child at the center of the case by denigrating her father in front of the world. Though the court stopped short of issuing a gag order, the justices did issue a warning: Juvenile cases are sealed under South Carolina state statute and are not open to public discourse.

“The Capobiancos, their lawyers and their PR team broke the law,” says Nichols matter-of-factly. “There is no question that the statute is very clear on these matters. But I at least wanted to send a message that we were not going to tolerate them violating the law on a sealed juvenile case that should have been kept confidential.”

Nichols said that the court’s admonition did seem to slow the firehose of media stories—for a short time. But what did not stop was the marketing and selling of the Capobianco’s side of the story, using Veronica’s name and likeness on a variety of social media to seek attention, support and financial donations to pay their legal fees in their fight to terminate Dusten Brown’s parental rights and retain custody of Veronica.

“Save Veronica” became the clarion call of the Capobiancos’ media strategy. Starting with a website and a Facebook page, they posted regular, emotionally-charged status updates and pleas for money via a “donation” link. Additionally, bracelets, perfume, magnets, artwork and various other trinkets were sold to finance their PR firm and legal defense fund—all the while ginning up public outrage bordering on frenzy toward not only Dusten Brown, but the entire foundation of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Meanwhile, Dusten Brown kept quiet and stayed focused on building his life after returning from Iraq. But he did not like the way the Capobianco’s portrayed him in the media, especially after he allowed them to maintain contact with Veronica after the transfer. In particular, as a parent, it was the unauthorized use of his daughter’s name and likeness to build their case against her own father that hurt the most.

“They plastered her name and face all over the Internet asking for handouts,” says Brown evenly. “I never once asked for a penny from anyone, I never said a bad word about them or the birth mother. But I’ve told my lawyers that I want all those websites and Facebook pages shut down. I do not want them using her that way. If they really love her like they say they do, they wouldn’t do that to her.”

From the beginning, the insidious undertones of class and race in their messaging was clear: The Capobiancos are a well-to-do couple who can afford expensive vacations and private schools for Veronica; Dusten Brown is in the Army. The Capobiancos are both highly educated—Melanie Capobianco, in fact, holds a Ph.D in child developmental psychology (more on that later); Dusten Brown went to Vo-tech. The Capobiancos are white; but Dusten Brown, they argued fiercely—is not “Indian enough” for federal law to apply to them in disrupting their adoption plans.

Therein lies the central question hovering over this case. The legal concept of who is an “Indian” and what constitutes tribal membership has plagued and confounded many in Indian Affairs for centuries. But, regardless of countless attempts to reinterpret, circumvent and override tribal sovereignty regarding their membership, the law is unmistakably clear on the matter, according to Richard Guest, staff attorney and director of the Tribal Supreme Court Project for the Native American Rights Fund.

“As a matter of law, tribes determine their own membership,” says Guest. “Membership is based on a number of factors. Some tribes go by the Census, some go by blood quantum, but some, like the Cherokee Nation, base theirs on the Dawes Rolls—and they are within their rights to do so. Many tribes are now confronted with these issues and are changing their requirements to reflect these complexities, because some people may belong to one tribe, but may be full-blood from several different tribes through their grandparents. One person may appear white or black, but have been raised in the community, speaking the language. Others may be from urban areas and have never seen their homeland, but they’re still tribal members. There are also many marriages between people from different tribes, but their children can only be enrolled in one tribe. It’s a very complex process, especially for the courts.”

One thing is clear, says Guest. Though at first glance Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl is a failed adoption, it carries with it a powerful subterranean threat to the very existence of tribal life in America.

“The Cherokee Nation is a federally-recognized tribe and Dusten Brown is an enrolled member of that tribe. And in the case of Baby Veronica, the terms of the Indian Child Welfare Act are absolutely clear: She is eligible, therefore ICWA applies. To determine otherwise could have far-reaching implications for all Indian matters. The real issue is: Who gets to say who’s an Indian?”

On April 17, 2012, Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl was argued before the South Carolina Supreme Court. By this time, the case has long since blown any semblance of confidentiality and had become high conflict because of the steady diet of media assaults on Dusten Brown, ICWA and Indian tribes in general.

Because of potential security issues, the Court took the unusual step of closing the courthouse to the general public. Only the parties, their attorneys and essential personnel were allowed into the hearing. Both sides were taken into and out of separate entrances and elevators by police escort and were not allowed even to pass each other in the hallways. Relations between the two families had soured to the point where they had to be sequestered in separate chambers before the arguments.

Outside the courthouse, protesters for the Capobiancos had gathered and were going full force with signs and banners beseeching the South Carolina Supreme Court to “Save Veronica.” Several media outlets also covered the hearing, which had by then become national news.

Inside the courthouse, the atmosphere was tense and unyielding as the attorney for the Capobiancos, Robert Hill, argued that Brown was a deadbeat dad who did nothing to contribute to the birth mother or his child during her pregnancy. Under state law, he said, Brown therefore had not established or obtained parental rights. Because he had not established paternity or obtained parental rights, ICWA did not apply under the definitions of the act. Additionally, Hill argued that because Veronica had already been with her adoptive family, removing her from the Capobiancos would psychologically harm her. The court should find “good cause,” he said, to deviate from the Indian adoptive placement preferences outlined in ICWA and return her to the Capobiancos.

John Nichols, appellate attorney for Dusten Brown, defended his client by asserting that all along, the mother and the Capobiancos had conspired and colluded to hide this adoption and obfuscate his Indian heritage, knowing full well that he would object. Nichols pointed out that they had waited until Brown was in lock down at Ft. Sill to serve him the notice of parental termination. Brown’s immediate reaction upon hearing that his child had been adopted without his consent or approval, he said, was to seek custody. But most importantly, Nichols argued that Dusten Brown, as a tribal member, is considered a “parent” under ICWA and that Veronica is therefore by definition is “an Indian child.” These facts alone, he argued, required that the Court rule in favor of Brown.

Chrissi Nimmo, arguing on behalf of the Cherokee Nation, also told the court that they should only consider the time that Veronica was with the pre-adoptive parents from birth to four months, because it was only then that Brown learned of her situation and sought custody. Further, Nimmo asserted that gaining temporary custody of a child in violation of the law and maintaining custody throughout protracted litigation does not entitle the adoptive couple to permanent custody.

Three months later, on July 26, 2012, the South Carolina Supreme Court issued a 78-page ruling affirming the lower court rulings of Judges Garfinkel and Malphrus. In a 3-2 decision affirming Brown’s status as an Indian parent, Veronica’s status as an Indian child, the court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act. In a stunning rebuke of the birth mother and the Capobiancos, the court wrote the following:

“Mother testified that she knew “from the beginning” that Father was a registered member of the Cherokee Nation, and that she deemed this information “important” throughout the adoption process.Further, she testified she knew that if the Cherokee Nation were alerted to Baby Girl’s status as an Indian child, “some things were going to come into effect, but [she] wasn’t for [sic] sure what.” Mother reported Father’s Indian heritage on the Nightlight Agency’s adoption form and testified she made Father’s Indian heritage known to Appellants and every agency involved in the adoption. However, it appears that there were some efforts to conceal his Indian status. In fact, the pre-placement form reflects Mother’s reluctance to share this information:

the birth mother did not wish to identify the father, said she

wanted  to keep things low-key as possible for the [Appellants],

because he’s registered in the Cherokee tribe. It was determined that

naming him would be detrimental to the adoption.”

For the first time in several years, Dusten Brown and his legal team breathed a sigh of relief. It was felt that the case had finally reached its conclusion and he and his new wife, Robin, and Veronica, could move on with their lives in Oklahoma.

But it was not to be.  On October 1, 2012, the Capobiancos, who now has the estimable Lisa Blatt of the Washington, D.C. firm of Arnold and Porter, as their lead counsel, filed a petition of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court. Three months later, on January 4, 2013, certiorari was granted in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl. The most important Indian law case in three decades was going before the nation’s highest court.

 

Read more at https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/06/12/fight-veronica-part-4-149873

Retiring Marysville superintendent got schools back on track

Nick Adams / The HeraldMarysville School District Superintendent Larry Nyland and Assistant Superintendent Gail Miller listen to songs by the Tulalip Tribes during a retirement party at the Hibulb Cultural Center on May 30. Both school officials are retiring.
Nick Adams / The Herald
Marysville School District Superintendent Larry Nyland and Assistant Superintendent Gail Miller listen to songs by the Tulalip Tribes during a retirement party at the Hibulb Cultural Center on May 30. Both school officials are retiring.

By Gale Fiege, The Herald

MARYSVILLE — No matter what side they were on in the fall of 2003, most people agree that the divisive 49-day teachers strike in the Marysville School District took a toll on the community.

When he started in the summer of 2004, then-new Superintendent Larry Nyland set out to meet individually with more than 700 people. His first goal, he said, was to “restore relationships.”

Many of those in attendance at Nyland’s retirement reception May 30 at the Hibulb Cultural Center talked at length about Nyland’s work to heal the district and to get results from the school board, the administration, the teachers, the district’s 11,000 students and the people of Marysville and Tulalip.

State Rep. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, said he always appreciated Nyland.

“When Larry got here, it was the right time,” McCoy said. “He was successful at calming things down and getting the district back on an even keel.”

Nick Adams/ The HeraldMarysville School District Superintendent Dr. Larry Nyland and Assistant Superintendent Gail Miller listen to songs by the Tulalip Tribes during a retirement party at the Hibulb Cultural Center on May 30. Both school officials are retiring.
Nick Adams/ The Herald
Marysville School District Superintendent Dr. Larry Nyland and Assistant Superintendent Gail Miller listen to songs by the Tulalip Tribes during a retirement party at the Hibulb Cultural Center on May 30. Both school officials are retiring.

In his role in the state Legislature, McCoy said he heard frequently from Nyland regarding school funding and other issues.

“Larry had no problem telling me what was on his mind, and I like that,” McCoy said. “I hope our new superintendent is outspoken, too. She can call me anytime.”

Becky Cooke Berg is scheduled to start her new job as superintendent of Marysville schools on July 1. Berg, who has a doctorate in education, is moving here from her job as the superintendent of the Deer Park School District near Spokane. A meeting to give the public a chance to meet Berg is set for 4 to 6 p.m. Monday at the school administration office before the regular school board meeting.

Nyland, who served nine years in Marysville, said his last days with the school district this month are “bittersweet.”

“It’s time to hand the job off,” Nyland said. “It’s been a good nine years.”

Most of the Marysville high school graduations are over for the year. Nyland said he is proud that the graduation rate in the district rose 20 percentage points during his tenure.

“My passion is student learning and I think we’ve had notable achievements in the past nine years,” he said. “It’s not just about better test scores. It’s about the skills students take away when they graduate.”

Nyland began teaching in 1971 in Gig Harbor and served as a superintendent in Alaska and elswhere in Washington before taking the job at Marysville.

Under Nyland, voters began passing school levies again, and in 2006 they approved a $120 million bond package in 2006 that helped build Grove Elementary School and Marysville Getchell High School. In 2007, Nyland was named the state’s superintendent of the year.

Assistant Marysville Superintendent Gail Miller also is retiring at the end of this month after nine years with the district.

“There was no better superintendent to work with and no better place to end my career than with Larry in Marysville,” Miller said. The Tulalip Tribes hosted the reception for Nyland and Miller, and Tribal Chairman Mel Sheldon served as the master of ceremonies.

“Gail and Larry brought to the table compassion and an understanding of the tribes,” Sheldon said. “They were team players, and we are eternally grateful for the relationships that were made.”

Arden Watson, who has served as head of the teachers union in Marysville, said that from the start Nyland had a clear desire to work with teachers and all staff of the district.

“We haven’t always agreed on everything, but we worked collaboratively,” Watson said.

School Board President Chris Nation said Nyland stood by the board and made Marysville a better district.

“At a time of turmoil and mistrust, Dr. Nyland got us back on track,” Nation said. “We aspire to be like Larry.”

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring said the partnerships between the school district, the tribes, the business owners and the city to benefit students were encouraged by Nyland.

“Because there is no bigger priority than our children,” Nehring said.

Gov. Inslee plans for ‘major, major disruption,’ Senate leader says talk of shutdown ‘nonsense’

Gov. Jay Inslee chided the state Senate, which is controlled by a mostly Republican coalition, for what he called its budget intransigence in a Monday news conference. He urged the chamber to move toward meeting the proposal put forward by the state House, which is controlled by members of Inslee’s party. (STEVE BLOOM/Staff photographer)
Gov. Jay Inslee chided the state Senate, which is controlled by a mostly Republican coalition, for what he called its budget intransigence in a Monday news conference. He urged the chamber to move toward meeting the proposal put forward by the state House, which is controlled by members of Inslee’s party. (STEVE BLOOM/Staff photographer)

If the Legislature’s second special session that begins Wednesday runs as long as its 30-day allowance, the Capitol might be one of the few state buildings with the lights still on.

Jordan Schrader, The News Tribune

If the Legislature’s second special session that begins Wednesday runs as long as its 30-day allowance, the Capitol might be one of the few state buildings with the lights still on.

The state constitution does not provide for spending money if no budget is in place July 1, but it does mandate some services that would be required to continue.

Contingency plans for entering July without a budget are the topic of ongoing research in Gov. Jay Inslee’s office and a Cabinet meeting set for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“It’s never happened before,” the Democratic governor told reporters Tuesday. “So our lawyers are trying to untangle the skein of the services the state provides and see which ones are constitutionally mandated or mandated by federal law, and which ones are not.

“This would be a major, major disruption of government services, no question about it.”

But Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom was coolly emphatic Tuesday, saying that a shutdown is not in the offing. “Any talk of a shutdown – it might make great press, but it’s complete nonsense,” he said.

ANSWERS SOUGHT

Inslee said notifications would need to go out to the state’s 60,000 general-government employees about their employment status, which would vary by job title and agency. Many could be furloughed until a budget is signed.

State lawyers are looking into other questions:

• Even if a program is mandatory, would it have to run on a skeleton crew? Would prisons have to be locked down, for example?

•  Can other services keep running because they are paid for with federal money or are not subject to appropriation by the Legislature?

•  Can much of the Department of Transportation and State Patrol remain at work, since those have already been funded in a separate transportation budget?

• Can lawmakers simply avoid a shutdown by passing a temporary – 30-day, perhaps — budget?

Officials have reviewed 2001 preparations then-Gov. Gary Locke made as lawmakers flirted with a shutdown.

Locke drafted an order asserting his executive power to keep the state taking care of people in its custody, providing federally required social services and keeping the State Patrol on duty, while furloughing less essential state employees.

That year, lawmakers passed a budget June 20, the 17th day of their second special session, and Locke never had to issue the order.

SCHOOLS WAIT

Some deadlines are approaching even before July 1.

Tax refunds start going out Thursday to wealthy estates that sued to recoup estate taxes and won, according to the state Department of Revenue. That tax money goes to schools. The Senate majority has agreed to address the court ruling and hang on to the money, but only if some of its policy proposals are approved.

Saturday is the deadline for school districts to notify employees of potential layoffs. State schools chief Randy Dorn wrote to lawmakers calling for an extension.

Dorn also said districts should be allowed to wait longer to finish their budgets, which are due in August.

State payments to school districts come at the end of each month, so they wouldn’t be threatened right away. But a shutdown at Dorn’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction could affect schools early next month.

ASSIGNING BLAME

Inslee placed the blame squarely on the Senate majority for delay. He argued the Senate hasn’t made concessions even as House Democrats abandoned more than half of their $1.3 billion in proposed tax revenue.

But Tom, a Medina Democrat who leads the mostly Republican caucus controlling the Senate, sees major progress in recent days, including his caucus’ offer to trade about $300 million in new tax money sought by the House for Senate proposals on teacher assignments, workers’ compensation and a cap on growth in noneducation spending.

State government should make plans, Tom said, but he and Speaker Frank Chopp, leader of the Democrats who run the House, have assured each other they would avoid taking state government off a fiscal cliff.

But Chopp’s top lieutenant, House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, wasn’t so optimistic.

He said lawmakers haven’t been able to “negotiate the details of the budget” because Republicans are holding it hostage for their favored policies.

Of a shutdown, the Covington Democrat said: “I think it’s a legitimate threat that needs to be evaluated.”

While entering a two-year budget cycle with no budget would be a first, a precedent of one sort exists: In August 1951, the state stopped paying bills after the state Supreme Court threw out a budget deemed unconstitutional because it contained a corporate income tax.

In that case, the divided Legislature rushed back to Olympia to pass a new budget that Gov. Arthur Langlie could sign. It still took lawmakers nine days to get a new budget done.

Staff writer Brad Shannon contributed to this report.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/06/11/2634910/gov-inslee-plans-for-major-major.html#storylink=cpy

Navajo ‘Star Wars’ Cast, Set for July 3 Premiere

Indian Country Today Media Network

Casting for the Navajo-language version of Star Wars has completed, and Navajo Nation Museum director Manuelito Wheeler is confident in the selections. “All the people that were cast fit the voice perfectly and they gave awesome performances,” he said, according to the Navajo Times.

Several of those cast offered personal thoughts on the characters they are voicing. The actor chosen to play Obi-Wan Kenobi compared the old Jedi master to a Navajo medicine man, while the actress who’ll play Princess Leia said she felt that her own personality mirrored that of Carrie Fisher’s character. The actor chosen for Darth Vader is a coach at Rock Point High, and said that he identified with Vader’s leadership skills. The role of Han Solo — Star Wars‘ cocky “scoundrel” — went to James Junes of the comedy duo James and Ernie.

Radmilla Cody, former Miss Navajo Nation and a 2013 Grammy Nominee, auditioned — alas, unsuccessfully — for the part of Princess Leia. “It was quite the experience in the sense that it was fun, nerve wrecking, and exciting all at once!” she tells ICTMN. “At one point during the audition, I was reminded of the Miss Navajo pageant panel questions. I am excited for everyone involved especially Shi yazh Herman Cody who did the voice-over for Uncle Owen.”

Organizers are keeping the identity of the actor who’ll voice bronze protocol robot C-3PO a secret. According to AZCentral.com, some 115 Navajos attended the casting, which took place May 3 and 4. In all, 20 actors were chosen to lend their voices to the production, says Dan Bloom of TheWrap.com.

In a recent interview with NPR, Wheeler revealed some of the plans for the premiere. “The premiere sponsor that came forward was Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation,” Wheeler said. “They do that Navajo Nation Fair and the Fourth of July fair. So, I will premiere it at the Fourth of July celebration on July 3. We have a grandstand there on the fairgrounds and we are having a screen built on a semi-flatbed trailer. So, when we’re ready we’ll drive that out and set up chairs … and have popcorn for as many as we can make popcorn for.”

The following Navajo-speakers have been chosen:

Luke Skywalker: Terry Teller (Lukachukai, Arizona)
Princess Leia: Clarissa Yazzie (Layton, Utah)
Darth Vader: Marvin Yellowhair (Rough Rock, Arizona)
Han Solo: James Junes (Farmington, New Mexico)
Grand Moff Tarkin: James Bilagody (Tuba City, Arizona)
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Anderson Kee (Cottonwood, Arizona)
Aunt Beru: Elsa Johnson (Scottsdale, Arizona)
Uncle Owen: Herman Cody (Ganado, Arizona)
C-3PO: To Be Announced

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/06/12/navajo-star-wars-cast-set-july-3-premiere-149855

AquaSox team older, stocked with several familiar faces

Mark Mulligan / The HeraldReturning Everett AquaSox player Jamodrick McGruder throws from second base during a drill at Everett Memorial Stadium during the team's first practice of the season Tuesday afternoon.
Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Returning Everett AquaSox player Jamodrick McGruder throws from second base during a drill at Everett Memorial Stadium during the team’s first practice of the season Tuesday afternoon.

By Nick Patterson, The Herald

EVERETT — Meet the new Frogs, same as the old Frogs — at least more than usual.

The 2013 Everett AquaSox took the field for the first time Tuesday afternoon in preparation for the upcoming Northwest League season, conducting their initial practice at a rainy Everett Memorial Stadium. And moreso than in a typical season, there was a familiar feel about the players on the diamond.

“I think it’s good,” said second baseman Jamodrick McGruder, part of the large contingent of players who have experienced Everett previously. “A lot of us have already had this season, so it will be good experience-wise. Guys know what to do and I think we should come out and be pretty strong.

“It’s kind of an older team, which is good,” McGruder added. “We don’t have a lot of young guys. A lot of the guys were at extended spring training, so we should be very experienced and very well put together.”

Usually the AquaSox almost completely turn over their roster from year to year. Last year, there was just one player who opened the season with the team who played in Everett the previous year, and Marcus Littlewood was in the process of converting from shortstop to catcher.

But Tuesday afternoon there were nine players on the field who appeared last season for Everett, which finished 46-30 and won the West Division’s first-half title. Those nine include five who spent all of last season with the Sox. Second baseman Jamodrick McGruder, who led the league in stolen bases with 30, and outfielder Alfredo Morales were everyday players for Everett. Pitcher Steven Ewing made 12 starts and finished third on the team in innings pitched; outfielder Michael Faulkner finished second on the team in steals with 15; and reliever Mark Bordonaro was a regular presence out of the bullpen.

The four who had shorter stints with Everett last season were pitcher Jose Valdivia, outfielder James Zamarripa and catchers Christian Carmichael and Carlton Tanabe.

“We’ve got guys who have that experience, know the league, know what it takes to win ballgames, and won’t be shocked by pro baseball right away,” second-year Everett manager Rob Mummau said. “I think we’ll have a good start.

“I expect those guys to succeed at a high level, and hopefully they’re not here too long and get to move up eventually,” Mummau added. “But I definitely expect a lot out of them.”

Everett’s initial roster doesn’t have any prospects generating a large amount scouting community buzz, like pitcher Victor Sanchez generated last season. However, there are a number of players who bear watching.

Mummau singled out infielder Martin Peguero and outfielder Phillips Castillo as newcomers to watch. Both are 19-year-olds from the Dominican Republic who had moderate success with Pulaski of the rookie Appalachian League last year.

Meanwhile, the 20-year-old Carmichael and 19-year-old Zamarripa are the highest draft picks on the initial roster, being selected by the Seattle Mariners in the sixth rounds in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

As for the pitching staff, it’s largely an experienced group.

“It’s different from last year’s staff,” Everett pitching coach Rich Dorman said. “This year we’ve got a lot of guys from extended spring training, last year we had a lot of guys from college (who were selected in the 2012 draft). It’s a big year for a lot of these guys because they’ve been in the organization for a while.”

But while it may be an older staff, the Sox will be leaning heavily on the youngsters in the rotation. The team’s two youngest pitchers, 19-year-old Dominican right-hander Rigoberto Garcia and 19-year-old Dutch right-hander Lars Huijer, are scheduled to start the team’s first two games in Spokane on Friday and Saturday. Dorman said the towering Garcia, who’s listed at 6-foot-5 but looks taller, is one of the best prospects on the staff.

The remainder of the rotation to begin the season includes Brazilian right-hander Thyago Vieira, the right-handed Ewing and Venezuelan right-hander Ricardo Pereira.

Dorman said there is no designated closer and the Sox bullpen will fill that role by committee.

Everett’s roster is not complete. The Sox will see college players from last week’s draft trickle in after they sign contracts. Pitcher Tyler Olson, the Mariners’ seventh-round pick, already has arrived while first baseman Justin Seager, Seattle’s 12th rounder and the younger brother of Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager, was expected to report shortly.

Everett gets a rehearsal tonight when the Sox take on the Pacific International League’s Everett Merchants in the 10th annual Everett Cup exhibition game. The Merchants, a team comprised primarily of community college and small college players with local ties, upset the Sox twice in the previous nine meetings. The Sox won last year’s contest 5-2.

U.S. Chamber Sends Letter in Support of the “Native American Energy Act”

U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Vice President for Government Affairs Bruce Josten sent a letter to members of the House Committee on Natural Resources in support of H.R. 1548, the “Native American Energy Act.”

As the letter states:
  • H.R. 1548 would be an important step in furthering efforts by Congress to encourage economic development throughout Indian Country.
  • It would do so by fostering tribal sovereignty and eliminating cumbersome Federal bureaucratic processes, which we believe to be a sure path to economic growth.
  • Furthermore, we believe the bill would make further headway towards American energy independence while it would also provide much needed employment to hard-stricken regions of the country.
  • The U.S. Chamber has recently established the Native American Enterprise Initiative (NAEI) in recognition of the revolution in entrepreneurship occurring amongst the nearly three million people of American Indian and Alaskan Native heritage.  Drawing on the Chamber’s record of business advocacy, the NAEI seeks to remove legislative and regulatory roadblocks to their economic success, which H.R. 1548 would do.

 

Native American High School Students Sample University Life

UCR’s annual Gathering of the Tribes encourages academic success, consideration of college degree

Albert Rodriguez (l-r), Paakuma Tawinat, Joshua Gonzales, Brandon Duran and Randy Plummer sing Cahuilla bird songs during the 2012 Gathering of the Tribes.
Albert Rodriguez (l-r), Paakuma Tawinat, Joshua Gonzales, Brandon Duran and Randy Plummer sing Cahuilla bird songs during the 2012 Gathering of the Tribes.

By Bettye Miller, UCR Today

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Thirty Native American high school students will get a taste of college life when they arrive at the University of California, Riverside on June 23 for the Gathering of the Tribes, the longest-running program of its kind in Southern California.

The eight-day event, which began at UCR in 2005, invites Native American students to experience life in a residence hall and the classroom, and provides information about admissions and financial aid requirements and deadlines.

“We want them to see that the university is an exciting place, and encourage them to do well in high school and consider going to college,” said Cliff Trafzer, professor of history and the Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs at UCR. “We need future American Indian leaders going to college.”

Parents will drop off their students on June 23 and participate in an orientation lunch.

Throughout the week students will attend classes in video production and creative writing, participate in various exercise and recreation activities, and hear from motivational speakers, career counselors, and advisors on how to apply for admission to college and financial aid. One activity added to the program last year is practice writing personal essays based on prompts contained in the UC application.

A majority of the students come from Southern California, but in the past have included others from Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona and Alaska, said Joshua Gonzales, director of Native American Student Programs at UCR.

“More than 90 percent of these students do go on to some form of college,” Gonzales said.

Gathering of the Tribes is sponsored by Native American Student Programs and the Native American Education Program, a UCR chancellor’s initiative intended to encourage American Indian students and parents to embrace higher education.

 

Review panel unanimously agrees that totem pole should not be removed from city’s arts collection

Richards Studio Collection : On March 11, 1958, Miss Tacoma Home Show of 1958, Marilyn Ganes, was photographed leaning out of the front door of a BMW Isetta 300 parked near the Tacoma Totem Pole.
Richards Studio Collection : On March 11, 1958, Miss Tacoma Home Show of 1958, Marilyn Ganes, was photographed leaning out of the front door of a BMW Isetta 300 parked near the Tacoma Totem Pole.

Lewis Kamb, The News Tribune

TACOMA, Wash – They mulled over its decrepit condition, speculated about who carved it and discussed its historical and cultural significance – both as a potential sacred artifact and a beloved object of commercial kitsch.

But in the end, all voting members of a specially convened review panel agreed Tuesday: Tacoma’s totem pole should remain part of the city’s art collection.

“I think it’s important to keep it,” said Jack Curtright, a longtime Tacoma dealer of Native American art. “It’s been here, I grew up with it. It’s been an icon of this community.”

Tacoma’s Arts Commission took the unusual step of convening the so-called deaccession review panel to determine whether the aging totem pole, which has become a falling hazard in downtown Fireman’s Park, should be removed from Tacoma’s collected public artworks.

On May 26, 1924, the Los Angeles Newsboys’ Quartette posed in front of the Tacoma Hotel and totem pole. Source: Marvin D. Boland Collection, Tacoma Public Library
On May 26, 1924, the Los Angeles Newsboys’ Quartette posed in front of the Tacoma Hotel and totem pole. Source: Marvin D. Boland Collection, Tacoma Public Library

Commissioned by civic boosters in 1903, the more than 80-foot long cedar log carved in what’s purported to be Native iconography aimed to help put Tacoma on the map.

But age, rot and insect infestation have structurally weakened the pole, forcing public works officials to fence it off and temporarily brace it with steel rods. City officials are now grappling with what to do with a historic object that’s become a public safety threat.

“If it falls to the south, it will fall on a freeway ramp,” said Frank Terrill, the city’s senior plans examiner, who’s been monitoring the pole since the 1990s. “…I think we’ve reached the limits of the ability for it to stand (on its own) before it’s toppled by high winds.”

As both a designated city landmark and a public art piece, the pole falls under the dual authority of Tacoma’s Landmarks Preservation Commission and Arts Commission.

Last month, a landmarks subcommittee unofficially recommended it be taken down and publicly left to rot – once considered a customary Alaskan Native practice for poles at the end of their lifespan. The arts board then sought to separately consider the pole’s significance as a public artwork and called to convene Tuesday’s review panel.

Made up of arts and landmarks commissioners, a city planner, an art dealer, museum curators and a Native carver, the review panel held a ranging discussion about the pole’s cultural and historical importance, its artistic merit and its condition.

Then, members were tasked with deciding whether — based on a list of critieria in the city’s deaccession policy, including public safety and damage considerations – the pole should be removed from Tacoma’s arts collection.

Robin Wright, curator of Native American art for the University of Washington’s Burke Museum, noted the checkered history of the pole’s creation may never be resolved.

“The 64,000 dollar question is: Who carved it,” Wright said. “And I can’t tell just by looking at. It’s sort of been mysteriously hidden, and over time the story has changed.”

Records variably describe civic boosters hiring Alaskan or British Columbian Natives to carve the pole, partly to best a 60-foot tall totem pole erected in Seattle. As the story goes, for $3,000, the commissioned tribal members secretly carved a log donated by the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company, until its public unveiling in 1903 – a day before President Theodore Roosevelt visited town.

But Native art authorities among the panel agreed the iconography appears inauthentic and the carving less than expert.

“It’s entirely possible that it was even a non-Native person” who carved Tacoma’s pole, Wright conjectured, “and they kept them secret because he was not Native.”

But while its cultural value remains dubious, panel members agreed its historical value as a city icon is undeniable.

JD Elquist, a member of the arts and landmarks commissions, said he reconsidered his previous recommendation — that the pole be removed, laid down and left to decay — as some tribes traditionally have done.  Some experts noted — and Elquist acknowledged — that decaying poles are also commonly preserved.

Curtwright added that because “it doesn’t look like it’s a sacred artifact,” it’s probably not culturally appropriate to let it decay.

Elquist said his change of heart largely came from the panel’s recognition the pole is more important as a city artifact than a Native one.

“Due to the history of what it means to the people of Tacoma,” Elquist said, “it’s important that it stay around as long as possible.”

Elquist ultimately made the motion that the pole not be “deaccessed” from the municipal art collection; all other voting members agreed.

But the panel could not come up with a clear recommendation as to what the city should do next – whether to brace the pole in place, take it down, find a place to house it indoors or erect a new pole.

“Money, of course, does come to play,” city arts administrator Amy McBride said. “But there are funds to stabilize it and there are funds to remove it. Whether there are funds to do anything after that remains to be seen.”

Estimates to secure the pole in place run as high as $44,000, with a thorough restoration running as much as $45,000, and cleaning and ridding it of pests about $20,000, she said.

City engineer Darius Thompson noted the city can store the pole in the Sea Scouts building on Dock Street “for a number of months until we figure out what we can do with it.”

For now, all such options remain on the table for the landmarks commission to consider, said Reuben McKnight, the city’s historic preservation officer. A staff report, including cost analyses for various options and a summary of the review panel’s discussion, will be presented to the landmarks board on June 12, he added.

Read more here: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/politics/2013/06/04/tacoma-review-panel-unanimously-agrees-that-totem-pole-should-not-be-removed-from-citys-arts-collection/#storylink=cpy

Marysville vet biking the U.S. to help the wounded

submitted photoKit Wennersten, of Marysville, takes a practice ride in Skagit Valley before embarking today on a cross-country trip to raise money to help veterans.
submitted photo
Kit Wennersten, of Marysville, takes a practice ride in Skagit Valley before embarking today on a cross-country trip to raise money to help veterans.

Gale Fiege, The Herald

MARYSVILLE — On his recumbent tricycle, veteran Kit Wennersten plans to make a cross-country ride to raise money to support veterans.

The 65-year-old Marysville man is scheduled to begin his trip today in Astoria, Ore. His goal is to ride with a group across 4,250 miles to Yorktown, Va.

Wennersten served in the Navy and the Marine Corps. After 23 years in the military, he retired as a Navy lieutenant and then worked as a police officer for 17 years. “I understand what our injured service members are going through as they return home,” Wennersten said. “My goal is to support our wounded veterans and their families. During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars many Marines sustained life-changing injuries and they need our help more than ever.”

Wennersten is raising money through the Semper Fi Fund while participating in the Ride Across America for Charity 2013. He is riding an ICE Adventure tadpole trike, he said.

People can donate to the cause at fundraising.semperfifund.org/kitwennerstenRideAcrossAmerica.

“Any amount people can give will help. No donation is too small, even 1 cent a mile is great,” Wennersten said.

Wennersten, who did a lot of his training rides on the Centennial Trail in Snohomish County also plans to maintain a blog for the trip at www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/12286.

Foundation proposes Salish Sea trail on inland waters

Salish-seaBy Gale Fiege, The Herald

A new nonprofit group is making strides to establish a coastal trail along the inland marine waters of Washington and British Columbia.

The Bellingham-based Salish Sea Foundation also wants those waters designated as an international marine sanctuary.

Doug Tolchin, an organizer of the foundation, said the effort is in its early stages, but the goal is firm.

“We recognize the Salish Sea as an international treasure of exceptional importance, where mountains, rivers, creeks, estuaries and islands come together in an explosion of amazing landscapes,” Tolchin said. “Its wildlife populations deserve all the protection and restoration they can get.”

Four years ago, a Western Washington University professor convinced the U.S. and Canadian governments to ascribe the name Salish Sea to the regional name for the complex 5,500-square-mile body of water that includes the Georgia Strait, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound.

In Snohomish County, those bodies of water include Port Susan, Possession Sound, Tulalip Bay and Port Gardner. Salish Sea hasn’t replaced the names of the many canals, straits, bays, ports, sounds and inlets that make up the inland waters, but the term has helped naturalists and scientists describe a unified ecosystem.

The term “sea” is a good one because it’s a large body of salt water partly enclosed by land and protected from the open ocean, said Bert Webber, the retired marine biology professor who championed the Salish Sea name. The name Salish recognizes the indigenous people of the same region who are connected by various Coast Salish languages, he said.

Officials with the Tulalip Tribes and other regional American Indian tribes and First Nations in Canada supported naming the region the Salish Sea and to the effort to restore and improve its ecosystem.

Hundreds of years after the first European exploration in the region, about 8 million people now live on or near the shores of the inland sea. Their accompanying activity has taken a toll on the Salish Sea, Tolchin said.

“The biggest source of pollution here is us,” he said. “We have to get people to stop their use of detergents and chemicals that pollute the waterways, to keep pet waste out of the storm water runoff and other simple changes.”

Tolchin said there is another way people can get involved.

“We would like to see people study our Salish Sea marine sanctuary vision map, so that they can clearly understand where and what is the Salish Sea,” Tolchin said. “People also can take a look at their own watershed areas and see what they can do to keep those clean.”

The foundation’s trail map is not set in stone, but generally gives the viewer an idea about how existing trails might be linked together along the water, he said.

Salish Sea Foundation also is in the process of assembling the group’s board of directors and advisers. Suggestions are welcome at www.salishsea.org, Tolchin said.

“Our big effort will be to get the marine sanctuary designation on the ballots in Washington and British Columbia in 2014,” Tolchin said. “We want people to feel ownership in this project.”

In a statement from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation in British Columbia, tribal leader Rueben George said protection of the Salish Sea as a marine sanctuary will benefit all people.

“There is no price for the sacred, whether it is the mineral, plant, animal or human. This is not just an environmental challenge; it is an issue that pertains to all of us, including our future generations and all life on Mother Earth. …,” George said. “The creation of the Salish Sea Marine Sanctuary (will be) a beautiful example of protecting and restoring the sacred.”