Tulalip News

Media Co-op reporter Miles Howe released from police custody; Mi’kmaq war chief also arrested

A photo taken by Miles Howe on June 21st, when 12 arrests were made near the sacred fire encampment in Elsipogtog.

Ben Sichel, Halifax Media Co-op

Media Co-op reporter Miles Howe has been released from police custody after being detained near Elsipogtog, New Brunswick yesterday afternoon – but Howe says he thinks police are trying to prevent him from reporting news from a controversial shale gas exploration site.

Howe has been in New Brunswick since early June reporting on protests against shale gas exploration near the Mi’kmaq community. He faces charges of uttering threats to a police officer and obstruction of justice.

“I think they’re trying to restrict my access to seismic testing sites,” said Howe.

According to Howe, RCMP chief Rick Bernard approached him this afternoon as he stood next to Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) news reporter Jorge Barrera. The two were waiting for press access to a site where seismic testing, a precursor to hydraulic fracturing or fracking, was said to be taking place.

Bernard then informed Howe that he was under arrest for allegedly uttering threats against a police officer on June 21st.

APTN’s Jorge Barrera tweeted that Bernard arrested Howe “after shaking Miles’ hand.”

The Media Co-op’s Howe “has been doing the bulk of reporting in #Elsipogtog on anti-shale gas protests and has been taken in by the Mi’kmaq community,” Barrera also tweeted.

RCMP Cpl. Chantal Farrah confirmed to CBC that Howe’s arrest was indeed related to an incident on June 21st. The RCMP has not responded to the Media Co-op’s request for comment as to why his arrest was not made for 13 days.

According to Howe, the timing of the arrest is odd, since he has been in contact with police in New Brunswick twice since the alleged June 21st incident without being notified that police wanted to arrest him.

In particular, Howe says he gave a statement to police regarding a fire he witnessedon June 25th, involving equipment owned by SWN, the Texas-based company currently exploring for shale gas in New Brunswick.

“Police went to my house in Halifax seeking a statement about the fire I had seen, since I was the first respondent [at the scene],” Howe said. “When I heard that I went to the police here and they took a statement from me about what I had seen. They knew exactly who I was, yet there was no indication that I was wanted by them for any incident on June 21st.

“After they took my statement, they also mentioned that they’d be able to offer me financial compensation for information [related to the ongoing protests],” Howe added.

Howe also notes that his charges changed over the several hours he was in custody, from resisting arrest to evading arrest to obstruction of justice. He had no comment on the charges themselves.

War chief John Levi also arrested

Howe expressed concern for Mi’kmaq war chief John Levi, who was also charged today with obstruction in relation to Howe’s own arrest.

“He’s basically been charged with abetting me [over the past several days],” Howe said, despite Levi not knowing until yesterday that Howe was accused of a crime.

Howe described the charges against Levi as “trumped-up.”

“They may be using me to get at him,” Howe said. “This is a dangerous situation for Levi, who’s been an important leader for the people here.”

Anti-Fracking protests continue

There is an open invitation to a “Celebration of Unity with Elsipogtog” gathering this Saturday at 10 a.m. by a Facebook group called Walk for a Ban on Fracking.

“In the end [my arrest today] is just one small incident,” Howe said. “People here continue to show amazing strength.

“I’m not the story here,” Howe said.

Mathias Colomb Cree Nation Executes Moratorium and Delivers Eviction Order to Hudbay Minerals and the Province of Manitoba

Source: Intercontinental Cry

Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, MB: Today, the sovereign Nation of Missinippi Nehethowak as represented by Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (MCCN) delivered an eviction notice to Hudbay Mining and Smelting Co., Ltd. (Hudbay) and the province of Manitoba to vacate MCCN traditional, treaty and reserve territory.

Previously, on January 28 and March 5, 2013 Chief Dumas served two Stop Work Orders to Hudbay and the Province of Manitoba. Both site visits were peaceful gatherings where community members engaged in drumming, singing and cooking traditional foods. Hudbay subsequently sued Chief Dumas, MCCN band members and Pamela Palmater, an Indigenous activist, and obtained injunctions to prevent them from attending the site.

Today, a delegation representing sovereign First Nations and individuals from various parts of Canada, acting under their own control and direction have indicated that they will attend at the Lalor Lake mining site on MCCN territory to support the community of MCCN. Despite recent letters from Hudbay threatening to go afer individuals who support MCCN, the delegation is determined to defend the Aboriginal, treaty and inherent rights of MCCN.

Chief Arlen Dumas said, “The spirit and intent of the treaties was to share the lands, waters and natural resources, not allow one treaty partner to unilaterally prosper while impoverishing the other. We have a responsibility to protect the lands, waters, plants and animals for all our future generations — First Nations and Canadians alike.”

Chief Dumas went on to explain: “lnstead of the province and Hudbay engaging MCCN in a meaningful way, they have partnered to blockade MCCN from accessing the very resources we need to be self-sustaining. This kind of heavy-handed approach by Hudbay will not result in a mutually beneficial resolution, but will only jeopardize the health and safety of an already impoverished community.”

MCCN also issued declarations today informing both federal and provincial governments that no external laws will apply on their territory without their free, informed and prior consent.

AZ Sen. Jackson Becomes a Native Voice on Keystone XL Pipeline

Anne Minard, Indian Country Today Media Network

Arizona Democratic Sen. Jack Jackson Jr., Navajo, is resigning his post to work as a tribal liaison on environmental issues for the federal government.

Jackson had served one previous term in the state legislature between 2003 and 2005, overlapping with his father, Sen. Jack C. Jackson Sr., who served between 1985 and 2004. They became the first father and son to serve together in the Arizona State Legislature.

But the younger Jackson declined to seek re-election in 2005, and for a time worked as a consultant on tribal issues, among other roles. He returned to elected office in 2011, in the Arizona Senate, and began his second consecutive two-year term in January. But shortly thereafter, he was recruited to serve as senior advisor and liaison for Native American affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs.

Jackson’s new position was crafted in response to tribal leaders who have complained about improper consultation during the process to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.

“We know that tribal leaders in North Dakota walked out of a consultation meeting with the State Department, saying that they wanted someone there like the President or Secretary Kerry to meet with them, as tribal leaders,” Jackson said, taking a break from unpacking boxes in Washington on July 4. “I believe that this new position, with someone who is Native American and has a background in dealing with tribes, hopefully that will help those tribal leaders remain at the table.”

Like all oil pipelines, the Keystone XL Pipeline falls under the State Department’s purview because of a 1968 executive order by Lyndon Johnson. Jackson’s bureau, its name often shortened to Oceans, Environment and Science (OES), works on a variety of issues besides energy. They range from water sanitation in developing countries, to climate change, to policies in space.

“For anything that deals with environmental and cultural impacts to tribes, the Department of State is trying to make sure that there’s someone there,” Jackson said.

Jackson is no stranger to Washington; he spent 12 years there after graduating from Syracuse University law school in 1989. He started as a legislative associate, and then was promoted to deputy director for the Navajo Nation Washington Office, representing the concerns of his people before the federal government. During his first stint in Washington, Jackson also worked as a legislative analyst at the National Indian Education Association and director of governmental affairs for the National Congress of American Indians.

He has been back in Arizona for 12 years, during which time he’s served on two different occasions in the state legislature and performed a variety of other roles. Most recently, he has been a senior strategist in the Blue Stone Strategy Group, a national Native-owned consulting firm that helps empower tribes in the areas of sovereignty, self-determination and self-sufficiency in the business and governmental sectors.

Even though he’s vacating his current term early, he said he’s proud of what he accomplished already this year. He was able to secure $2.4 million in emergency funding for the Red Mesa Unified School District, on a remote part of the Navajo nation near Arizona’s border with Utah. The district was threatened with financially necessary closure after it was ruled that it could not count its students from Utah when it received its Arizona state allocations.

He also worked to make tribes eligible to compete for moneys out of Arizona’s aviation fund, which go for maintenance and construction at public airports. There are 14 tribally-owned airports in Arizona. And he secured annual funding so that Navajo Technical College can build a permanent campus in Chinle, Arizona.

He said a farther-reaching effort he began in 2003 has been “inching its way” toward fruition: making sure tribes get back a fair portion of the transaction privilege taxes collected from non-Indian businesses on reservations. As it stands now, the state collects the money and divides it between the state, counties and municipalities, leaving tribes out of the equation. Finally, this year, Jackson’s legislation to remedy that formula made it out of committee – but died in the full Senate.

“I hope that next session my successor and representatives Hale and Peshlakai will be able to keep up that momentum,” Jackson said.

Jackson said he’ll miss his family and friends in Arizona, but he and his husband of five years, David Bailey, will keep a home in Phoenix to facilitate Bailey’s ongoing, Arizona-based job with U.S. Airways. So frequent travel to his homelands will be possible, Jackson said, adding that his new role is worth some sacrifice.

“Having a voice on environmental and cultural impacts on tribes is very important, especially now, with the things that our Mother Earth is facing,” he said. “As a Navajo person, my family made sure all the prayers and blessings were in place.”

New Rules Make it Easier for Natives to Get Eagle Feathers

Carol Berry, Indian Country Today Media Network

After years of dissatisfaction among tribal members over lengthy delays in receiving eagle feathers from the National Eagle Repository, change may be on the way, prodded by a federal government that’s often blamed for the sluggish pace of the existing process.

“What we’re trying to do is at the end of the day we know we’re not going to make everyone happy, and even some of those who are happier will only be marginally happier,” cautioned Pat Durham, national tribal liaison for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), of the hoped-for faster operation. “But we’re doing the best we can.”

Members of federally recognized tribes can apply for eagle feathers, parts or whole birds from the FWS-operated Repository in metro Denver, but the wait time for a whole immature golden eagle is up to four years, in part because of its prized black-tipped, white tail feathers. The Repository receives bodies of eagles found nationwide.

Of the new proposed rules, major changes apply to American Indian prison inmates, who submit more than half of the applications for feathers, said Bernadette Atencio, Repository supervisor, who noted that changes in policy may “make more feathers available to non-incarcerated tribal members.”

The large number of inmate feather applications was a focal point for the new regulations, which would generally limit prisoners to one eagle order within their facility’s policy in order to halt constant re-orders. The FWS also plans to process feather replacement orders (not-reorders), generally received from prisoners with lengthy sentences with long-time use of the feathers.

Sometimes-darker motives behind eagle orders were cited by both Durham and Lenny Foster, Dine’, a longtime voluntary spiritual advisor for the federal Bureau of Prisons, the Arizona Department of Corrections, and other programs.

“Spiritual practices are important to Native prisoners for emotional and physical well-being,” Foster said, adding that eagle feathers can be a “necessary and vital part of ceremony” that should not be misused for barter, a practice sometimes involving non-Indians, in which eagle feathers have been traded for purchase of prison commissary items.

Another new Repository practice would require that a tribal official or traditional leader verify that a tribal member’s whole eagle application is for religious purposes. Durham found a similar, earlier requirement controversial and changed it 13 years ago when he became the top-level tribal liaison.

“Now, we’re just asking people to have the support of the tribe in getting the whole bird,” he said.

The new procedures were derived from official consultation with tribes over the last year. Durham also singled out Atencio for her work on the new rules and Special Agent in Charge Steve Oberholtzer, FWS Region 6, who traveled widely to listen to the views of tribal liaisons and others.

The new procedures are expected to go into effect in late summer or fall 2013 after a written-comment period for officially designated tribal representatives of federally recognized tribes ends August 31. The new practices will be monitored for one year to gauge their effectiveness.

Free summer meals for kids

Source: Marysville Globe

MARYSVILLE — The Marysville School District’s free summer meals for kids 18 years and younger is already underway at seven locations throughout the town.

Adults may also participate, at a cost of $1 per snack and $2 per lunch, while all children receive their snacks and lunches for free.

Snacks and lunches will be provided Mondays through Fridays, from now though Aug. 23, at the following locations:

• Cascade Elementary, Liberty Elementary and Shoultes Elementary will serve snacks from 9:30-10 a.m. and lunches from 11:30 a.m. to noon.

• The Tulalip Boys & Girls Club will serve snacks from 9:30-10 a.m. and lunches from noon to 12:30 p.m.

• The Beach Avenue Boys & Girls Club in Marysville will serve lunches from 11:30 a.m. to noon and snacks from 2:30-3 p.m.

• The Westwood Crossing Apartments will serve lunches from noon to 12:30 p.m. and snacks from 2-3 p.m.

• The Cedar Grove Apartments will also serve lunches from noon to 12:30 p.m. and snacks from 2-3 p.m., but on Tuesdays and Thursdays only.

For more information about the summer meals program, contact the district’s Food Service Department at 360-657-0935, or contact Peggy King by phone at 360-653-0803 or via email at peggy_king@msvl.k12.wa.us.

Waiting for Other Shoe to Drop: Exhibit Honors Missing, Murdered Women

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

“Walking With Our Sisters” is a commemorative art installation for the missing and murdered indigenous women of Canada and the United States.

Representing the unfinished lives of over 600 missing or murdered Indigenous women in Canada, the Walking With Our Sisters project contains only part of a moccasin, the vamp. The vamp, the top part of a moccasin, is most visible and is often beautifully decorated.

Walking With Our Sisters is a commemorative art installation to honor the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women from Canada and the United States. Organizations such as the Native Women’s Association of Canada have documented nearly 600 cases of murdered and missing indigenous women in Canada that have occurred over the past 20 years. Because of gaps in police and government reporting, the actual numbers may be much higher according to Amnesty International of Canada. Although similar data is not available in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, American Indian women are 2.5 times more likely than other races to be victims of sexual assault.

A large collaborative installation artwork, Walking With Our Sisters will be presented as a winding path of more than 300 feet of fabric on which the 600 vamps will be laid on the floor. Visitors will have to remove their shoes to walk along a fabric path next to the vamps.

Christi Belcourt, a painter living in Espanola, Ontario of the Otipemiswak/Michif or Métis Nation, came up with the idea while working on a series of paintings to honor women. She paints in acrylic on large canvases depicting floral designs on black background; the images resemble beadwork, she says.

While envisioning her new project, she began noticing the large number of Indigenous women reported missing by friends and family on Facebook. The lack of response from authorities bothered her as she considered that some of the missing girls were the same age as her 15-year-old daughter.

The idea of creating a work that would at once honor and provoke discussion about the number of missing and murdered Indigenous women emerged. “It just blended together,” she recalls.

At first she considered doing the project alone, but the idea of beading six hundred pairs of moccasin tops was daunting, so she began sending out Facebook messages asking for help. Within days she had commitments from more than 200 people who wanted to create vamps for the project. Soon, the project took on a life of its own; she got inquiries from other artists who wanted to get involved as well as people asking how the installation could be brought to their communities.

Belcourt envisions the installation this way: after cedar is laid down on the floor of the exhibition or gallery space, red cloth will be placed over the top. A gray fabric path will wind over the red cloth, its shape defined by the size and dimensions of the space. The vamps will then be placed on the gray path, allowing people to walk beside them. Tobacco will be available at the entrance to the pathway for those who wish to use it for prayer. People can place the tobacco in a vessel at the exit of the installation.

“The installation becomes a place for prayer,” she explains. “There is also sensory memory that people will take with them after leaving the exhibit. It’s not like walking into a space and just seeing work, you have to experience this.”

Before the exhibit is set up in its first venue—the Haida Gwaii Museum in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia for an August 23 opening—Walking With Our Sisters collective members will feast the vamps in ceremony. This sends a message that the artists are following traditional protocol and will encourage those hosting the installation to honor it with their own traditional ways, according to Belcourt.

Each pair of vamps represents the unfinished life of one woman. Belcourt and the creators of Walking With Our Sisters hope that the experience of walking next to the vamps will have a strong impact on participants and encourage people to begin speaking about the issue of missing and murdered women. “There has been an awful silence around this,” she observes. “There has been a silence by government, by police and by the dominant society; it’s as though Indigenous women’s lives aren’t considered important,” she says.

Belcourt’s hope is that visitors to the installation will be empowered to speak about this to other people and that concern will spread. She notes that there has been a call to the Canadian government for a national inquiry into the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women. “So far, the government has resisted this call,” she says.

Belcourt and her fellow artists received funding by crowdsourcing via Rockethub, Twitter and Facebook. So far, they have raised about $5,000, which covers fabric and supplies. “No one is getting paid for this work, it is 100 percent volunteer,” she adds.

So far, the exhibit is booked to tour through 2018 in Canada and the U.S.

Belacourt says that if she receives more than 600 vamps, the “overage” will be incorporated into the project. “It is widely believed that there are more than 600 missing and murdered Indigenous women. The 600 number refers to the cases verified by the Native Women’s Association of Canada,” she notes.

The following description is listed on the Facebook Walking With Our Sisters page under the “about” tab, “This project is about these women, paying respect to their lives and existence on this earth. They are not forgotten. They are sisters, mothers, daughters, cousins, grandmothers. They have been cared for, they have been loved, and they are missing.”

To learn more about Walking With Our Sisters or to make donations, visit the Facebook group page or e-mail Christi Belcourt at WWOS@live.ca.

Bill allocates $2M for Montana tribal language preservation efforts

Students at the Nkwusm Salish Immersion School in Arlee concentrate last week during language lessons. The school, founded by four non-Salish speakers to keep the language alive, is 10 years old this fall. Photo: Kurt Wilson/Missoulian

Associated Press

GREAT FALLS – The Montana Legislature created a program to help the state’s Indian tribes develop educational and reference materials to keep their native languages alive as the number of people who fluently speak the languages continues to decline.

Lawmakers allocated $2 million for the Montana Indian Language Preservation pilot program in Senate Bill 342, sponsored by Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Rocky Boy.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau said Indian Education for All includes a component on preserving cultural integrity, which would include preserving languages.

“There is a need to figure out ways to preserve that language, whether that be through technology or video or dictionaries,” Juneau told the Great Falls Tribune.

The bill allows tribes to use the money to create audio and video recordings, dictionaries, reference materials and curricula. The tribes must demonstrate progress and must supply copies of their work to the Montana Historical Society for preservation and use by the public.

Tribal colleges and historic preservation offices are expected to be involved in the effort.

“This is an amazing gesture,” said Nicholas Vrooman, a Helena historian who is working with the Little Shell tribe on administering the funds the tribe will receive under the pilot project.

Tribes must submit proposals for use of funds by Sept. 30. The money is to be split evenly among Montana’s seven Indian reservations and the Little Shell Tribe, a state-recognized tribe. The project is being overseen by the state Tribal Economic Development Commission, which is attached to the Commerce Department.

The bill was signed by Gov. Steve Bullock on May 6.

Richard Littlebear, president and dean of cultural affairs at Chief Dull Knife College in Lame Deer, said the federal American Indian Languages Preservation Act of 1990 helped spur preservation efforts, but he said competition for federal grant money is intense.

Latest NRCS Science and Technology Helps Agriculture Mitigate Climate Change

Source: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2013 — USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has developed the world’s largest soil carbon dataset to help producers and planners estimate the impacts of conservation practices on soil carbon levels. USDA is committed to reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint, as Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack discussed in a June 5 address at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The Secretary outlined USDA’s modern solutions for environmental challenges.

“It is our obligation to equip landowners with the most up-to-date information and technical assistance so we can mitigate the impacts of climate change and help secure sustainable food production systems for the American people,” said NRCS Acting Chief Jason Weller.

Soil has tremendous potential to store carbon, which reduces the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, one of the leading greenhouse gases contributing to climate change.

Storage potential varies among soils, land covers, land uses and management, and NRCS soil scientists took 148,000 individual soil samples and evaluated them for carbon content. This Rapid Carbon Assessment, or RaCA, dataset serves as a baseline or snapshot in time for the amount of carbon each soil type is holding.

“By understanding our soils’ current carbon content, we can target the ones with the greatest potential to store additional carbon. Planners can use models (where accuracy is enhanced by RaCA data) to better predict the impact a conservation practice might have on enhancing the soil’s carbon content,” Christopher Smith, NRCS soil scientist, said.

Increasing soil carbon is also the single most important component of soil health, Smith said.

Several conservation practices, such as conservation crop rotations or planting cover crops, help increase carbon storage in soil. These crops take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and deposit it into the soil as organic matter. They also help reduce erosion and increase water-holding capacity and water infiltration, which increases the resiliency to drought, heavy precipitation and extreme temperatures.

Landowners can calculate how much carbon their conservation practices such as cover crops can remove from the atmosphere with the new tools, COMET- Farm™ and the Agricultural Policy Environmental Extender, or APEX model.

COMET- Farm™, developed in partnerships between USDA and Colorado State University, is a free online tool that allows producers to enter information about their farm or ranch management practices and receive general guidance on actions they can take to build carbon in their soil.

APEX, developed in partnership with Texas Agrilife Research, Texas A&M, and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and NRCS, is planned for use by NRCS conservation planners and private technical service providers. This tool will also assist NRCS and landowners with properly managing nutrients to keep a balance between soil carbon gains, production goals and impacts on water quality.

The Rapid Carbon Assessment, COMET- Farm™ and APEX open the door to new possibilities for producers, said Dr. Adam Chambers, scientist with the NRCS air quality and atmospheric change team in Oregon.

If carbon can be quantified, verified, and then sold into carbon markets, it is “another potential revenue stream for producers,” said Chambers.

As of Jan. 1, California began regulating a cap and trade carbon credit market for industries. The first to do so, the state is looking for agricultural greenhouse gas emission reduction and carbon sequestration projects to provide offsets into their regulated markets, he said.

“The Rapid Carbon Assessment provided baseline data on how much carbon is in each soil type. COMET-Farm™ can then be used to show how different management practices can increase that soil carbon,” said Chambers, who is guiding the work in environmental markets for the agency through NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants programs.

To find more information on COMET- Farm™, APEX, the Rapid Carbon Assessment and how NRCS can help you mitigate climate change, visit your nearest NRCS field office.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service helps America’s farmers and ranchers conserve the Nation’s soil, water, air and other natural resources. All programs are voluntary and offer science-based solutions that benefit both the landowner and the environment.

Where to celebrate Fourth of July

Annie Mulligan / For the heraldA red-white-and-blue-decorated truck carries people in the same colors down Fifth Avenue in Edmonds during the city's Fourth of July parade in 2012. — Annie Mulligan / For the herald
A red-white-and-blue-decorated truck carries people in the same colors down Fifth Avenue in Edmonds during the city’s Fourth of July parade in 2012.

Source: The Herald

From Edmonds to Arlington, Fourth of July festivities will flourish throughout Snohomish County with parades, fireworks, live music, barbecues and family activities.

In Everett, the Colors of Freedom celebration has many free events, such as the downtown parade, which starts at 11 a.m. on Colby and Wetmore avenues, between Wall and 26th streets, and includes marching bands, clowns, and dance and drill teams.

The Colors of Freedom Festival runs from 1 to 11 p.m. at Legion Memorial Park, 145 Alverson Blvd.; there will be live music, a food fair and kids’ activities. There is no parking at Legion Park, so ride free on Everett Transit shuttles and buses.

Other events in Everett:

Thunder on the Bay Fireworks: 10:20 p.m. Best viewing locations are Grand Avenue Park, 1800 Grand Ave., and Legion Memorial Park, 145 Alverson Blvd.

Everett, Fun in the Sun Street Fair: noon to 3 p.m, live music, car show, pony rides and other children’s entertainment at First Baptist Church, 1616 Pacific Ave.; free; 425-259-9166; www.fbc-everett.org.

Everett AquaSox baseball: 7:05 p.m., Everett Memorial Stadium, 3900 Broadway; opponent is the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes; post-game fireworks planned; tickets at www.aquasox.com.

Comcast Community Ice Rink, Fire on Ice: 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., 2000 Hewitt Ave.; $4 admission includes skate rental; barbecue outside arena; 425-322-2600; www.comcastarenaeverett.com.

Star-Spangled celebration: Imagine Children’s Museum, 1502 Wall St., open noon to 4 p.m. Regular admission is $9 for everyone older than 1; free admission for active military families; patriotic hatmaking and other activities; 425-258-1006; www.imaginecm.org.

Yankee Doodle Dash: 1 mile, 5K and 10K races on July 4 at Everett Family YMCA, 2720 Rockefeller Ave.; register at your local branch or online at www.ymca-snoco.org/ydd; day of registration opens at 7 a.m. July 4. YMCA members get a price break.
Race start times: 10K 8:30 a.m.; 5K, 8:45 a.m.; 1 mile, 8:55 a.m.

Naval Station Everett has cancelled events this year.

For more information on Everett events, call 425-257-8700 or go to www.ci.everett.wa.us.

Other July Fourth celebrations throughout the county:

Arlington: Frontier Days Fourth of July at Haller Park, 1100 West Ave., unless noted below; 360-403-3448; www.arlingtonwa.gov.

7 to 10 a.m. pancake breakfast.

8 to 9 a.m. registration, 10 a.m. start for Pedal, Paddle, Puff Triathalon.

8:30 and 10 a.m. silent auctions, noon live auction.

Noon to 4:30 p.m., carnival games, Legion Park.

1 to 3 p.m., Lions Club apple pie social.

4:30 p.m. kid parade, registration at 3:30 p.m. at PUD, 210 Division St.

5 p.m. grand parade, Olympic Avenue.

7:30 p.m. Rotary Duck Dash.

9 p.m. fireworks, seating at Boys & Girls Club, 18513 59th Ave. NE.

Bothell: Grand parade starts at noon; routes proceed west on Main Street and then north on Bothell-Everett Highway to NE 188th Street.

Children’s parade for up to age 12 starts at 11:15 a.m. Parents must accompany children or arrange to meet them at the end. Start area for children and grand parades is at 104th Avenue and Main Street.

Pancake breakfast: 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Bothell Downtown Firehouse, 10726 Beardslee Blvd; 425-486-7430; www.ci.bothell.wa.us.

Camano Island: Terry’s Corner, 3 p.m., at Sunrise Boulevard and Highway 532 (East Camano Drive); live music, Korean War remembrance by veterans; children’s play area; free; 360-629-0132.

Darrington: Hometown Parade: noon lineup at the community center for 1 p.m. start. Proceed down Darrington Street toward Mountain Loop Highway and end at Old School Park on Alvord Street. Family activities and live entertainment to follow; fireworks at dusk; free; 360-436-1131, www.darringtonwatourism.com.

An Edmonds Kind of Fourth: All events free; www.edmondswa.com.

Fun run 10 a.m.
Children’s parade 11:30 a.m. at Fifth Avenue and Walnut.
Grand parade noon, starting at Sixth and Main streets.
Edmonds firefighters waterball competition, 2:30 p.m., Third Avenue S. and Pine.
Evening entertainment and food vendors at 7:30 p.m. at Civic Stadium, Sixth and Bell.
Fireworks at 10 p.m. at Civic Stadium.

Mountlake Terrace: The city is hosting a Family Fourth of July event featuring a professional fireworks show thanks to the financial support of the community. The event begins with musical entertainment at 8 p.m. at Evergreen Playfield, followed by the fireworks show shortly after 10 p.m. Guests are welcome to arrive as early as 6:30 p.m. to get a good spot and bring a picnic dinner to enjoy while they wait for the entertainment to begin.

Evergreen Playfield No. 6 is located just south of 224th Street SW and 56th Ave. W. Parking is available on the street, at Evergreen Playfield, 22205 56th Ave. W and the Recreation Pavilion, 5303 228th St. SW; pets and personal fireworks are not allowed at this event. For more information, call recreation manager Jeff Betz at 425-640-3101.

Community supports Relay For Life

Kirk BoxleitnerCancer survivors kick off the 2013 Marysville Tulalip/Relay For Life with the opening lap at Asbery Field on June 29. — Kirk Boxleitner
Cancer survivors kick off the 2013 Marysville Tulalip/Relay For Life with the opening lap at Asbery Field on June 29.

Kirk Boxleitner, The Marysville Globe

MARYSVILLE — The 2013 Marysville Tulalip/Relay For Life benefitted from warm weather and clear, sunny skies on June 29-30 to raise $119,037.35 from its 50 teams and 416 participants, who generated roughly $50,000 toward that total in the past month alone.

Kristin Banfield, event chair for this year’s Marysville/Tulalip Relay, welcomed those teams of walkers to Asbery Field on Saturday, June 29, by noting how the overnight Relay is meant to reflect a day in the life of someone who is facing cancer, with the darkening of night eventually giving way to the dawn of a new day, and added that this year’s Relay marked a pleasant change of pace from the cold and rain that’s greeted local walkers and volunteers in previous years.

“I’m here not just as the Relay event chair, but also as a cancer survivor,” said Banfield, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, and while she’s since made a recovery, she’s described herself as a direct beneficiary of the money raised by Relays not just in Marysville and Tulalip, but all around the world. “So I just want to say thank you to all the companies and sponsors who have provided for this event, whether through financial support or donating goods and services. We’re so fortunate to have so many caring companies, in addition to our incredible elected officials.”

While Banfield works as the assistant city administrator for Arlington, she introduced Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring, who asserted that cancer has touched the lives of everyone in some way, whether they’ve fought it themselves or known those who have been faced with that fight.

“To my mind, this is one of Marysville’s most important events of the year,” Nehring said. “I salute everyone who’s battled cancer. Your stories are so heart-wrenching. The city of Marysville is glad to partner with the Marysville/Tulalip Relay to try and beat back this disease, and it’s great that you all have come out as a community for this cause.”

Teresa Stubrud is the mother of two cancer survivors, Austin and Kate, who are not only still children, but also diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Before Austin and Kate led the survivors’ lap to kick off this year’s Relay, Teresa compared her children’s journeys, since Kate was diagnosed with cancer shortly after Austin was finally declared cancer-free in 2005, after his own series of treatments.

“Kate was two and a half years old at the time, and it took two years before her treatments ended in 2008,” Teresa Stubrud said. “Six months later, it had returned.”

Kate’s only option was a bone marrow transplant, which is a painful and life-threatening procedure even for adult patients, never mind for a child with Down Syndrome, and Teresa recounted how she and her husband Jon had agonized over their decision, knowing how much Kate would suffer.

“The strength and courage and will to live that she’s shown ever since has been amazing,” Teresa Stubrud said. “She’s taught me more in her 10 years than I’d learned in my entire life.”

Stephani Earling, community relationship manager for the Great West Division of the American Cancer Society, took the time to pilot the wheelchair of her grandfather, Jim Perin, who had been diagnosed with Stage 4 kidney cancer only two weeks before, which has metastasized in his lungs.

“This has given my work for the American Cancer Society a whole new meaning,” Earling said.

“This is just a great outfit,” said Perin, 85, who was once the chief of police for Everett. “I mean, what else can you say about the work that they do? Their volunteers are unbelievable.”