Courtesy photo. Ty Trenary has been selected as the next Snohomish County Sheriff.
Source: The Marysville Globe
EVERETT — The Snohomish County Council announced on Monday, July 1, that they have appointed Ty Trenary as the next Sheriff. The unanimous 5-0 vote places Trenary in the Sheriff’s Office top position, vacated by John Lovick when he resigned June 3 to accept the position of County Executive.
The 47-year-old Trenary has served the citizens of Washington state as a police officer for more than 25 years. He started his law enforcement career in Eatonville, where he also served as a D.A.R.E. officer, until joining the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office in 1991.
In the Sheriff’s Office, Trenary has worked his way up from master patrol deputy to captain, where he most recently served as the leader of the North Precinct. He served as the contract police chief in the city of Stanwood from 2008-12, and has held leadership positions on the Deputy Sheriff’s and Management Team associations. Trenary has served in patrol and community policing, and has also worked in administration by managing the training unit, and assisting with recruiting and hiring.
The proud father of two daughters, Ty Trenary is married to Vicki, who is an elementary school teacher in the Marysville School District. Ty and Vicki have made Snohomish County their home for more than 20 years.
“I believe that Snohomish County is an excellent place to raise a family, and I want to focus on the feeling of safety in our community,” Ty Trenary said. “Dedication to excellence and community partnerships are key to the success of our organization.”
on Arel/Coastal Images Lady Washington, left, and Hawaiian Chieftain will escort 100 canoes.
Richard Walker, Indian Country Today Media Network
The first tall ships that visited Quinault territory were harbingers of European and American empirical designs. And not all of those visits ended well.
The first European visitors were, presumably, Spanish explorers, arriving off what is now Point Grenville in the schooner Sonora on July 11, 1775 to claim the land for Spain. That visit ended with a bloody battle between Quinault men and the Spanish crew. (Quinault Nation treasurer Lawrence Ralston has a uniform emblem found on the Lower Quinault River confirmed by Spain to be of Spanish origin, circa the 1700s.)
Next came the Americans, in 1788, to trade; then the British, in 1792, to flex their claim on the area and assign British place names. The U.S. inherited Spain and Britain’s claims in the Pacific Northwest through a series of treaties between 1819 and 1846—although nobody asked the Quinaults for their thoughts on the matter. Treaties with indigenous nations and attempts to force the assimilation of the first peoples followed.
The new landing site for cedar canoes hewn by a new generation of Native carvers (Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission)
Next month, during the annual Canoe Journey, history will come full circle when the tall ships Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain escort up to 100 canoes—from First Nations in Washington and British Columbia—as they travel along the open coast from Neah Bay in Makah Nation territory to Taholah at the Quinault Indian Nation, which hosts the journey, August 1 to 6.
The Canoe Journey has “made a tremendous contribution to public education about the heritage of Native people and tribes and First Nations of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia,” Quinault Indian Nation President Fawn Sharp says. “The events have also contributed mightily to the cultural reinvigoration of Native people and the connection between Indian and non-Indian governments and communities.
“By inviting the Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftain to participate in this event, protocols are being followed which were neglected by tall ships of the past. This could thus be viewed as an opportunity to help make some amends for some past transgressions. Moreover, the participation of these tall ships in this event also helps convey a message that tribal and nontribal communities choose to look forward to and work together on a collaborative basis toward common objectives.”
The Quinault Nation invited the tall ships to escort the canoes this year because 2013 is the 225th anniversary of first contact between the U.S. and the Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific Northwest. “We are very excited to be able to participate in this important cultural event,” says Les Bolton, executive director of the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority, which owns the Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftain.
“2013 marks the 225th anniversary of the first contact between the newly independent United States and the rich coastal cultures of the Pacific Northwest,” says Bolton. “Since that first contact seven generations ago, our world has changed significantly. We want to encourage all people to consider where we began, where we are today, and give thought to the world we want our descendants, seven generations from now, to inherit.”
Launched in 1989 as part of the Washington State Centennial, the Lady Washington is a wooden replica of one of the first U.S.-flagged ships to visit the West Coast of North America. In 1788, the original Lady Washington arrived off the coast of what would later become Oregon to trade with the area’s Indigenous Peoples for furs, then sailed north past Quinault territory en route to Vancouver Island.
The modern Canoe Journey traces its roots to 1989, when educator Emmett Oliver of the Quinault Nation and Frank Brown of the Heiltsuk First Nation in British Columbia developed a canoe journey to be held in conjunction with the Washington State Centennial celebration. The resulting event—the Paddle to Seattle from indigenous lands in Washington and Canada—generated interest among other Northwest Coast Native peoples who wanted to revive the traditional form of travel on the ancestral marine highways. The Canoe Journey has been an annual event since 1993; the Quinault Nation last hosted in 2002.
During the journey, canoe families visit indigenous territories en route to the host destination and share their cultures. Each Canoe Journey is a logistical feat for host destinations, which provide meals and gifts to thousands of guests and host about 100 cultural presentations over a period of a week.
The journey is a feat of fitness for pullers. Pulling long distances in a canoe requires emotional, physical and spiritual fitness. Pledges to be alcohol-free, drug-free and, in many cases, smoke-free, are required. That’s had a tremendous impact on younger pullers.
Spanish emblem (circa 1700s) found in Lower Quinault River (Courtesy Lawrence Ralston)
Indigenous languages are spoken on the journey, particularly at the canoe landings when skippers ask hosts for permission for pullers to come ashore, and at evening ceremonies when traditional dances and songs are shared.
The journey features beautiful cedar canoes carved by a new generation of Native carvers. And the participation of Indigenous Peoples from around the world has grown each year. Among the participants in recent journeys: Ainu (an indigenous people in Japan), Native Hawaiians, Maori, Tlingit and Yupik. “Cedar canoes are deeply significant to our people,” Sharp explains. “Not only do they reflect a connection with the art and practicality of our past, they represent a statement of our commitment to sustain our values and legacies into the future. They are a living embodiment of Northwest tribal tradition, a powerful bond that strengthens our cultural, economic and environmental resolve. They are a reflection of our identity, as individuals and as nations.”
The Canoe Journey is empowering to young pullers. Courage and perseverance are learned on the water and from stories shared by elders. At the Canoe Journey skippers meeting February 23, George Adams, Nooksack, told of his grandmother’s residential school experience, how her mouth was taped shut because she refused to stop speaking her language. For his grandmother, the tape “was a badge of honor. She didn’t give up speaking her language. There are people who have stories on the journey. Listen to the stories, listen to the songs.”
The journey has done a lot to build bridges between Native and non-Native communities as well. Exposure to cultural activities associated with the journey has helped break down barriers and grow cultural understanding. “The Canoe Journey is an event that can help tell people throughout the country that the tribes are still here,” said Sharp, a lawyer and administrative law judge who is also president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. “We’re not going anywhere. We’re alive and well and we will be heard.”
There are other significant aspects of this Canoe Journey:
Restoring a Sacred Gathering Place
The landing will be at Point Grenville, Washington, where the Spanish landed in 1775 and which the British visited and named in 1792. “We want to acknowledge the historical significance of Point Grenville,” Sharp said. “Our Creator blessed our ancestors with ancient knowledge, a sacred and beautiful gathering place, a rich culture, economy, and heritage that were actively practiced at Point Grenville. After centuries of Quinault occupation, Spanish and foreign greed and a desire to lay claim to our lands led to bloodshed and war.”
In the 1930s, Quinault created a scenic park at Point Grenville. The site later became home to a U.S. Coast Guard LORAN Station. For the past three decades, Point Grenville has been vacant. For the Canoe Journey, Quinault has developed or is developing on Point Grenville beach access trails, lawns, a flag pavilion, and viewing areas. The nation is installing three carved-story poles that symbolize Quinault spirituality, sovereignty, and restoration. “This year, our generation [is] restoring the spiritual, cultural and economic significance of our sacred gathering places, starting at the most westerly point of our tribal homelands,” Sharp said. “This year, the entire world will celebrate this restoration and the beauty of our people, lands and ancestral inheritance.”
Monitoring Marine Health
Several canoes will again be outfitted with probes that collect information about water conditions: dissolved oxygen, pH levels, salinity, temperature, and turbidity. Data collected in each Canoe Journey since 2008 are being processed and mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey to help identify signs of climate change, impacts from development, and changes in the levels and types of nutrients and pollutants washing into the ocean.
It’s the melding of one of the oldest technologies on the sea—the carved cedar canoe—with some of the newest technology. Each stainless-steel probe is two feet long and two-and-a-half inches in diameter, and trails the canoe at a depth of six feet, according to the survey. On the trailing edge of the probe are sensors that collect water-quality data every 10 seconds. The data are transmitted to a data logger on board the canoe, and the latitude and longitude is automatically recorded via global positioning system. “When we are able to so capably use traditional tools to achieve such contemporary objectives, a special connection is made that underscores the significance of knowing and understanding tribal history,” Sharp says.
“That is a lesson I hope people will learn from the journey—that there are solutions to the challenges we face today in the annals of our history. Challenges, such as climate change, ocean acidification, water pollution and even social and economic challenges can all be far more easily resolved if we choose to learn from history. Even with today’s computer technology, so many answers to the challenges we all face today are in the wisdom of the ages.”
Honoring Those in Uniform
The theme of this year’s journey is Honoring Our Warriors, a tribute to Native men and women in uniform. “We feel it is important for people everywhere to know that tribal members have been first to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces,” Sharp said, and at a greater number per capita than any other ethnic group. “They deserve every honor we can bestow on them.”
John Lovick has been in his new post for a month and is settling in
EVERETT — During his first week as Snohomish County’s deputy executive, Mark Ericks was baffled by all of the people walking by his office on the sixth floor and gawking as if on sightseeing tours.
In a sense, they were.
After a particularly mirthful trio of County Council clerks strolled by early last month, curiosity got the better of Ericks.
A secretary explained the situation: The crowds were employees from other county departments who had rarely, if ever, gotten past the key-card-controlled doors and bulletproof glass in the executive office lobby.
For the past decade, the sixth floor of the county’s Admin West building had been the domain of Aaron Reardon, whose administration was marked by secrecy and distrust of outsiders. Access was guarded.
Lovick persuaded Ericks, the presidentially appointed U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Washington, to come work at the county as his second in command.
One month into the transition, people from inside and outside county government have marveled at the difference. There’s a new atmosphere, a new set of priorities, and new faces in key jobs.
“The staff has really appreciated all of John and Mark’s efforts to get to know all of the departments,” County Council Chairwoman Stephanie Wright said. “They’re out and engaged.”
Council members were lucky to see Reardon once per year during their regular meetings. Lovick has been at least a weekly presence. Several elected officials visited Lovick’s office more during his first week or so as executive than they had during the nearly 10 years that Reardon occupied the corner office.
Beyond putting out the welcome mat, there’s plenty of work for Lovick’s team. The new administration has spent the first month sizing up priorities.
Among them is luring more aerospace jobs.
“A big deal to us is landing the 777X,” Ericks said.
Another is planning to meet with newly appointed Sheriff Ty Trenary to address operations at the jail, where at least seven inmates have died since 2010.
On another front, Ericks is reviewing the $75 million plan to build a new courthouse. The County Council asked to put preparations on hold to give the new administration time to make recommendations on how to proceed.
Ericks wants to make sure it’s the right building in the right place. Also, the proposed replacement building would be filled nearly to capacity on the day it opens. That’s something Ericks will evaluate.
“It does need to be replaced,” Ericks said. “There’s no argument about that.”
Along with the special projects, there’s the annual county budget to release in the fall.
To get it all done, Lovick has asked some of Reardon’s former top-level staffers to stay on, even as others are packing up.
Gary Haakenson, the former deputy executive under Reardon, will remain through the end of the year. His future role will be as an executive director focusing on public safety issues.
Before joining the county, Haakenson served 11 years as Edmonds mayor. He earlier co-founded Lynnwood-based Zumiez, a national retail clothing chain with more than 500 stores.
Hired by Reardon in 2010 after management controversies came to a boil, Haakenson tried to calm the waters by cultivating productive relationships with other leaders and the public, even as his former boss’ popularity sunk.
“Through all of this he did a wonderful job. He’s dedicated to public service,” Ericks said.
Also staying on is executive director Peter Camp, whose past responsibilities have included Paine Field, county parks and the Medical Examiner’s Office.
“Peter is a workhorse. He and Gary together have shouldered a lot of the work here,” Ericks said.
Other key members of Reardon’s staff have left.
The messiest exit came before the transition. It involved Kevin Hulten, the aide at the center of recent turmoil in Reardon’s office. Hulten quit in May after an internal investigation determined he viewed pornography and stored sexually explicit photographs of himself and an ex-girlfriend on a county computer he was using in 2011.
Immediately terminated after Lovick assumed office was Reardon executive assistant Jon Rudicil, who helped Hulten with records requests targeting their boss’ rivals. Rudicil also is Hulten’s partner in a political consulting business.
Other members of the old regime will be gone after this week.
Brian Parry, a former Reardon campaign worker and building-industry lobbyist, had risen from a secretarial job to one of the highest management positions in county government.
As an executive director, Parry’s responsibilities included overseeing the county building department. He had authority over the permitting counter, even as his former employer, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, stood on the other side. Parry’s wife also worked for the builders group while he was managing the department responsible for regulating its members.
Parry’s role came under public scrutiny in 2009 after the former county planning director, Craig Ladiser, rubbed his bare genitals against a female Master Builders lobbyist during a golf tournament. Ladiser was later convicted of misdemeanor sexually motivated assault and indecent exposure, but claimed he had been too drunk to remember what happened.
Evidence surfaced that Reardon’s office knew and did nothing about the efforts by a top Master Builders official to apply pressure to keep Ladiser in his job.
Reardon spokesman Christopher Schwarzen is leaving, too. Taking over communications duties for Lovick’s office is his former sheriff’s spokeswoman, Rebecca Hover. Hover is a former Herald police reporter and, later, an editorial writer.
Schwarzen, a former Seattle Times reporter, helped craft Reardon’s image as a rising star. In a 2006 Times profile article, Schwarzen portrayed his future boss as indefatigable public servant who “blazes through a room like a fire.” Reardon hired him as spokesman a little over a year later.
Schwarzen’s glowing Reardon article hung in the executive office lobby for years. It came down as part of the transition of power.
Schwarzen and Parry have applied for jobs elsewhere in county government.
Lovick tried to meet face to face with as many county employees as possible after he took office. In the middle of his first week, he made the rounds at the planning department.
“We just wanted you guys to keep on doing the good work that you’re doing,” Lovick told employees, repeatedly.
Later, the executive poked fun at himself: “I just hope you don’t get tired of seeing me. ‘Oh, there he is again.'”
Native Americans in the northern great plains have the highest cancer rates in the United States, particularly lung cancer. It’s a problem that the United States government has woefully ignored, much the horror of the men and women who must carry the painful, life-threatening burden.
The cancer rates started increasing drastically a few decades after uranium mining began on their territory.
According to a report by Earthworks, “Mining not only exposes uranium to the atmosphere, where it becomes reactive, but releases other radioactive elements such as thorium and radium and toxic heavy metals including arsenic, selenium, mercury and cadmium. Exposure to these radioactive elements can cause lung cancer, skin cancer, bone cancer, leukemia, kidney damage and birth defects.”
Today, in the northern great plains states of Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas, the memory of that uranium mining exists in the form of 2,885 abandoned open pit uranium mines. All of the abandoned mines can be found on land that is supposed to be for the absolute use of the Great Sioux Nation under the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty with the United States.
The Area Agreed Upon in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 (photo republicoflakotah.com)
There are also 1,200 abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo Nation, where cancer rates are also significantly disproportionate. In fact, it is estimated that 60 to 80 percent of all uranium in the United States is located on tribal land, and three fourths of uranium mining worldwide is on Indigenous land.
Defenders of the Black Hills, a group whose mission is to preserve, protect, restore, and respect the area of the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie Treaties, is calling the health situation in their own territory America’s Chernobyl.
It’s not far from the truth. A nuclear physics professor from the University of Michigan, Dr. K. Kearfott, Ph. D., who studied the situation in northwestern South Dakota as well as the situation in Japan has said,
“The radiation levels in parts I visited with my students were higher than those in the evacuated zones around the Fukushima nuclear disaster…”
The contamination from the mines escapes into the air. It poisons grain that is fed to cattle that provide milk and beef for the rest of the nation. The abandoned uranium mines of the Cave Hills in northwestern South Dakota empty into the Grand River which flows through the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Three villages are located on the Grand River and their residents have used the water for drinking and other domestic purposes for generations. The water runoff from the Slim Buttes abandoned uranium mines empty into the Morreau River which flows through the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Both of these rivers empty into the Missouri River which empties into the Mississippi.
Defending their lands, their food, air and water, defending their health and right to thrive as a people, the Defenders of the Black Hills have written legislation, The Uranium Exploration and Mining Accountability Act, calling for study and remediation. This legislation proposes to place a moratorium on any processing or approval of new licenses for uranium exploration or mining operations until all abandoned mines in the country have been cleaned up.
In the last years, uranium mining interests in the United States for use at nuclear power plants has been growing. Being sold as a safer, cleaner and renewable energy, nuclear energy is on the table for America’s desire for energy independence.
However, as it has been witnessed by the Native communities suffering from the health impacts of these mines, who have also lost access to sacred sites, hunting and fishing territory, and land to grow crops, nuclear energy is just another extractive industry with serious adverse health and environmental effects.
The proposed legislation can be found at the website of Defenders of the Black Hills, along with a letter to representative Raul Grijalva from Arizona, urging him to sponsor the legislation. The uranium mines within the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty territory were never consented to by the Native American communities who now have to suffer the effects of the poisons these mines emit.
Children need access to healthy food all year long, because good nutrition provides the sound foundation they need to learn, grow and thrive. As USDA’s Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, it pleases me to say that during the regular school year, America’s schoolchildren can depend on the science-based nutrition provided by National School Lunch Program meals and the healthy choices now available at school. But when school is out during the summer months, it’s another story. Many kids don’t have access to even one nutritious meal a day.
USDA’s summer meals programs work to reach those children by providing free, nutritious meals at sites throughout the nation. Unfortunately, millions of eligible low-income children are still missing out. That’s pretty clear when you stop to consider that although about 21 million children nationwide receive free and reduced-priced meals through the National School Lunch Program during the regular school year, only about 3.5 million kids are reached through our summer meals programs.
Job one is to make sure that eligible children get information about the program. Summer feeding sites are located in many communities across the country, especially in low-income areas. USDA needs your help to get the word out and connect eligible kids with summer meals. Schools, community groups, and religious organizations can help with this effort. To find a summer meal site serving children in your community, call 1-866-3-Hungry or 1-877-8-Hambre or visit the National Hunger Clearinghouse resource directory.
If you or your organization is interested in helping us get the word out about summer meals, please visit the Food and Nutrition Service Summer Food website, www.summerfood.usda.gov, for more information and resources. The SFSP toolkit, available in both English and Spanish, includes templates, customizable flyers, door hangers, letters to parents, activity sheets for children, and attendance certificates. Promising practices and tips for success are also available on the website.
You can help other ways, too. While providing children with nutritious meals is our top priority, the key to success is keeping kids coming back to the sites throughout the summer. Offering fun, age-appropriate physical activity at summer meal sites is a proven way to ensure attendance and encourage healthy habits. And that takes volunteers – LOTS of them – especially in June, July, and August. Volunteers can help with basics, like transporting food, setting up or cleaning up a site. Volunteers can also plan and lead educational or recreational activities with the children. Go to www.serve.gov/endhunger to find an opportunity to volunteer in your community or to post a volunteer opportunity if you operate a summer meal program.
OLYMPIA — Washington State University has snagged $10 million in state aid to help cement its presence in Everett.
Those dollars will be used to design and construct a building near Everett Community College where WSU and other universities expect to be conducting classes by next decade.
The money is included in the two-year, $3.6 billion state construction budget signed Monday by Gov. Jay Inslee.
WSU and its partners at the University Center of the North Puget Sound predict the number of full-time students they serve will rise from 465 this school year to 1,179 by the spring of 2021.
WSU is a newcomer to the University Center but will be playing a very big role very soon.
It began offering a mechanical engineering degree in 2012 and is looking to launch three additional degree programs in 2014. Moreover, WSU is on track to inherit command of the University Center from EvCC next year.
As part of the transition, WSU delivered a report to lawmakers in December on the center’s expected long-term growth. That analysis concluded the center will “outgrow currently available facilities on the EvCC campus and will need significantly more physical capacity.”
There is no specific project tied to the money. In March, officials of the city of Everett, WSU and EvCC talked about constructing a 95,000-square-foot building on the parking lot of the former College Plaza shopping center which is owned by the community college.
They also said the next steps hinged on securing state funds. Several area lawmakers in the House and Senate lobbied for the money on behalf of the community college and Pullman-based university.
The capital budget provided funds for other Snohomish County projects as well including $2.6 million to Senior Services of Snohomish County to provide housing for homeless veterans; $1 million to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department toward a substation in south county; $750,000 for drainage improvements on Prairie Creek in Arlington and $1 million toward preservation of Japanese Gulch in Mukilteo.
Rows and rows of colorful stands are stocked with the best fireworks greeting returning and first time customers. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil
For those not attending the annual firework’s show at Tulalip’s Boom City on July 4th, and looking for fun ways to spend the fourth and catch some light shows, here are Fourth of July events, including festivals and parades, around Puget Sound.
3rd of July Fireworks Show & Festival
Food and arts vendors, noon; entertainment begins, 3 p.m. Wednesday, opening ceremony, 6:30 p.m.; fireworks show, 10 p.m. Wednesday, Poulsbo (www.thirdofjuly.org ).
Lake Union 4th of July
Gates open, food vendors, exhibits, inflatables for kids, noon; entertainment, 2-7 p.m.; games and contests, 3, 5 and 7 p.m.; fireworks show, 10:15 p.m.; Gas Works Park, 2101 N. Northlake Way, Seattle; parking limited, food and coolers permitted subject to search, no outside alcohol, no pets, no glass bottles (www.seafair.com).
Independence Day Celebration, Museum of Flight
Skyway Post Veterans of Foreign Wars honor the nation’s birthday with program on the 27 versions of the flag of the United States through history, for all ages, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Museum of Flight, 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle; $10-$18 (206-764-5720 or www.museumofflight.org ).
4th of July on the Arthur Foss
View of the 4th of July fireworks over Lake Union from the historic tugboat Arthur Foss, adults only, 8:30 p.m., 860 Terry Ave. N., Seattle; $55, preregister (206-447-9800 or nwseaport.org/event/4th-of-july-on-arthur-foss-2013/).
Bellevue Family 4th
Family Fun Zone play area, games, inflatable rides opens 2 p.m.; entertainment by local bands begins 3:45 p.m.; presentation of the colors, 9 p.m.; Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra, 9:30 p.m. before and during fireworks display, Bellevue Downtown Park, 10201 N.E. Fourth St., Bellevue (www.bellevuedowntown.org ).
Classic rock band, NW Art Alliance showcase by 25 artists, wine by the glass and lunch available, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, 14111 N.E. 145th St., Woodinville; may be canceled in case of inclement weather (www.ste-michelle.com/events/).
5K run, 10 a.m., City Park; Children’s Parade, 11:30 a.m., Fifth Avenue South and Howell Street; main parade, noon; entertainment, food vendors, 7:30 p.m., fireworks, 10 p.m., Civic Playfield, Edmonds (425-670-1496 or www.edmondswa.com/events/fourth-of-july.html ).
Bothell 4th of July
Pancake breakfast, 8:30-10:30 a.m., Downtown Firehouse, 10726 Beardslee Blvd.; children’s parade, 11:15 a.m.; grand parade, noon, Main Street, Bothell (www.ci.bothell.wa.us).
Celebrate Woodinville — July 4 Concert in the Park
Music for all ages, wine garden, beer, food, vendors, noon, Wilmot Gateway Park, 1730 N.E. 131st Ave., Woodinville; free (425-481-8300 or www.celebratewoodinville.com).
Kenmore Fourth of July Fireworks
Food vendors, activities, 8 p.m., fireworks, 10 p.m., Tracy Owen Station/Log Boom Park, Northeast 175th Street and 61st Avenue Northeast, Kenmore (www.kenmorewa.gov/events ).
Renton Fabulous 4th of July
Children’s activities, noon-8 p.m.; free canoe rides, 1-5 p.m.; entertainment, 1:30-9:30 p.m.; fireworks, 10 p.m., Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park, 1201 Lake Washington Blvd., Renton; parking extremely limited (rentonwa.gov/living/default.aspx?id=5920).
Burien Independence Parade
Bands, cars, drill teams, community groups, 3 p.m., Ambaum Boulevard from Southwest 149th Street, east on Southwest 153rd Street, north on Second Avenue South, west on Southwest 152nd Street, Burien (www.discoverburien.com ).
Family Fourth at the Fort
Park opens, 9 a.m.; entertainment, food vendors, bouncy rides, 4 p.m.; fireworks show, 10 p.m., Fort Dent Park, 6800 Fort Dent Way, Tukwila (206-768-2822 or www.tukwilawa.gov/recreation/recevent.html ).
Fireworks over Des Moines
Festivities begin 5 p.m., fireworks at dusk, Des Moines Marina and Beach Park, 22307 Dock St., Des Moines (seafair.com ).
Auburn 4th of July Festival
Entertainment, kids’ crafts, arts and crafts vendors, car show, inflatable rides ($5/unlimited rides), food vendors, book sale, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., bike parade at noon, Les Gove Park, 11th Street and Auburn Way South, Auburn (253-931-3043 or www.auburnwa.gov/events ).
Federal Way Red, White and Blues Festival
Arts and crafts, food vendors, entertainment, 6 p.m., fireworks, 10:15 p.m., Celebration Park, 1095 S. 324th St., Federal Way (253-835-6900 or www.cityoffederalway.com ).
Bainbridge Grand Old Fourth of July Parade and Fair
Parade, 1 p.m., street fair kids’ activities, entertainment, vendors, classic car show, beer garden, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Waterfront Park and surrounding area, Bainbridge (206-842-3700 or www.bainbridgechamber.com).
Carnation 4th of July Celebration
5K Run for the Pies, 8:30 a.m., registration 7 a.m.; pancake breakfast, 8-11 a.m., Tolt Congregational Church; Kiddie Parade, 10:30 a.m., Grand Parade, 11 a.m., Main Street; 3-on-3 basketball tournament, Hot Rods & Harleys, noon-4 p.m.; vendors, bouncy toys, entertainment, all day; beer garden, 4-10 p.m., fireworks at dusk, downtown Carnation (carnation4th.org).
Tulsa2024, a private Olympic Exploratory Committee seeking to bring the 2024 Summer Olympic Games to Tulsa, Oklahoma, is using the Trail of Tears as a selling point. According to the Tulsa2024 website: “Over half of the States in the USA are of Native American origin. The Olympic Torch would travel though these Native American named states and follow one, or more of the many Trail of Tears to Indian Territory, and end in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, headquarters of the Cherokee Nation. The Olympic Torch would then travel from Tahlequah, OK to Tulsa to the start of the 2024 Games.”
As ICTMN reported in April, the city of Tulsa was indeed exploring a longshot bid to land the 2024 Games, with the support of Mayor Dewey Bartlett. But the ongoing effort, Tulsa2024, is entirely a private effort, according to city officials. The Tulsa Sports Commission has scheduled a press conference today to discuss the issue.
As Travis Waldron of ThinkProgess observes, the most absurd part of the Tulsa Olympic bid “amazingly isn’t the bid itself — it’s that organizers apparently think incorporating the Trail of Tears on the Olympic torch route as a ‘nod to the state’s American Indian history’ is a good idea
In a feature story on Tulsa’s Olympic bid efforts by Mary Pilon for The New York Times, published June 30, reference was made to the Trail of Tears idea: “In a nod to the state’s American Indian history, the Olympic torch would be led along the solemn Trail of Tears, not far from where field hockey would be played in Tahlequah.”
“Using the Trail of Tears as part of an Olympic bid is outrageous, but it’s also just an extension of the thoughtlessness the sports world has applied to Native Americans for decades,” says Waldron.
The new leader of the Snoqualmie Tribe of Washington isn’t sure what’s going on with a casino project in the island nation of Fiji.
The Fijian government announced a partnership with the tribe in December 2011. But the project doesn’t seem to have advanced much amid questions about the tribe’s leadership.
Those questions appear to have been settled by an election last month in which Carolyn Lubenau won the top seat. She told Radio New Zealand international that the tribe was looking into the casino deal.
A LinkedIn page for the project, One Hundred Sands, anticipated an opening this fall. The tribe also anticipated a fall opening.
“The Council has determined that this project is consistent with the Tribe’s priority to diversify economically,” the Spring 2012 newsletter stated. The Tribe’s ownership interest presents a unique opportunity to diversify the Snoqualmie Tribal gaming interests and to produce additional revenue streams for decades into the future.”
Have you seen these photos by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Alusio? They show what a family eats for a week in countries around the world. They’re a quick and fascinating window in the differences in the quantity and the quality of food people eat.
Just look for a second at all the colors in this Mexican family’s food:
