Celebrate Washington Wine Month on March 14 with a four-course dinner accompanied by five Northwest wines and live music at the Firelight Bistro in Stanwood.
Cost is $35, with reservations required by Sunday.
The evening begins at 6. Dishes will feature familiar favorites with creative twists. Wines range from a dry red to sweet.
The Native American Career and Technical Education Program (NACTEP) construction training begins April 8th and runs through June 13th. Classes are Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
NACTEP classes are offered at no charge to Tulalip Tribal members, Tribal members enrolled in federally recognized tribes, spouses of enrolled Tulalip tribal members, and employees of the Tulalip Tribes.
Each student enrolled in the program will earn 18 college credits through Edmonds Community College. Students will learn how to read and draw blueprints, plan a personal project and design, use power tools properly, and other hands-on projects that are useful in the construction industry.
In addition to college credits students will receive: Flagging Certification, First AID/CPR Certification, and OSHA 10 hour Safety Card.
For more information about NACTEP, please contact Mark Newland, NACTEP instructor, at 425-268-9145 or contact William Burchett, Construction Training Site Supervisor, at 360-716-4761 or email: wburchett@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
MARYSVILLE — Unless it’s raining hard, the Highway 529 bridge into Marysville is set to close tonight and is scheduled to remain closed through the weekend.
People who drive the bridge over Ebey Slough will have to choose a different route from 8 tonight through 5 a.m. Monday. The weekend detour uses Fourth Street in Marysville and I-5. Bicyclists and pedestrians can be escorted through the closure if needed.
For the past year, demolition crews have used half of the new bridge as a staging area to rip down the old Ebey Slough bridge.
With the removal of the old bridge, drivers will finally be able to use all of the new, wider bridge after this last bit of work.
State Department of Transportation crews plan to remove the concrete barrier between drivers and the demolition staging area. Once the barrier is gone, the roadway will be striped for traffic in each direction. The bridge will reopen by Monday with four lanes for vehicle traffic and bike lanes on each side.
Transportation engineer Mark Sawyer anticipates that it will be a big change for drivers who use the bridge to commute and ease traffic during the evening commute from Everett.
When the weather improves in May, a final layer of asphalt will be applied.
The state built the new bridge to replace the 85-year-old Ebey Slough bridge.
Colville Confederated Tribes Chairman John Sirois, center (holding award plaque), and previous Watershed Hero Award recipient Mary Verner pose with tribal members at Sierra Club award dinner. Colville received the 2013 Watershed Hero Award from the Sierra Club’s Washington chapter. Photo: Jack McNeel.
By Jack McNeel, Indian Country Today Media Network
The Colville Confederated Tribes’ successful effort to hold a British Columbia smelter accountable for dumping pollutants into the Columbia River for a century has caught the attention of the Sierra Club Washington State’s Upper Columbia River Group, which bestowed its 2013 Watershed Hero Award on the tribes.
Colville won a major victory in 2012 when the company, known today as Teck Metals Ltd. (formerly Teck/Cominco), admitted in court to depositing millions of tons of toxic substances into the river, which flows into Lake Roose-velt. Pollutants included 250,000 tons of zinc and lead, as well as 132,000 tons of other hazardous substances such as more than 200 tons of mercury, cadmium and arsenic.
The tribes, having pressed their case for two decades, also made legal history when the court struck down the notion that a foreign company could not be held liable under U.S. law. The victory was marked in high style on February 23 when Sierra Club leaders, including John Osburn, co-chair for Sierra Club’s Upper Columbia River group, joined tribal members in Spokane, Washington, for the presentation of its Water-shed Heroes honor at an awards dinner.
“Watershed Heroes are people who act out of love and respect for nature,” said Mary Verner, former director of Upper Columbia United Tribes and the former mayor of Spokane, who won the award last year and presented it this year.
“We’re very grateful for all the sacrifices you have made,” Verner said in introducing Colville Tribes chairman John Sirois and recognizing others from the tribes who had played major roles in the process.
“I’m grateful you relayed the history,” Sirois said. “I’m grateful for you honoring all the work of the past councils that really put in the time and effort. We have such a great legal team. There are countless people who played a role in this. It’s really a validation of who we are as a people. All along the river, those places are named after our people and where we come from: Okanogan, Chelan, Methow, Eniat, San Poil, Lakes, that is who we are. That is where our people are buried. That is where we’re born.”
Between 1896 and 1995, Teck’s smelter dumped 400 tons of waste a day—derived from the smelting process—into the Columbia River. The smelter is about 10 miles north of the U.S. border.
“It comes as no surprise that after being dumped into the Columbia River, all this toxic material flows downstream. The company tried to deny that,” Verner said. “Some of the most ridiculous arguments one has ever heard from a corporate entity have been raised by Teck/Cominco, now known as Teck Metals Ltd. The Colvilles weren’t having it.”
In the 1990s the tribes asked Canada to tell Teck to stop polluting the river, but Teck did not comply. The U.S. made similar attempts to stop the company but met with the same lack of results. In 2003 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identified Lake Roosevelt as a Superfund site and entered into an agreement with Teck to study the problem, making it clear that Teck would not be held responsible for the cleanup. But Teck found that unacceptable.
“In 2004 the tribes decided they could not wait any longer, and they filed a suit,” Verner said. Washington State eventually joined the tribes.
“To say the case of Pakootas v. Teck/Cominco is a landmark case would certainly be an understatement,” Verner said. “What a complex case it was! It has required navigating some incredible intricacies of the law, not even counting the science and politics.”
The tribes also got the court to overrule Teck’s argument that a company in another country cannot deliberately pollute U.S. waters and is not covered by U.S. law.
“The question is not where the polluter is located, but where the pollution is located,” Verner said. “It makes absolute sense, but the Colvilles had to fight for that outcome.”
Last April the court ruled that Teck could not escape liability. In September, Teck admitted it had knowingly and deliberately discharged 10 million tons of slag and toxic pollution into the Columbia. And in late 2012 a federal judge ruled that Teck qualifies as a polluter under the Superfund law.
“Heroes are tenacious,” Verner said of the tribes. “But it’s not over. Teck has appealed the ruling. They are trying to take this to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
As long as the bulk of the pollutants remain in the river or wash up on black beaches, the Colville Tribes will continue the battle. “Our future is about the water, all of us,” said Sirois. “We’re all in this fight together, to protect our environment, to protect our resources.”
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/06/watershed-heroes-colville-confederated-tribes-win-sierra-club-award-battling-british
President Barack Obama this morning signed into law the reauthorized Violence Against Women Act that includes tribal provisions.
“Previously, tribes had no jurisdiction over non-tribal members, even if they are married to Native women or reside on native lands. But as soon as I sign this bill, that ends,” Obama said before the signing.
“This is a landmark bill not only for all women and our future generations but also for Indian tribes. This law, for the first time since 1978, restores the sovereign power of Indian tribes to criminally prosecute non-Indians for sexual assault and domestic violence crimes on Indian reservations,” a statement released by The Seattle Human Rights Commission said.
The signing took place at a ceremony at the Interior Department and included longtime VAWA advocate and vice-chair of the Tulalip Tribes Deborah Parker along with Senators and House members.
Diane Millich, an American Indian domestic abuse survivor introduced Vice President Joe Biden following her personal story about abuse and what the passing of VAWA means to her.
Seeking Safety Training for Tulalip Tribal members and community members.
Seeking Safety will cover: PTSD, Substance Control, Asking for Help, Compassion, Honesty, Setting Boundaries in Relationships, Commitment, Recovery Thinking and other topics. Whether you are a professional, a community member, a concerned parent or someone who struggles with these issues, please come.
At the Yakama Nation Cultural Center Winterlodge, Toppenish WA
Sat. March 16th, 9am-5pm
Sun. March 17th, 9am-3pm
The Spilyay-Mi Native American Arts and Crafts Club, which sponsors this show provides Native artists, craftsmen and Western artists a showcase for their work. All arts, crafts, and artifacts must be Native made or Western-style craft and exhibited by owner.
Fine Arts, Crafts, Entertainment, Baby Contest and much MORE!
