KWSO News Aug. 23, 2018

Warm Springs is receiving a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development “imminent threat” grant under its Indian Community Development Block Grant program. The $447,000 grant is to repair and preserve Warm Springs’ water system. Specifically, the HUD funding will be used to repair two finishing pumps to insure water supply for residents in the imminent likelihood that third pump will fail.  The estimated cost of the repair is $850,000.  In addition to the HUD $447,000 HUD imminent threat award, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service will provide $423,000 to the project.

Six more states have joined a federal lawsuit over a proposed coal export terminal in Longview.  Attorney Generals from the states of California, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Oregon filed an amicus brief today (WED) in support of Washington Governor Jay Inslee.  The filing maintains that Washington state has the authority to protect public health and safety and the state’s environmental and natural resources. It’s the latest development in a legal battle over the state’s decision to reject permits for a massive proposed coal export terminal on the Columbia River. Earlier this year, the states of Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and three other states filed a brief in support of the project. The six states argued that turning down the terminal project would hurt coal producing regions in the country. The 650-million dollar Millennium Bulk Terminals project would move 44 million metric tons of coal a year from U.S. Western states and export it from Longview to Asian countries.

PBS will air a new documentary this fall. Native America will be a four-part series from Providence Pictures that will premiere on Tuesday, October 23, and run through November 13. The series was produced with the active participation of Native communities and filmed across two continents. The documentary focuses on recent discoveries and oral histories of Native people that demonstrate a belief system shared through social networks by indigenous people.