BC communities look to enact Indigenous water policy using traditional laws
Cara McKenna APTN National NewsThe leadership of two northern B.C. First Nations are enacting their own laws to protect their territories in a move that could have a far-reaching impacts on Indigenous rights and resource development across Canada. Chiefs and councillors from the Nadleh Whut’en and Stellat’en First Nations proclaimed the province’s first Aboriginal water management regime in Vancouver last week. They are believed to be the first communities in B.C. to ever put their time-old tribal laws to paper.Nadleh Whut’en elected Chief Martin Louie, speaking on behalf of hereditary leaders, said the decision was triggered by the nations’ fight with Enbridge to protect its land from the company’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.But the legislation applies to numerous other projects including mining and the massive Site C hydroelectric dam.“If anyone wants to do business in the Nadleh Whu’ten land and territory, you’ll abide by our laws,” he said.“For the last thousand years, we haven’t changed in any way, the only change that you see today is that our laws are on paper.”The written legislation outlines the consultation, assessment and management that the leaders believe will be necessary to protect the water in salmon in their territories’ numerous freshwater lakes, rivers and streams.Both communities are already feeling the impacts left behind by big industry and their leaders say that now any future projects must follow their rules.Stellat’en Coun. Tannis Reynolds (Dzih Bhen) said her community is trying to find energy alternatives because there is already so much damage in their territory from the Endako Mine and Rio Tinto Alcan’s Kenney hydroelectric dam.“Even our tap water isn’t good, it’s contaminated with arsenic, people have skin deficiencies, they’re losing their hair,” she said.“We need clean water in our communities. It’s so important on so many levels, and we’re all hoping and praying that this will make a difference.”Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said the policy is a reflection of a multitude of Supreme Court decisions for Indigenous rights that culminated with the landmark Tsilhqot’in Nation land claim victory in 2014.The high court decision to give Tsilhqot’in rights to more than 1,700 square km of land was hailed as a game-changer for bands across Canada, and the residual impacts of the case are now beginning to be seen.“The Tsilhqot’in decision was half of the story,” he said.“This is the other half of the story, where the principles of the Tsilhqot’in decision are incorporated into tribal indigenous nations standing up their own traditional laws. “The one word to describe this document is consent, and it’s going to have an enormous impact on major resource development.”
Whaley was sentenced to eight years for manslaughter but walked free on licence in 2006, “shouting foul-mouthed abuse at staff” as he left prison, according to reports. At a memorial service in 2001, Alison’s mother Lillian said: “Alison’s death has brought home to me how vulnerable police officers are and I would ask that the public support the police in doing their job wherever they can.”Locals in Oldham began a fund that raised £8,000 for memorials at the scene of her death and at two police stations. Tony Blair, at her memorial service, said: “I wish I had known her, but it is important that we all know what she did. In her short life she achieved so much.” Tom Scholes-Fogg and sculptor Philip JacksonCredit:Geoff Pugh/The Telegraph Sculptor Philip Jackson with a maquette of a planned memorial for all emergency services workersCredit:Geoff Pugh/The Telegraph PC Armitage died after being run over by a teen driving a stolen car 
Finally the clay models will be cast in bronze and – if timings and fundraising goes to plan – unveiled to the public by the summer of 2021, just two years away.Mr Jackson said it was time and fitting for the emergency services to have their own memorial. “We all hope we will never have to call 999 but we sleep more soundly in our beds at night knowing all it takes is a phone call to get a highly professional group of people to sort out whatever the particular crisis might be,” said Mr Jackson.Has a member of the emergency services changed your life? Send your experiences of getting help after calling 999 to yourstory@telegraph.co.uk to be featured. 
Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. In August 2016, Mr Scholes-Fogg, who had been working in his paid day job for his local authority in London, had a brainwave. What was needed was an Emergency Services Day – a 999 Day – to promote the work of the emergency services. He set aside 9th September and secured the backing of the then prime minister Theresa May who declared: “As a nation, we are indebted to them for their courage and their sacrifice and it is absolutely right that we should honour their incredible service in this very special way.”The inaugural 999 Day launched last year. Today, a second memorial service – a 999 Festival of Thanksgiving – was held in St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, attended by ministers from both the UK and Scottish governments.But now the hard work begins for a monument. “The Australian statue inspired me to do something for the 7,000 personnel who have been killed on duty, like Alison Armitage,” said Mr Scholes-Fogg, “I wanted to do something for all of them and also for the two million people working in emergency services in the NHS, the police, and the other services.”The monument will not just be a place to pay respects for the dead, but to show respect for the job done day to day. Mr Scholes-Fogg is not alone wondering whether paramedics, police officers and the like always get the acclaim they deserve. Nor are they always treated well on the job. That, said Mr Scholes-Fogg, needs to change and he hopes the statue will help with that. In 2016, it dawned on Tom Scholes-Fogg, who had been working as volunteer police sergeant, that there was no single monument for emergency service workers anywhere in the country. Unlike the cenotaph which provides a national focal point for the Armed Forces, emergency services personnel had nothing. There was nowhere for the public to go to pay respects and show their appreciation for staff across the ambulance, fire, police, coastguard and lowland and mountain rescue.Australia, he quickly discovered, had such a memorial in the capital Canberra that was opened in 2004. Britain, he decided, needed something similar. Mr Jackson was eager to create an emergency services monument. “Tom was very articulate about what it was all about and I immediately understood what it was trying to achieve.”Mr Jackson first created a small model, a five-sided statue with each figure eight-feet high representing five emergency services – fire, police, ambulance, lifeboat and coastguard, and lowland and mountain rescue. The Telegraph was given exclusive access to it along with a 14 inch high maquette created over the summer. It depicts a firefighter in full modern uniform with equipment. All five statues will show the emergency service workers in their most modern kit. Branches of the emergency services have sent the sculptor their most up-to-date uniforms and a model will pose with them. Attention to detail is key for Mr Jackson. When all five maquettes are completed he will begin sculpting the figures in clay at full size. The paramedic will be depicted by a woman; the rest of the figures will be male. There will also be a dog to accompany the lowland rescue team although the sculptor is still researching what breed of dog that should be. For the moment, his first model depicts one of his own two cocker spaniels. Tom Scholes-Fogg wrote to Mr Jackson last year asking him to get on board. He had seen his Bomber Command memorial and other statues created by the sculptor. No sculptor – alive or dead – has more statues in London than Mr Jackson. His other works include The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Equestrian Sculpture in Windsor Great Park; The Korean War Monument outside the Ministry of Defence; a statue of Bobby Moore at Wembley Stadium; Mahatma Gandhi in parliament Square; and the National memorial Sculpture to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in The Mall. Sculptor says monument will have immediate impactPhilip Jackson, possibly Britain’s most acclaimed living sculptor, has agreed to design and create the planned National Emergency Services Monument. Mr Jackson created the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park in central London that was unveiled officially by the Queen in 2012 after a huge fundraising drive that included more than £1million from readers of the daily Telegraph. Mr Jackson believes his planned ‘999 statue’ will immediately – like the Bomber Command monument – change attitudes to the emergency services.“It seems to me that up until now, the emergency services have been tacked on to the end of the Armed Services. I think it is now right they should have a memorial of their own,” said Mr Jackson. “I think monuments can change the way people think about these things. “Prior to the creation of the Bomber Command memorial people associated it only with Dresden and there was a very, very negative response that you got. We thought it would take a long time after the memorial was unveiled before people would change their opinions. But it happened overnight.”
TERRY O’SULLIVAN HAS one word for the political stasis in the United States right now: “Bullshit”.It’s no surprise that O’Sullivan, as the general president of the Labourers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), takes a dim view of the right’s and particularly the Tea Party’s influence on US politics.But you might be surprised to find that he believes the Tea Party is actually helping his and the left’s cause while damaging their own.“I think they’re doing more harm to the Republican Party and bettering the chances of [Democratic House Leader] Nancy Pelosi being Speaker of the House once again, which from our perspective is a great thing, not a good thing,” he said.Together with five other US trade unions leaders, including Dan Kane from the Teamsters and Ed Smith from Ullico, O’Sullivan was in Dublin this week to meet with similar-minded folk in Irish unions and a Sinn Féin-organised rally in the Mansion House.In an interview with TheJournal.ie, O’Sullivan, Kane and Smith had a familiar message to anyone who leans to the left on the political spectrum: Austerity isn’t working.‘More than dollars and cents’“There’s places you have to look to cut, but it seems to us it isn’t done at the expense of banks,” O’Sullivan (above) said. “We’ve seen that in Ireland and the US, it’s at the expense of retirees, the people who were outside today.” (Referring to Tuesday’s protests outside the Dáil)“It’s done at the expense of working men and women, of young people with aspirations and hopes who are jumping on airplanes to fulfil those aspirations somewhere else.”The problem is that it could be reasonably argued that austerity has and is working in Ireland with the economy growing (slightly), the Live Register falling and the bailout exit in sight.But O’Sullivan does not agree: “We understand balancing budgets but there’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. We believe that far too many times countries have chosen the wrong path [where] it has comes off the back of working men and women.”“This is more than dollars and cents,” he adds, referring to the human impact of austerity.An estimated 13 million people in the US are trade union members including around 11 million in the largest federation, the AFL-CIO. In a country of 315 million people that’s not a lot and all three men argue it’s the private sector’s fault.They say trade union membership is 12 per cent of the workforce in the public sector, but just 7 per cent in the private sector. Smith argues that the private sector has been “under attack” for many years in the United States.“It’s got the private sector at about 7 per cent of the workforce… so they’ve done a real job… anti-union, pro-right wing anti-union forces,” he said.Pensions Smith (above) believes these problems can be traced back to the state of Wisconsin two years ago, where the legislature attempted to pass laws restricting collective bargaining and other union rights.This was widely seen as the first battle between the Tea Party and organised labour.These laws were passed in attempt to plug huge budget deficits. The arguments put forward are simple: that public sector pensions were and are unaffordable in many US states. There are gaping holes in states’ pension plans between what they spend and what they take in.But that’s not the public sector employees’ fault, say the labour leaders.“No, no, that’s the bullshit that they pedal,” O’Sullivan said, identifying the problem as being states not paying into pension funds when they should have been.Ed Smith explained: “My home state is Illinois. Of the 50 states it is 50th out of 50 in underfunding, the worst of the worst.“The workers’ money came out of their pay cheque to go in the pension and the state was to match this. But in the US each state must have a balanced budget every year, so to balance the budget the state would make no pension payments.“This was even though the workers’ share went in every two weeks. The state didn’t [pay its share], so now they have this huge underfunding because of the economic crisis in ’08. So they said that the workers are the problem.”Political deadlockAdvancing these arguments are restricted, the trio argue, by the barriers placed by employers and government on employees joining unions in the US. Kane (above) argues that laws that are – “oppressive and regressive”.He said: “Even though the polls out there show that over 50 per cent of workers, given an opportunity, would join a union. Nobody argues that that’s the sentiment. But it’s a different situation with organising.”The three men and indeed the labour movement on whole in the US is not averse to working with Republicans – “the old Republican Party we dealt with” – but their view is that the Tea Party has to be taken out of the equation.Smith said: “No congress will pass any funding to rebuild… the key to America has been our infrastructure, from our railraods to our highways, and that’s deteriorating.“That’s because of the impasse in our congress and the Tea Party… You got to go back to before the American Civil War to see where we’ve had this kind of loggerheads.”Pics: YouTube, Wikimedia Commons, UllicoDamien Kiberd: Austerity economics have us locked in PermaslumpRead: Families have seen monthly disposable income drop by €300 since 2008Ex-IMF mission chief: ‘Ireland needs a new jolt of growth’
https://jrnl.ie/4506642 By Cónal Thomas Friday 22 Feb 2019, 6:10 AM Feb 21st 2019, 7:24 PM 23,186 Views Metrolink: How did we get here and what’s next? The NTA is due to publish a preferred route in March. 21.02.19 Closure of Luas Green Line to facilitate Metrolink ‘off the agenda’, Ross says “These proposals emerged following last year’s extensive public consultations, to specifically cater for the concerns of Ranelagh residents,” the spokesperson added. “Regrettably, this section of the development was heavily politicised by local representatives.”‘Ill-considered plan’In the latest controversy, local representatives have taken the opportunity to hammer home local concerns. Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan welcomed the proposed scrapping of the southside route, describing it as “a matter that has deeply frustrated those living in the areas most impacted”. “The fact that this ill-considered plan could be taken off the table means that there may be a welcome opportunity to draw up a better, more environmentally friendly MetroLink plan for South Dublin and this time, in proper consultation with the public”.Meanwhile, Noel Rock TD has called for the route to proceed in two parts and to not allow Northsiders be “shafted” by a “southside squabble”.Green Party leader Eamon Ryan TD called on Ross not to abandon the southside section of the Metrolink but to “look at alternatives”. From Charlemont station, Ryan has said that the Metro should either continue South West to Terenure, Rathfarnham and Tallaght or South East to UCD and Sandyford.“Come what may there should be no delay in the northside section of the line,” Ryan has said. “While that is advanced through the planning process we can work out the optimal southside route.”For now, the NTA is not being drawn on recent reports, though it’s not denying them either. A revised route for the Metrolink is due to be published in the coming weeks, an NTA spokesperson confirmed. “Those amended plans will be subject to a further round of public consultation.” Share26 Tweet Email3 38 Comments Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article Short URL Source: Metrolink.ieWITH THE SOUTHSIDE section of the Dublin Metrolink project set to abandoned by the National Transport Authority (NTA), plans for the city’s underground rail have been thrown open. The mostly underground route, which is due to connect Dublin Airport to the city centre by rail and beyond to Sandyford for the first time, will still run from Swords to the city centre but it’s now likely to stop north of Ranelagh at CharlemontThat’s because the NTA’s preferred route involved disrupting the Luas Green Line for up to four years, it was reported yesterday. The line was due to open in 2027 and was originally expected to run from Swords on Dublin’s northside to Sandyford on the southside with the construction of a new underground track from Swords to Charlemont while an upgraded section of the Luas Green Line would remain overground. The latest change – abandoning the southside section – is set to be announced next month by the NTA when a new route option will be published. Speaking in the Dáil yesterday evening, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross, refused to confirm whether the southside part of the project will be abandoned but said that he “wouldn’t tolerate” continued disruption to the Luas Green Line. Following the latest development, politicians have called for alternatives to the much-vaunted project to be examined. So, here’s a recap of how we got here and what’s likely to happen next. ‘Berlin Wall’Plans for a Metro in Dublin have been floating around for some time; plans were halted in 2011 due to the economic downturn. In March last year, a new plan was published for the MetroLink, which would see a route run between Swords and Sandyford.That plan, however, received a significant amount of criticism, primarily from a group of southside residents in Ranelagh in Dublin 6.Last July, Peter Nash, a member of the Rethink MetroLink Dublin South City group, told an Oireachtas committee that the proposed MetroLink was akin to the opening of a “Checkpoint Charlie” on the Berlin Wall. The argument centred around the closure of a through-road from Dunville Avenue to Beechwood Road.Outlining the group’s concerns to the transport committee, Nash said transformation of the current Luas line to a segregated high-speed over-ground Metrolink southwards from Charlemont has “significant adverse social, environmental and commercial consequences for the adjacent neighbourhoods”. Nash said a segregated high-speed over-ground rail, in effect, creates a clear physical partition within communities. Cowper Luas Station on Dublin’s southside Source: GoogleMapsThere were also concerns on Dublin’s northside following the project’s relaunch. The current plans also saw proposals to establish a tunnel boring machine launch site which will share its perimeter with Scoil Mobhí in Glasnevin. The school shares its site with Na Fianna GLG, Scoil Chaitríona, and playschool Tír na nOg.Representatives of the schools and clubs appeared before an Oireachtas committee last April to raise concerns about the planned site. However, speaking at an Oireachtas committee last June, the NTA’s deputy CEO Hugh Creegan said that an alternative design was being considered.Over the subsequent months, the NTA came under pressure from local politicians, including Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy whose constituency is Ranelagh-Rathmines, to change the route. One solution to the Dunville Avenue/Beechwood Road issue involved either constructing a rail bridge over the road or a ‘cut and cover’ plan which would see the Metro travel underground which would add €25 to €35 million to the project’s €3 billion budget. It’s understood that plans to extend this option were drawn up, after proposals were rejected locally, which would cost an additional €100 million. Source: RollingNews.ieHowever, that plan would cause the Luas Green Line to be disconnected and be disrupted for two to four years, it has been reported. A spokesperson for Minister for Transport Shane Ross TD has confirmed that Ross met with the NTA and Transport Infrastructure Ireland for “crisis talks” this week and warned that bringing the Luas Green Line to a standstill for a significant period would be “unacceptable”. Related Read
Cyberattaque : la BBC accuserait l’Iran de perturbations La chaîne brittanique BBC aurait été victime d’une attaque informatique. Son service en persan (farsi), plus exactement.Selon l’AFP, Mark Thompson, directeur général de la BBC, accuse l’Iran de provoquer des perturbations du service persan de la BBC Persian, qui compte pas loin de 7,2 millions de spectateurs malgré la censure du régime en place. L’Iran aurait tenté de brouiller des diffusions satellitaires à destination du pays et des lignes téléphoniques du réseau londonien il y a déjà quelques temps. De plus, une cyberattaque aurait été également et récemment engagé. Difficile de prouver l’origine de l’attaque mais la coïncidence est trop suspecte pour la BBC et son responsable.Il faudra donc attendre pour savoir ce que compte faire la chaîne britannique et surtout si elle confirme la provenance des attaques.Le 15 mars 2012 à 15:00 • Maxime Lambert
Berkowitz stands before a portion of his transition team while announcing his plan during a press conference. Hillman/KSKAAnchorage Mayor-Elect Ethan Berkowitz is developing a plan to transition into his new role. He says it will be created by a group of community leaders in his transition team and use input from public discussions and town hall-style meetings.Download Audio:“I’ve helped assemble this tremendous group of Anchorage residents with the idea that if we put together the right ideas at the right time we can have a profound impact on what happens with our city moving ahead,” he told a group of reporters during a press conference.“And I want to make sure the ideas we have are inclusive, I want them to be innovative, and I want them to be good investments for our city.”Berkowitz says the plan will include a timeline with short- and long-term goals. Within his transition team are five subgroups that focus on the economy and jobs, homelessness, public safety, administration, and Live. Work. Play. Berkowitz chose three leaders for his transition team: former Republican state legislator Andrew Halcro, Joelle Hall with Alaska AFL-CIO and CIRI vice president of land and energy development Ethan Schutt. They will host four different town hall-style meetings in different areas of Anchorage over the next six weeks.“Being mayor can be a solitary job, but this is a community. And in order for us to move the community forward the mayor’s goals need to represent and reflect the community’s goals and the community’s values,” Berkowitz said.“It’s going to be critically important for the city of Anchorage to have a transition document that reflects the goals of the city at large.”Governor Bill Walker went through a similar process, but Berkowitz’s spokesperson said the mayor-elect did not model his transition after the governor’s.The transition team will monitor the progress of Berkowitz’s administration after he take office to ensure that they are meeting the plan’s goals, he said. He did not announce any members of his administration. He takes office July 1.
Many European scientists cheered back in January when it seemed the court of the European Union would ease its restrictions on gene-editing technology in food. In a 15,000-word opinion, an advisor to the European Court of Justice suggested that gene-edited crops should not face the same stiff regulations as genetically modified organisms—as long as they don’t contain foreign DNA. The opinion was thought to be a step forward for European academic scientists who are trying to improve plant growth, resistance, and nutrition in everything from corn to grapes. But today, the full court put that opinion aside to rule that Crispr gene editing should face the same tough rules as GMOs.Experts say the court’s ruling will chill research on gene-edited crops both in Europe, as well as in developing nations in Africa. “This proves how stupid the European system is for regulating GMOs,” says Stefan Jansson, professor of plant physiology at Sweden’s Ümea University. “Many of us have tried to change things in last 10 years with meager success. When it comes to things like this, people listen to organizations like Greenpeace more than they listen to scientists.”The Luxembourg-based court ruled that crops created using Crispr and other gene-editing techniques are subject to a 2001 rule that imposes big hurdles for GM foods. The law exempts mutagenesis techniques such as irradiation, which changes an organism’s DNA but doesn’t add anything new. But it will apply to Crispr and other gene-editing techniques that use a form of molecular scissors to cut out bits of genetic material from the genome.Despite studies by European, British, and UN health agencies about the safety of genetically modified foods, European consumers have long opposed them, arguing that they benefit multinational corporations and harm the environment. US regulators say gene-edited crops don’t pose a problem because they are identical to ones developed through traditional cross-breeding techniques. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture regulate biotech crops. Gene-edited soybeans, flax, wheat, and other crops are preparing to enter the US market in the next year or two. But today’s European ruling may have bigger consequences in Africa, which is just beginning to see Crispr deployed to speed up plant breeding improvements. Nigel Taylor, an investigator at the Danforth Center for Plant Science in St. Louis, runs cassava breeding projects in Kenya and Uganda. He’s using Crispr to eliminate genes that cause the cassava brown streak disease, which can wipe out entire fields of the staple plant. He had just stepped off a plane from Kenya when he saw the news about the ruling.“It’s incredibly disappointing and very frustrating,” Taylor said from the St. Louis airport. “There’s a need in Africa for smaller farmers to secure their food supply and that means creating better crops. With climate change and urbanization, it’s important that agriculture can adapt. Gene editing was going to be a powerful tool to achieve that and it’s faced a setback.” The EU is Africa’s largest single trading partner, receiving nearly $16 billion in agriculture and food imports in 2017 from Africa, according to the European Commission. That means African farmers hoping to sell to European markets might not be able to take advantage of gene-editing improvements.Bode Okoloku grew up in Nigeria and is now an assistant professor of plant science at the University of Tennessee. He is researching the genetics of African sweet potato and corn varieties and works with breeders throughout the continent. “I think it might be the fear of the unknown that is driving the recent law,” he says.Crispr gene editing techniques are easier, faster and don’t require as much lab equipment as traditional GMOs, according to Okoloku. That’s why he and other scientists believe Crispr could be used by African plant scientists to create new plant strains needed in each country. “Using Crispr is more promising than developing traditional GMOs,” he says.Okoloku said that African scientists haven’t done a good job influencing policymakers in their countries about the risks and benefits of gene-editing as compared to GMOs. Danforth’s Taylor says the new ruling could stall his cassava gene-editing research projects in Uganda and Kenya. “The funding bodies that support the work will be asking questions, they want to see delivery to the farmer,” says Taylor. “There are hundreds of millions of small farmers who could have gained from that technology and that is now less likely.” More Great WIRED StoriesHow Google’s Safe Browsing led to a more secure webPHOTO ESSAY: The most exquisite pigeons you’ll ever seeScientists found 12 new moons around Jupiter. Here’s howHow Americans wound up on Twitter’s list of Russian botsBeyond Elon’s drama, Tesla’s cars are thrilling driversGet even more of our inside scoops with our weekly Backchannel newsletter
The state governor says the fire is expected to be completely extinguished in a few days. “We estimate a little more than 60 percent is already controlled. We hope that between today and tomorrow it can be fully controlled and that weather conditions allow us to do that,” he added. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) Luis Pérez, Civil Protection Coordinator of Carrillo Puerto, says that the Mexican Air Force helicopter has been of enormous help with water discharges in the fire zone where the entry for combatants is very dangerous. Román Uriel Castillo of the National Forestry Commission in Quintana Roo explained that the affected area is mostly grasslands. He says weather conditions and the presence of strong winds created flames up to three meters in height and columns of black smoke “that makes it look drastic.” 
___Then, this past Monday, Jess, who had flown in with Ellyson and her mother to Guatemala City, sat inside the Hookers’ room at the Radisson staring at the latest document. She couldn’t believe it.Her computer chimed, and with tears in her eyes, she made her way over to it. Someone back in Tennessee was calling her on Skype.When she saw that it was her brother, she turned on the camera.Before Jose could say hello or see her wet cheekbones, she hovered over the camera and covered it with a thin sheet.The paper read: “Daniel Ryan Hooker born in Quiche, Guatemala on December 2006 son of Jessica Russell Hooker and Ryan Hooker.Jose began to cry.Jess’ brother, Jose, had been adopted 22 years earlier, when he was almost 6 years old, from the same orphanage. That adoption took her parents three years to complete. He, too, had been born in Quiche.At one point, when things were really grim and there was no end in sight, Jose had said that he would go to Guatemala and adopt Daniel himself, since he was Guatemalan.And now, here they were. All they needed was Daniel’s Guatemalan passport, and his adoption visa.This time, Jess was sure, everything would work out. It said so right there on the paper. Sponsored Stories It wasn’t until that night, when they were in bed, that he told his wife.“I think I met our son,” Bubba said.At 28, Jess was five years older than her husband and the more practical partner. She listened quietly as he told her about his day with the boy, who wasn’t just cute, he said, but his name was Daniel, just like Bubba’s uncle who had just died. She was skeptical.“Uh oh,” she thought, “what has Bubba gotten us into?” But the next day, when she pulled the child into her arms, it felt like he was hers.The couple had always wanted to adopt; Daniel just sped up their plans. They immediately told the orphanage director and started the paperwork.Two months later, Guatemala’s thriving adoption industry fell apart.The country’s quick-stop adoptions had made the nation of 14 million people the world’s second-largest source of babies to the U.S. after China. But the vibrant business came to a halt after an August 2007 raid on what was considered the country’s most reputable adoption agency, used by many Americans.An investigation exposed a system of fake birth certificates and DNA samples, of mothers coerced into giving up children. Some claimed their children were kidnapped for sale. Adoptive parents paid up to $30,000 for a child in a country where the average person earns $5,000 a year. New Year’s resolution: don’t spend another year in a kitchen you don’t like Mary Coyle ice cream to reopen in central Phoenix Guatemalan birth parents poured into government- run centers looking for their missing children and ran ads in local papers.Guatemalan doctors, lawyers, mothers and civil registrars were arrested and prosecuted, with some convictions for human trafficking and adoption fraud. The Solicitor General’s office was put under investigation by a U.N.-backed commission against impunity.The Guatemalan government was forced to overhaul its adoption laws. The U.S. suspended all new adoptions from Guatemala.By the beginning of 2008, a new council had to be established to clean up proceedings, including verifying the identity of birth mothers and their willingness to give up their children.The old system, a mostly unsupervised network of private attorneys and notaries, was abolished.Daniel was among 3,032 children caught in limbo.___In October 2008, Jess traveled to Guatemala with her mother over her school’s fall break. It was her fourth visit.She expected to see Daniel running around, arms flailing with hints of baby talk.Instead, there was silence.Something was wrong, but she was not Daniel’s legal guardian. Jess couldn’t take him to see a pediatrician. Maybe it was normal considering that he was such a small kid, but she was worried. She was a special needs teacher. Five months later, Daniel still wasn’t talking.At the Radisson Hotel, where the Hookers started the first of many family visits, he would race to the window inside their room to watch the airplanes. He was obsessed with them. But when Bubba gave him headphones, Daniel always tore off the one in his right ear.He needed to see a specialist. The adoption could not come soon enough. They’d hoped their connections to the orphanage, their family’s story, would make things easier since some adoptions pending when the ban was imposed were being allowed to go through. Jess’s parents were missionaries who founded the charity Samaritan Hands, which ran the orphanage. Bubba sat on the charity’s board.Plus, his grandmother had been an orphan herself. And so was Jess’s younger brother, Jose.But though they had filed reams of paperwork, nothing seemed to be happening, and no one could tell them why. Finally, in May 2009, they got a call confirming a meeting with the adoption council’s head, Jaime Tecu. The Hookers were ecstatic.After hours in the waiting room with Daniel and Jess’ mom, Judy, who would translate, they were ushered into an office overlooking the south of the capital. The U.S. had forbidden new adoptions from Guatemala, but the pending cases were something else.She assembled a team of staff and immigration services experts to help Guatemalans sift through the files and find out which ones had the proper records, making five trips to the country herself.Of the original 3,032 cases interrupted at the end of 2007, officials found 180 cases of children still waiting to be adopted.The first of these cases was Daniel’s.Landrieu’s team worked with the U.S. Embassy and Guatemalan officials to broker an agreement that would allow certain cases to go forward if they met the criteria of both Guatemalan officials and the U.S. State Department.She contacted many American families to see if they were still interested, discovering that many couples had spent tens of thousands of dollars, traveling up to 20 times to keep contact with the children.Last December, the Hookers got a call saying they were one of 44 families whose cases were ready to move forward.It would still be another eight months before they embarked on Aug. 21, hoping to become the first of those families eligible to collect their child under the new agreement.Things were looking up. Clean energy: Why it matters for Arizona She was Daniel’s mother.___Early Saturday morning, they checked out of the Radisson for the last time. An airport shuttle arrived at Guatemala’s La Aurora Airport. Out came Jess and her mom, Bubba, baby Ellyson and Daniel. Everyone sported matching red-and-white Maryville High T-shirts. There was even a small one with a big embroidered M at the center for Daniel.At a distance Daniel could see his beloved planes as Jess carried him toward check-in.“I’ve been waiting so long to carry you like this,” Jess told Daniel.“Avion,” he replied, the Spanish word for plane, a huge smile on his face. He gave his momma a wet kiss and motioned to be put on the floor. He went over to Ellyson and started to open his arms wide and spun like a plane. She giggled and mimicked him.Meanwhile, Bubba was grabbing their boarding passes.After all his family visits, he’d accrued 700,000 frequent flier miles he had been saving for the day he would take his son home. Soon, they would be sitting in first class. The plane was set to take off just before 1 p.m.Jess prepped his bag full of knickknacks. Back in Maryville, friends and colleagues at school had thrown her a surprise baby shower. When asked how she thought Daniel would adapt to the room and house back in Maryville, she laughed.“I think he’s going to be a bit disappointed when we get home and he realizes there is no pool on our roof, no elevator, and he can’t watch planes from the window.”___As the family walked through the doors of the Louisville airport late Saturday night, friends cheered, then joined them in prayer.“WE’RE HOME!!!!!! We did it! We made it! And we can’t believe it!” the family said in an emailed message to friends on Sunday.“I wish you all could have seen Daniel’s face as he ran around our house exploring his new domain. He couldn’t believe he had his own room. He gawked at the size of our bathtub … It was AWESOME!”___Associated Press writer Romina Ruiz-Goiriena reported this story in Guatemala and Travis Loller reported in Tennessee.___Romina Ruiz-Goiriena on Twitter: http://twitter.com/romireportsAP Bottoms up! Enjoy a cold one for International Beer Day
Comments Share (Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) Construction begins on Chandler hospital expansion project Associated PressGUATEMALA CITY (AP) – It should have been good news.The U.S. Embassy called to say the Guatemalan government would begin to authorize adoptions five years after a scandal froze the system that sent as many as 4,000 Guatemalan children a year to the United States.Ryan “Bubba” Hooker and his wife, Jess, might finally be able to collect the little boy they wanted to adopt and bring him home. Top Stories It was not an easy way to live.They turned down a job offer overseas that they feared would have further complicated the adoption process.When Daniel was already 4 and there was still no end in sight, Jess gave birth to a daughter, Ellyson.On their visits at the Radisson when Jess was pregnant, Daniel would touch her belly and say, “Sister.”They hung photos of Daniel and Ellyson all over the walls of the two-story brick house on their Maryville cul-de-sac. They put a play structure in the yard and fenced it in for Daniel. In his bedroom, a large red airplane sat atop the armoire. His beloved plane.Jess felt like she was missing Daniel’s entire childhood _ his first steps, his first words.And then came some luck.In early 2011, the Guatemalan adoption fiasco came to the attention of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, who served on the Senate appropriations subcommittee on the State Department’s foreign operations and related programs, which dealt with foreign adoptions. She also presided over the Senate appropriations subcommittee on homeland security, which funds U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.She was also the mother of two adopted children.Landrieu discovered there was no list of people whose cases had been dropped due to Guatemala’s adoption ban. But Hooker wasn’t sure. This would be his 36th trip to Guatemala City. The 18-month-old toddler they had met in an orphanage was now a 6-year-old kindergartener. The couple had moved homes, passed up a job, spent untold amounts of money trying to adopt Daniel.If all went well, they were told, they would be the first U.S. family to adopt under the Central American nation’s new adoption laws.At least, that’s what they told him over the phone.On Aug. 21, an anxious Bubba boarded the plane for Guatemala City. All he had to do was get an adoption certificate, a birth certificate and a passport, meet with the people at the U.S. Embassy yet again, get an adoption visa, and then he and Jess could bring Daniel home.Maybe this time it would work.___Jess and Bubba had been married less than a year when they decided to go to Guatemala on a mission trip in June 2007.The day he met Daniel, Bubba had been working on the plumbing in the orphanage when he decided to take a break. He took a wander through the rooms and found the boy.The child was just 18 months old but looked younger, sitting stranded in a walker. He was the youngest kid in the orphanage, the frailest, too, with his pigeon chest and little legs that turned out. Bubba knelt beside the little boy and they began to play. Before long Bubba was holding him, then he fed him. He forgot about the plumbing. Check your body, save your life Daniel sat upright in a chair close to the director’s desk and fiddled with a toy car.And then the bombshell.“I’m sorry,” Tecu said, “your case is not registered with the Solicitor General’s office. It is not official.”Judy began to sob. Bubba was furious.Jess was crushed.Everything had to be investigated anew. Daniel’s birth mom needed to be found, tested for a DNA match and give consent for the adoption. The case also had to be transferred to a court in the district where Daniel was born.The Hookers filled out and submitted the same forms numerous times. They had a second home study _ translated into Spanish. But nothing changed.In May 2010, a weeklong trip turned into a three-week stay when the Pacaya volcano, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Guatemala City, began spewing lava and rocks, blanketing the capital with ash and closing the international airport.The Hookers used the extra time with Daniel to take him to an audiologist.When the doctor walked in to give the results, they already knew _ Daniel was almost completely deaf.___The Hookers created a routine between regular trips to the Radisson in Guatemala and life back home in Maryville, Tennessee. Jess took advantage of holidays at the high school where she worked, while Bubba, a real estate developer, set his own schedule so he could visit Daniel every two or three months. Former Arizona Rep. Don Shooter shows health improvement
December 7, 2017 566 Views HOUSING mortgage OCC wildfires 2017-12-07 Nicole Casperson OCC Allows Banks and Associations Affected by Wildfires to Close Share
On Thursday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a proclamation allowing national banks and federal savings associations affected by the California wildfires to close.Toney M. Bland, Senior Deputy Comptroller, Midsize and Community Bank Supervision issued the proclamation, which states:“Because of emergency conditions caused by wildfires in California, I find that emergency conditions exist pursuant to 12 USC §§ 95(b)(1), 1463(a)(1)(A), 3102(b), and 12 CFR §§ 7.3000(b) and 28.13(a)(1). Accordingly, the Comptroller of the Currency, or his or her designee, hereby authorizes national banking associations, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks at their discretion, to close offices in the areas affected by these emergency conditions for as long as deemed necessary for bank operation or public safety. In addition, bank management is encouraged to consult OCC Bulletin 2012-28, “Supervisory Guidance on Natural Disasters and Other Emergency Conditions” (September 21, 2012). This guidance lists some actions bankers could consider implementing when their bank operates or has customers in areas that are affected by a natural disaster or other emergency condition. Dated this 7th Day of December 2017.”In issuing the proclamation, the OCC expects that only those bank offices directly affected by the extreme emergency conditions to close. Those offices should make every effort to reopen as quickly as possible to address the banking needs of their customers.OCC Bulletin 2012-28 “Supervisory Guidance on Natural Disasters and Other Emergency Conditions” provides guidance on actions bankers could consider implementing when their bank or savings association operates or has customers in areas affected by a natural disaster or other emergencies. in Government, Headlines, News
The Gainsborough Bath, the first and only hotel in the UK to offer its visitors the opportunity to access and experience Bath’s famed natural thermal waters in its incredible spa, has confirmed it will be welcoming guests from 1 July 2015.The opening marks YTL Hotels’ latest addition to its impressive international portfolio and is their first property in the UK.The hotel is a member of the prestigious The Leading Hotels of the World.Spa Village Bath at The Gainsborough Bath Spa is a new world-class exclusive spa in the city that extols all the natural virtues of the city’s healing thermal waters giving guests a majestic spa journey that will keep them coming back again and again.Following YTL Hotels international brand concept, Spa Village Bath has been conceptualised to honour the healing traditions of Bath.Since pre-Roman times people have flocked to mend their bodies in the thermal springs of Bath.The hotel’s private water reserve bubbles to the surface at 47 degrees centigrade, packed full of rich natural minerals, for the hotel’s guests to reap the benefits in this totally immersive experience coupled with the timeless venerated British use of aromatherapy, the healing culture will continue.Reviving the ancient practise of social bathing, The Gainsborough Bath Spa has created a one hour ‘Bath Circuit’.A ritualised self-guided tour of the thermal pools, saunas, steam room, ice alcove and elegant relaxation rooms, visitors will embark on a bathing journey akin to ancient Rome, concluding with a very special Water Ritual Ceremony.Three thermal pools lie in the heart of the spa set apart by Romanesque columns and beneath a glass atrium.The Aroma Bar provides guests with a plethora of lotions and potions from which they can blend their very own oils.An exclusive Spa Suite and two further spa rooms will be the only guest rooms in the UK to offer in-bath access to the thermal waters via a second tap, giving guests the extraordinary choice of bathing in thermal water.20 May 2015
The all business-class boutique airline La Compagnie has introduced flights between London (LTN) and New York (EWR) starting at £1100 per round-trip.The French startup company is wanting to revolutionise business-class air travel by offering luxury services at premium economy prices. Previously only offering flights between Paris and New York, co-founders Frantz Yvelin and Peter Luethi anticipate finding their competitive edge through low prices. Inflight features include 74 spacious lie-flat seats, délicieux French cuisine and exceptional personal service. With the loyalty programme, MyCompagnie, passengers earn points with every flight.
The Cyprus Medical Association (CyMA) has decided to call on its members not to join the national health scheme (Gesy), a decision which is widely seen to be critical to the scheme’s future.They said the plan “poses serious risks to the quality of health care and patient safety”.In a statement, they explained they had set out conditions under which they would participate on October 27 last year, but they said the overall response to their key demands was negative.The association’s main grievances are two: they want the flexibility of being able to enter into private practice within Gesy, and are calling for an increase in the budget due to concerns over remuneration.The government has said no to both demands.“CyMA remains committed to providing high-quality health services as well as protecting the medical profession and the dignity of physicians,” the statement said.The members of the association met on Thursday at 7.30pm and they reached their decision late in the evening.The association represents some 40 societies of physicians and medical scientists.The association of private hospitals, the oral and maxillofacial society, the association of private doctors, the vascular and endovascular surgery association, rheumatologists, intensivists, urologists, nuclear medicine physicians, ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctors, endocrinologists, paediatricians and gastroenterologists all decided not to join Gesy by last week. Cardiologists said its members would each decide individually.You May LikeLivestlyChip And Joanna’s $18M Mansion Is Perfect, But It’s The Backyard Everyone Is Talking AboutLivestlyUndoPopularEverythingColorado Mom Adopted Two Children, Months Later She Learned Who They Really ArePopularEverythingUndoGundry MD PrebioThrive Probiotic SupplementCardiologist: This Is What Happens To Your Body When You Eat GlutenGundry MD PrebioThrive Probiotic SupplementUndo Remand for pair in alleged property fraud (Updated)UndoPensioner dies after crash on Paphos-Polis roadUndoThree arrested in connection with hotel theftsUndoby Taboolaby Taboola