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The U.S. Department of the Interiorreleased a national investigative report todaythat identified more than 400 federally-run schools for Native American children,including 15 in Washington state. The report is the first step for the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative launched by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland last June following stunning revelations of hundreds of unmarked graves at Indian residential schools in Canada.

These boarding schools were designed to forcibly remove children from their families and place them with educators who suppressed the use of Native language and any learning of Native cultures and beliefs. There have been numerous reports of students being severely abused when these schools operated. Thousands of children never returned home.

Such schools began opening in the late 1880s and continued operating this way until as late as the 1960s, when new federal laws gave American Indians more rights and control of their children's education. The report concludes that more investigation is needed to better understand what occurred at these schools and their lasting impacts on American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians.

The federal and state governments of the United States have dealt tremendous loss and suffering to the Native and Indigenous people throughout generations, including the horrific and systematic erasure of their culture and their children, Inslee said in response to the report. It is difficult to confront such hard truths about our past, but it is necessary for healing and progress. Washington state stands ready to do what we can to acknowledge the trauma and harm these schools caused, and uplift the efforts of those who fight to ensure the many Tribal languages, cultures and knowledge persist and flourish.

Additional information from the report

The institutions identified in the report that operated in Washington include:

More information is needed to determine whether Washington state served as a co-operator of any of these schools. It is unclear whether any unmarked graves are located at the school sites. The report indicates 53 cemeteries associated with the schools nationwide, but to prevent exploitation of graves, the locations were not disclosed.

Secretary Haaland is the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary. You canread her op-edabout her familys experience with federal boarding schools.

American Indian children pictured in a field in front of the Chehalis Boarding and Day School in Oakville in 1885. Photo courtesy of the Washington State Archives.

Public and constituent inquiries | 360.902.4111Press inquiries | 360.902.4136

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Statement from Gov. Jay Inslee in response to federal report regarding Native boarding schools | Governor Jay Inslee - Governor Jay Inslee

Members of the Gannett Glacier Fire Crew takes notes during a fire training scenario near Palmer on Thursday, April 29, 2018. (Casey Grove/Alaska Public Media)

Alaskas wildland firefighters have been completing annual training and now with help from a state grant strategically cutting and removing trees, many of them standing, dry and dead, killed by spruce beetles.

That hazardous fuels reduction comes as long-term forecasts signal a normal fire season ahead, with about a million acres expected to burn total somewhere between the sizes of Rhode Island and Delaware.

Norm McDonald, the state Division of Forestrys Chief of Fire and Aviation, said the prep work cutting fire breaks is helpful and likely to save money in the long run.

But McDonald said all it would take to go from an average fire season to a huge one is some hot, dry weather and a lightning strike, or the careless burning of some brush or a campfire.

Listen here:

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The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Norm McDonald: If you look historically at our most devastating fires, they are in the urban interface, and they have been human caused. So these are all fires and, in theory, should be preventable. So I think just the awareness that anytime you do an activity that includes either burning or open flame in the wildland setting, just use extreme caution, especially this time of year, May, as we have that dry grass and these windy conditions. It does not take much of a start for a fire to get out of control, past where a homeowner can suppress it on their own. And those are our most expensive fires. Those take the most resources, the most firefighters and aircraft. So we really ask people to use extreme caution, whether thats their typical Alaskan, you know, outdoor activities like camping and hunting, or when youre doing your land clearing, look at other options. Instead of burning in May and June when its dry and windy, save that burning for fall when we get our wetter conditions or that first snow in October. That is something that we really try to encourage people to do.

Casey Grove: Gotcha, yeah. Nobody wants something getting away from them like that and causing damage to their neighborhood or anybody else.

NM: No, and people are always surprised at how quickly they have a burn barrel or a small fire or a barbecue in the grass how quickly a fire starts to something that they cant control with what they have on site. And then the fire department shows up and the helicopter show up, and its just every person that we go through with that always says the same thing, I had no idea how quickly that fire could spread. And so just something to be aware of, for anybody doing that type of activity this summer.

CG: Theres a lot there that you cant really control, like the weather or where lightning strikes, and things like that. And you can get the word out about how residents should be behaving to be fire safe. But I guess there are a few things that you can do ahead of time to prepare. And one of those things is what you call hazardous fuels reduction, right? And I guess thats a big push this year, it sounds like.

NM: Yeah, and its nothing new to the division. Weve been doing fuel brakes and the hazardous fuels reduction, you know, going back to the mid 90s. And that really started with the first beetle epidemic we had going back to 95, 96, that timeframe. And so its something weve used and have had success with. Whats changed this year is we have, for the first time, last year we received state dollars. Weve relied entirely on federal grants up until last year, for fuels reduction. And with this administration, public safety is a big part of their push. And we received a $10 million capital improvement project, just earmarked for fuels reduction. And so that gives us state funds to leverage more federal funds, which this year come to us through the infrastructure bill. So we are really in a good place when it comes to actually funding for this work. And now building capacity to meet the requirements of that work is really where were at now. Yeah, its a really exciting time as far as opportunities to provide a better service and public safety and develop these fuel breaks around some of our critical infrastructure and communities.

CG: Well, what are fire crews doing right now, other than reducing fuels and cutting fire breaks? What are they doing to get ready for the coming fire season?

NM: So our Division of Forestry crews, they come back starting about mid-April, and they do what we call our 80 hours or two weeks of training. And thats their physical fitness, thats their fire readiness. Theyre getting their gear up and ready. Theyre ready to go May 1, so our crews are staffed. Theyre ready to respond. We have them pre-positioned around the state, including Kenai and the Mat-Su Valley. The Fairbanks crew is down in Kenai, because snow still on the ground means fire season is a couple weeks behind. So we have them pre-positioned to where theyre available to do the most good and in a short order. But while theyre not assigned to fires, theyre doing this fuels reduction work. So this is really good preseason work and that kind of crossover training for a lot of the similar work they do when theres a wildland fire. And thats running chainsaws and, you know, clearing those fire breaks is very similar to what it looks like on the fire line, as it is when theyre building a fuel break ahead of the fire. So theyre engaged with that work and theyre ready and theyre pre-positioned and ready to go, should they be needed anyplace in the state.

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Alaska wildland fire crews ready for action, with state funding to reduce hazardous fuels - Alaska Public Media News

Two helicopters, a CL-415 water bomber from Newfoundland and Labradorand 40 crew members continue to fight an out-of-control fire in Nova Scotia's Yarmouth County that has grown significantly since it began earlier this week.

The fire near South Horseshoe Lake in eastern Yarmouth County measured roughly 3,100hectares in size on Wednesday afternoon,according to a provincial official.

That's compared to about 1,000 hectares on Tuesday night, and anestimate of 25 hectares early Tuesday morning.

"The biggest challenge that crews and pilots are facing is the amount of smoke," KaraMcCurdy, wildfire prevention officer for the Department of Natural Resources, said in an interview Wednesday with CBC Nova Scotia's News at Six.

"[Yesterday] we couldn't see enough to measure the edges of it. Today we've had less smoke and we got a better handle of the size of it."

McCurdy said the fire, which began Monday afternoon,is still consideredout of control.

The fire is "actively still moving but with the humidity last night, overnight and this morning, it's around 80 per cent, and the light winds, that's going to help decrease the fire spread," McCurdytold CBC Nova Scotia'sInformation Morning.

Satellite images shared on social media showedsmoke from the wildfire drifting west across Yarmouth County and into the Gulf of Maine.

"The smoke certainly was an issue across the province and the smoke plume was moving into a lot of the communities down in Yarmouth County," said McCurdy.

She said in the last two days, there were roughly15 fires across the province which were the result of low humidity and high winds. However, they were extinguished quickly.

Currently, there are burn restrictions in the counties of Queens, Shelburneand Yarmouth.

Smoke from the fire has prompted air quality alerts for the Yarmouth area, according to a release issued Wednesday evening from Natural Resources and Renewables, and an incident command post is being established.

The department said Tuesday the fire is in a fairly remote area and at that point there was no risk to homes or businesses.

Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton said Wednesday that conditions are still adverse, so the fire may continue to spread.

"However, at this time, we do not see it reaching communities," he said."The province's response is being managed by highly trained professionals and fire crew members who are ready to respond at a moment's notice to keep us safe in case of emergency," said Rushton.

McCurdy said the province is still investigating the fire but it is confident it was caused by humans since there has been no lightning in the remote area in the past week.

"The only access to the area is by all-terrain vehicles. So it would have to be somebody either going out fishing or on an all-terrain vehicle and in the area," she said.

"It could have been somebody stopped for lunch and had a campfire,smoking along the riverbank, or it could have even been accumulation of debris on an exhaust on an all-terrain vehicle."

She said crews were pulled from the line for safety reasons as the CL-415 water bomber helped with firefighting efforts Tuesday.

McCurdy said firefighting gets called off at night because of theincreasedrisks for firefighters and limits on thesupport available.

"In these circumstances, the crews will often start work at first light and then work till dusk, and then DNR and the fire departments will monitor the active fire overnight and work to protect structures," said McCurdy.

She said the area is mostly peat bog and black spruce, which makes it difficult to walk through.

"It's almost like walking in deep snow, you know it was like walking on pillows. So it can be hard to walk through and get equipment to it and with this limited access, they're having to carry equipment or get it moved in by aircraft," said McCurdy.

DNR has mobilized its incident management team, which will be looking after resources and logistics, from strategy and tactics to food and water for crews.

"They're also looking at getting more resources inbe it equipment, hoses, and ground personnel," she said.

CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddonsaid Wednesday's easterly winds are lighter than Tuesday's, and are set to continue to ease through the evening.

"Amarine air mass moved in overnight and will remain in place into this evening. The higher relative humidity should help at least somewhat to slow the spread of the fire today," he said.

While there is still a chance of drizzle into Wednesday evening, Snoddon said it's not significant enough to have any real impact on the fire. As the sunshine returns on Thursday, the relative humidity will drop into the 35-45 per cent range in the afternoon.

"As the sun rises, northwest winds in the 10-20 km/h range are on the way for Thursday," Snoddon said. "Those winds will pushsmoke from the fire towards Shelburne and Queens counties."

McCurdy said a timeline for getting the fire under control will depend on weather conditions, and crews are hopeful for rain in the forecast.

"Sunday is looking like our break. We're hoping by Sunday, it may give us that chance to get it under control. But as for getting the fire completely out, it's going to take quite a few weeks."

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Out-of-control wildfire in Yarmouth County now covers 3,100 hectares - CBC.ca

By Jason Pan / Staff reporter

The Taiwan Statebuilding Party together with pro-Taiwan independence groups slammed recent government moves at a media briefing yesterday, while also opposing the presidents nomination of People First Party (PFP) Secretary-General Lee Hung-chun () as vice president of the Control Yuan.

At the event in Taipei, Taiwan Statebuilding Party Secretary-General Wang Sing-huan () said he was disappointed that the government was moving backwards with regard to political reform and pandering to conservative forces by not allowing a Taiwanese historian to serve as a board member of the publicly funded Taiwan Broadcasting System (TBS).

Wang and the groups said they were marking May 9 as A Day of Setback for Taiwan Transitional Justice, referring to Monday, when the decisions were announced.

Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

Looking at the core values and history of the KMT [Chinese Nationalist Party] and the PFP, the transitional justice process is working to clean up the stains and past wrongdoings, done by these two parties, Wang said, explaining why they are offended that President Tsai Ing-wen () nominated Lee, who was previously also a KMT member.

World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI) chairman Chen Nan-tien () said that the Control Yuan deputy president must rise above partisan politics and have a long-term vision.

He questioned Lees political stance and his roles during Taiwans democratization and transitional justice process.

Lee served four terms as legislator from 2002 to 2020, representing the PFP during his first two terms and the KMT during the latter two.

President Tsai could find numerous people from the Democratic Progressive Party or prominent figures in Taiwan to nominate instead, Chen said.

This nomination has betrayed the wishes of the vast majority of the public, and seems like a personal appointment that is not based on a balance of political power, Chen added.

Taiwan Statebuilding Party and WUFI officials condemned the decision by the TBS board member selection committee to reject the appointment of Chen Tsui-lien (), a Taiwan National University professor of history.

Wang referred to the TBS committees explanation that Chen Tsui-lien was unsuitable because she conducts research into the 228 Incident, resulting in strife between Taiwans various ethnic groups.

The TBS governing board is in charge of the state-funded Taiwan Public Television Service, which together with its affiliated state television networks braodcasts in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), Hakka and other indigenous languages, showing the people with this decision that it does not have the public interest in mind and is hypocritical, he said.

The rejection also rejects the current transitional process, Wang said.

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Party, groups say Taipei indulging conservatives -

Within minutes of the leaking of the draft opinion from the US Supreme Court calling for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Elizabeth Constance, a reproductive endocrinologist at the Heartland Center for Reproductive Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska, was inundated with messages on social media from concerned patients. What does this mean for the embryos I have frozen, they asked her. What does it mean for the egg retrieval I have planned? Our patients are really afraid, says Constance.

Should Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case which ruled that the right to abortion in the US is protected by the Constitution, be rolled back, the repercussions will be swift, and they will be devastating. And the realities of a post-Roe world will likely not stop at abortion bans. Many more frontiers of reproductive health are in peril, legal experts and bioethicists warn.

The most immediate concern, says Sean Tipton, chief advocacy, policy, and development officer of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, is that a lot of states use language in their laws that would give legal and constitutional status to the fertilized egg should Roe be overturned. At the moment, 13 states in the US have trigger laws in place that would ban all or nearly all abortions immediately or very quickly if Roe were overturned, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights advocacy and research group. In many of these laws, life is defined as beginning at the moment of fertilization, although the exact language differs from state to state.

By this definition, any procedure involving the destruction of a fertilized egg is at risk of being outlawed if Roe v. Wade is overturneda fertilized egg would theoretically hold the same rights as a kindergartner. This is the manifestation of the personhood movement, propagated by pro-lifers, which seeks to define fertilized eggs, zygotes, embryos, and fetuses as people with equal protections under the law. It is a clear and present danger to all forms of reproductive health care, Tipton says.

Not only does such terminology outlaw abortion, it could jeopardize access to certain forms of birth control, such as intrauterine devices, as well as emergency contraception like Plan B. This is because these forms of contraception are considered by some anti-abortion advocates to be abortifacientssubstances that induce abortionwhen interpreting life as beginning at fertilization. (This is despite IUDs and emergency contraception largely preventing pregnancy by stopping eggs from being fertilized or from being released, respectively, rather than interacting with eggs after fertilization.) It could also impair access to assisted reproductive therapy, namely IVF.

Roes fall could be the opportunity seized upon by pro-life politicians to push for further restrictions, warns Seema Mohapatra, a law professor specializing in health law and reproductive justice at Southern Methodist University in Texas. Any state that has been on the forefront of anti-abortion legislation, we can expect to have these ancillary types of laws passed, she says. That includes large swathes of states in the Midwest and the South. Even if up until now they havent been active, this is really going to empower statesand, cynically, politicians that want to get attentionto be focusing on these issues.

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Roe v. Wades Fall Could Threaten Birth Control and IVF Access - WIRED