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PENINSULA DAILY NEWS February 29, 29, 2016 | 75¢
Port Angeles-Sequim-West End
Tribes to share in $45 million Peninsula funds part of larger court settlement BY MARK SWANSON PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
PORT ANGELES — The six Native American tribes of the North Olympic Peninsula will share almost $45 million in a larger court settlement with the Obama administration. Attorneys representing more than 700 tribes announced last Wednesday that a federal judge in Albuquerque, N.M., approved the agreement, a $940 million settle-
ment of a national class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit had sought reimbursement of tribal costs that were underfunded by the federal government under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act between 1994 and 2013. The act is designed to compensate tribes for local services, such as education and law enforcement, that the federal government otherwise would provide.
Court documents said that in 1994, Congress began capping total annual appropriations for ISDEAA payments at levels that did not provide enough funding for the tribes’ costs and needs. When the Ramah Navajo tribe filed its class action suit, the government argued that these appropriation caps limited the tribes’ rights to pursue damages for the underpayments. In 2012, the Supreme Court rejected this argument and held the government liable for the underpayments. The current settlement was negotiated in the wake of that decision, and covers the 20 years when the caps were in effect, 1994 through 2013.
“This decision is great news, but we need to use the funds to strengthen our tribe and help fill critical gaps in emergency programs. This decision has been a long time in coming and the funds have been desperately needed.” LARRY RALSTON Treasurer, Quinault tribe According to the settlement’s dedicated website, www.rnc settlement.com, “the settlement funds can be spent by a tribe or tribal organization in the same manner as any other unrestricted tribal funds.”
Quinault The Quinault Indian Nation is slated to receive the largest local
payment — $22,810,544 — under the terms of the agreement. In a news release, Treasurer Larry Ralston said that the nation has a number of “big-ticket expenses” that have to take priority, including the planned relocation of the tribe’s Taholah village, high school and multi-purpose building. TURN
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School’s field to be revamped Forks athletics space to see $1.25M overhaul BY ARWYN RICE PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
ARWYN RICE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
The muddy football field at Forks High School is expected to undergo a major transformation into a $1.25 million artificial turf field with a freshly resurfaced track this summer.
FORKS — Quillayute Valley School District is making plans to replace Spartan Field this summer with a $1.25 million artificial turf field and a track. Construction on the field and track at Forks High School is expected to begin May 5, but there is a lot of work to do before crews can break ground, said Superintendent Diana Reaume. “We’re still in the design phase,” Reaume said. Designs for the field, which will shed water instead of absorbing it, include the addition of a stormwater-retention pond on district property. Spartan Field, which often becomes muddy, is located behind the high school at 261 S. Spartan Ave. Field Turf, a company that manufactures and installs artificial turf fields, was contracted for the design phase. TURN
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PA man — born in 1940 — turns 19 today David Murphy marks Leap Day birth BY ARWYN RICE PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
PORT ANGELES — David Murphy will celebrate his birthdate for only the 19th time today — on his 76th birthday. Murphy, born Feb. 29, 1940, is one of a very small group of people called “leaplings” — one whose birthday falls on a Leap Day, which only appears on the calendar every four years. However, he said it wasn’t always pleasant having a “special” birthday while he was growing up. “It’s fun after you get out of school, but I got teased a lot at a younger age. The kids didn’t let it
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go,” he said. Murphy works at Wilder Auto and was formerly an employee at The Toggery, a 97-year-old clothing store in downtown Port Angeles that closed in 2011 when the owners retired. When does a leapling celebrate a birthday during those three off years? “Usually on [Feb.] 28th, but sometimes on March 1,” Murphy said, and noted that it made little difference to him. Eight years ago his family threw a big birthday party with 30 or 40 people for his Leap Year birthday, but most years there is little difference between those and other
birthday celebrations, he said. He said there are no plans for a special birthday celebration this year — that he knows of. According to the U.S. Census, about 200,000 Americans have a birthday on Feb. 29. Murphy said he knew of two others when he grew up in San Diego. “I had a picture on the front page of the paper every four years,” he said, and noted that it was that Leap Day article that let him know who the others were. He added that the front-page birthdays also got old very quickly when it reminded his young peers of his unique birthday situation. Improbably, in the Port Angeles area, there are at least a dozen other leaplings that he knows of, he said.
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Port Angeles residents David Murphy and his wife, Gayle, will celebrate David’s 76th birthday today, only the 19th time he has been able to mark his Feb. 29 Leap Day birthdate.
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