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PENINSULA DAILY NEWS February 29, 2016 | 75¢
Port Townsend-Jefferson County’s Daily Newspaper
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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Quilcene district aims for new levy
And the winner is . . .
Measure would fund firefighters after grant BY CHARLIE BERMANT PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
CHARLIE BERMANT/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
Michael Delagarza and Jane Champion get ready to pose for a souvenir portrait at the Port Townsend Film Festival’s Oscar Broadcast & Big Party on Sunday. More that 100 people attended the fundraiser at the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend.
QUILCENE — The Quilcene Fire District will ask voters to approve a six-year emergency medical services levy on the April 26 special election ballot. The levy is to take over funding of new positions once a grant that has funded them expires. “The new firefighters give us the opportunity to create a greater level of service with a twoyear grant,” said Deputy Chief Don Svetich of Jefferson County Fire District No. 2. “The EMS levy will allow us to keep the new firefighters once the grant expires.” Three firefighters — Lieutenant/EMT Mark McCrehin and Lieutenant/EMT Kevin Winn, both of Quilcene, and Firefighter/Paramedic Jess Godsalve of Poulsbo — started on the job Jan. 4. 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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