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Rare white buffalo calf in Yellowstone Park fulfills Lakota prophecy | GATHERING IN THE WEST | News

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MONTANA

White buffalo calf fulfills Lakota prophecy

HELENA — The reported birth of a rare white buffalo in Yellowstone National Park fulfills a Lakota prophecy that portends better times, according to members of the Native American tribe who warned it is also a signal to do more to protect the earth and its animals. .

“The birth of this calf is both a blessing and a warning. We must do more,” said Chief Arvol Looking Horse, spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Oyate in South Dakota, and 19th Keeper of the Buffalo sacred white. Calf woman’s pipe and package.

Erin Braaten of Kalispell took several photos of the calf shortly after his birth June 4 in Lamar Valley in the northeast corner of the park while her family was visiting the park.

Traffic eventually stopped as the bison crossed the road, so Braaten took his camera out the window to take a closer look with his telephoto lens.

Once the bison cleared the roadway, the Braatens turned around and found a place to park. They observed the calf and its mother for 30 to 45 minutes.

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For the Lakota, the birth of a white buffalo with black nose, eyes and hooves is akin to the second coming of Jesus Christ, Looking Horse said.

Lakota legend has it that about 2,000 years ago – when nothing was going well, food was running out and the bison were disappearing – a female white buffalo calf appeared, presented a furnace pipe and a bundle to a tribesman, taught them to pray and said the pipe could be used to bring buffalo to the area for food. As she left, she transformed into a little white buffalo.

A naming ceremony was held for the Yellowstone calf, Looking Horse said, although he declined to reveal the name. A ceremony celebrating the calf’s birth was held June 26 at campaign headquarters Buffalo Field in West Yellowstone.

NORTH DAKOTA

Voters approve age limit for congressional candidates

BISMARCK — People over the age of 70 can no longer run for Congress in North Dakota under a measure overwhelmingly passed by voters on June 11, and legal experts said the law could remain in effect indefinitely because no elderly applicant could challenge the restriction. they probably consider it unconstitutional.

These experts view the constitutional amendment as an effort to reverse a nearly 30-year-old Supreme Court ruling against congressional term limits and could pose a potential test for the nation. The initiative prohibits anyone from running for or serving in the U.S. House of Representatives or Senate if they reach age 81 during their term.

For now, the age limit remains in effect until someone challenges it, said David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University and a law professor at the University of Minnesota who specializes in in electoral and constitutional law. He said the key to any challenge would be who has standing to bring suit.

He said he considered the measure unconstitutional under the 1995 term limits ruling, which says states cannot set congressional qualifications beyond what is already provided in the U.S. Constitution.

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He said a potential challenge could come from someone excluded by the age limit in an election – or potentially from a political party seeking to nominate an older candidate.

The measure is to take effect immediately, although election results have yet to be certified. Independent candidates have until September to submit their signatures to run in the 2024 general election, meaning an age-restricted candidate could theoretically emerge and be turned down. The North Dakota Supreme Court would have jurisdiction over an appeal under this measure.

A state legislative committee, anticipating a lawsuit, estimated it would cost the state $1 million to defend the age limit.

WYOMING

Bill Gates inaugurates nuclear project

Bill Gates and his energy company are beginning construction at their Wyoming site on a next-generation nuclear power plant that he says will “revolutionize” the way electricity is produced.

Gates was in the small community of Kemmerer on June 10 to launch the project. Microsoft co-founder is chairman of TerraPower. The company filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March for a construction permit for an advanced nuclear reactor using sodium, not water, for cooling. If approved, it would operate as a commercial nuclear power plant.

The site is adjacent to PacifiCorp’s Naughton Power Plant, which will stop burning coal in 2026 and natural gas a decade later, the utility said. Nuclear reactors operate without emitting greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. PacifiCorp plans to obtain carbon-free power from the reactor and says it is evaluating how much nuclear to include in its long-term planning.

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“This is a big step toward secure, abundant, carbon-free energy,” Gates said. “And it’s important for the future of this country that projects like this succeed.”

Advanced reactors typically use a coolant other than water and operate at lower pressures and higher temperatures. Such technology has been around for decades, but the United States has continued to build large, conventional water-cooled reactors as commercial power plants. The Wyoming project is the first time in about four decades that a company has attempted to bring an advanced reactor into operation as a commercial power plant in the United States, according to the NRC.

TerraPower’s Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project is a sodium-cooled fast reactor design with a molten salt energy storage system.

UTAH

Salt Lake Winter Olympics could cost $4 billion

Organizers of the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City released their first budget estimate June 10, projecting total costs of just under $4 billion, with $2.84 billion earmarked for costs. operational.

The committee said that although there will be 40% more events than the last time Salt Lake City hosted the Olympics, the operational cost figure for 2034 is 1% lower than in 2002, a times adjusted for inflation.

The IOC planned to study the numbers and is expected to officially award the 2034 Games to the Utah capital at a July 24 meeting in the run-up to the Paris Olympics.

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Salt Lake City has focused on using many sites that were in operation in 2002. It says no new site construction is planned for 2034 because it will use facilities that have been used and improved since 2002 .

The Olympics are notorious for going over budget and also for being difficult to track in terms of money – partly because of the different elements that make up “running” and “total” costs and also because of a The often opaque process used in filtering. these figures through governments and the IOC to the public.

Salt Lake organizers have released revenue projections that estimate they will break even on a $1.8 billion goal in national sponsorship.

NEW MEXICO

Ambulance rates could rise after rate hikes are agreed

SANTA FE — Ambulance rates will increase for some in New Mexico, especially those without health insurance, after state regulators approved a rate increase for an ambulance company to non-profit affiliated with the Presbyterians.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the Albuquerque ambulance service cited rising labor costs and inflation when requesting the rate increase, resulting in an increase service rates of 65% and an increase in mileage rates of 15%. He had initially asked for much higher increases.

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Patients on Medicaid or Medicare, who make up about 77 percent of patients who use Albuquerque Ambulance Service, will not see a rate increase, as will those on Veterans Affairs health benefits, according to the New Mexican.

The hardest hit patients are those without health insurance, who make up about 7% of the company’s patients, according to the New Mexican.

The Albuquerque Ambulance Service operates nearly 100,000 transports annually in Albuquerque and Santa Fe counties, as well as Sandoval and Rio Arriba counties, according to the New Mexican.

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