Yellowstone National Cemetery / Death-row Ruling / Indian Casinos

Missoulian: Veterans cemetery dedicated as national cemetery on Memorial Day
VA Receives Donation for New Yellowstone National Cemetery

“VA’s National Cemetery Administration will begin burial operations at Yellowstone National Cemetery on May 26, 2014.  Effective May 26, Veterans and family members who wish to schedule an interment or inurnment at the cemetery should call the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 800 535-1117.  VA will manage committal services for burials that were previously scheduled by the City of Laurel, Mont. ”

Yellowstone National Cemetery

Missoulian: High court rules for death-row inmates with low IQ
HALL v. FLORIDA

“After this Court held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid the execution of persons with intellectual disability, see Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U. S. 304, 321, Hall asked a Florida state court to vacate his sentence, presenting evidence that included an IQ test score of 71. The court denied his motion, determining that a Florida statute mandated that he show an IQ score of 70 or below before being permitted to present any additional intellectual disability evidence. The State Supreme Court rejected Hall’s appeal, finding the State’s 70-point threshold constitutional.”

Missoulian: Supreme Court says Mich. can't block Indian casino

MICHIGAN v. BAY MILLS INDIAN COMMUNITY ET AL.

“The State of Michigan, petitioner, entered into a compact with respondent Bay Mills Indian Community pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). See 25 U. S. C. §2710(d)(1)(C). The compact authorizes Bay Mills to conduct class III gaming activities (i.e., to operate a casino) on Indian lands located within the State’s borders, but prohibits it from doing so outside that territory. Bay Mills later opened a second casino on land it had purchased through a congressionally established land trust. The Tribe claimed it could operate a casino there because the property qualified as Indian land. Michigan disagreed and sued the Tribe under §2710(d)(7)(A)(ii), which allows a State to enjoin “class III gaming activity located on Indian lands and conducted in violation of any Tribal-State compact.” The District Court granted the injunction, but the Sixth Circuit vacated. It held that tribal sovereign immunity barred the suit unless Congress provided otherwise, and that §2710(d)(7)(A)(ii) only authorized suits to enjoin gaming activity located “on Indian lands,” whereas Michigan’s complaint alleged the casino was outside such territory.”

Veteran's Health Care

Missoulian: Fix to veterans' health care takes on new resolve
Statement by the President on Veterans Health Care
“First, anybody found to have manipulated or falsified records at VA facilities has to be held accountable.  The inspector general at the VA has launched investigations into the Phoenix VA and other facilities.  And some individuals have already been put on administrative leave.  I know that people are angry and want a swift reckoning.  I sympathize with that.  But we have to let the investigators do their job and get to the bottom of what happened.  Our veterans deserve to know the facts.  Their families deserve to know the facts.  And once we know the facts, I assure you -- if there is misconduct, it will be punished.” 

Fires and Climate Change/ Wildfires and Exploding Targets/ More FIrefighting Tankers

Climate is the most important environmental factor affecting long-term variability and change of wildfire. R.C. Wilkinson, University of Florida

Missoulian: Wildfires growing increasingly dangerous and costly, expert says
NDFD Fire Danger Point Forecast Tool
Wildfire in the United States: Future Trends and Potential
“Wildfire is a major forest disturbance in the United States—one with remarkable environmental, social, and economic impacts. Future wildfire trends are mainly determined by variability and change in climate, which is projected to become warmer and drier this century in the continental United States. Researchers at the Forest Service's Center for Forest Disturbance Science projected trends in wildfire potential for the continental United States using dynamical regional climate change downscaling simulations provided by the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program.”

Climate change and wildfires
“Wildland fire regimes are primarily driven by climate/weather, fuels and people. All of these factors are dynamic and their variable interactions create a mosaic of fire regimes around the world. Climate change will have a substantial impact on future fire regimes in many global regions. Current research suggests a general increase in area burned and fire occurrence but there is a lot of global variability. Recent studies of future global fire weather under different climate change scenarios using several General Circulation Models are reviewed. A widespread increase in future fire weather severity was found over almost all the earth with increasing fire season length occurring in many regions, particularly at northern latitudes. In the boreal forest region, which represents about one-third of global forest cover, increased area burned over the last four decades has been linked to higher temperatures as a result of human-induced climate change.”

Missoulian: Exploding targets banned on national forests in Montana, Idaho, Dakotas
US Forest Service Implements Closure Order on Explosive Targets
“In the past two years, exploding targets have been identified as the cause of at least 16 wildfires in the western states, costing taxpayers more than $33 million in fire suppression costs. The closure order includes all 12 national forests and grasslands in the Northern Region, covering northern Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and remaining portions of South Dakota not already under a closure order by the Rocky Mountain region.”

Missoulian: Forest Service expands aerial firefighting fleet with 3 more Neptune Aviation tankers
Forest Service increases its firefighting aircraft fleet as fire season begins

“In the face of what is shaping up to be a catastrophic fire season in the Southwest, the U.S. Forest Service is adding four additional aircraft to its next-generation firefighting fleet, bringing the total amount of aircraft to 21 large airtankers (with opportunities to add additional aircraft, if needed) and more than 100 helicopters.  The new aircraft will enter service in the coming weeks and support over 10,000 firefighters for the 2014 wildfire season.”