Quitobaquito Spring in danger: Border wall construction depleting sacred Tohono O'odham spring, home to endangered species

"It is with a heavy heart that I share this photo taken today of Quitobaquito. The spring is drying up. It has never been this low. Wall workers are currently trenching nearby for the lights that will go on the 30' border wall. This sacred place, this life-giving spring of the O'odham is being desecrated." -- Ajo resident. (Photos copyright by the photographer. Used with permission by Censored News.)

Laiken Jordahl of the Center for Biological Diversity said, "Quitobaquito Springs, a stunning oasis sacred to the O'odham and home to two endangered species, is drying up. The Department of Homeland Security is siphoning millions of gallons of groundwater and digging trenches for wall construction while refusing to complete any environmental analysis."

Quitobaquito Spring in danger: Border wall construction depleting sacred Tohono O'odham spring, home to endangered species

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

The construction of the U.S. Border Wall is depleting the water from the Quitobaquito Spring, sacred since time immemorial to Tohono O'odham. The spring nourishes two endangered species found nowhere else in the world, the Sonoyta mud turtle and Quitobaquito pupfish.

The Trump administration is proceeding with the construction of the border wall in violation of all federal laws protecting Native American sacred sites, endangered species and those that protect the land, water and air, and depleting the scarce water sources in the Sonoran Desert.

"The spring is drying up. It has never been this low. Wall workers are currently trenching nearby for the lights that will go on the 30-foot border wall. This sacred place, this life-giving spring of the O'odham is being desecrated," an Ajo resident said.

Border wall construction has been depleting groundwater for spraying to tamp dust, and for mixing concrete for footings.

Private security at Organ Pipe Cactus Monument 

Watch video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1sAk2BOM1s&fbclid=IwAR2eCRjK5Ai9QVg676tjW8VRYSPmxytmrIlzQLr4fzH3ffuzTgGl-e_5tQ4

Run4Salmon Prayer Journey goes virtual due to COVID-19

ANNUAL RUN4SALMON 300-MILE PRAYER JOURNEY GOES VIRTUAL FOR 2020 DUE TO COVID-19

Contacts: Holly Irene Cardoza
Will Doolittle, Run4Salmon Media Team
hollycardoza@gmail.com, will@moving-image.com

July 17, 2020

MOUNT SHASTA, California -- Starting today, the annual Run4Salmon Prayer Journey of 300 miles goes virtual for 2020 due to COVID-19.

Adapting, instead of canceling the annual event, this year's Run4Salmon offers online participation.

Santa Rosa human rights report details Pomo shot in mouth with sting ball grenade by police

Sting ball grenade

Marqus Red Bear Martinez

Human Right Violations in Santa Rosa, California

Policing the Black Lives Matter Protests

Update: Class Action suit results in settlement

The Press Democrat reports:

The city of Santa Rosa will pay $1.9 million to five people injured in protests that followed the death of George Floyd, including a man whose face was shattered by a sting ball grenade.

The settlement is the largest in the city’s history involving a civil rights lawsuit and the Santa Rosa Police Department, City Attorney Sue Gallagher confirmed through a city spokeswoman Friday.

Marqus Martinez and Michaela Staggs filed the lawsuit last year, saying they were peacefully protesting and filming police when they were injured by so-called “less lethal” projectiles fired by officers. Three other plaintiffs later joined the suit.

Read article:

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/santa-rosa-to-pay-1-9-million-to-people-injured-during-george-floyd-protes/

Previous post at Censored News:

New report details testimony of Marqus 'Red Bear' Martinez, Pomo, who was shot in the mouth with a sting ball grenade by Santa Rosa police. Liz Martinez, Pomo, said, "I'm a student nurse. I'm a real estate agent. And I still fear the police here. When I see my brother's face that night, and he told me no officers came to his aid, once he was shot."

By Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights

Published: July 10, 2020

The Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights has released a groundbreaking report on police violence against protesters over the last weeks. "Human Right Violations in Santa Rosa California - Policing the Black Lives Matter Protests," details the excessive use of force and human rights abuses perpetrated on the public by the Santa Rosa Police Department(SRPD) and other law enforcement agencies during protests following the murder of George Floyd.
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Coronavirus testing team reports to Navajo Council Committee on tests and gating measures

Coronavirus testing team reports to Navajo Council Committee on tests and gating measures

Health, Education, and Human Services Committee hears Navajo Nation Testing Team report on COVID-19 testing strategies and gating measures

The 24TH NAVAJO NATION COUNCIL
Office of the Speaker
July 16, 2020
Photos by Navajo Council
Censored News

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Health, Education, and Services Committee (HEHSC) of the 24th Navajo Nation Council heard updates regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) testing strategy and gating measures from the Navajo Epidemiology Center (NEC) and COVID-19 Testing Coordination Team last week Wednesday, Jul. 8.

Team members Dr. Jill Jim, director of the Navajo Department of Health (NDOH), Ramona Antone-Nez, director of the NEC, Dr. Laura Hammit, director of Infectious Disease Programs at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health and Del Yazzie, epidemiologist, were present for the report.

Dr. Hammit described the Navajo Nation’s COVID-19 testing strategy, which she said is based on recommendations from neighboring states and from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“We’re learning new information all the time, and we need to be able to adapt to that new information, and our recommendations may change,” Dr. Hammit said.

Uranium leave it in the ground! Global online launch of first Uranium Atlas with Western Shoshone, Navajo and more

The first atomic bomb blast in July 16, 1945 in Alamogordo, New Mexico,

The international guests participating in this event are: Makoma Lekalakala (Earthlife Africa, South Africa), Ian Zabarte (Western Shoshone Nation, USA), Sascha Hach (Nuclear Free Future Foundation, Germany) and Anna Rondon (New Mexico Social Justice and Equity Institute, Navajo Nation, USA). There will be additional recorded statements from Tina Cordova (Trinity Downwinders, USA) and Larry King (Navajo Nation, USA).

Leave uranium in the ground!

Global Online Launch of the first Uranium Atlas

Watch online at 1 pm Eastern time, July 16, 2020.

The Uranium Atlas tells the global story of uranium through maps, graphics and narratives covering every phase of the uranium fuel chain. The raw material of the Atomic Age was or is mostly mined in African countries, Australia, Kazakhstan and Canada, and the consequences for the inhabitants of these mining areas have been fatal from the very beginning. The victims of global nuclear colonialism are mostly Indigenous peoples whose voices remain unheard.

July 16 is seared in the memory of New Mexicans: On July 16, 1945, at 5:30 in the morning, scientists from Los Alamos detonated Trinity, the first atomic bomb, in the White Sands desert. On July 16, 1979, at 5:30 in the morning, the tailings dam of the Church Rock uranium mill broke, contaminating the drinking water of the Diné (Navajo) people.

We dedicate the launch of the Uranium Atlas to all the victims of July 16.