Fort Reno, U.S.A. - On June 1st, 2012, eight riders and a host of supporters are scheduled to set out from Fort Reno on a 1,391 mile journey in remembrance of the 1878 Cheyenne exodus.

The Ride Home was set in motion by Margaret Behan of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers and Cheyenne Elders Council who will be joining the riders for prayers and healing ceremonies at key locations along the journey which spans seven states.

From Oklahoma through Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming, the ride culminates in Lame Deer, Montana on July 28, 2012 at the 11th gathering of the Grandmothers Council. 

At sacrifice sites along the route, Earth skill educators will share the lost wisdom of caring for the earth through storytelling, land stewardship and wilderness survival training for families.  They will offer hands-on teachings of traditional skills such as fire making, shelter building, animal tracking, flint knapping, and more.

Inspired by Cherokee rider Noqah Elisi who first envisioned the ride after receiving a message in a vision quest instructing her to follow in the footsteps of her grandmothers, Margaret asked Juan Villarreal to organize the ride.  Juan, a member of the Texas Lipan Apache and The Apache Language Preservation Committee, board member of the Tribal Native American Church and founder of Sacred Wind Earth Teachings, had never ridden a horse.

Juan immediately contacted Suzi Landolphi from Red Horse Nation, a Native American Horse program of Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue to begin his horse training.  Lifesaver is supplying all of the horses for the ride and is also the fiscal sponsor.

“My prayer is to bring spirit back to my people.  So much has been lost.  We need to bring our Cheyenne identity and pride back to the young people, teach them the traditional ceremonies and language,” says Grandmother Margaret Behan.

A film crew will be documenting the journey with acclaimed native filmmaker Chris Eyre acting as key advisor.  Colin and Livia Firth are also associated with the journey and film.

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The American Red Cross is responding across the Midwest where dozens of tornadoes ripped through communities overnight, destroying buildings and downing power lines. Red Cross workers are already operating shelters and providing meals, and more help is on the way.

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by these tornadoes,” said Charley Shimanski, senior vice president for Red Cross Disaster Services. “Red Cross chapters are already offering folks food and a safe place to stay and more workers and equipment are being sent it to help people who were in the path of these storms.”

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center reported at least 97 tornadoes blew across Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Particularly hard hit were the towns of Woodward and Norman in Oklahoma, the towns of Creston and Thurman in Iowa and areas in and around Wichita, Kansas. Currently, hundreds of relief supplies are being moved to the affected areas. These supplies include comfort kits, tarps, coolers, rakes and other cleanup supplies. The Red Cross is also sending in additional staff and disaster equipment.

The Red Cross encourages people to register on the Red Cross Safe and Well website to let loved ones know they are safe by visiting www.redcross.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). From a smart phone, visit www.redcross.org/safeandwell and click on the “List Yourself as Safe and Well” or “Search for Friends and Family” link.

Officials said the severe weather may continue from Texas to the upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the country. People who live in areas hit by the overnight storms should not return to their neighborhoods until authorities say it is safe to do so. Other safety steps include:

• Stay out of damaged buildings.
• Wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts and sturdy shoes when examining homes for damage.
• Watch out for fallen power lines or broken gas lines and report them to the utility company immediately.
• Use battery- powered flashlights when examining buildings—do NOT use candles.
• If someone notices a gas smell or hears a hissing noise, they should open a window and get everyone out of the building quickly. They should also call the Gas Company or fire department.
• Keep animals under control.
• Clean up spilled medications, bleaches, gasoline or other flammable liquids that could become a fire hazard.

Image Courtesy of   American Red Cross

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The American Red Cross is helping people across the Midwest after tornadoes slammed into parts of Kansas and Missouri early this morning, injuring dozens of people, destroying buildings and leaving thousands without power. This is the third time tornadoes have devastated parts of Missouri in less than a year. The storm threat continues today with officials warning severe storms will continue in the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee valleys.

One of the areas affected is Branson, Missouri where officials reported some people were trapped in their homes and buildings in the city’s famous theater district are heavily damaged. In Kansas, Governor Sam Brownback declared a state of emergency for the affected areas southwest of Topeka.

Red Cross workers in Missouri have opened shelters and are providing meals for displaced residents. Additional workers are fanning out in affected neighborhoods to begin assessing the extent of the tornado damage. In Kansas, tornadoes damaged homes and search and rescue teams are searching for missing residents in the wreckage. Red Cross chapters are preparing to open shelters and are serving meals to those affected as well as emergency responders.

To find an open Red Cross shelter, visit www.redcross.org or call 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767). iPhone users can download a free Red Cross shelter view app from the app store.

With the threat of more storms today, residents should be on the watch for tornado warning signs such as dark, greenish clouds, large hail, a roaring noise, a cloud of debris or funnel clouds. It’s a good idea to secure outside items such as lawn furniture or trash cans, which could be picked up by the wind and injure someone.

If a tornado watch is issued, it means tornadoes are possible and people should be ready to act quickly. If a tornado warning is issued, it means a tornado has been sighted or indicated by radar and people should go under ground immediately to a basement or storm cellar or to an interior room such as a bathroom or closet.

As residents begin to deal with the aftermath of today’s deadly storms, the Red Cross reminds people to stay out of damaged buildings and immediately report any fallen power lines or broken gas lines to the utility companies. If people are out of their homes, they should return to their neighborhood only when officials say it is safe to do so. Other safety steps include:

• People should use flashlights, not candles, when examining buildings. If someone smells gas or hears a hissing noise, they should open a window and get everyone out of the building immediately and call the gas company or fire department.
• Check for injuries. If someone is trained, they should provide first aid until emergency responders arrive.
• People should listen to their local news or NOAA Weather Radio for updated information and instructions.

For more information about how to stay safe if tornadoes threaten someone’s community, people can visit the preparedness section of www.redcross.org.

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Emma Sullivan, a student at Shawnee Mission East High School in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, tweeted during a meeting at the Youth in Government session in which Kansas Governor Sam Brownback spoke, “Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot,” according to a New York Times report.

The Youth in Government is a program designed to, “provide students with an atmosphere that promotes increased self-esteem, positive personal growth and development, a sense of empowerment, and a respect for the uniqueness of others,” according its website. Sullivan later claimed that in the Tweet she was “just joking with friends.” She did not speak up during the assembly, the msnbc.com report stated.

Brownback’s office watches social networking sites for his name. Once they saw Sullivan’s tweet, they reached out to the Youth in Government program. Sullivan was required to go to the principal’s office, who requested she write an apology letter, according to the msnbc news report.

Brownback released a statement that appeared on his Facebook account. I “My staff over-reacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize. Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms. I enjoyed speaking to the more than 100 students who participated in the Youth in Government program at the Kansas capitol.

They are our future. I also want to thank the thousands of Kansas educators who remind us daily of our liberties, as well as the values of civility and decorum. Again, I apologize for our over-reaction.” Sullivan has since tweeted, “I’ve decided not to write the letter but I hope this opens the door for average citizens to voice their opinion & to be heard! #goingstrong”

Sullivan said she would “do it again” in the msnbc news report. The same report stated that Sullivan had 65 followers on the social networking site before tweeting and now has nearly three thousand.

Twitter is considered one of the more popular social networking sites with 1.5 million accounts, according to Business Insider. However, it does not claim the same amount of success as Facebook, which has 600 million active users, as reported by Business Insider. FourSquare also has more than Twitter, with 7.5 million people registered, according to Business Insider.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/govsambrownback

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The Big 12 Conference is apparently falling apart at the seams. Oklahoma University, Oklahoma State University, and surprise defector Texas are all entertaining the possibility of leaving the conference. Sources close to the situation say that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are both in serious pursuit of joining the newly formed Pac 12.

Texas is currently working to save the Big 12 going so far as to fly UT officials to Norman, Oklahoma last weekend to try to convince Oklahoma to stay in the Big 12. However UT officials have begun informal exploratory talks with Pac 12 officials to join as well.

This news comes right on the heels of the SEC announcing that they will admit Texas A&M, another Big 12 team, conditionally next season barring any legal ramifications with A&M leaving. This would bring the SEC to 13 teams, and reports say the SEC wants to include a 14^th team to equally split the division lines of East and West.

The team that the SEC think fits the 14th spot perfectly happens to be Missouri, another Big 12 team. With Nebraska leaving for the Big Ten and Colorado for the Pac 12 last year, the Big 12 only has 10 teams at the moment, and these new potential moves could cripple the Big 12 down to 5 teams.

The five teams left would be Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor, and Texas Tech who would form a hypothetical Subpar 5 Conference. None of these universities could garner the huge national media attention needed to keep a conference together. A small exception could be Kansas and Kansas State for their basketball programs, but neither have the marketability of college football.

If UT, OU and OK State all make a run for the Pac 12 this could cause more repercussions on that Subpar 5 Conference. The Pac 12 would have a total of 15 teams and leave them looking for the last puzzle piece to become a 16 team super conference. That 16^th team would most likely be Texas Tech, as they were involved earlier this year in a 4 team deal to bring UT, OU, OK State and Texas Tech to the then Pac-10.

The deal fell apart as the universities opted to stay in the Big 12, but it seems now as if the deal could happen, just a year late. With only 4 teams, the Big 12 would be incapable of surviving, heading towards sure dissolution. This crumbling would invoke a feeding frenzy as the remaining major conferences Big Ten, SEC, and ACC  swoop in and try to get at least two of the remaining teams to form their own super conference.

Landing two of these teams could bring the ACC to 16 teams, as an article on the New York Times website states. Officials from the ACC are currently in talks with Pittsburgh and Syracuse to join their conference. There is seemingly nothing that can stop this giant realignment. The possible roadblock of the recent TV deal signings by UT and the Pac 12 can easily be solved.

The Longhorn Network would get reduced into the Pac-16 as a downsized regional network, joining the six regional networks that already exist within the conference. Even if UT refuses an invitation, the Pac 12 would drop their offer to Texas Tech and extend two new offers to Kansas and Kansas State still leaving the Big 12 with only 4 teams.

Anyway this shakes out, it seems as though college football is inevitably moving towards the era of super conferences. An idea that could make all college football fans happy; the entrance of super conferences brings about talk of a playoff system and the eventual demise of the flawed BCS system.

There would have to be more realignment and the death of a few conferences, but that’s not more absurd than what’s currently taking place. It was once said that you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, as long as the egg is the BCS, bring on the super conferences.
Aspen Photo / Shutterstock.com

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The new potential law in Kansas would allow state health department free access to patient medical records. Opponents of the law are suggesting that the proposed legislation could endanger the privacy of women who’ve terminated pregnancies. Proponents of the new law said such concerns are unfounded because state law contains protections against information about patients from becoming public.

The new legislation was scheduled to take effect last week. However, a judge blocked the law from being implemented until a lawsuit involving two of the state’s three abortion providers is resolved. Another new state law, also blocked by the judge, requires providers to obtain a special annual license. One regulation says “all records shall be available at the facility for inspection” by the secretary of health and environment or his staff.

Abortion-rights advocates said giving such access allows health department officials to review highly personal information. They also state that they do not trust Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration because he is a strong opponent of abortion. “It’s totally unnecessary,” said Bonnie Scott Jones, an attorney for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing two doctors in the federal lawsuit. “It’s totally unjustified and an invasion of patient privacy.”

The new licensing law states that the information in medical records must be kept confidential. Another law would make it a misdemeanor for health department employees to disclose such data publicly. Abortion opponents note that other states have similar provisions in their regulations for abortion providers.

They argue that access to medical records is necessary if the department is to provide proper oversight. Mary Kay Culp, executive director of the group Kansans for Life, said abortion-rights supporters are raising patient privacy as an issue, as they have in the past, because “it’s the only tool they have” in trying to prevent scrutiny of abortion providers.

“When the only tool someone has is a hammer, everything looks like a nail,” she said. “If health and law enforcement inspectors aren’t allowed access to abortion records, how exactly is legal abortion any different from illegal abortion?”

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