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been the first day in months that temperatures reached 50 degrees.
• Fatal accidents are rare at Falls Park. The body of 29-year-old Travis Hallan was found just north of the falls after his canoe tipped over in 2006. In 1999, 26-year-old Slavisa Andric drowned after losing his footing on rocks at the park. Omar Iasi Ibrahim Warsame, 43, had been fishing at the river in 1997 when he fell in and drowned.
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Tribes plan for worst with looming budget cuts
FELICIA FONSECA,Associated Press
• FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) -- When it comes to the automatic spending cuts that began taking effect this month, federal lawmakers spared programs that serve the nation's most vulnerable -- such as food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans' assistance -- from hard hits.
• That wasn't the case with programs for American Indian reservations, where unemployment is far above the national average, women suffer disproportionately from sexual assaults, and school districts largely lack a tax base to make up for the cuts.
• The federal Indian Health Service, which serves 2.1 million tribal members, says it would be forced to slash its number of patient visits by more than 800,000 per year. Tribal programs under the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs that fund human services, law enforcement, schools, economic development and natural resources stand to lose almost $130 million under the cuts, according to the National Congress of American Indians.
• "We will see significant impacts almost immediately," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told The Associated Press, referring to the BIA. "We will have to furlough some employees. It will mean that there's going to be a slowing down of the processing of applications and so there will be an impact on the work that the BIA does on behalf of Indian Country."
• The timing and magnitude of most of the cuts are uncertain as Congress looks for a way to keep the government operating beyond March 27 with no budget in place. In the meantime, tribes across the country are preparing for the worst.
• Some are better-positioned than others.
• In northwestern New Mexico's McKinley County, where about a third of the population lives below the federal poverty level, the Gallup-McKinley County School District is facing a $2 million hit. The cuts could result in job losses and more crowded classrooms. The district that draws mostly Navajo students from reservation land not subject to state property taxes relies heavily on federal funding to pay its teachers and provide textbooks to students.
• "To me, it seems very unfair that one of the poorest counties with one of highest (Continued on page 37)
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