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tentious, polarizing issue, but more atten-
tion must be paid to how to react to the
effects already being felt.
``If you can get out of that debate of
whose fault is it, then you can start thinking
about what strategic things that we can
work on so we’re not constantly reacting,”
he said.
An immediate issue is keeping aquatic
invasive species at bay, those organisms and
plants that can get into a watershed by
hitching a ride on boats and rapidly spread.
They can damage ecosystems, fisheries and
wastewater systems.
The park is working with the Flathead
Basin Commission and state agencies on an
inspection system to keep invasive species
out more must be done to get the word out
to the public.
``This is, in my mind, the single biggest
threat to Glacier National Park because if
they got in, it’s a game changer,” he said.
``We are surrounded by them now.”
The next superintendent will oversee a
three-year study on how to reduce conges-
tion in the park. Visitors now contend with
full parking lots at popular hiking areas
such as Logan Pass and Avalanche Lake,
while park officials struggle with sustaining
a costly shuttle system that has not offset
traffic on the Going to the Sun Road to the
extent they had hoped.
Scott
continued from page 1
politics. Just four years ago, he was chair-
man of the Charleston County Council. The
2008 election made him the first black
Republican in the South Carolina Legisla-
ture in more than a century, and in 2010, he
won his seat in the U.S. House from his
conservative coastal district with 65 percent
of the vote.
Outside the Statehouse where Scott
spoke, a statue still stands of post-Recon-
struction former governor and U.S. senator
Ben Tillman, who unapologetically advo-
cated lynching any black who tried to vote.
Another statue depicts the late Strom Thur-
mond, who still holds a record for a 24-hour
filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
But Scott has never dwelled on his race.
“I’ve never heard on the campaign trail,
`Besides the fact you’re black or because
you’re black, here’s what we want of you.’
They asked me questions about values and
issues, and that’s an amazing thing. It
speaks to the evolution of South Carolina
and our nation,’’ Scott said.
Scott will serve for two years and then
Police Reform
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
continued from page 1
tendent of Glacier, one of the park service’s
top attractions. Last year, 1.8 million people
visited the 1,500 square-mile park to see its
massive peaks carved by glaciers and the
grizzly bears, wolves and mountain goats
that roam in its peaks and valleys.
He will hand over leadership to his
deputy, Kym Hall, who will be interim
superintendent until a permanent replace-
ment is named in the spring.
Cartwright’s tenure has been marked by
the park’s 100th anniversary, a Canadian-
American agreement to retire mining claims
outside the park and a multi-year renovation
to a top attraction, the Going to the Sun
Road that bisects the park and crosses the
Continental Divide.
His successor will face many challenges,
from responding to the effects of climate
change and threats to the parks species and
resources, to how to relieve congestion
caused by the crush of visitors during the
park’s short nine-week summer season.
Warmer temperatures have shrunk the
number of named glaciers in the park from
37 to 25 as of 2010, and federal scientists
believe only a handful will remain after
2030. Park officials are seeing warmer
waters that threaten bull trout habitat and an
increase in insect and disease problems in
the forest.
Cartwright said climate change is a con-
tSeattle City Attorney Peter Holmes joined Connie Rice, attorney and civil
rights activist on a panel that also included Mayor Mike McGinn and
Council member Nick Licata December 15th at the New Holly Gathering
Hall to talk about police reform in Seattle. Community members had a
chance to hear about how the Los Angeles reformed it’s police
department.
the victims of the Connecticut school shoot-
ing, Scott said he accepted the challenge of
trying to help the country through troubling
times.
“Our nation finds itself in a situation we
need backbone. We need to make some very
difficult decisions,’’ Scott said. “I learned
early in my 20s that if you have a problem
“Our nation finds itself in a situation we need
backbone. We need to make some very
difficult decisions,’’
face an election in November 2014. That
would give South Carolina two Senate elec-
tions: one for Scott and the other for two-
term Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
“I have no doubt he’ll fly through 2014,’’
Haley said of Scott.
Scott said he still believes in term limits
and would likely limit himself to two terms
in the Senate, starting with 2014.
After asking for a moment of silence for
with spending, there’s not enough revenue
to make up for it. We have a spending prob-
lem in America.’’
Scott grew up in poverty in North
Charleston. His parents divorced when he
was 7, and he remembered his mom work-
ing 16 hours a day to support him and his
brother.
“To the single moms out there, don’t give
up on your kids. It may get tough. It may be
Newtown United, a newly formed group
in the stricken town, scheduled an open
meeting for Wednesday evening to discuss
what it calls “sensible gun legislation.”
Meanwhile, heartbreaking funerals con-
tinue. Those being buried Wednesday
include several more students and a beloved
teacher.
They are among those killed when gun-
data from a computer in Lanza’s home, a
law enforcement official said Tuesday.
The gunman apparently smashed the com-
puter and extensively damaged the hard
drive, the official said, adding that the FBI
is assisting Connecticut State Police.
Authorities have said the shooter took
three of his mother’s weapons — two hand-
guns and a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle — to the
elementary school.
There are no records of any
police incident calls to the Lanza
home in the past, state police said
Wednesday.
Holder had no comment on what
the FBI has found in the investiga-
tion.
Gun debate intensifies
The National Rifle Association
commented Tuesday for the first
time since the massacre, saying it was
shocked and heartbroken by the tragedy.
The group is planning to hold a news con-
ference on Friday.
“Out of respect for the families, and as a
matter of common decency, we have given
time for mourning, prayer and a full inves-
tigation of the facts before commenting,” it
challenging, but all things are truly possi-
ble,’’ he said.
In high school, he said he was failing four
courses and in danger of “flunking out of
high school’’ until he met the late John
Moniz, a conservative entrepreneur who ran
a Chick-fil-A beside the movie theater
where Scott worked.
They became friends and Scott said
Moniz taught him important values and
basic business principles.
Scott earned a degree in political science
from Charleston Southern University,
which is affiliated with the South Carolina
Baptist Convention and touts how it inte-
grates faith into learning and serving.
Graham, South Carolina’s senior senator,
said Scott has a unique opportunity to
inspire others and be a leading voice for the
conservative cause.
“When it comes to trying to explain what
America’s all about, I could not tell a better
story than the story of Tim Scott,’’ Graham
said. “Tim is what America’s all about.’’
The governor won’t name a replacement
for Scott. By state law, U.S. House vacan-
cies are filled through a special election.
Gun Violence
continued from page 1
that all to often glorifies guns and vio-
lence,” he said.
“And any actions that we must take must
begin inside the home and inside our
hearts.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, has
said she will introduce legislation to rein-
state the assault weapons ban that expired in
2004.
White House spokesman Jay Car-
ney said Tuesday that the president
supports that effort.
Obama also wants to close “the
so-called gun show loophole which
allows people to buy weapons with-
out going through the background
checks that are standard when you
purchase “ them retail, Carney said.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Hold-
er echoed those remarks Wednes-
day. “There’s a range of things we need to
do,” he said, adding that any one measure
would not be adequate.
The proposals necessary will involve peo-
ple who “aren’t always thought of in the law
enforcmeent sphere,” including the depart-
ments of Education and Health and Human
Services, he said.
“Out of respect for the families,
and as a matter of common
decency, we have given time for
mourning, prayer and a full
investigation of the facts before
man Adam Lanza shot his mother four times
in the head before shooting his way into into
Sandy Hook Elementary, opening fire on
staff and students no older than 7. Lanza
then killed himself.
Authorities are working to determine a
motive.
So far, they have been unable to retrieve
said. “The NRA is prepared to offer mean-
ingful contributions to help make sure this
never happens again.”
While the NRA has been largely quiet, the
national debate over guns is reaching a new
high — some calling for stricter control,
others for more access.
“In the state of Texas, with our concealed
handgun license, if you have been duly
backgrounded and trained and you are a
concealed handgun license carrying indi-
vidual, you should be able to carry your
handgun anywhere in this state,” Gov. Rick
Perry said Monday at a tea party event. He
later added that he was referring to public
property.
Meanwhile, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder
vetoed legislation that would have allowed
those licensed and trained to carry con-
cealed pistols in schools and other public
places, his office said Tuesday.
Citizens across the country are also
weighing in, particularly on social media.
Bill Mingin’s gun lay under the floor-
boards of his attic for 40 years, he said in an
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December 19, 2012 The Seattle Skanner Page 3