WWW . THESKANNER . COM
D ECEMBER 18 , 2013
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXVI, N O . 11
25
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
Farewell
Nelson
Mandela
TRIBUTE
Mandela, known as
Tata or father is
buried with honors
PHOTO BY GEORGE CURRY
By George E. Curry
NNPA Editor-in-Chief
With a rich mixture of ceremonial military pomp and ancient tribal customs, Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first dem-
ocratically elected president, was buried Sunday in Qunu, the village of his youth. Mandela is considered the father of
the country, known as “Tata,” which means father. He is also referred to as Madiba, his clan name.
State Leaders Press for Union Vote
Proposed contract would secure work on Boeing’s new 777X plane
Mike Baker
Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — Political
pressure is building in support
of letting Puget Sound machin-
ists vote on a Boeing contract
proposal in high-stakes negotia-
tions to keep thousands of jobs
in Washington State.
Leaders in the International
Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers publicly
differed Friday on whether to
bring Boeing’s latest contract
offer to a vote, exposing ten-
sions within the union over how
to proceed.
National, state and local polit-
ical leaders called for a vote,
even though local union leaders
have already rejected the com-
pany’s latest offer.
The contract would secure
work on Boeing’s new 777X
airplane at a time when 22 states
are competing for those jobs.
Gov. Jay Inslee said in a state-
ment that union membership
gives each worker a say in his or
her future and workers should
have the opportunity to exercise
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that right.
“That should happen soon, as
I have become increasingly con-
cerned that we are at a perilous
point in our effort to bring the
777X to Washington state,” said
Inslee, who was endorsed by the
local Machinists union in his
campaign for governor last year.
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen echoed
those comments, expressing
concern about the region’s aero-
space future if no labor agree-
ment is in place and saying “the
time to vote is now.” Everett
Mayor Ray Stephanson and
Snohomish County Executive
John Lovick also urged the
Machinists in their area to hold
a vote and also urged them to
approve the contract.
State Senate Majority Leader
Rodney Tom, a Democrat, and
Senate Republican Leader Mark
Schoesler sent a joint letter Fri-
day to a local union leader, urg-
ing a vote.
“We trust that your members
will make the best decision,” the
two senators wrote. “We
respectfully ask, however, that
See BOEING on page 3
QUNU, South Africa (NNPA) – With a
rich mixture of ceremonial military pomp
and ancient tribal customs, Nelson Mandela,
South Africa’s first democratically elected
president, was buried here Sunday in the vil-
lage of his youth, culminating 10 days of
national mourning.
The former Nobel Prize-winner, in accor-
dance with his wishes, was buried in a fam-
ily graveyard high in rolling green hills
where other close relatives are buried,
including his father, Makgatho Mandela,
who died in 2005; his eldest son, Madiba
Thembekile, who died in an automobile
accident in 1969; and Makaziwe Mandela,
his first daughter who died as an infant in
1948.
In his autobiography, Long Walk to Free-
dom, Mandela described Qunu as a place
where “I spent the happiest years of my
boyhood and whence I trace my earliest
memories.”
To pay tribute to Mandela, leaders and
celebrities from around the world made
their way to this bucolic community in the
eastern section of the country to share their
memories of the global icon. Among those
attending were Britain’s Prince Charles;
media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who was
escorted by longtime beau Stedman Gra-
ham; civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, Arch-
bishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Virgin
Airlines founder Richard Branson and
British actor Idris Elba, who plays Mandela
in the movie, “Long Walk to Freedom.”
Guests attending the funeral were trans-
ported from a park-and-ride facility at Wal-
ter Sisulu University to a makeshift white
dome-like auditorium covered in white
sheathing. Because seating was restricted to
4,500 accredited guests, many local resi-
dents complained that they were relegated
to the background, forced to watch the
funeral of their most celebrated son on tele-
See MANDELA on page 3
Should Barges Transport Fracking Wastewater?
Coast guard says yes; environmentalists fear toxic chemicals
By Kevin Begos
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The U.S. Coast
Guard wants to allow barges filled with
fracking wastewater to ply the nation’s
rivers on their way toward disposal. Many
environmentalists are horrified, but industry
groups say barge transport has its advan-
tages.
Now, the wastewater is usually disposed
of by truck or rail, which poses more risk
for accidents than shipping by barge,
according to a government report. And one
barge can carry about the same amount of
waste as 100 exhaust-spewing trucks.
The disagreements go to the core of the
fight over shale gas drilling. Environmental-
ists say the chemicals in fracking waste are
a tragedy in the making, but the industry
says far greater amounts of toxic chemicals
are already being moved by barge, includ-
ing waste from oil drilling.
In 2010, U.S. barges carried 2,000 tons of
radioactive waste, almost 1.6 million tons of
sulfuric acid and 315 million tons of petro-
leum products, according to the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers.
See FRACKING on page 3