Rare white buffalo calf in Yellowstone park fulfills Lakota prophecy | OUT WEST ROUNDUP (2024)

MONTANA

White buffalo calf fulfills Lakota prophecy

HELENA — The reported birth of a rare white buffalo in Yellowstone National Park fulfills a Lakota prophecy that portends better times, according to members of the American Indian tribe who cautioned that it's also a signal that more must be done to protect the earth and its animals.

"The birth of this calf is both a blessing and warning. We must do more," said Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota and the Nakota Oyate in South Dakota, and the 19th keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf Woman Pipe and Bundle.

Erin Braaten of Kalispell took several photos of the calf shortly after it was born on June 4 in the Lamar Valley in the northeastern corner of the park, while her family was visiting the park.

Traffic ended up stopping while bison crossed the road, so Braaten stuck her camera out the window to take a closer look with her telephoto lens.

After the bison cleared the roadway, the Braatens turned their vehicle around and found a spot to park. They watched the calf and its mother for 30 to 45 minutes.

For the Lakota, the birth of a white buffalo calf with a black nose, eyes and hooves is akin to the second coming of Jesus Christ, Looking Horse said.

Lakota legend says about 2,000 years ago — when nothing was good, food was running out and bison were disappearing — White Buffalo Calf Woman appeared, presented a bowl pipe and a bundle to a tribal member, taught them how to pray and said that the pipe could be used to bring buffalo to the area for food. As she left, she turned into a white buffalo calf.

A naming ceremony has been held for the Yellowstone calf, Looking Horse said, though he declined to reveal the name. A ceremony celebrating the calf's birth was set for June 26 at the Buffalo Field Campaign headquarters in West Yellowstone.

NORTH DAKOTA

Voters approve age limit for congressional candidates

BISMARCK — People in their late 70s or older can no longer run for Congress in North Dakota under a ballot measure overwhelmingly approved by voters on June 11, and legal scholars said the law could remain on the books indefinitely because no elderly candidate might challenge the restriction they deem likely unconstitutional.

Those experts view the constitutional amendment as an effort to revisit a nearly 30-year-old Supreme Court ruling against congressional term limits and could provide a potential test case for the nation. The initiative bars people from running or serving in the U.S. House or Senate if they are to turn 81 years old during their term.

For now, the age limit stays on the books until somebody challenges it, said David Schultz, professor of political science at Hamline University and a law professor at the University of Minnesota specializing in election and constitutional law. He said the key to any challenge would be who has standing to bring a claim.

He said he views the measure as unconstitutional under the 1995 term limits decision that states cannot set qualifications for Congress beyond what is already in the U.S. Constitution.

He said a potential challenge could come from someone barred by the age limit in an election — or potentially a political party seeking to nominate an older candidate.

The measure is to take effect immediately although election results still must be certified. Independent candidates have until September to file signatures to appear in the 2024 general election, meaning an age-barred candidate could theoretically emerge and be denied. The North Dakota Supreme Court would have jurisdiction over an appeal under the measure.

A state legislative panel, anticipating a lawsuit, estimated it would cost the state $1 million to defend the age limit.

WYOMING

Bill Gates breaks ground on nuclear project

Bill Gates and his energy company are starting construction at their Wyoming site for a next-generation nuclear power plant he believes will "revolutionize" how power is generated.

Gates was in the tiny community of Kemmerer on June 10 to break ground on the project. The co-founder of Microsoft is chairman of TerraPower. The company applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March for a construction permit for an advanced nuclear reactor that uses sodium, not water, for cooling. If approved, it would operate as a commercial nuclear power plant.

The site is adjacent to PacifiCorp's Naughton Power Plant, which will stop burning coal in 2026 and natural gas a decade later, the utility said. Nuclear reactors operate without emitting planet-warming greenhouse gases. PacifiCorp plans to get carbon-free power from the reactor and says it is weighing how much nuclear to include in its long-range planning.

"This is a big step toward safe, abundant, zero-carbon energy," Gates said. "And it's important for the future of this country that projects like this succeed."

Advanced reactors typically use a coolant other than water and operate at lower pressures and higher temperatures. Such technology has been around for decades, but the United States has continued to build large, conventional water-cooled reactors as commercial power plants. The Wyoming project is the first time in about four decades that a company has tried to get an advanced reactor up and running as a commercial power plant in the United States, according to the NRC.

TerraPower's Natrium reactor demonstration project is a sodium-cooled fast reactor design with a molten salt energy storage system.

UTAH

Salt Lake’s Winter Olympics could cost $4 billion

Organizers for the proposed 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City released their first budget estimate on June 10, projecting total costs of just under $4 billion, with $2.84 billion of that slated for operational costs.

The committee said even though there will be 40% more events than the last time Salt Lake City hosted the Olympics, the number for operational costs for 2034 is 1% lower than that for 2002 when adjusted for inflation.

The IOC planned to study the numbers and were expected to officially award the 2034 Games to Utah's capital at a meeting on July 24 in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics.

Salt Lake City has been focused on using many of the venues that were in play for 2002. It says no new venue construction is planned for 2034, as it will use facilities that have been kept in use and upgraded since 2002.

Olympics are notorious for coming in over budget, and also for being difficult to track money-wise — in part because of the different elements that make up "operating" and "total" costs and also because of an often-opaque process used in filtering those numbers through governments and the IOC to the public.

The Salt Lake organizers released projected revenue figures that estimate they will break even with the help of a target of $1.8 billion in domestic sponsorship.

NEW MEXICO

Ambulance rates could rise after rate hikes OK’d

SANTA FE — Ambulance rates will rise for some in New Mexico, particularly those without health insurance after state regulators approved a rate hike for a Presbyterian-affiliated nonprofit ambulance company.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Albuquerque Ambulance Service cited rising labor costs and inflation when it applied for the rate increase that resulted in 65% in service rate increases and 15% in mileage rate increases. It had initially applied for much higher increases.

Patients on Medicaid or Medicare, which make up about 77% of the patients that use Albuquerque Ambulance Service, will not see a rate increase, along with those on veterans health benefits, according to the New Mexican.

The patients most affected are those without health insurance, which makes up approximately 7% of the company's patients, according to the New Mexican.

Albuquerque Ambulance Service operates nearly 100,000 transports annually in the counties with Albuquerque and Santa Fe, along with Sandoval and Rio Arriba counties, according to the New Mexican.