OPA

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman today announced he has appointed Montana attorney Majel Russell, an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe of Montana, as his new Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs. Russell succeeds George T. Skibine, the acting principle deputy assistant secretary since April 2, 2007, who will continue in his current position as director of the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Gaming Management. Russell’s appointment became effective on August 20, 2007.

“I am pleased that Majel Russell has joined my office as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs,” Artman said. “I will rely on her extensive experience and commitment to Indian people as we move forward to make Indian Affairs more responsive to the tribes and their needs.”

A Montana native raised on her tribe’s reservation located in the southeastern portion of the state, Russell has a background in tribal law and Indian child welfare stemming from her career as a social worker and juvenile officer and as a graduate of the University of Montana School of Law. She has worked for her tribe as in­house counsel and more recently as its outside legal advisor.

“My career has been about seeking to improve the quality of life in tribal communities and improving the quality of tribal governance through modernization and reform,” Russell said. “I want to express my appreciation to Assistant Secretary Artman for this tremendous opportunity, and I am looking forward to working with him to address issues that are important to Indian Country.”

Upon receiving her law degree, Russell went to work for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana where she served as the tribes’ lead prosecutor handling criminal cases, enforcement of tribal hunting and fishing regulations and other matters.

She left the tribe to enter private practice in Great Falls, Mont., and later joined the firm of Smith, Guenther and Monteau where she represented numerous tribes in the state as well as in Nevada and Washington State on Indian housing, Indian child welfare and tribal self­-governance matters.

In 1996, she established the Elk River Law Office in Billings, and with her partner, Sam Painter, represented tribes, tribal businesses and local governments, and where she worked with the Crow Tribe on a major rewriting of its constitution. Until her recent appointment, she represented tribes on state and federal litigation efforts, tribal government development, tribal court enhancement, water rights negotiations, mineral and natural resource development, trust management reform and gaming, and has litigated Indian Child Welfare Act cases. She also has represented several national organizations in the areas of Indian education, trust reform and wildlife restoration.

Russell is a graduate of Lodge Grass High School on the Crow Indian Reservation and from Eastern Montana College (now Montana State University – Billings), where she earned her degree with dual majors in psychology and sociology and where she received the “Outstanding Senior from EMC’s Class of 1984” award, the school’s highest honor. In 1991, she received the “Outstanding Senior Award” as a member of UM’s law school graduating class that year. She is licensed to practice law in the State of Montana and has been admitted to the United States Supreme Court.

The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs serves as the first assistant and principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary on policies regarding the administration of Office of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) programs.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman today announced he has named E. Sequoyah Simermeyer as Counsel to the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs. Simermeyer, an enrolled member of the Coharie Intra­Tribal Council, Inc., of North Carolina who also shares ancestry with the Navajo Nation of Arizona, previously served as a Government Affairs Group Associate with the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), an association of American Indian and Alaska Native tribes in Washington, D.C. His appointment became effective on August 20, 2007.

“I am pleased that Sequoyah Simermeyer has joined my staff as counsel,” Artman said. “With his experience and background, he will be an important member of my team.”

A graduate of Cornell University’s School of Law with a juris doctorate, Simermeyer has extensive legal, leadership and community experience. His work for the NCAI involved providing legal and legislative advocacy for tribal governments in the areas of taxation, land-into-­trust, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and tribal-­state relations. He provided legal consultation and issue analysis on federal congressional, administrative and judicial action impacting federal Indian policy for federal recognition, gaming, taxation, trust reform, energy, environment and land use. He also managed projects at the NCAI on inter­governmental relations between states and tribes and on international issues involving the rights of Indigenous Peoples in partnership with the United Nations, the Organization of American States and the Assembly of First Nations, a Canadian based tribal organization.

“I want to thank Assistant Secretary Artman for the opportunity to serve as his counsel for Indian Affairs,” Simermeyer said. “Accepting this new position is, for me, an affirmation of my commitment to Indian people, which has been the hallmark of my career.”

In 2003, Simermeyer also held a judicial externship under Judge Arthur L. Burnett of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia as a participant in the Cornell Law School’s student externship program and worked as a law clerk at the firm of Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, LLP in Washington, D.C.

Simermeyer’s prior experience includes serving as a teaching assistant at the American Indian Law Center in Albuquerque, N.M. (2002); Directing the Akwe:kon Center, Cornell University’s American Indian center in Ithaca, N.Y. (1998­-2001); and serving as a research consultant with the Johns Hopkins’ School of Public Health Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Health in Baltimore, Md. (1998). He also held positions with Native Coffees, Inc., a company promoting organically cultivated coffee from South American indigenous communities, as an environmental marketing representative (1996) and with Battle Mountain Gold, Inc., in San Luis, Colo., as an environmental analyst (1995).

Simermeyer has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies and Chemistry with a minor in Native American studies from Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. (1997) and a Master of Study in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School in South Royalton, Vt. (1998). His academic experience also includes serving as an adjunct professor at the American University in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman today announced that the Interior Department will hold a series of dialogue meetings with tribes on its Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative during the month of September. The meetings will be an opportunity for Indian Affairs officials and tribal leaders to discuss how the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education should prepare for the effects of projected personnel retirements and rising operations costs, as well as how they can better utilize future technology to improve efficiency.

“Times have changed and will continue to change,” Artman said. “We need to ensure that the government­-to-­government relationship between the tribes and the Federal Government continues to function well into the future. These meetings are an opportunity to explore such changes and how best to modernize Indian Affairs operations to better serve Indian Country.”

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Majel Russell and Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development Director Robert Middleton have been designated by the Assistant Secretary to organize and conduct the month­long series of meetings.

The Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative Dialogue meetings will take place according to the following schedule:

September 4, 2007: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Southwest Regional Office, 1001 Indian School Road N.W., Albuquerque, N.M., 87104. Phone: 505­-563-­3100.

September 5, 2007: Inn of Gallup, 2915 West Highway 66, Gallup, N.M., 87301. Phone: 505­-722-­2201.

September 7, 2007: Double Tree Hotel, 2001 Point West Way, Sacramento, CA, 95815. Phone: 916-­924-­4909.

September 10, 2007: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office, 3100 W. Peak Blvd., 2nd Floor Conference Room, Muskogee, OK, 74402. Phone: 918­781­-4600.

September 11, 2007: Best Western Hotel and Convention Center, 1125 E. Gore Blvd., Lawton, OK, 73501. Phone: 580-­353-­0200.

September 13, 2007: Hilton Garden Inn, Nashville Airport, 412 Royal Parkway, Nashville, TN, 37214. Phone: 615­884­0088. September 17, 2007: Mystic Lake Casino and Hotel, 2400 Mystic Lake Blvd., Prior Lake, MN, 55372. Phone: 952-­445-­9000.

September 19, 2007: Hilton Hotel, 500 W. 3 rd Ave., Anchorage, AK, 99501. Phone: 907-­265­-7111.

September 21, 2007: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Northwest Regional Office, BPA Auditorium, Federal Building, 911 N.E. 11 th Ave., Portland, OR, 97232. Phone: 503-­231­6702.

September 24, 2007: Billings Hotel and Convention Center, 1223 Mullowney Lane, Billings, MT, 59101. Phone: 406-­248-­7151.

September 26, 2007: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Western Regional Office, Two Arizona Center, 12 th Floor Conference Room, 400 N. 5 th Street, Phoenix, AZ, 85004. Phone: 602-­379-­6600.

September 28, 2007: Dakota Sioux Casino, 16415 Sioux Confier Road, Watertown, S.D., 57201. Phone: 605­-884-­1700.

The meetings will begin at 8:00 a.m. and adjourn at 5:00 p.m. with a noontime break for lunch (all times are local time).

Topics to be addressed include projected Indian Affairs staff retirements and the potential loss of institutional knowledge, rising operational costs and identifying cost-­effective solutions such as consolidating or altering business practices and improved use of technological advances, trust management issues such as fractionation, promoting tribal economic self-­sufficiency and leadership, and evaluating the successes and challenges of the tribal self­-governance initiative.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman will discuss the Interior Department Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative on September 18, 2007, on Native America Calling. He will be joined by Majel Russell, who is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs. NAC is the national public radio and online public affairs and news program of the Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, a Native­ operated media center in Anchorage, Alaska.

On August 30, the Interior Department announced that it would hold a series of dialogue meetings on the initiative during the month of September with federally recognized tribes around the country. The meetings are an opportunity for Indian Affairs officials and tribal leaders to discuss how the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education should prepare for the effects of projected employee retirements, rising costs and utilizing future technology to improve the efficiency of Indian Affairs program operations.

For more information contact NAC at (505) 277­5201 or visit www.nativeamericacalling.com.

WHO: Carl J. Artman, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, and Majel Russell, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.

WHAT: Guest appearance on Native America Calling, the national call­-in radio program covering news, public affairs and events affecting Indian Country, to discuss the Interior Department Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative.

WHEN: 1:00 p.m. (EDT), Tuesday, September 18, 2007.

Note to Editors: The complete schedule for the DOI Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative Dialogue Meetings accompanies this release.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Gaming (OIG) has cancelled its October 25, 2007, tribal consultation meeting on tribal gaming revenue allocation plans (RAPs), which was to be held at the Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino in Lakeside, Calif., due to Southern California’s wildland fire emergency, which is occurring near the facility’s location.

“On behalf of all Indian Affairs employees, I want to express our concern and support for the communities directly affected by the Witch Fire emergency,” Artman said. “I have directed Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel to assist the tribes impacted by this emergency in their firefighting efforts. Indian Affairs also is participating with the National Interagency Fire Center’s efforts to mobilize federal resources and assistance from across the country to aid the affected communities.”

The October 25 consultation meeting was the first of two that the OIG has scheduled on the development of proposed regulations amending existing regulations in 25 CFR Part 290 which establish criteria for implementing Section 11(b)(3) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). The OIG is proposing amendments to 25 CFR Part 290 that modify the procedures for submitting, reviewing and approving tribal RAPs for allocating and distributing net gaming revenues from class II and/or class III tribal gaming activities.

The next tribal consultation meeting is scheduled for October 30, 2007, at the Indian Affairs National Indian Programs Training Center, 1011 Indian School Road, N.W. (12th Street and Menaul Blvd.), Suite 233-234, Albuquerque, N.M. The meeting will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon local time. For further information, please contact the OIG at 202-219-4066.

The October 25 meeting will be rescheduled in California with date, time and place to be announced as soon as arrangements have been finalized.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman will visit Southern California tomorrow to inspect extensive damage caused by the Poomacha Fire on the La Jolla Indian Reservation and the Rincon Indian Reservation, two Luiseno tribal communities headquartered in San Diego County. He also will join other Federal and State officials in meetings with leaders from these and other affected tribes to discuss relief efforts for their communities.

Of the federally recognized tribes threatened or directly impacted by fires that have consumed thousands of acres in the southern California area over the past two weeks, the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Mission Indians and the Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians suffered the most severe damage to homes and businesses, including the loss of Rincon’s chapel, which was built in the late 1800s.

Other tribal communities impacted by the Poomacha or Witch fires include the Barona Band of Diegueno Mission Indians (Witch), the Inaja-Cosmit Band of Diegueno Mission Indians (Witch), the Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians (Witch), the Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians (Poomacha), the Pauma-Yuima Band of Luiseno Mission Indians (Poomacha), the San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians (Poomacha), the Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Mission Indians (Witch) and the Viejas Band of Diegueno Mission Indians (Witch). Threatened by the Harris Fire were the Jamul Indian Village, which suffered minimal damage, and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.

WHO: Carl J. Artman, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.

WHAT: Assistant Secretary Artman will inspect fire damage on the Rincon and La Jolla Indian Reservations and join other Federal and State officials in meetings with leaders of federally recognized tribes impacted by the southern California fires.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 30, 2007, at 2:00 p.m. (local time).

WHERE: Rincon Indian Reservation and La Jolla Indian Reservation. The inspection tour will begin at the Rincon Tribal Hall located at 1 West Tribal Road, Valley Center, Calif. 92082.

Directions from San Diego, Calif.:

• Go North on I-15 to the Via Rancho Parkway exit.
• Turn right onto Via Rancho Parkway.
• Continue on Via Rancho Parkway, which becomes Bear Valley Parkway South.
• Turn right onto East Valley Parkway (S-6) and take to Lake Wohlford Road.
• Turn right onto Lake Wohlford Road (a shortcut for S-6) and take to Valley Center Road (S-6).
• Turn right onto Valley Center Road and take to West Tribal Road.
• Turn left onto West Tribal Road.
• Proceed to tribal buildings (located on left side of road).

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to working media representatives, who are required to display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to the event.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman met Tuesday with officials from several Southern California tribes impacted by the Poomacha, Witch and Harris fires that have raged across thousands of acres of their reservations over the past week. The tribal leaders were attending a multi-agency coordination meeting of federal and state agencies organized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Rincon Indian Reservation, one of the most severely impacted communities. Artman visited some of the burned areas on the Rincon reservation.

“I want to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to the federal, state, county and tribal agencies and non-governmental organizations that have joined our efforts to assist these tribes in their hour of need,” Artman said. “I also want to assure the tribal leaders whose reservations have been impacted by the fire emergency that the BIA and its partners will continue to assist with their recovery efforts.”

The BIA’s partners in the fire emergency relief effort include the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Indian Health Service (IHS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the American Red Cross, the State of California Office of Emergency Services (OES) and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office. The BIA also has been working with San Diego Gas & Electric in support of their efforts to replace on-reservation power poles and lines destroyed by the fires.

Seventy-two employees from the BIA’s Southern California Agency in Riverside and Pacific Regional Office in Sacramento, including social workers and those specializing in tribal operations, natural resources and realty, have been working closely with other federal, state and tribal agencies to assist displaced individuals and families with applying for relief assistance.

Since October 29, the BIA has received over 800 applications for assistance from single family Indian households and individuals, many of whom are on moderate-to-low and fixed incomes, for basic living needs such as food, clothing and temporary shelter. Approximately $600,000 in emergency assistance funds have been made available for disbursement to eligible recipients.

In addition, over 200 BIA firefighters were dispatched to battle the Poomacha fire alone, which, at only 70 percent contained, remains a serious threat to the La Jolla Reservation (the Witch and Harris fires are 99 percent and 100 percent contained, respectively).

“I want to commend the employees of the BIA’s Southern California Agency and Pacific Regional Office and other BIA regions who responded so quickly and effectively to this emergency,” Artman said. “Their diligence in the performance of their duties during so difficult a time best exemplifies the BIA’s mission of service to the tribes.”

In addition to BIA personnel, fire crews and trucks were sent from tribes both in and out of the state. The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in California and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon each sent a hotshot fire crew. Fire trucks sent from the Warm Springs Tribes, the Chippewa-Cree Tribe in Montana and the Colorado River Indian Tribes in Arizona joined equipment provided by 11 of Southern California’s 18 tribes.

The La Jolla Band of Luiseno Mission Indians and the Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians have suffered the most severe damage from the Poomacha fire. The La Jolla reservation has lost 59 of its residential homes while the Rincon reservation has lost 65 homes and its historic chapel. In and around the Rincon reservation alone, both Indian and non-Indian residents have been coping with lost homes, clogged or closed roads, power outages, lack of potable water, downed telephone lines, as well as health concerns from dead or dying animals and the fires’ impact on air and water quality.

Other tribes that have experienced fire damage and the displacement of tribal members include the Pauma-Yuima Band of Luiseno Mission Indians, the Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians, the Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Mission Indians and the San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians.

The Poomacha fire has burned approximately 19,748 acres on the La Jolla (8,679 acres), Pauma-Yuima (5,360 acres), Rincon (3,585 acres), Pala (2,118 acres) and San Pasqual (6 acres) reservations. The Witch fire has burned approximately 10,481 acres on the Barona, Capitan Grande, Inaja-Cosmit, Mesa Grande and Santa Ysabel reservations. The Harris fire burned one acre on the Jamul Reservation.

In the face of catastrophe, Indian communities in Southern California came together to support the many fire victims. Local casino hotels became evacuation centers for those seeking shelter. Tribal evacuation centers were established on the Pechanga, Soboba and Campo reservations. The Noli School, a BIA funded 6-12 grant day school on the Soboba reservation, became a temporary shelter. And some tribes and tribal members not dependent upon federal relief chose to forgo their BIA assistance so that others in greater need could receive it

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne will be joined by Kindergarten – 3rd graders and faculty from 20 Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) funded schools on Wednesday, November 7, to kick off the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education’s ‘BIE READS’ plan to improve BIE students’ literacy. The Secretary will read with the students, who are from high performing BIE-funded schools from across the country, after which he will announce the schools selected to participate in the initial phase of the plan.

BIE READS furthers Secretary Kempthorne’s Improving Indian Education Initiative by increasing reading proficiency in BIE schools in grades K-3. Over the next three years, selected BIE schools will implement this program to raise their students’ reading proficiency levels and to meet their Adequate Yearly Progress goals under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Who: Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs, Carl Artman Students and faculty from 20 BIE-funded schools across the country

What: Secretary Kempthorne reading with K-3 students and delivering remarks to kick off of the ‘BIE READS’ plan

When: 1:30 p.m. EST Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Where: The South Penthouse, Room 8015 Main Interior Building 1849 C Street, NW Washington, DC

Media: All credentialed media are invited to attend and photograph the event.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman joined Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, Bureau of Indian Education Acting Director Kevin Skenandore and students and faculty from 20 BIE-funded schools for the launching of “BIE READS” at the Department’s kick-off event for National American Indian Heritage Month. BIE READS is the Bureau’s plan to help BIE school students improve their proficiency in reading and math.

“The BIE READS program will give our students the opportunity to acquire, and master, the reading and comprehension skills they need for success,” Artman said. “By nurturing the spirit of reading in all BIE students, we can give them the opportunity to pursue their dreams and the ability to achieve them.”

The event provided K-3 students from Chief Leschi School on the Puyallup Indian Reservation in Washington State, the Jemez Day School on the Jemez Indian Reservation in New Mexico, and the Alamo Day School on the Alamo Navajo Indian Reservation in New Mexico, with the opportunity to demonstrate their reading proficiency gained through BIE-funded literacy programs in their schools.

The Interior Department has included $15 million in its Fiscal Year 2008 budget request for Secretary Kempthorne’s Improving Indian Education Initiative to improve the academic performance of BIE students and to help BIE schools meet their adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals under the No Child Left Behind Act.

BIE READS is a comprehensive strategic plan for fiscal years 2007-2009 that focuses on improving reading outcomes, math outcomes and educator quality in reading and math, as well as providing support for students to successfully transition to post-secondary opportunities. The plan was developed to ensure that BIE students, teachers and schools receive the maximum benefit possible from BIE-administered literacy programs such as Reading First and the Family and Child Education program (FACE).

The budget request includes funding to enhance elementary reading programs, develop improved math curriculum, provide mentoring and tutoring for high school students and provide educational leadership training for school administrators. It also supports the design of professional development opportunities for teachers to help create effective reading and math instructional strategies.

Artman noted President Bush’s October 31 statement proclaiming November 2007 as National American Indian Heritage Month and its language recognizing the contributions American Indians and Alaska Natives have made to the United States.

“One way to encourage a wider appreciation for the histories and contributions of Indian people is through reading,” Artman said.

The Bureau oversees or directly operates 184 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools serving 45,000 students living on or near 63 federal Indian reservations in 23 states. Approximately two-thirds of the schools are tribally operated under BIE contracts or grants. The BIE school system is one of two federally operated schools systems.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman will appear on the afternoon of Monday, November 12, 2007, at the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) 64th Annual Convention, where he will address delegates at the Second General Assembly and attend NCAI’s session for tribal leaders on the Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative scheduled for that evening. The event will take place in Denver, Colo., at the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center. The NCAI convention is the largest annual meeting of tribal representatives in the country.

In his address to the Second General Assembly, the Assistant Secretary will discuss Indian Affairs’ role in working with tribes to address the impact of climate change on their communities, including the federal response to the Southern California wildland fire emergency; his approval of proposed regulations to implement a system of Tribal Energy Resource Agreements as called for by the Energy Policy Act of 2005; the Department’s Safe Indian Communities Initiative; the Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative; and the reduction in the backlog of Indian probate cases.

In addition, the Assistant Secretary will present the report of the National Native American Summit on Economic Development, which was held last May. The report contains recommendations for improving tribal economies, such as the need to create or reform existing tribal governing documents and laws that are better suited to meeting the needs of tribal communities.

WHO: Carl J. Artman, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.

WHAT: Assistant Secretary Artman will speak at the Second General Assembly of the National Congress of American Indians 64th Annual Convention. He will also attend the NCAI session for tribal leaders on the Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative.

WHEN: Monday, November 12, 2007 (all times are local time): 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.: Assistant Secretary Artman will address the convention’s Second General Assembly in the Centennial Room. 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.: Assistant Secretary Artman will discuss the Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative in Mineral Hall B & C.

WHERE: Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center, 650 15th Street, Denver, Colo. 80202. Phone: (303) 436-1234.

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to working media representatives, who are required to display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to the event.