News Digest for September 24, 2997

All the links in today’s news digest lead to current stories. Please note that some media organizations update their web sites regularly, which may result in broken links in the future.

WORD OF THE DAY

Exculpatory • \ek-SKUL-puh-tor-ee\ • adjective – tending or serving to clear from alleged fault or guilt

Fredo’s guilt in the boardroom doughnut theft seemed like an open and shut case for the wily corporate security director. “I know it was you Fredo,” he cried shrilly. Unfortunately for the security personnel, the trail of crumbs down the hallway, along with traces of powdered sugar on the CEO’s chin provided the exculpatory evidence that set Fredo free.

WEATHER
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/index.php?minlon=-124.8&maxlon=-120.57&minlat=46.2&maxlat=49.33&mapwidth=354&map.x=144&map.y=269

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Seattle P-I Energy Blog – WA Saying No to New Coal Plant in Longview (Well, NEAR Kalama actually)
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/energy/archives/122273.asp?from=blog_last3

Carbon Capture and Storage: Carbon capture and storage: the race is on to find a winner (Power Engineering)
http://pepei.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ARTCL&PUBLICATION_ID=6&ARTICLE_ID=306494&C=Feat

Utah – Legislative panel says nuclear power proposal's costs needs more study. Lawmakers on Wednesday slowed the rush toward Utah's first nuclear power plant. (Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, via PowerMarketers.com)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5E%5CfjrsqknXUie%27%40%3E%20bfem%5E%21

Xcel seeks Colorado rate hike to offset higher fuel costs – Residential and small-business customers would see electricity bills increase about 11 percent beginning in October under a proposal Xcel Energy submitted Friday to Colorado regulators. (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/energy/article/0,2777,DRMN_23914_5698524,00.html

California – Energy firm convicted in Walnut Creek pipeline blast that killed 5. An energy company was convicted Friday of six felony counts and will pay $15 million in connection with a 2004 gasoline pipeline explosion in Walnut Creek (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/22/BAFDSB0LD.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

Congressional Research Reports – Omnibus Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Legislation: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Major Provisions in House-Passed H.R. 3221 with Senate-Passed H.R. 6
http://opencrs.cdt.org/document/RL34135

To protect power lines, trees are sacrificed – The 2003 blackout that left millions without power in the northern United States and Canada could spell the death of the pine and cedar in Judy Austin's yard. (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C)
http://uaelp.pennnet.com/news/display_news_story.cfm?Section=WireNews&Category=HOME&NewsID=152152

PSE&G Advises Residents to Test Their Heating Systems Now, Before Cold Weather Arrives (Electric Energy Online)
http://www.electricenergyonline.com/IndustryNews.asp?m=1&id=74309

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Montana – Project to restore native trout begins with poisoning hybrids (Great Falls Tribune)
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070922/NEWS01/70922004

Here's a look at future of Craig's agenda – Resignation may threaten senator's work on salmon, immigration, dam relicensing and mining reform. The Idaho Statesman)
http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/165766.html

For Salmon And Human Communities, 'Resilience' Emerging As Key Concept (Science Daily)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070923203152.htm

Secret lives of fish – A federal fisheries biologist has recently wrapped up a study hunting juvenile salmon fitted with sophisticated electronic tracking devices that promises to significantly boost scientists’ knowledge of an important, federally protected fish. (The Eureka Reporter)
http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=28717

News Release – Bruce Babbitt Renews Call for Statewide Solutions to Save Washington's Endangered Salmon. Former Interior Secretary says lower Snake River dam removal can benefit region's fishing and farming communities (Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition)
http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_65990.shtml

Always, Celilo – No falls. Fewer fish. Marginal land. But it’s home. (the Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/living/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/living/1190226315215860.xml&coll=7

Auction to Name Fish Species Nets $2 Million for Conservation – An auction of rights to name 10 newly discovered species of fish raised more than $2 million for conservation efforts in eastern Indonesia (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/21/AR2007092102003.html?nav=rss_nation/science

Forum taps into water concerns – Grandmas and scientists, students and politicians, natives and bureaucrats from Canada and the U.S. gathered last week with just one thing in common: an interest in the water of the Okanagan Basin — on both sides of the border. (Penticton Western News)
http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=102&cat=23&id=1070158&more=0

Maryland – Growth in Area Draining Supply Of Drinking Water. Survey Projects Depletion by 2030 (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/22/AR2007092201235.html?nav=rss_metro

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Reciprocating engines: Giving wind farm reliability a lift – Electricity generation based on wind power can lack the easy controllability of power output from fuel-based power generation, resulting in difficulties in matching electricity production with demand Wärtsilä, looks at how the use of reciprocating engines can address this. (Power Engineering)
http://pepei.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ARTCL&PUBLICATION_ID=6&ARTICLE_ID=306497&C=Feat

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board – Electric Car: More quiet whirs. Here they come with a quiet whir. Electric vehicles are on their way to streets around the Puget Sound area.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/332698_eved.html?source=rss

Biofuels hold much promise, analysts say – The biofuel initiative -- missteps and all -- will offer Latin America a chance to build a new industry and the United States an opportunity to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. (Miami Herald)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/245968.html

CONSERVATION

With help from Cowlitz PUD – A mission to conserve: Many small energy-saving measures lead to federal recognition for hospital (The Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/09/22/area_news/news06.txt

New fluorescents have a dark side – Bulbs contain mercury, shouldn't be tossed in trash (Louisville Courier Dispatch)
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070923/BUSINESS/709230380

Start insulating job in the home's attic (Akron Beacon Journal)
http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/9943356.html

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

It takes a city to limit greenhouse gases – If you could give a rip about global warming and the pressure to do environmental good to stop it, the city of Seattle is going to drive you nuts. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/332637_globalwarming22.html?source=rss

Columbian Editorial – In Our View: Get in Gear. Feds dragging their feet on emissions
http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/2007/09/09222007news201574.cfm

NY Times Editorial – Climate Week
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/opinion/22sat1.html?th&emc=th

Buy your way to carbon neutrality? The Oscar-winning film "An Inconvenient Truth" touted itself as the world's first carbon-neutral documentary. “…The producers said that every ounce of carbon emitted during production — from jet travel, electricity for filming and gasoline for cars and trucks — was counterbalanced by reducing emissions somewhere else. It only made sense that a film about the perils of global warming wouldn't contribute to the problem…” (So, Gore gets a free pass, while Energy NW gets pilloried for its proposed offsets?) (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2003897259_carbon23.html

Climate change doomsayers keep hope – Scientists say they're optimistic because there's time to avert problems. (Associated Press via The Everett Herald)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20070924/NEWS02/709240043/-1/rss01

Rising seas likely to flood U.S. history – Ultimately, rising seas will likely swamp the first American settlement in Jamestown, Va., as well as the Florida launch pad that sent the first American into orbit, many climate scientists are predicting. (Christian Science Monitor)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070923/ap_on_sc/rising_seas_6

Silicon Valley companies going green in a big way (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/23/BUKASC0FQ.DTL&feed=rss.business

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Investors can cash in as demand for fiber optics takes off – Despite the countless miles of unused fiber-optic cable laid during the dot-com bubble, demand for the high-capacity lines has been rising. And that bodes well for the stocks of companies that produce not only the cable but also the equipment that runs it. (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2007-09-23-fiberstocks_N.htm?csp=34

Utah – Woods Cross to study fiber-optics. City may join dozens in UTOPIA, which is Comcast alternative (Deseret Morning News)
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695212431,00.html

Maine – Bangor area businesses to receive fiber-optic broadband Internet service (Bangor Daily News)
http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=154549&zoneid=500

A primer on how fiber optics works (Bangor Daily News)
http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=154547&zoneid=500

Missouri – Rural communities are stuck in the Net's slow lane (Saint Louis Dispatch)
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/manufacturingtechnology/story/0A3A6D68A459507B8625735D0008CBAE?OpenDocument

WiMax expected to shine at show – Wireless broadband equipment and service providers are gathering in Chicago this week to discuss what's just around the corner: live networks serving thousands of people. (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003898943_btwimax24.html

Selling a Long-Shot Idea: Free Internet Access – Former Regulator Bucking Telecoms, Internet Giants and a Skeptical FCC (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/23/AR2007092300801.html?nav=rss_business

Global deal on laptop: Buy 1 for needy child, and you get 1 yourself (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/332890_laptops24.html

Personal Technology – Goodbye floppy disks, hello to fast flash drives (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003896239_ptflashdrive22.html

GENERAL NEWS

State's primary is in hands of top court – The U.S. Supreme Court takes up a case next week that could turn Washington's election system on its head. (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003899095_primary24m0.html?syndication=rss

Public meetings, if you dial in – People already rely on telephones to pay bills, order takeout and find potential soul mates. Now elected leaders are authorizing themselves to conduct government business via long distance. (The News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/163140.html

DIVERSIONS

New service eavesdrops on Internet calls – A startup has come up with a new way to make money from phone calls connected via the Internet: having software listen to the calls, then displaying ads on the callers' computer screens based on what's being talked about.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070924/ap_on_fe_st/ads_that_listen;_ylt=AjCMwwcvsppo8OXGK5xteI_tiBIF

Resort charges $14,500 for dessert
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070924/ap_on_fe_st/expensive_dessert;_ylt=At5TG1ergLeHvTDfvyCg09vtiBIF

Town says teen can't keep pet rooster – Melissa Hensler got a "Most Unusual Pet" prize from her township two years ago for her pet rooster — but now the same township says the bird is a farm animal in a residential area and it's got to go.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070923/ap_on_fe_st/odd_cock_a_doodle_feud;_ylt=AviN.Wq4M__mq7hbJR447n3tiBIF

Judge makes 'Green Eggs and Ham' ruling
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070921/ap_on_fe_st/odd_rhyming_judge;_ylt=AnzmZ9kc7909IFIC9TMx2PXtiBIF