News Digest for September 25, 2007

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

Commensurate • \kuh-MEN-suh-rut\ • adjective – 1: equal in measure or extent: coextensive *2: corresponding in size, extent, amount, or degree: proportionate

Abner was confused by the one dollar bill he found in his pay envelope. The crafty paymaster had used a little known clause in Abner’s contract that allowed the company to pay him the amount that was commensurate with his work output. “It must have been that month long daydream I took last month,” he pondered.

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

Tacoma Public Utilities ready to hire new director – Tacoma Public Utilities board members are expected to choose a successor for Director Mark Crisson at their Wednesday meeting (The News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/163854.html

NRG to Submit First New Nuke Application – Power producer NRG Energy Inc. will submit the first application for a new nuclear reactor in the U.S. in nearly 30 years, the company's chief executive said Monday. (NY Times)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092400839.html?nav=rss_business

Bid to Build Reactors Is First in Three Decades – NRG Energy will request permission to build two new nuclear reactors, a move that could revive nuclear power in the U.S. (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14682012

Utility: hunting at eastern Ore. ranch must await dam license – Hunters eager to get at the elk hiding out on a 10,000-acre ranch that Idaho Power Co. bought at the urging of wildlife agencies will have to wait until the utility gets a new license for three upper Snake River dams, an official says. (Associated Press)
http://www.examiner.com/a-952916~Utility__hunting_at_eastern_Ore__ranch_must_await_dam_license.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

Opponents ask court to block Potrero peaker power plant – Opponents of a planned cluster of small power turbines in southeast San Francisco filed a last-ditch legal challenge Monday, asking a federal judge to block the project until the federal government sets standards for emissions that contribute to global warming. (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/25/BA2GSDE2G.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

Idaho – Otter moves state energy office to his direct oversight – Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has moved the Division of Energy Resources to his own office from the Department of Water Resources, making it a cabinet-level position. (Associated Press, via the Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/226093.html

Squirrel scurries into Kelso substation, causes outage – An agile but unlucky squirrel lost a confrontation with a high-voltage line Sunday morning, causing a power outage for 6,891 Cowlitz PUD customers. (The Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/09/24/area_news/news09.txt

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Idaho Statesman Editorial – Our View: One powerful voice can reshape the salmon debate. Salmon recovery is as much a political battle as it is a scientific struggle.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/story/165755.html

Watching the salmon come home – This is an ideal time for nature watchers to get a close-up view of salmon migrating back to the North Olympic Peninsula streams of their birth to spawn. (Peninsula Daily News)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20070924/NEWS/709240304

Pikeminnow reward program extended two weeks – With catch rates taking a recent jump, officials in Oregon and Washington have decided to extend the northern pikeminnow reward program on the Columbia and Snake rivers for two more weeks. (Statesman Journal)
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070924/OUTDOORS/70924016/1034

Montana – Water availability may not keep up with growth. The availability of water in Missoula's urban fringe could affect the valley's future landscape. The Missoulian)
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/09/24/news/local/znews03.txt

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Montana – Smaller Glasgow wind farm still possible. A large wind farm planned 300 miles east of Great Falls in Valley County has been scaled back a second time — but not killed — because of objections to its proximity to a prairie wilderness study area. (Great Falls Tribune)
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070925/NEWS01/709250305/1002

The sun king of Tacoma has power to spare – The city of Tacoma paid "Solar Richard" Thompson $273.24 for electricity he sent back to them last year. (The Seattle Times)
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=pacificportrait23&date=20070923

CONSERVATION

Clothesline regulation hangs the environment out to dry – A Bend woman discovers that aesthetics outweigh her energy-saving efforts in an upscale neighborhood (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1190602503164420.xml&coll=7

“Green Homes” – Seattle considered a bellwether. Green may sound good, but will consumers pay more for a house even if it saves money over the long run? And what's the right balance of voluntary compliance and regulation to achieve green? (Seattle Times)
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=greenmain22&date=20070922

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Big businesses look at energy use – The world's biggest companies are making climate change a higher priority, in part through more widespread disclosure of carbon emissions, according to an annual report released Monday by a nonprofit group. (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003900430_bizclimate25.html

However…Gas Emissions Rarely Figure in Investor Decisions – Corporations have become better about disclosing their greenhouse gas emissions and somewhat better about curbing them. But few investors are using that information to decide where to put their money. (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/business/25carbon.html?ex=1348372800&en=3bea1d1108040d0a&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

U.S. Trying to Block Calif. on Emissions – The Bush administration has conducted a concerted, behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to try to generate opposition to California's request to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092401563.html?nav=rss_business

Nations Agree to Speed Up Climate Goal – A deal by 191 nations to eliminate ozone-depleting substances 10 years ahead of schedule is a "pivotal moment" in the fight against global warming, Canadian Environment Minister John Baird said on Saturday. (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/science/news-climate-ozone.html?ex=1348372800&en=1671fcc384215f95&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The ‘carbon offset’ child labourers – Indians work off West’s holiday guilt (Sunday Times of London)
http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/article2512731.ece

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Report: Microsoft May Buy Facebook Stake – Setting the stage for a possible bidding battle, Microsoft Corp. is mulling an investment in Facebook Inc. that would value the rapidly growing online hangout at $10 billion or more, according to a report published Monday. (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/24/financial/f151743D96.DTL&feed=rss.news

GENERAL NEWS

124 arrested in nationwide steroid investigation; 4 from Aberdeen (Seattle Timers)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003899809_webdrugbust24m.html?syndication=rss

Navy seeks to expand Northwest Training Range activities – The Navy is eying Hood Canal, Puget Sound and the Washington coast for a significant expansion of testing and training exercises, including underwater weapons research and high-frequency sonar. (Peninsula Daily News)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20070923/NEWS/709230303

DIVERSIONS

Magna Carta Is Going on the Auction Block
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/nyregion/25magna.html?ex=1348372800&en=2f3640a0d1ca406d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Idaho county teeming with stray, feral cats – Coeur d'Alene shelter closed; options limited
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333003_catflap25.html?source=rss

British speeder clocked at 172 mph in company car
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070924/ap_on_fe_st/fast_car;_ylt=AqWUkB72qGQR3h56m0TwPVPtiBIF

Dog Dancing – Dogs, handlers learn to boogie and disco
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070925/ap_on_fe_st/odd_dancing_dogs;_ylt=Ao16aIZD0V5oT_yUfbqSsUHtiBIF