News Digest for October 2, 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

Restive • \RES-tiv\ • adjective – 1: stubbornly resisting control: balky *2: marked by impatience or uneasiness: fidgety

Albert tossed and turned all night. Finally, in his restive state he drifted off into a fitful sleep and dreamed about eating a giant marshmallow. He awoke the next morning; a cold sweat covering his body. Then he made a horrendous discovery under the covers at the end of his bed: the dismembered head of the Sta-Puft marshmallow man, swimming in a pool of marshmallow cream. Ahhhhhhhhhh Ahhhhhhhh. Half a continent away, the owner of “Generic Marshmallow, Inc.” was enjoying a wistful smile…. (Sorry Mr. Coppola)

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

Still Powerful After all These Years – The Bonneville Dam turned 70 this year. (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2007/10/10012007_Still-Powerful-After-all-These-Years.cfm/

Tennessee Valley Authority debt on rise to fund new plants – A decade after pledging to cut its debt in half, the Tennessee Valley Authority is not only backing off that pledge, it is increasing debt again. (Knight Ridder Tribune Business News via PowerMarketers Online)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5E%5CflrllkmWSec%23%3A%40%24bfem%5Ev

Canada – Alberta power line hearings scrapped – Edmonton Alberta's Energy and Utilities Board has scrapped its scandal-plagued hearings into the proposed 500-kilovolt power transmission line between Edmonton and Calgary. (CanWest News Service)
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/canada/story.html?id=38b98e1d-2809-4854-ac11-f7478ede3beb

Montana – City utility falls short of its goal: Electric City Power has several new electricity customers, but the city's electric utility arm fell short of its goal to sell between 50 and 65 megawatts of power contracts (Great Falls Tribune)
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071002/NEWS01/710020303/1002

San Francisco Chronicle Op/Ed – On U.S. Energy Policy: Nuclear power is not today's solution for global warming
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/02/EDBJSHS4A.DTL&feed=rss.opinion

San Francisco Chronicle Op/Ed – On U.S. Energy Policy: Clean, cheap energy? Not really
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/02/EDBJSHUG7.DTL&feed=rss.opinion

Report shows industry ramping up debit and credit card acceptance options (Utility Automation & Engineering)
http://uaelp.pennnet.com/display_article/307446/22/ARTCL/none/none/Report-shows-industry-ramping-up-debit-and-credit-card-acceptance-options/

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Plans protect species by killing off rivals – Kill a sea lion, save a salmon. Kill a barred owl, save a spotted owl. (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2007/09/09302007_Plans-protect-species-by-killing-off-rivals.cfm

Nature Conservancy's President Abruptly Announces Resignation – The president of the Arlington-based Nature Conservancy resigned abruptly yesterday, announcing his departure in an early-morning e-mail to all 3,500 employees of the world's largest environmental organization. (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/01/AR2007100100769.html?nav=rss_nation

A Canoe Trip On The Upper Columbia – A hundred years ago the Columbia was a free-flowing river. Today it’s tamed by no fewer than a dozen dams. (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/canoe-trip-upper-columbia/

Seattle Times Guest Editorial – Sandhill cranes need our help to block plans to dam Crab Creek. Sandhill cranes dance and honk by the hundreds and thousands each spring in a place called Crab Creek, near the very center of Washington. State officials propose to build a dam that will destroy this place: Lower Crab Creek tops the list for new dams in Washington.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003917219_crabcreek02.html

CITY OF SHELTONTO FLUSH WATER LINES – Throughout the month of October, the City of Shelton Water Department will be flushing water lines in the Capital Hill Area. Residents will be given 24 hours notice when this maintenance will occur. This flushing procedure will reduce corrosion and sediment in the lines which could have resulted from the chlorination that began in 2003. Crews will also be checking valves to ensure they are working properly. This work is a proactive effort to get ahead of Department of Health requirements that begin next year. If you have any questions call the City of Shelton Public Works Department at 426-9731. (KMAS Radio, Shelton)

CITY OF CHEHALIS TOUTS NEW WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT – Chehalis leaders have been showing off the city’s new wastewater treatment plant. It replaces the city’s former facility that dates back to 1948. The new plant also gets the city out of regulatory trouble over the amount of pollutants released into the Chehalis River. (KELA Radio, Centralia/Chehalis)

New York – City Agrees to Help Regulate Delaware River by Releasing Water From Reservoirs. Under intense pressure from anglers, environmentalists and angry residents of downstream communities devastated by floods three years in a row, New York City has agreed to change the way it operates its huge Delaware River reservoirs. (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/nyregion/02water.html?_r=1&ex=1349064000&en=0bf8624ae7b3ccaf&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

When water goes missing, who you gonna call? Leak-busting takes on greater urgency as Southern communities are pinched by drought. (Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1002/p03s03-ussc.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Monday Update: Cowlitz PUD's wind power project blows ahead of schedule (The Daily News)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/10/01/area_news/news09.txt

Wind farm starts operating Tuesday – One of the largest wind farms in the United States, capable of generating up to 300 megawatts when all 274 wind turbines are spinning, will become partially operational in northeast Colorado (The Denver Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2007/10/01/daily12.html?ana=from_rss

Moving Wind to the Mainstream: Leveraging Compressed Air Energy Storage (Renewable Energy Access)
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=50123&src=rss

In Japan, Going Solar Costly Despite Market Surge – Put some panels on your roof and there you have it — free electricity from sunlight running your TV and appliances. No greenhouse gases, no pollution and no guilt. The catch: Solar power has always been expensive. (Nat’l Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14031247&ft=1&f=2

CONSERVATION

(BPA News Release) BPA offers simple energy efficiency steps as part of Energy Awareness Month
http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/1582/176445/

Making a plug for meters – A Portland developer sees potential for savings and energy. The light bulb went on for Ben Kaiser about six years ago, when the North Portland developer was laying in gas and electrical lines to a home he was building. (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/119129731732440.xml&coll=7

World's most boring TV show to measure energy use –- Television manufacturers and broadcasters have produced what may be the world's most boring TV program to measure energy consumption on new-generation televisions (Reuters)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071002/tc_nm/television_boring_dc_1

Mass Market for Green Homes Coming? (Renewable Energy Access)
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=50122&src=rss

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Ka-Ching$ - Climate change program tonight – Tonight is the night the Olympia City Council brings in two environmental authors to talk about global warming and call people to action to fight it. “…The council will pay each speaker $12,500 — plus travel and lodging costs…” (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/232356.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Oregon – Booster adds little juice to free Wi-Fi. The signal gets stronger -- sometimes -- but setting up the MetroFlex may be hard for regular users (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1191135324172580.xml&coll=7

Move to extend Internet tax ban stalls in Senate (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN2845311520070928

GENERAL NEWS

State of Washington Defends Its Primaries Before Supreme Court – The Supreme Court convened its new term yesterday, and the justices immediately immersed themselves in the first of several election-law challenges the court has agreed to decide in the midst of the 2008 elections. (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/01/AR2007100101449.html?nav=rss_politics

State to sue feds over children's health insurance – Washington and at least three other states will sue the Bush administration over restrictions it has imposed on state efforts to expand children's health coverage, Gov. Christine Gregoire announced Monday. (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003918093_health02m.html?syndication=rss

DIVERSIONS

Stung: Man Trying To Kill Wasps Burns House – About $80,000 Worth Of Damage Done
http://www.kirotv.com/news/14250002/detail.html?treets=sea&tid=2653595907813&tml=sea_7am&tmi=sea_7am_1_09000210022007&ts=H

Artist Builds Secret Apartment At Rhode Island Shopping Mall
http://www.kirotv.com/irresistible/14252256/detail.html?treets=sea&tid=2653595907813&tml=sea_nots&tmi=sea_nots_1_01000210022007&ts=H

Excel Thinks 65,535 = 100,000 – Microsoft Working To Fix Spreadsheet Problems
http://www.kirotv.com/technology/14227937/detail.html?treets=sea&tid=2653595907813&tml=sea_nots&tmi=sea_nots_1_01000210022007&ts=H

Now Arriving At Carousel 1, Far Fewer Of Your Bags
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/30/AR2007093001653.html?nav=rss_nation