News Digest for October 9, 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

Jactitation • \jak-tuh-TAY-shun\ • noun – A tossing to and fro or jerking and twitching of the body

“What a groovy, ginchy party,” panted Daisy to her date. It was a dream encounter: a great band, flashing lights and pulsing bass…her date was everything she had hoped for. That is, until they started dancing. His moves were better described as wild jactitation, which nearly sent two party-goers to the hospital for eye injuries. “Can I call you again?” he asked at the end of the evening. “Not until you get a subscription for Requip,” she responded.

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

Warm winter predicted across most of United States (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2007-10-09-winter-prediction_N.htm?csp=34

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Heating Costs to Jump This Winter – U.S. households that depend on heating oil will see costs jump sharply this winter, while those using natural gas will experience more moderate price increases, the government said Tuesday. Electricity will cost 2 percent more (Associated Press via the San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/10/09/financial/f072926D17.DTL&feed=rss.business

Jack Welch, former (Grays Harbor County) PUD commissioner, dies at 88 – Jack Welch, former PUD Commissioner and Washington Public Power Supply System official, died Sunday night at Channel Point in Hoquiam, surrounded by family. He was 88. (The Daily World, Aberdeen)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2007/10/08/local_news/03news.txt

Public Power Week – Franklin PUD Gives Away Fluorescent Light Bulbs (KVEW-TV, Kennewick)
http://www.kvewtv.com/news/?sect_rank=1&section_id=1&story_id=3566

Near the Snoqualmie Summit – Copper wire thieves disable state highway signs, safety lighting (Associated Press, via the Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/state/APStories/AP10092007news211329.cfm

Germany – Shock burns cable thief beyond recognition (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL0824316120071008?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

Colorado – Utility offers education to reduce snagging of power lines by trucks (Glenwood Springs Post-Independent)
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20071009/VALLEYNEWS/110090029

Big Utility Says It Will Settle 8-Year-Old Pollution Suit – American Electric Power, one of the nation’s largest utilities, is expected to announce that it has reached an agreement to settle a long-running lawsuit over emissions from its coal-fired power plants. (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/business/09power.html?ex=1349582400&en=5bbea2ff48acde6b&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Convicted Dynegy exec wants retrial – Jamie Olis claims prosecutors 'stacked the scales ' when he was sentenced to six years on fraud charges. (CNN Money)
http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/08/news/companies/dynegy_exec.ap/index.htm?section=money_news_companies

Market fix rests on bright ideas – If Texas' deregulated electricity market is broken enough to need fixing -- and that's debated -- will it take a few drops of solder or a full-scale rewiring? (Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, via PowerMarketers.com)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5E%5CgdmpnmpZSlj%23%3A%40%24bfem%5Ev

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Canada – Rivers Inlet mystery: What happened to the sockeye? (Vancouver Sun)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=76f86c85-ea55-4770-8f29-d91864830209

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Green power a new clean mantra in Silicon Valley – Like any industry worth its lobbyists, Silicon Valley pushes hard for the legislation it wants. And this year, it wants a new federal energy law. A climate change law, too. (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/09/BUATSM699.DTL&feed=rss.business

Pond Scum! The right way to grow fuel – The new ethanol plant at Boardman is a welcome arrival, but it will be "greener" if it converts from the use of food crops (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1191893107139760.xml&coll=7

CONSERVATION

Report questions Energy Star labels – The credibility of blue Energy Star labels that consumers use to identify energy efficient TVs and other home electronics could be damaged because many products are tested in standby mode rather than when turned on (Vancouver Sun, BC)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=d078b496-9138-4531-9598-7bc2574f94e9

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Obama Proposes Capping Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Making Polluters Pay (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/us/politics/09obama.html?ex=1349582400&en=188e60c7f6bf3845&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Internet's creators say it's outdated; offer remedies (the Wall Street Journal, via the Lincoln Journal-Star)
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2007/10/09/news/business/doc4706b4a2d156e555137305.txt

A Settlement by Vonage Over Patents – Vonage, the Internet phone-calling pioneer, has settled its patent dispute with Sprint Nextel for $80 million and agreed to license Sprint’s Internet-calling technology, the two companies said yesterday. (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/business/09vonage.html?ex=1349582400&en=f7a7a145be773c5f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

GENERAL NEWS

NO SURVIVORS IN CENTRAL WASHINGTON CRASH OF SHELTON-BASED AIRPLANE – At least seven people were found dead in the wreckage of a Shelton-based plane carrying 10 people that crashed in the Cascade mountains. Ground searchers followed the smell of fuel yesterday and found the wreckage of the plane carrying nine skydivers and a pilot. Emergency officials say seven bodies had been found by late last night, and the search resumed today. Jim Hall, director of Yakima Valley Emergency Management, says all aboard died in the crash Based on radar transmissions and a hunter's report of seeing a plane flying low Sunday evening and then hearing a crash, the search was focused on a steep, densely forested area near White Pass, about 45 miles west of Yakima. The plane was registered to Kapowsin Air Sports. But the nine passengers were associated with a skydiving company called Skydive Snohomish. They were returning from a gathering of skydivers in Idaho when the plane disappeared. Names of the victims have not been released; however their families have been notified. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

Effort under way to recover 10 bodies from Cascade plane crash (The Associated Press)
http://www.examiner.com/a-979302~Effort_under_way_to_recover_10_bodies_from_Cascade_plane_crash.html?cid=rss-Washington_Headlines

Gas leak blamed for blast – Investigators point to faulty hose or connectors between truck, tank. Tacoma Fire Department investigators said Monday that faulty hoses or faulty connections between stationary propane tanks and a delivery truck likely caused “a very significant leak” that led to devastating explosions Saturday at a Tacoma foundry. (The News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/174395.html

Escape attempt thwarted at Washington State pen – An escape attempt at the Washington State Penitentiary ended when a guard fired a warning shot into the air. (Associated Press via the Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/state/APStories/AP10092007news211549.cfm

Young man setting off fireworks blamed for big Spokane fire – A young man setting off fireworks has been blamed for a massive fire that destroyed a fuel distribution center in Spokane. (Associated Press, via the Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/238618.html

Lying Legally, and the Right to Speech – Last week, the Washington State Supreme Court struck down a 1999 law that banned political candidates from lying about their opponents. In the decision, the majority said the law was an affront to free speech. (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15100964&ft=1&f=2

DIVERSIONS

Taking a hammer to Comcast – "What the hell, I'm 75," said Bristow resident Mona Shaw about heading into the Comcast office in Manassas with a hammer and using it on a telephone and computer keyboard, after trying for days to have her phone service connected. Shaw was arrested for disorderly conduct after she took a hammer to several items in the office - all the while saying, "Have I got your attention now?" (Northern Virginia.com)
http://www.insidenova.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=ISN/MGArticle/WPN_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173353015622

Man sentenced in "pride" killing of ostrich
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN0625560220071008?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

Golden retriever nurses stray kitten
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20071009/NEWS02/710090072/-1/RSS01

A bad relationship can cause heart attack?
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL0824271720071009?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews