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
Genius Loci • \JEEN-yus – LOW-sigh\ • noun – 1: the pervading spirit of a place 2: a tutelary deity of a place
Ambrose lazily swirled his plastic spoon in his nightly serving of “Pork and Beans”. Dreamily he reached out and touched the base of his chipped, plastic Porky Pig statue that had represented the Genius Loci of his family for over forty years. “Oh Porky,” he intoned. “Please don’t think any less of me when I say that I LOVE eating this little square of pork fat swimming at the top of my daily dose of high fiber beans.” Porky remained stoic, just as he had for many other house guests over the years.
WEATHER
Forecast for Mason County, Washington
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?site=sew&smap=1&textField1=47.21528&textField2=-123.09944
KMAS Radio’s “Extreme Weather” page. Includes road, power and weather updates (Shelton/Mason County)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/badweather.htm
Devastating Storm (That pretty much says it all for the coast – Daily World, Aberdeen)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2007/12/03/local_news/001news.txt
Storm drenches region; rescuers "overwhelmed" – Efforts will resume today to rescue people from flood-stricken homes in Southwest Washington after Monday's regionwide storm killed two, severed major highways, isolated communities and closed scores of roads and businesses. (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004051245_stormmainbar04.html
Wind, rain lash Pacific Northwest, then target Midwest (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2007-12-03-northwest-storm_N.htm?csp=34
Flooding closes Interstate 5, isolates some communities - Showers expected to abate after tonight (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/289521.html
Thousands Stranded Due to North Mason Flooding (Kitsap Sun, may require free registration)
http://kitsapsun.com/news/2007/dec/04/thousands-stranded-due-to-north-mason-flooding/
Grays Harbor County cut off (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/289516.html
ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES
News Release – Mason County PUD No. 3 linemen joined by Peninsula Power & Light and Snohomish County PUD in power restoration efforts. Access to Lake Cushman hindered by Skokomish River flooding (Mason County PUD No. 3)
http://www.masonpud3.org/News/display.asp?NewsID=384
Clallam County’s west end power out; isolated by road closures (KONP Radio, Port Angeles)
http://www.konp.com/local/3278
Douglas PUD budget anticipates no rate increase – Douglas County PUD commissioners have approved a 2008 budget that includes no rate increases and a slightly faster build-out of its fiber-optics network. (Wenatchee World)
http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071130/NEWS04/71130008/1025/rss1025
Chelan County PUD approves Alcoa power deal – PUD commissioners today approved a 17-year contract that Alcoa officials say will expand production, add 60 jobs and secure the future of the Wenatchee Works aluminum smelter. (Wenatchee World)
http://www.wenworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071203/NEWS04/71203017/1001
Gas, electrical bills could go up – Puget Sound Energy told state regulators Monday it wants to raise electrical rates 9.5 percent and natural gas rates 5.3 percent to pay for new generating capacity, energy supplies and pipes and wires needed to serve its growing customer base. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/342144_pugetenergy04.html
North Carolina – Duke Energy told to cut electricity rates. State regulators said today that Duke Energy must cut its electricity rates for North Carolina customers by 3.4 percent in January. (The News-Observer)
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/803297.html
Baltimore Sun Op/Ed – Reregulating power
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-ed.psc03dec03,0,1861419.story?track=rss
Michigan – Keep clean coal plants for state's power needs. Michigan's energy needs and its business recruitment efforts will be harmed by environmentalists who continue tilting at windmills. They want to ban the construction of new coal plants in the state but haven't come up with legitimate alternatives. (The Detroit News)
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071202/OPINION01/712020301/1008
Failed Nevada Experimental Energy Plant Costs Millions (Canadian Business)
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D8TA3NHG2
Buffett bets $2.1bn on utility sector (MSNBC)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22084799/
Arizona – Federal plan for transmission lines draws ire (The Business Journal of Phoenix)
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2007/12/03/story9.html?ana=from_rss
WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT
Endangered species questions expand – The Interior Department's inspector general will expand an investigation into the alleged political manipulation of decisions on 18 endangered species, including the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet and bull trout. (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/119648315871510.xml&coll=7
Coho still abundant in rivers; steelhead on their way (Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/11/30/this_day/doc47503724cfbaf534038781.txt
Another dismal season forecast for British Columbia salmon – Things are going from bad to worse for Pacific salmon.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=df0c48b0-db3f-4bc4-a05d-efd12c54aead
Oregon – Trout back in Diamond Lake after tui chub poisoning. With Diamond Lake free of the invasive tui chub, fishermen say the trout they are catching are fatter and longer than they have been in decades. (Associated Press, via the Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1084489~Trout_back_in_Diamond_Lake_after_tui_chub_poisoning.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines
RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Ambitious wind farm idea pushes on in gorge – An energy developer from New York is moving forward with a project to build a gargantuan wind farm along the Columbia River in Gilliam and Morrow counties. (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1196742332287410.xml&coll=7
Unfouling dirty garbage trucks – Portland-area governments are taking the first steps toward cleaning up old and dirty diesel engines, drafting new requirements that would cut the toxic particulates spewed into the air but also would raise garbage rates and contractor costs. (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/119665233143050.xml&coll=7
As fuel prices rise, rural Alaska looks at alternative energy (Anchorage Daily News)
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/9494111p-9405007c.html
Electric cars could act as batteries for the energy grid (New Scientist)
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/energy-fuels/dn13000-electric-cars-could-act-as-batteries-for-the-energy-grid-.html
CONSERVATION
News Release – FERC Hydrokinetic Energy Project Policy Statement allows conditioned licensing – The policy statement covers projects that use currents, waves and tides to generate renewable electric energy. (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)
http://www.ferc.gov/news/news-releases/2007/2007-4/11-30-07.asp
Texas mayors promote fluorescents as 'state bulb' (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSEIC34772620071203?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews
CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT
Power firms accused of emissions trade cheating (The Guardian, United Kingdom)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/03/climatechange.greenpolitics1
Should Couples Stay Together For Planet? Divorce Adds $6.9B In Energy Costs In U.S. A Year (Associated Press, Via KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/family/14763071/detail.html
TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Google may bid to lose – Auction for wireless airwaves is next month (Bloomberg News, via the Seattle Post Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/342160_googleauction04.html?source=rss
DIVERSIONS
Thief hopes ironworkers don't find him
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_fe_st/odd_funeral_thief;_ylt=Ap6yMi8KNSrgq9633DVd3GLtiBIF
Driver passes test, then hits building
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_fe_st/odd_hit_the_wall;_ylt=Ai7ejZBn1Gg9NKJaNYjyyivtiBIF
China says moon pictures not faked from NASA – China has dismissed Internet gossip that its first photo of the moon taken from a lunar orbiter might have been plagiarized from NASA, local media said on Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071203/od_nm/moon_dc;_ylt=Au6EZ9UqpO3Dggy79xCtBNvtiBIF
Man accused of stealing plane to impress – A man accused of stealing a twin-engine plane and driving it down the taxiway staged the stunt while he was drunk to impress his girlfriend, police said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_fe_st/stolen_plane;_ylt=ApLJ_0.l.vbgJi0db0Zx7jLtiBIF
"Naughty" nations in a coal lot of trouble in Bali
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071203/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_bali_award;_ylt=AkNILM3C1vGA_4I.FCVYoErtiBIF
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
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