NOTE: Still trying to get the Windows 7 upgrade to allow normal posting of the news digest ehre on the blog. Hopefully I'll work it out soon. In the meantime, enjoy this wonderfully funky formatting.
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.
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TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
• Gregoire, BPA Boss to Visit Intalco Monday; Good News Coming?
• New Refinery - Alcoa, Saudi Arabia to Invest $11B in Venture
• Decision Due on Montana’s Half-Billion Tons of Coal
• Mason County PUD 3 to Discuss Johns Prairie Operations Center SEPA Appeal
• $2.3 Million in State Money Could Go to Flood Authority
• Oregon Objects to Federal OK of Coos Bay Gas Terminal
• Sierra Club Challenges Wyoming Power Plant
• City of Keizer Seeks Assurances on Power Plant
• Florida - Tampa’s Seminole Electric Cooperative cancels plan for new coal plant
• Report Finds Power Plants Cost Decline Is Slowing
• Grant PUD Recognized by Soldiers - Employees Provide Gifts for Soldiers’ Children
• Los Angeles Electricity Ratepayers to Benefit from Overcharge Settlement
• A Year Later, TVA Chief Says Ash Spill `Painful’
• EPA, USDA push farmers to use coal waste on fields
• Utility Bill Is One More Casualty of Recession
• Tracking Trout - A survey of the upper Rogue River will help develop the habitat, & the fishing possibilities
• What Is the Most Abundant Fish in Puget Sound?
• Alleged Drunk Driver Causes Friday Sewage Spill in Port Angeles
• Editorial - Cleaner Spokane River worth the Cost
• British Columbia Urged to Slow Green Power Development
• Massachusetts Biomass Brouhaha – Group Says Governor’s Stance Will Halt NRG Energy’s Somerset Plant
• Iowa - Biomass Generation Plant Planned for Rock Falls
• Idaho Utilities Commission OKs Sale of Wind Power
• Plans Progress for Wyoming Coal-to-Gasoline Plant
• North Mason School District Getting Energy Grant
• Massachusetts Pushing Whole Energy Efficient Neighborhoods
• Many Take Dim View of New-Fangled Christmas Lights
• Does Heating Homes Take Up More Energy Than Needed?
• Climate Conference in Copenhagen Ends With Statement of Intent
• What did the Copenhagen climate summit achieve?
• AP Poll Shows Most See Climate Change as Serious
• Northwest Scientists Keeping an Eye on Carbon
• If Humans Didn’t Cause Past Global Warming & Cooling, Are They Now?
• The Festive Side of Carbon Dioxide
• Hard Questions for the Broadband Stimulus Program
• Exploring Which Projects Got Broadband Stimulus Funds
• Rackspace Data Center Outage Has Limited Impact
• Norm Dicks Says Ethics Panel Inquiry Over, No Further Action Expected
• When no News is News - No Holiday Display Ruckus This Year in Olympia
• Pesky Frogs Hide in Christmas Trees
• Polish Police Recover Auschwitz Gate Sign, Damaged
WORD OF THE DAY
Antinomian • \ant-tin-NOME-ee-un\ • noun – 1: one who holds that under the gospel dispensation of grace the moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation 2: one who rejects a socially established morality.
Unused to the niceties of attending regular church services, the city’s new waste management official sauntered into the gracefully arched sanctuary exuding the very essence of his antinomian past. “Yep,” he uttered before his gravelly voice was drowned out by the organ, “I guessed that I should join y’all for singin’ and prayin’ at least once a year.”
WEATHER
Shelton Forecast & Weather Alerts
ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES
Gregoire, BPA Boss to Visit Intalco Monday; Good News Coming? (Good News for Whom? Bellingham Herald, WA)
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/477/story/1210222.html
New Refinery - Alcoa, Saudi Arabia to Invest $11B in Venture (Associated Press)
Decision Due on Montana’s Half-Billion Tons of Coal (Associated Press)
Mason County PUD 3 to Discuss Johns Prairie Operations Center SEPA Appeal (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
$2.3 Million in State Money Could Go to Flood Authority – Some funds had previously gone to study Lewis PUD dam proposals (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/999753.html
Oregon Objects to Federal OK of Coos Bay Gas Terminal (Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/12/post_34.html
Sierra Club Challenges Wyoming Power Plant (Courthouse News Service)
http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/12/21/Sierra_Club_Challenges_Wyoming_Power_Plant.htm
City of Keizer Seeks Assurances on Power Plant (Keizer Times, OR)
http://www.keizertimes.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=12142
Florida - Tampa’s Seminole Electric Cooperative cancels plan for new coal plant (St Petersburg Times, FL)
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/article1059847.ece
Report Finds Power Plants Cost Decline Is Slowing (Power Engineering)
Grant PUD Recognized by Soldiers - Employees Provide Gifts for Soldiers’ Children (Columbia Basin Herald)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2009/12/18/news/doc4b2c1157d5075391778880.txt
Los Angeles Electricity Ratepayers to Benefit from Overcharge Settlement (Los Angeles Times, CA)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-refunds19-2009dec19,0,4030963.story
A Year Later, TVA Chief Says Ash Spill `Painful’ (Associated Press)
EPA, USDA push farmers to use coal waste on fields (Associated Press)
Utility Bill Is One More Casualty of Recession (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/us/20utility.html
FISH & WILDLIFE
Tracking Trout - A survey of the upper Rogue River will help develop the habitat, & the fishing possibilities
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091220/NEWS/912200334
What Is the Most Abundant Fish in Puget Sound? (Seattle Post Intelligencer)
http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/archives/188667.asp?source=pimail
WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT
Alleged Drunk Driver Causes Friday Sewage Spill in Port Angeles (Seattle Times)
Spokesman Review Editorial - Cleaner Spokane River worth the Cost
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/dec/20/cleaner-river-worth-the-cost/
RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
British Columbia Urged to Slow Green Power Development (Vancouver Sun, BC)
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/urged+slow+green+power+development/2352063/story.html
Massachusetts Biomass Brouhaha – Group Says Governor’s Stance Will Halt NRG Energy’s Somerset Plant (Fall River Herald News, MA)
Iowa - Biomass Generation Plant Planned for Rock Falls (KWQC-TV, Davenport, IA)
http://www.kwqc.com/Global/story.asp?S=11688737
Idaho Utilities Commission OKs Sale of Wind Power (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/1077266.html
Plans Progress for Wyoming Coal-to-Gasoline Plant (Associated Press)
CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY
North Mason School District Getting Energy Grant (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
Massachusetts Pushing Whole Energy Efficient Neighborhoods (Associated Press)
Many Take Dim View of New-Fangled Christmas Lights (Associated Press)
Does Heating Homes Take Up More Energy Than Needed? (Seattle Post Intelligencer)
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/413403_power17.html?source=rss
CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT
Climate Conference in Copenhagen Ends With Statement of Intent (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010551342_climate20.html
What did the Copenhagen climate summit achieve? (BBC, UK)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8424522.stm
AP Poll Shows Most See Climate Change as Serious (Associated Press)
Northwest Scientists Keeping an Eye on Carbon (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/6425-northwest-scientists-keeping-eye-carbon/
If Humans Didn’t Cause Global Warming & Cooling in the Past, Is That Evidence They Also Aren’t Now? (Christian Science Monitor)
BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI
The Festive Side of Carbon Dioxide - Scientists Uncork Champagne’s Complexity & the Wondrous Micro-Mechanics of Bubbles (Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126108284326695963.html
TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Hard Questions for the Broadband Stimulus Program (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2009/12/18/hard-questions-for-the-broadband-stimulus-program/
Exploring Which Projects Got Broadband Stimulus Funds - Middle mile, single state telco & private-public plans dominate (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Exploring-Which-Projects-Got-Broadband-Stimulus-Funds-106080
Rackspace Data Center Outage Has Limited Impact (PC World)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20091219/tc_pcworld/rackspaceoutagehaslimitedimpact
GENERAL NEWS
Norm Dicks Says Ethics Panel Inquiry Over, No Further Action Expected (Seattle Times)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/999772.html
When no News is News - No Holiday Display Ruckus This Year in Olympia
http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=6563
Pesky Frogs Hide in Christmas Trees
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010552201_frogs20m.html?syndication=rss
Polish Police Recover Auschwitz Gate Sign, Damaged (Associated Press)
ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS
The Origins of Christmas (Finding Dulcinea)
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/history/2009/Origins-of-Christmas.html
Silent Night’ Flap Ends on High Note
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010552205_silentnight20m.html
Stolen 1965 VW bus brings in nearly $30,000 at auction
Japanese man takes video game character as wife
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BJ1XX20091220?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews
Idaho Pharmacist Who Tackled Armed Robber Fired
SONG OF THE DAY
David Bowie & Bing Crosby - Little Drummer Boy
