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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HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES
Wednesday/Thursday - Heavy Rain, Snow, Thunderstorms in Forecast (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Report: Climate Change Worsens Western Water Woes (Associated Press)
Power Peak Could Mean Lowered Income for Columbia River PUDs (Wenatchee World, WA)
Environmental Fight over Burning Wood at Nippon Paper Industries’ Port Angeles Paper Plant (Puget Sound Business Journal)
Court Finds California Klamath Basin Salmon Protections Wanting (Associated Press)
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
· Power Peak Could Mean Lowered Income for Columbia River PUDs
· Arizona - Strange Bedfellows Join Forces to Kill Transmission Power-Line-Siting Bill
· Colorado - Pueblo Nuclear Plant Rejected
· California - $31 Million Natural Gas Power Plant Built at John Wayne Airport
· Sacramento Municipal Utility District Gets $1 Million Smart Grid Grant
· Pacific Gas & Electric We’ll Pay All of Outgoing CEO’s $35 Million Retirement, Not Ratepayers
· Chelan PUD Going Paperless
· Ontario Sold Power at a Loss on Earth Day
· Bizarrely Enough, Hydropower Not Considered Renewable Energy in California
· Backing Up Wind - Danish DONG Teams with Gazprom in Gas-Fired Power
· FERC Seeking Access to Electronic Tagging Data from NERC
· Court Finds California Klamath Basin Salmon Protections Wanting
· Oregon Legislature Considers Springtime Restrictions on Columbia Salmon Fishing
· San Juan Islands Chinook Fishery Going Out with a Bang of Big Fish
· British Columbia Residents Consider Salmon a Cultural Touchstone, Survey Finds
· Spring Drawdown Bares Shores of Lake Roosevelt
· More Time Asked for Public to Study $5 Billion Washington State Water Plan
· ‘The Dam Is In Fine Shape. It Is Just Not Retaining Water’
· State of Oregon Preparing New Rules for Graywater Use
· Environmental Fight over Burning Wood at Nippon Paper Industries’ Port Angeles Paper Plant
· Biomass is the Heat of the Moment in Germany
· Duke Energy Suspends ‘Rooftop Solar’ Effort after Fire
· In Oakland, a Creative Strategy for Financing the City’s Solar Roofs
· North Carolina - Solar Power Producers Want Customer Access to Sell Electricity Directly to Homeowners & Businesses
· Solar Panels to go 3D
· Michigan - Consumers Energy Asks For Permission to Lower Customer Bills by Relying on Wind Power Instead of Solar
· Unlikely Polluters - ‘Green’ Energy Not Always So Clean
· Report: Climate Change Worsens Western Water Woes
· Report: Climate Change to Sap Utah Water Supply
· EPA: Clean Air Act Not ‘Ideal’ to Regulate Carbon, Jackson Says
· Electric Vehicle Stations Charging Into Clark County
· Electric Car Backers Focus on Conquering ‘Range Anxiety’
· Editorial - Electric Car Tax Measure a Reasonable First Step
· Measure to Mandate More Room for Egg-Laying Hens May End Up on 2012 Oregon Ballot
· Portlandia - Is The Chicken Local?
· FCC To Give Broadband Deployment Failing Grade
· Satellite Broadband Pushes for Universal Service Fund Money
· New York - Broadband Access In Tompkins At Issue
· Gigahertz? No! What Matters Is the User Experience
· Special Session
· Former Washington State Legislator Jim Jacks Says Alcoholism Prompted Mid-Session Resignation
· Snow Thursday?
· Wednesday/Thursday - Heavy Rain, Snow, Thunderstorms in Forecast
· Tacoma Teen Charged In Fire at Historic Point Defiance Pagoda
· Shelton Hills Rezone Approved
· Oregon, Washington Governors Pick I-5’s Columbia River Bridge Design
· Catalytic Converter Thefts on the Rise
· Phoebe Snow, ‘Poetry Man’ Singer, Dies At 60
WORD OF THE DAY
Ensconce • \in-SKONSS\ • Verb - 1: to place or hide securely: conceal 2: to establish or settle firmly, comfortably, or snugly
“You’ve got one chance with this,” shouted the grizzled sergeant over the whistling winds, and growling engines of the paratroopers’ fragile training craft. “Now GO…GO…GO…” But the fresh-faced new recruit did not budge…ensconced in his seat as if held down by super glue. Which he was; much to the amusement of his fellow soldiers.
ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES
Power Peak Could Mean Lowered Income for Columbia River PUDs (Wenatchee World, WA)
Arizona - Strange Bedfellows Join Forces to Kill Transmission Power-Line-Siting Bill (Arizona Daily Star, Tucson)
Colorado - Pueblo Nuclear Plant Rejected (Denver Business Journal, CO)
California - $31 Million Natural Gas Power Plant Built at John Wayne Airport (Orange County Register, CA)
Sacramento Municipal Utility District Gets $1 Million Smart Grid Grant (Sacramento Business Journal)
Pacific Gas & Electric We’ll Pay All of Outgoing CEO’s $35 Million Retirement, Not Ratepayers (San Jose Mercury News, CA)
Chelan PUD Going Paperless (KPQ Radio, Wenatchee, WA)
Ontario Sold Power at a Loss on Earth Day – “…That’s the way we celebrate Earth Day in Ontario…said energy consultant Tom Adams…” (C-News, Canada)
Bizarrely Enough, Hydropower Not Considered Renewable Energy in California (California Independent Voter Network – Join the club, buddy…)
Backing Up Wind - Danish DONG Teams with Gazprom in Gas-Fired Power (Reuters)
FERC Seeking Access to Electronic Tagging Data from NERC (Renew Grid)
FISH & WILDLIFE
Court Finds California Klamath Basin Salmon Protections Wanting (Associated Press)
Oregon Legislature Considers Springtime Restrictions on Columbia Salmon Fishing (Oregonian, Portland)
San Juan Islands Chinook Fishery Going Out with a Bang of Big Fish (Seattle Times)
British Columbia Residents Consider Salmon a Cultural Touchstone, Survey Finds (Globe & Mail)
WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT
Spring Drawdown Bares Shores of Lake Roosevelt (Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA)
More Time Asked for Public to Study $5 Billion Washington State Water Plan (Yakima Herald-Republic, WA)
‘The Dam Is In Fine Shape. It Is Just Not Retaining Water’ (KOMO-TV, Seattle – Yes I can see…um, what?)
State of Oregon Preparing New Rules for Graywater Use “…trying to help people interested in capturing so-called “gently used” water for other purposes…” (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Environmental Fight over Burning Wood at Nippon Paper Industries’ Port Angeles Paper Plant (Puget Sound Business Journal)
Biomass is the Heat of the Moment in Germany - Alpine region leads fight against volatile oil prices with wood-fuelled heating systems (The Independent, Ireland)
Duke Energy Suspends ‘Rooftop Solar’ Effort after Fire (Charlotte Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/power_city/2011/04/duke-energy-suspends-rooftop-solar.html
In Oakland, a Creative Strategy for Financing the City’s Solar Roofs - Sell Solar Tiles to Locals for $100 a Pop & Install Them on Public Buildings (Solve Climate)
North Carolina - Solar Power Producers Want Customer Access to Sell Electricity Directly to Homeowners & Businesses (Raleigh News & Observer, NC)
Solar Panels to go 3D - Solar panels firm uses 3D technologies from fiber optics to create more efficient solar panels (Christian Science Monitor)
Michigan - Consumers Energy Asks For Permission to Lower Customer Bills by Relying on Wind Power Instead of Solar (Jackson Citizen Pilot, MI)
Unlikely Polluters - ‘Green’ Energy Not Always So Clean (iWatch News)
CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT
Report: Climate Change Worsens Western Water Woes (Associated Press)
Report: Climate Change to Sap Utah Water Supply (Salt Lake Tribune, UT)
EPA: Clean Air Act Not ‘Ideal’ to Regulate Carbon, Jackson Says (Bloomberg News)
BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI
Electric Vehicle Stations Charging Into Clark County – “…Clark Public Utilities will be watching development of Level 3 chargers closely, because of how they may affect electrical transformers…” (Vancouver Columbian, WA)
Electric Car Backers Focus on Conquering ‘Range Anxiety’ (Connecticut Mirror, Hartford)
Editorial - Electric Car Tax Measure a Reasonable First Step (Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA)
Measure to Mandate More Room for Egg-Laying Hens May End Up on 2012 Oregon Ballot (Oregonian, Portland)
Portlandia - Is The Chicken Local? (YouTube)
TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS
FCC To Give Broadband Deployment Failing Grade - Ignoring the Fact That They’re Partially Responsible (Broadband Reports)
Satellite Broadband Pushes for Universal Service Fund Money - Please Ignore Our Overpriced, Capped, Slow Service (Broadband Reports)
New York - Broadband Access In Tompkins At Issue - More obstacles to universal broadband access exist in Tompkins County than portrayed (Ithaca Journal, NY)
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20110425/NEWS01/104250356/Broadband-access-Tompkins-issue
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20110425/NEWS01/104250356/Broadband-access-Tompkins-issue
Gigahertz? No! What Matters Is the User Experience (GigaOM)
POLITICS & GOVERNANCE
Washington State Lawmakers to Begin Budget-Focused Special Session (Northwest Cable News Network)
Former Washington State Legislator Jim Jacks Says Alcoholism Prompted Mid-Session Resignation (Associated Press)
GENERAL NEWS
Snow Thursday? (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
Wednesday/Thursday - Heavy Rain, Snow, Thunderstorms in Forecast (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Tacoma Teen Charged In Fire at Historic Point Defiance Pagoda (Olympian, WA)
Shelton Hills Rezone Approved (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
Oregon, Washington Governors Pick I-5’s Columbia River Bridge Design (Associated Press)
Catalytic Converter Thefts on the Rise (USA Today)
Phoebe Snow, ‘Poetry Man’ Singer, Dies At 60 (Associated Press)
DIVERSIONS
Everett: Next Roller Derby Capital of the Pacific Northwest?
Hubris - High-Ranking Rhode Island Lawmaker Faces Connecticut Drug Charge
NY Judge Fumes at Defendant Who Was Freed for Heart Transplant, but Won’t Quit Smoking
World’s last typewriter factory has just 500 left (Business Standard)
SONG OF THE DAY
Every Night - Phoebe Snow
