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
Energy Northwest Nuclear Plant Nears Completion Of
License Renewal (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
Avista Exec Compensation Grows (Spokesman Review,
Spokane, WA)
Montana - Baucus Presses Bonneville Power
Administration to Help Columbia Falls Aluminum Plant Reopen “…The market
conditions for reaching a contract & committing to a restart just are not
there right now… Former CFA Official…” (The Missoulian, MT)
Legacy
Biomass – Washington State House Sends Hatfield’s Biomass Bill to the Governor
(Longview Daily News, WA)
Commercial, Sport Anglers Might See Huge Fall
Chinook Returns for Klamath & Sacramento Rivers (Oregonian, Portland)
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
- Energy Northwest Nuclear Plant Nears Completion of License Renewal
- Avista Exec Compensation Grows
- Avista Lowers Natural Gas Rates in Idaho
- Montana - Baucus Presses Bonneville Power Administration to Help Columbia Falls Aluminum Plant Reopen
- Man Electrocuted North of Rochester – Watch for Overhead Lines
- Mason County PUD 3 Ops Center Substantially Complete
- Oregon - Public Power Not High Priority for Clatsop County Commission
- Columbia River PUD Begins Utility Pole Testing in St. Helens, Warren
- Port Angeles Smart Meter Project Hits Snags, Delayed
- Kittitas County PUD Catching Up on Accounting
- Utilities Announce Closure of Ten Aging Power Plants in Midwest, East
- New York – Entergy’s Indian Point 3 Nuke Plant Offline for Transformer Repairs
- North Dakota – In Exchange for Higher Rates, Xcel Would Promise Fewer Outages
- Colorado - Xcel Energy & City of Boulder Fight over Customers
- Will Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order 1000 Affect Hydro?
- There’s a 1-in-8 Chance of a Catastrophic Solar Megastorm by 2020
- Missouri - Neighbors Upset by Electric Cooperative’s Tree-Cutting
- Commercial, Sport Anglers Might See Huge Fall Chinook Returns for Klamath & Sacramento Rivers
- Tribes Use Bonneville Power Administration Funds to Restore Westslope Cutthroat Trout
- Grant PUD-Sponsored Education Program Brings Salmon to Students
- Spotted Owl Funds Reported Missing
- Sea Lion Wound Suggest Sharks in Puget Sound
- Debris from Tsunami to Reach West Coast, Join Great Pacific Garbage Patch
- Legacy Biomass – Washington State House Sends Hatfield’s Biomass Bill to the Governor
- Washington State’s Largest Wind-Power Site Begins Generating Electricity
- Idaho Utilities to Senate: Give Us Energy Credits
- Port Angeles - Cutting-Edge System Stores Power at the Landing
- Study: Turbine Blades, Not Air Pressure, Kill Bats
- US Senator Launches Uphill Battle with ‘Clean’ Power Proposal
- Thurston County To Widen Its Energy Saving Efforts
- Washington State Employees Encouraged to Use Less, Save More Energy
- Rethinking Carbon Dioxide: From a Pollutant to a Moneymaker
- Hybrid Cars Still a Rarity in the Pacific Northwest
- Green Jobs, Pink Slips: Weatherization Cuts Hit Hard
- Why Your Solar Mission Statement is Useless & Meaningless - and How to Fix It
- Counting the Family Carbon
- Microsoft Windows Azure Cloud Suffers Outage; Blame Leap Year
- Ship’s Anchor Cuts Internet Access to Six East African Countries
- Consultants: Changes Needed to Chelan PUD Fiber
- Rural Utilities Find Revenue Stream with Broadband Fiber
- For Impatient Web Users, an Eye Blink Is Just Too Long to Wait
- How eBay’s Data Center Makes e-Commerce More Energy Efficient
- Initial Reaction Positive as Microsoft Shows Off Consumer Test Version of Windows 8
- Rider Jams Cell Phones on SEPTA Buses
- Washington State Caucuses Make GOP Voters ‘Princess for the Week’
- Ron Paul Threatens to Disrupt Washington State GOP Caucus
- Washington State House Passes Bill to Rescue Wenatchee Arena Debt
- Gregoire names Jim Dixon to Thurston County Superior Court
- State’s Jobless Rate Falls to 8.3 Percent
- Former Cop Accused of Selling Cars Bought with Money for Slain Lakewood Officers
- Environmentalists Vow to Fight Proposed Coal Terminals
- Mason County Senior Center Purchase Option for PUD 3 Downtown Shelton Property Extended
- Washington & Four Other States to Allow Honda’s Hybrid Mileage Settlement
- Soap Lake Could Revert to Water’s Original Name
WORD OF THE DAY
Pretentious • \prih-TENT-shush\ • Adjective - 1:
characterized by pretension: as a: making usually unjustified or excessive
claims b: expressive of affected, unwarranted, or exaggerated importance,
worth, or stature 2: making demands on one’s skill, ability, or means: ambitious
Nose held firmly in the air, the new supervisor
waddled into his workplace with the pretentious pose of one who had just
ascended to the “Sun King” throne of historic France. “This department will be
a reflection of me,” he intoned to his awestruck new minions. “As the staple
boxing process goes, so goes ME,” he pronounced. (Insert hubristic story end
here: ____________________)
SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS
ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES
Energy Northwest Nuclear Plant Nears Completion of
License Renewal (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
Avista Exec Compensation Grows (Spokesman Review,
Spokane, WA)
Avista Lowers Natural Gas Rates in Idaho (Spokesman
Review, Spokane, WA)
Montana - Baucus Presses Bonneville Power
Administration to Help Columbia Falls Aluminum Plant Reopen “…The market
conditions for reaching a contract & committing to a restart just are not
there right now… Former CFA Official…” (The Missoulian, MT)
Man Electrocuted North of Rochester – Watch for
Overhead Lines (Olympian, WA)
Mason County PUD 3 Ops Center Substantially
Complete (Mason Web TV)
Oregon - Public Power Not High Priority for Clatsop
County Commission (Coast River Business Journal, Astoria, OR)
http://www.crbizjournal.com/news/article_aa5ac674-632e-11e1-9133-0019bb2963f4.html
http://www.crbizjournal.com/news/article_aa5ac674-632e-11e1-9133-0019bb2963f4.html
Columbia River PUD Begins Utility Pole Testing in
St. Helens, Warren (St Helens Chronicle, OR)
Port Angeles Smart Meter Project Hits Snags,
Delayed (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)
Kittitas County PUD Catching Up on Accounting
(Ellensburg Daily Record, WA)
Utilities Announce Closure of Ten Aging Power
Plants in Midwest, East (Washington Post)
New York – Entergy’s Indian Point 3 Nuke Plant
Offline for Transformer Repairs (Associated Press)
North Dakota – In Exchange for Higher Rates, Xcel
Would Promise Fewer Outages (CBS News)
Colorado - Xcel Energy & City of Boulder Fight
over Customers (KUNC Radio, Denver, CO)
http://www.kunc.org/post/xcel-energy-and-city-boulder-fight-over-customers
http://www.kunc.org/post/xcel-energy-and-city-boulder-fight-over-customers
Will Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order
1000 Affect Hydro? What are the implications of FERC’s new ruling on interstate
transmission for hydropower development? (Penn Energy)
There’s a 1-in-8 Chance of a Catastrophic Solar
Megastorm by 2020 (Gizmodo)
Missouri - Neighbors Upset by Electric Cooperative’s
Tree-Cutting: Central Electric co-op clearing right-of-way (Springfield
News-Tribune, MO)
FISH & WILDLIFE
Commercial, Sport Anglers Might See Huge Fall
Chinook Returns for Klamath & Sacramento Rivers (Oregonian, Portland)
Tribes Use Bonneville Power Administration Funds
to Restore Westslope Cutthroat Trout (High Country News)
Grant PUD-Sponsored Education Program Brings
Salmon to Students (Columbia
Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)
Spotted Owl Funds Reported Missing (Courthouse
News Service)
Sea Lion Wound Suggest Sharks in Puget Sound (KING-TV, Seattle)
WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT
Debris
from Tsunami to Reach West Coast, Join Great Pacific Garbage Patch (Christian Science Monitor)
RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Legacy
Biomass – Washington State House Sends Hatfield’s Biomass Bill to the Governor (Longview
Daily News, WA)
Washington
State’s Largest Wind-Power Site Begins Generating Electricity - Puget Sound
Energy completes Lower Snake River Wind Facility, its third wind farm (BusinessWire)
Idaho
Utilities to Senate: Give Us Energy Credits (KHQ-TV, Spokane, WA)
Port
Angeles - Cutting-Edge System Stores Power at the Landing (Peninsula Daily
News, Port Angeles, WA)
Study:
Turbine Blades, Not Air Pressure, Kill Bats (Midwest Energy News)
US
Senator Launches Uphill Battle with ‘Clean’ Power Proposal (The Hill)
CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY
Thurston County To Widen Its Energy Saving Efforts
- Courthouse changes last year lowered bill by $5,000 a month (Olympian, WA)
Washington State Employees Encouraged to Use Less,
Save More Energy (South Sound Business Examiner, WA)
http://www.businessexaminer.com/blog/state-employees-encouraged-to-save
http://www.businessexaminer.com/blog/state-employees-encouraged-to-save
CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT
Rethinking
Carbon Dioxide: From a Pollutant to a Moneymaker (Christian
Science Monitor)
BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI
Hybrid
Cars Still a Rarity in the Pacific Northwest (KPLU Radio, Tacoma, WA)
Green
Jobs, Pink Slips: Weatherization Cuts Hit Hard (Midwest Energy News)
Why
Your Solar Mission Statement is Useless & Meaningless - and How to Fix It (Renewable
Energy World)
Counting
the Family Carbon (NY Times)
TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Microsoft Windows Azure Cloud Suffers Outage; Blame
Leap Year (Forbes Magazine)
Ship’s Anchor Cuts Internet Access to Six East
African Countries (Christian Science Monitor)
Consultants: Changes Needed to Chelan PUD Fiber - Utility
will seek customer input at upcoming community meetings (Wenatchee World, WA)
Rural Utilities Find Revenue Stream with Broadband
Fiber (Fierce Smart Grid)
For Impatient Web Users, an Eye Blink Is Just Too
Long to Wait (NY Times)
How eBay’s Data Center Makes e-Commerce More Energy
Efficient (GreenBiz)
Initial Reaction Positive as Microsoft Shows Off
Consumer Test Version of Windows 8 (Seattle Times)
Rider Jams Cell Phones on SEPTA Buses (NBC
Philadelphia)
POLITICS & GOVERNANCE
Washington State Caucuses Make GOP Voters ‘Princess
for the Week’ (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
Ron Paul Threatens to Disrupt Washington State GOP
Caucus (Associated Press)
Washington State House Passes Bill to Rescue
Wenatchee Arena Debt (Associated Press)
Gregoire names Jim Dixon to Thurston County Superior
Court (Olympian, WA)
GENERAL NEWS
State’s
Jobless Rate Falls to 8.3 Percent (Seattle Times)
Former
Cop Accused of Selling Cars Bought with Money for Slain Lakewood Officers (KIRO Broadcasting, Seattle)
Environmentalists
Vow to Fight Proposed Coal Terminals (KOMO-TV,
Seattle)
Mason
County Senior Center Purchase Option for PUD 3 Downtown Shelton Property Extended
(KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
Washington
& Four Other States to Allow Honda’s Hybrid Mileage Settlement (Associated
Press)
Soap
Lake Could Revert to Water’s Original Name - Historian says native people
called it Lake Smokiam (Olympian, WA)
DIVERSIONS
Former Monkee Davy Jones Dies at Age 66 in Florida
Break out the Violins – Wall Street Bonus Drop
Means Trading Aspen for Coupons
Humongous Prehistoric Fleas Fed on Dinosaurs,
Couldn’t Jump
Toy Jolly Roger Flag Banned from Garden for
Breaching Advertising Laws
SONG OF THE DAY
The
Monkees - I’m a Believer
The
Monkees - Daydream Believer
The
Monkees - She
