3/16 Fukushima, Vancouver, state budget, Lummi spill, Way Out Kids, forage fish, kill sea lions, bluebirds, San Juan shores, Poulsbo shores, Kirkland stormwater, coal exports, Point Ruston

Botanical Beach, Vancouver Is (K.Kennell)

Cliff Mass blogs on The Revenge of La Nina.

New blog: “Laws are sand, customs are rock.”

As the world remembers Fukushima, Nobel Prize winner Dr. Helen Caldicott, in Seattle this week for the event, “Lessons from Fukushima for the Northwest”, reminds the nation that nuclear fall out isn’t only for a year. Radiation is a silent killer, says Caldicott, the repercussions last for hundreds of years. Lessons from Fukushima: Dr. Helen Caldicott and Local Filmmaker Speak Out

Vancouver is growing way too fast. The construction is phenomenal and accelerating. There is no law, human or natural, that says this has to happen. We can be masters of our own destiny. Naysayers claim you cannot slow growth. Of course you can. You cut down the number of building permits. Down considerably. Give developers points for imagination and amenity, not density. Gordon Gibson opines in Time to put brakes on Vancouver's growth

Republicans and Democrats have agreed to not cut education funding, but otherwise remain far apart on how to close a roughly $1 billion shortfall in the state budget. Gov. Chris Gregoire is threatening to veto bills if lawmakers don't compromise and deliver a budget soon. Lawmakers still in deadlock on budget; Gregoire threatens vetoes

An oil spill from two sunken barges on the south end of Lummi Island has been contained as of Thursday afternoon. Divers from Ballard Diving and Salvage of Seattle were cutting one of two submerged barges into pieces for removal on Thursday when a sheen of oil, 100 feet long and 6 feet wide, appeared and moved toward shore in strong winds. Oil spill off Lummi Island contained; cleanup planned for Friday

Way Out Kids uses music and multimedia to educate young people. The organization’s furry hip-hop mascot, Rodney Raccoon, makes frequent appearances in the Tacoma area. Way Out Kids is looking for five to 20 children, ages 8-12, to act in a 30- to 45-minute video, “Rodney Goes Green,” which will focus on environmental issues, mostly notably on polluted run-off. Auditions will be Saturday and March 24. Kids sought for environmental video

As ocean scientists probe what ails some of the largest creatures in the sea, a wave of new research is urging them to look at the little things — specifically the tiny schooling fish like herring, smelt, sardines and squid that are the food of choice for many of the ocean's top predators. But there is increasing pressure globally to harvest marine "forage fish" for everything from hog feed and fertilizer to fishmeal in tuna pens or as bait for recreational or commercial fishing. Craig Welch at the Seattle Times reports: Increasing pressure to harvest small fish worries scientists

Kill ‘em, Dano: NOAA Fisheries Service said Thursday that Oregon, Washington and Idaho can trap and kill up to 92 sea lions annually for the next four years. Feds OK killing of sea lions that eat endangered salmon in Columbia River

It costs about $30,000 to bring Western bluebirds back to live on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. There's travel, paperwork and permits at the U.S. border, temporary aviaries to be used before the birds move to well-equipped nesting boxes, naturalists and biologists to help with the transition and an ongoing supply of mealworms. But worth it, according to Shyanne Smith, executive director for the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team. "They are wonderful birds to work with and really easy to reintroduce," she said. Group cheered by prospect of bluebirds' return

Friends of the San Juans has received competitive funding through the National Estuary Program to study threats to shoreline habitat, private property, and public infrastructure from rising sea levels and the cumulative impacts of shoreline modifications in San Juan County. The results of the study, which will include new erosion rates and sea level rise models and maps, as well as ways to reduce risk, will be applicable throughout Puget Sound.  Friends of the San Juans receives notable shoreline protection grant

Port of Poulsbo commissioners are calling for the city to extend its approval deadline for the update to its Shoreline Master Program, saying they would like more time to work with the city to make sure the plan doesn't hinder their ability to operate in the future. Port commissioners ask Poulsbo to slow approval of shoreline plan

Kirkland residents are invited to provide comments by March 26 on the 2012 Stormwater Management Program, which identifies the city’s strategies to engage and educate the public about stormwater management, spill prevention, and dumping into the stormwater system, and requirements for development projects to control and treat runoff. Public invited to comment on Kirkland’s Stormwater Management Program

Right now, several major coal companies are proposing to develop Northwest ports to export coal from the Powder River Basin to Asia; including ports at Cherry Point, WA; Longview, WA; Grays Harbor, WA; Coos Bay, OR; St. Helens, OR; and Port of Morrow, OR. Mary Anne Hitt from Sierra Club blogs on New Plans For Coal Exports Are Bad Business  

After several years of marching in place, developers of a huge housing, retail and office complex along Tacoma’s Ruston Way are moving forward with construction. The first fruits of that renewed activity at Point Ruston, on the site of a former Asarco copper mill near Point Defiance Park, will open to the public late this spring. Point Ruston springs to life with developments

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 815 AM PDT FRI MAR 16 2012
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
TODAY
W SWELL 11 FT AT 10 SECONDS. S WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. SHOWERS LIKELY.
TONIGHT
W SWELL 10 FT AT 11 SECONDS. NE WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT. CHANCE OF SHOWERS...THEN CHANCE OF RAIN.
SAT
N WIND 10 TO 20 KT BECOMING NW 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS. RAIN...THEN SHOWERS LIKELY.
SAT NIGHT
W WIND 20 TO 30 KT EASING TO 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT SUBSIDING TO 1 OR 2 FT. W SWELL 9 FT.
SUN
W WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT. W SWELL 9 FT.
SUN NIGHT
E WIND 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT. W SWELL 9 FT.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to: msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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