4/25 No pipeline, BP, Alexandra Morton, Eleanor Stopps, white orca, gray whale, Mayne Is., Birch Bay, plastic ban, Tacoma bulk terminal, B'ham Love

Alexandra Morton (Sean Patrick Farrell/The New York Times)

Vancouver's majority party on council and park board are formally opposing Kinder Morgan's plan to twin its oil pipeline from Alberta in order to boost exports to Asia.  On Tuesday Vision Vancouver said it would introduce two motions next week — one at council and one at park board — arguing that the expansion of the pipeline and the resulting tanker traffic in Vancouver harbour would put the city at unnecessary risk of a spill.  Vancouver council, park board to formally oppose Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion

The US justice department has filed the first criminal charges linked to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A former BP engineer was arrested on charges of intentionally destroying evidence. BP oil spill: First criminal charges filed in US  

Mark Hume in The Globe and Mail profiles activist Alexandra Morton.  One woman's struggle to save B.C.'s wild salmon   Read also:  Cohen Commission asked to explore possibility that Fraser sockeye suffer damaged hearts  

If you like to listen:  “As Eleanor (Stopps) is currently in hospice, I thought it time we brought out the unpublished interview we shot of her as part of "Voices of the Strait",” Al Bergstein writes. “Eleanor talks about her life, and how she came to protect Protection Island.  Interview by Betsy Wharton and Jo Anne Bailey.” Listen here.

Scientists have spotted an extremely rare all-white adult orca off Russia's coast and are wondering if it's the same animal photographed by scientists in Alaska in 2000 and 2008 — or if there is more than one.  Rare white orca seen off Russia may have been Alaska visitor, too

A gray whale found dead Sunday off Camano Island had been feeding recently on shrimp. NOAA Fisheries says an examination of its stomach Monday also found large amount of woody debris and some pieces of rope, plastic and a golf ball. Spokesman Brian Gorman says the garbage was minimal and not the cause of death which remains under investigation. Whale that died off Camano Island ate golf ball

People move to Mayne Island for the simple life. It's the kind of leafy Gulf Islands paradise that suit-and-tie office workers dream about as their souls are slowly sucked away in 15 km/h commuter traffic. But as Tamara Gagne's neighbour likes to say, it's complicated to become simple. Jack Knox in the Times Colonist muses: Life on Mayne Island, it's complicated to become simple

Whatcom County leaders gave nods to pursue a $10 million project to renovate Birch Bay's waterfront, improving safety for pedestrians, preventing erosion and cleaning stormwater. But whether the county gets a $7 million loan for the project depends on whether the state Department of Ecology writes a letter supporting the project, and agency officials haven't decided whether they'll do that, Ecology spokeswoman Katie Skipper said. Ecology support is needed because Whatcom County is out of compliance with state growth law.  Whatcom County to pursue $10 million Birch Bay waterfront project

A petition to mobilize support for a Port Townsend ban of plastic shopping bags now has the active support of more than 10 percent of city residents, petition sponsors say.  Petition for plastic-bag ban gaining signatures  

The site of a former massive aluminum smelter could become a bulk goods terminal if the Port of Tacoma is successful with a new plan to attract iron ore and potash exports to the port.  The 96-acre site at the northeast end of the port’s Blair Waterway could become the destination for long unit trains carrying bulk commodities destined for export.  New bulk terminal in Tacoma?

Bellingham writer Carol Kaesuk Yoon writes in the New York Times about her discoveries close to home. So Much Life on a Little Patch of Earth  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED APR 25 2012
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
TODAY
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS. RAIN.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING SW 5 TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS AFTER
 MIDNIGHT. SW SWELL 4 FT AT 8 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE EVENING...THEN SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT.

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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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