5/4 Lisa Brown, coal, B'ham waterfront, Cedar Grove, purple martin, water-trails map, super moon, Squaxin salmon, first nation projects

New blog:  There are seven, some say eight, types of geckos living in Hawaii. Since being introduced in the 1940s, the Common House Gecko ( Hemidactylus frenatus ) has pretty much taken over. Travel Notes: Tropic Living Below Nature’s Chirping

Sen. Majority Leader Lisa Brown announced Thursday that she won't run for re-election and will leave her seat in the state Legislature after her term expires at the end of the year. The Spokane Democrat said that after 20 years in the Legislature, she is ready to move on.  State Sen. Lisa Brown won't seek re-election  

Martha Baskin of Green Acre Radio reports: 'Ever since Peabody Coal and investors like Goldman Sachs came up with a plan to export tens of millions of tons of coal through the Pacific NW to foreign markets, there’s been opposition. It’s been most vocal in Bellingham, site of a proposed “Gateway Pacific Terminal”. But opponents all along the proposed route – including Seattle – are gearing up to quote “power past coal”.' Walking the Walk to Power Past Coal

Port of Bellingham and city officials provided a preview of a slimmed-down plan for a redeveloped central waterfront at a Thursday, May 3, joint meeting of City Council and the Port of Bellingham commission. For at least two years, it has been clear that both port and city were moving away from redevelopment visions born amid the real estate boom that was still heating up when the port acquired the old G-P property in 2005. The most significant message from Thursday's meeting may have been the fact that port and city now seem to be working together on the plan, and the conflicts of recent years over street alignment, the pace of development and other key issues appear to have been resolved.  Plans for Bellingham waterfront shifting to more modest goals

Cedar Grove Composting -- long a target of complaints about odor -- was allowed to double its capacity with limited environmental review despite not meeting the original conditions of its permit set years earlier, according to public records recently obtained by the city of Marysville. Among those conditions was a mandate to enclose the grinding machine that pulverizes raw yard and food waste into compostable material. Compost facility hasn’t met permit, opponents claim  

The spring return of the purple martin to Victoria marks an environmental success story, a species rebound for a bird whose B.C. numbers were near zero only decades ago. Volunteers have posted nest boxes in various locations, including Royal Roads University and the Gorge Waterway, to permit successful breeding of the purple martin, North America's largest swallow.  Purple martins come home   And: Many migratory birds travel by starlight, aloft in the night sky for hundreds and even thousands of miles to join us here. Never mind the calendar — for some the arrival of the first swallow is when spring starts.  Migratory birds: They bring the songs of spring  

Seattle has the giant boat parade at Montlake Cut. Kitsap has 238 miles of hushed shoreline for nature-loving paddlers. Opening day of boating season is Saturday, and tourism promoters hope water-enthusiasts prefer Option No. 2 in the coming months. Promoters hope new water-trails map paddles in the bucks  

If the skies clear up Saturday night you could get a glimpse of the “super moon.”  Saturday’s full moon will appear the largest it has in more than a year.   According to NASA, the scientific term for a “super moon” is perigee moon. The moon’s orbit is an elliptical shape, so it will look bigger because it is actually closer to the earth. The moon will reach perigee in Seattle at 8:34 p.m. Look! Up in the sky! It’s Super Moon …  

The Squaxin Island Tribe released thousands of juvenile coho into the Deschutes River to see where they go. Increasingly low runs of coho to the Deschutes in recent decades mean there are not enough coho to count. “In order to find out where the good coho habitat is in the Deschutes, we need to put some coho in the river,” said Scott Stetlzner, salmon biologist for the tribe.  Squaxin Island Tribe releases salmon to find out where they go  

Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Mary Polak introduced legislation Thursday that will, for the first time, allow provincial laws and regulations to apply to major projects on Indian Reserve Land.  The bill applies specifically to two proposed projects — a commercial and residential development on Squamish Nation reserve lands in West Vancouver and a liquefied natural gas facility on a Haisla Nation reserve near Kitimat — though officials said it will be possible for the law to be amended in future to add others.  Legislation applies provincial regulations to first nations projects

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 840 PM PDT THU MAY 3 2012
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING
FRI
W WIND 15 TO 25 KT EASING TO 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 7 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING.
FRI NIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
SAT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT.
SAT NIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. NW SWELL 4 FT.
SUN
NW WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT.

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