8/6 Coal vote, bad rabbits, BC salmon virus, quakes, San Juan monument, new ferries, Belfair sewer, TLC bankers, Elwha Love, Paddle Kitsap, marbled murrelet

PHOTO: AP

As good as Olympic gold: Touchdown: NASA rover Curiosity lands on Mars  

New blog: On This Day in History, 67 Years Ago...

The No Coal! initiative banning the transport of coal through the city will not get to voters in November. On Friday, Aug. 3, Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Charles Snyder granted the city of Bellingham an injunction that blocks the Whatcom County Auditor from putting the measure on the ballot.  John Stark reports. No Coal! initiative blocked from Bellingham ballot  

On islands around the globe, invasive European rabbits wreak such havoc on plants and seabirds that governments worldwide have spent a century trying to eradicate the furry beasts. Now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is making plans to try its luck on Destruction Island, a 30-acre outcropping off the rugged Washington coast southwest of LaPush. Craig Welch reports.  Rabbits ravage seabird populations on Destruction Island  

A second B.C. salmon farm is under quarantine because fish tested positive for a potentially deadly virus, but salmon farmers say the disease has not yet been confirmed and no culling decisions will be made until the Canadian Food Inspection Agency receives results from further tests.  Second B.C. salmon farm quarantined after tests


Two separate geological studies released in the past week suggest the earthquake hazard in the transboundary region of the Pacific Coast of North America - including southern British Columbia - is significantly greater than previously believed, with both teams of U.S. scientists urging heightened readiness throughout the region for a future offshore "megathrust" event that could compare with the one that triggered Japan's earthquake-tsunami-nuclear catastrophe last year.  Clock ticking on next major B.C. quake  

Joel Connelly writes on permanently protecting BLM lands in the San Juan Islands: “When Washingtonians gaze out at Olympic rain forests, or see white bluffs rising over the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, we can be deeply grateful for a 1906 law called the Antiquities Act and presidents with the guts plus vision to use it. A question for Sen. Maria Cantwell, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and President Obama: Do you have, on a much smaller scale, the fortitude and foresight of Theodore Roosevelt and Bill Clinton?”  Cantwell/Salazar: Why no movement on monument?

A Whidbey Island lawmaker is raising questions about the design, durability and cost of operating the state's newest ferries between Coupeville and Port Townsend. Rep. Norma Smith, R-Clinton, sent a letter this week to leaders of the state's transportation department and Washington State Ferries asking why the boats list when empty, vibrate during travel and use more fuel than the larger Steel Electric vessels they replaced. Jerry Cornfeld reports. Questions surround cost, design of new ferries  

When Mason County couldn't come to terms with a property owner on a chunk of land needed for a new Belfair sewer system, it didn't just add time to some painful negotiations. It added hundreds of thousands of dollars of cost to the public, with the majority going to attorneys. The county in late 2009 offered $26,300 to property owners for the piece off Romance Hill Road, where it planned to build a pump station. Clifton Heights LLC wanted $38,640. The two sides were unable to compromise for various reasons, and the cost soared to nearly $600,000 by the time things settled in July. Ed Friedrich reports. Inability to ink land deal skyrockets cost for Mason County  

The Land Conservancy is asking creditors and mortgage-holders to take interest-only payments for the next year and many have already said they are willing to come to the aid of the cash-strapped organization, says TLC board chairman Alastair Craighead.  Lenders to help struggling TLC

Every few weeks, scientist Ian Miller heads down to the delta of the Elwha River to have a close look at the beach. And what he saw beginning last April surprised him: a bit of sand. While that may not sound like much, Miller knew he was seeing something more. A month earlier, contractors had finished taking out the last of Elwha Dam. Now here it was on the beach: sediment set free along with the river. Lynda Mapes reports.  Dam gone, nature rebuilds Elwha River beach  

The water was still Sunday morning in Appletree Cove, creating a serene setting for the participants of this year's Paddle Kitsap as they prepared to leave Kingston for Port Gamble.... While the scene has played out before at other Paddle Kitsap journeys, this year's event marked a momentous accomplishment for avid kayakers and north end trail supporters. Unlike previous years, this time the route the group followed from Poulsbo to Port Gamble is officially a dedicated water trail recognized by Kitsap County. Brian Grimley reports. Paddlers celebrate recent recognition of Kitsap's water trails  

What rare bird has stopped seven logging projects in Oregon? If you’re assuming it’s the northern spotted Owl, you’re wrong. A high-pitched call belongs to the marbled murrelet. It’s a threatened seabird. But it nests on the branches of big, old trees. Rob Manning reports. Is Murrelet The New ‘You Can’t Cut It Bird’ In NW Forests?  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 224 AM PDT MON AUG 6 2012
TODAY
W WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. NW SWELL 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS. AREAS OF FOG THIS MORNING.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. NW SWELL 2 FT AT 13 SECONDS.

--
"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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.  

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told