1/29 Seahawks, salmon disaster, AMTRAK & trains, Burfoot sewage, SJ CAO, eagle fest, Adventuress

CBC

Super Bowl wager of native mask upsets B.C. First Nation
A Super Bowl wager between two art museums in Seattle and Denver may not happen, after it upset the B.C. First Nation with a connection to the deal. When the Seattle Seahawks take on the Denver Broncos this Sunday, the Seattle Art Museum and the Denver Art Museum were planning to bet a major work of art on the outcome of the game. The winner would get to display the other city's piece for several months. But it's what the Seattle Art Museum chose to wager that attracted attention north of the border: a forehead mask from the Nuxalk First Nation, which is located on B.C.'s Central Coast near Bella Coola. Nuxalk First Nation Chief Wally Webber was not happy about how he found out about the exchange. Webber says no one had the courtesy to pick up a phone and tell him.

Feds Declare Salmon Fishery Disaster For Washington Tribes
The U.S. Secretary of Commerce has declared the Fraser River sockeye salmon run a “fishery disaster” for nine tribes and non-tribal fishers in Washington state. The Fraser River empties out near Vancouver, British Columbia. The sockeye salmon from that river are a key resource for the state and tribal fishing industries in Washington. The Fraser River sockeye salmon runs are worth more than $4 million each year, and they’ve been in decline for 30 years. The fishery was closed altogether in 2013. Fisheries managers blame the decline on poor ocean conditions, warm river temperatures and habitat decline, among other things. Tuesday’s disaster declaration empowers Congress to allocate money for fishermen and fishing communities that are affected by the crash. Ashley Ahearn reports.

New blog: 12th Man et al: When Was The Last Time You Cheered?
“The last time a lot of folks in Washington state cheered was two weekends ago and the next time they expect to cheer will be when the Super Bowl is played this Sunday. Since then, I watched rugby being played on television with the sound off last weekend and, not knowing much about the game’s rules, was amazed at the players’ prowess but had no idea what to cheer about. On Sunday, I watched the Grammy Awards with the sound on and heard a lot of cheering but just couldn’t figure out what the cheering was about. In high school, I cheered.... “

Amtrak train delayed 6 hours by coal train; passengers irked
Washington state’s passenger-rail director apologized Tuesday for a blockage that left Amtrak riders stranded for six hours Sunday night in Ferndale, Whatcom County, just south of the Canadian border. Ron Pate said he will discuss solutions with Amtrak, as well as BNSF Railway, whose disabled coal train clogged a single-track stretch of the Puget Sound mainline.... Amtrak Cascades Train 517 left Vancouver, B.C., for Seattle around 5:45 p.m., with 98 passengers aboard. Two hours later it stopped. A conductor announced a coal train had become uncoupled, said passenger Rachel Lane, 34, who said she was returning from a birthday trip with her partner and sister. BNSF owns and operates the regional corridor, while providing track time for passenger lines. The coal train became disconnected in three places, and a locomotive stopped running, Pate said. “Everything went wrong that could go wrong,” he said. Mike Lindblom reports.

Coal and oil: A mix to fuel NW fears
The masses that stormed the gates of Big Coal in 2013 are turning their fury on Big Oil as the new year opens and the Pacific Northwest considers a future as a massive pipeline on rails connecting the fossil-fuel deposits of Wyoming and North Dakota to the furnaces and factories of Asia. Floyd McKay reports.

Partially treated sewage prompts closure at Burfoot Park
The Washington Department of Ecology told the Seashore Villa mobile home park in Thurston County that it needs to fix its wastewater treatment plant that discharges to Budd Inlet, just north of Priest Point Park in Olympia, and that it faces fines for every day the plant remains off line. Ecology inspected the treatment plant Jan. 24 and discovered that the mobile home park was bypassing its treatment plant and sending partially treated sewage directly to Budd Inlet.  Also Jan. 24, the Thurston County Health Department issued a closure for Burfoot Park in Budd Inlet due to the discharge. The public is advised to have no contact with the water until further notice.

Pacific Legal Foundation jumps into legal battle over CAO
The Pacific Legal Foundation has filed an amicus curiae brief with San Juan County Superior Court in the appeal of the Growth Management Hearings Board decision on the critical areas ordinances. The brief supports the positions of the Common Sense Alliance and P.J. Taggares Company, petitioners in the continuing challenge to the final decision and order of the Hearings Board. The Pacific Legal Foundation, based in Sacramento with an office in Bellevue, is an active litigator in property rights and environmental cases across the United States, most often on behalf of property owners. Among many other cases, the foundation in 2012 sought to have Endangered Species Act protections removed for southern resident killer whales, a petition that was rejected in 2013. In this case, the PLF's "friend of the court" brief argues that water quality buffers in the CAO create "an unconstitutional burden on the development of property," according to a CSA press release.

Celebrate eagles during weekend festival
The annual Arlington-Stillaguamish Eagle Festival pays homage to the iconic birds of prey that nest along local rivers in the winter, taking advantage of salmon spawning runs and giving locals a good reason to bundle up and head outside with the binoculars. The 2014 Eagle Festival takes place this weekend, Friday and Saturday, with most events scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 1, and clustered around downtown Arlington on Olympic Avenue.  Beckye Randall reports.

Public input sought on ship’s educational programs at February meetings in Port Townsend, Seattle
Landlubbers are being invited by the resident schooner Adventuress to determine what kind of educational sailing programs the tall ship should offer in the future. “We are moving forward,” said Catherine Collins, executive director of Sound Experience, the nonprofit that manages and operates the sailing ship that is based in Port Townsend... It is now beginning a yearlong process to examine Sound Experience’s current offerings and develop new ones, to provide programs that support the Next Generation Science Standards that now are being implemented in public schools throughout Washington state, Collins said.  The town hall-style meetings are scheduled in Seattle at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Center for Wooden Boats, 1010 Valley St.; and in Port Townsend at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in the Pope Marine Building at the corner of Water and Madison streets. Charlie Bermant reports.

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST WED JAN 29 2014
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING SE 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 3 FT IN THE
 AFTERNOON. W SWELL 7 FT AT 14 SECONDS. SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 13 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
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