9/20 Racial equity, lone wolf, Rialto, Vic sewer, septic care, wave power, climate summit

Double rainbow (Port of Seattle/Seattle Times)

Double rainbow, lenticular clouds over Mount Rainier remind us why we live here
The sky has given us quite a showing the past few days. On Monday, a double rainbow made for a spectacular morning scene over Elliott Bay.  Benjamin Woodard reports. On Friday, a common, yet impressive, cloud formation over Mount Rainier was captured in images posted to Twitter by the National Weather Service. Lenticular clouds are formed as moist air flows over mountains or other obstructions. Check out the photos. (Seattle Times) See also: Convergence Zone brings torrential rain, hail, flooded streets to North Sound  Scott Sistek reports. (KOMO)

Washington Environmental Groups Hosting First Meetups On Racial Equity
The intersection of race and the environment is the focus this week of two community conversations taking place in Seattle. The public meetups are a first for members of the mainstream Washington Environmental Council and its partner, Washington Conservation Voters. Taking a hard look at racial equity and the environment has been an internal focus for the staff of both organizations for the past year. Washington Environmental Council President Becky Kelley says both groups are adopting five-year plans that include a new focus on the connection between racial and environmental justice. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Encounter with Discovery Island's lone wolf sees island closed to tourists
A small island off Victoria has been closed to the public after a group of campers had a frightening encounter with a lone wolf. BC Parks announced that Discovery Island Marine Provincial Park is off limits until spring 2017 to allow "behavioural assessments on the animal to determine if there are any public safety concerns." But a former environmental consultant who has been studying the island's resident predator for several years says it is people who pose a threat to the wolf, not the reverse. Deborah Wilson reports. (CBC)

‘One last swim in Seattle!’ It’s moving day for Rialto, the rescued baby sea otter
It’s moving day for Rialto. The baby sea otter rescued and nursed back to health by the Seattle Aquarium heads to his permanent home at the Vancouver Aquarium on Monday. Fit and fat at more than 15 pounds, he’s a different animal from the waif washed up on Rialto beach Aug. 1. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Esquimalt council resigned to sewage plant at McLoughlin Point
sewage treatment plant at McLoughlin Point Monday night but they pretty much think it stinks. There was talk of betrayal of the public process, having to take the hit for the rest of the capital region, neighbourhood chaos during impending pipeline construction from McLoughlin to the Hartland landfill and safety concerns unanswered by the expert panel that recommended McLoughlin. Katherine Dedyna reports. (Times Colonist)

EPA encourages proper septic system care
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is encouraging homeowners to maintain their systems this week, during the agency’s fourth annual SepticSmart Week. Properly functioning septic systems clean wastewater by allowing it to filter through the soil. Septic systems that don’t function properly can allow contamination to reach waterways, causing pollution problems such as those seen in Samish and Padilla bays. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

First wave-produced electricity in U.S. goes online in Hawaii
In the waters off the coast of Hawaii, a tall buoy bobs and sways in the water, using the rise and fall of the waves to generate electricity. The current travels through an undersea cable for a mile to a military base, where it feeds into Oahu’s power grid — the first wave-produced electricity to go online in the U.S. By some estimates, the ocean’s endless motion packs enough power to meet a quarter of America’s energy needs and dramatically reduce the nation’s reliance on oil, gas and coal. But wave energy technology lags well behind wind and solar power, with important technical hurdles still to be overcome. To that end, the Navy has established a test site in Hawaii, with hopes the technology can someday be used to produce clean, renewable power for offshore fueling stations for the fleet and provide electricity to coastal communities in fuel-starved places around the world. (Associated Press)

Tulalips convene summit on adapting to climate change
On the second day of a tribal summit in the Lummi Nation’s Silver Reef Hotel and Casino last week, Reggie Joule got up to speak about the importance of food to his tribe. His name in the Iñupiaq language, Isigrauqtauq, is the word for the part of the liver of the bowhead whale that is used to make drum heads, he said. Joule, the former mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, above the Arctic Circle, said the changing climate has upset the patterns of hunting and gathering that provide most of the native community’s foods, such as whale, seal and caribou. Chris Winters reports. (Everett Herald)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  307 AM PDT TUE SEP 20 2016  

TODAY  E WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT  10 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT  W WIND 5 TO 15 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND  WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 10 SECONDS.

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