7/17 Springer's second calf, no rain, WA capital budget, Seattle Aquarium expansion

Springer with new calf [PHOTO: Lisa Spaven, DFO, Canada]

Springer, once a lonely orphan, gives birth to her second baby orca
Springer, the killer whale, has borne a second calf some 15 years after she was rescued as a young orphan swimming alone near Vashon Island in Puget Sound. Springer’s rescue and return to her family in British Columbia is one of the all-time-great orca stories. Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways) See also: Rescued orca Springer has had a second calf – join the celebration  Candace Calloway Whiting reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

No Rain In Sight For Puget Sound: Week-Ahead Forecast
Monday will be the 30th consecutive day with no precipitation in Western Washington - and the trend isn't stopping soon. Neal McNamara reports. (Patch.com)

Olympia in deadlock as lawmakers battle over water rights, construction
Capital construction budgets and water-policy legislation sometimes draw yawns in the political world. They’re important, necessary and not always exciting. Not this year. Lawmakers in Olympia, who have pushed themselves into a record-long legislative season, remain deadlocked over a two-year capital budget and a bill to address the state Supreme Court’s Hirst ruling over rural water rights. Senate Republicans effectively want to roll back the Hirst decision, which stopped drilling of certain domestic water wells and put the damper on some rural home construction. Joseph O'Sullivan reports. (Seattle Times)

Big aquarium expansion to boost capacity, transform waterfront
A massive, $100 million expansion will drastically increase the Seattle Aquarium's attendance and continue the transformation of the city's waterfront. The Ocean Pavilion, scheduled to be completed in 2023, will be situated next to the existing aquarium building on Piers 59 and 60. Aquarium leaders and Seattle-based LMN Architects are still hashing out a final plan, but early designs call for a 350,000-gallon warm-water tank as the centerpiece of the new structure. Stephen Cohen reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

Now, your tug weather--
 West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  250 AM PDT Mon Jul 17 2017  
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt becoming NW in the afternoon. Wind waves  1 ft or less. W swell 3 ft at 6 seconds.
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 20 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 1 to 3 ft subsiding to 2 ft or less after midnight. W  swell 3 ft at 9 seconds.

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