2/26 Retriever, BC spotted owls, Seattle sewage, shellfish farm permits, rare cardinal, newsroom union

Golden retriever [PetMD]

Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever is a medium-large gun dog that was bred to retrieve shot waterfowl, such as ducks and upland game birds, during hunting and shooting parties. The name "retriever" refers to the breed's ability to retrieve shot game undamaged due to their soft mouth. (Wikipedia)

‘This is something to celebrate’: B.C. defers logging in home of Canada’s last three wild spotted owls
In the absence of endangered species legislation in B.C., the provincial and federal governments have announced a new ‘nature agreement’ that includes pilot projects to protect at-risk species. It starts with logging deferrals in habitat where the existence of a pair of breeding spotted owls, thought extinct in Canada, was made public in 2020. Sarah Cox reports. (The Narwhal)

Executive Constantine requests $65 million and signs emergency declaration to protect West Point Treatment Plant from power disruptions
King County Executive Dow Constantine transmitted legislation to the King County Council and signed an emergency declaration to provide West Point Treatment Plant with more reliable power in response to increasing power disruptions to the 1.45 million-square-foot facility. (King County News Release)

Scramble to re-issue permits for area shellfish farms underway following lawsuit
Shellfish farms in the state and the agencies that issue them operating permits are scrambling to complete farm-by-farm paperwork following litigation over whether a former permitting system ensured adequate protections for the marine environment...State Department of Ecology spokesperson Curt Hart said the agency has received 446 applications for shellfish farm permits and has issued public notices for decisions on about 150 of them under Clean Water Act requirements. A public notice was issued this week for one of 16 applications for shellfish growers in Skagit County. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Taylor Shellfish, Swinomish in midst of legal battle over shellfish permit
A legal battle is being waged over a national permit’s use for shellfish farming operations in Washington and whether it adequately considers the environmental impacts of those farms. Three cases brought against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for issuing Nationwide Permit 48 are now bound together in the U.S. District Court of Western Washington in Seattle...The Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat, the Center for Food Safety and the Swinomish each filed lawsuits against the Army Corps over the five-year permit, which was originally issued in 2007 and re-issued in 2012 and 2017. Taylor Shellfish Farms, which has operations in Samish Bay and other areas throughout Puget Sound, has sided with the Army Corps against vacating the permit, which would impact workers and come at an economic cost to the region. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Rare bird: 'Half-male, half-female' cardinal snapped in Pennsylvania
A bird that appears to be half-female and half-male has been photographed in Pennsylvania by a birder who rushed out with his camera when he heard a friend had spotted the northern cardinal. Though not unheard of, mixed sex birds are rare. Male cardinals are bright red but females are pale brown, suggesting this specimen may be a mix of the two sexes. Retired ornithologist Jamie Hill, 69, told the BBC it was a "once-in-a-lifetime, one-in-a-million encounter".  Georgina Rannard reports. (BBC)

McClatchy agrees to recognize union for journalists in four Washington state newsrooms
Journalists at four McClatchy-owned news organizations in Washington plan to form a union, and management agreed Thursday to recognize that effort. Eligible journalists at The News Tribune, The Olympian, The Bellingham Herald and the Tri-City Herald have organized as the Washington State NewsGuild. The announcement comes one day after a National Labor Relations Board ruling that the four news organizations could organize as one guild. McClatchy had argued in January at a labor hearing that it was more appropriate for the employees to organize as four separate unions. (Bellingham Herald)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  255 AM PST Fri Feb 26 2021   
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING   
TODAY  W wind 25 to 35 kt. Combined seas 19 to 20 ft with a  dominant period of 15 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 25 to 35 kt easing to 15 to 25 kt after  midnight. Combined seas 17 to 19 ft with a dominant period of 13  seconds subsiding to 15 to 16 ft with a dominant period of 12  seconds. 
SAT  W wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 12 ft at  12 seconds subsiding to 10 ft at 12 seconds in the afternoon. 
SAT NIGHT  SW wind to 10 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 7 ft at 12 seconds. 
SUN  SW wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 6 ft at 12 seconds.

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