3/27 Grasshopper, missing hooligans,BC hydrogen, forest protection, BC flood strategy, Columbia R treaty, dissolved oxygen, fed health funding, lithium mining, goose problem, right whale, first 100 days

 

Grasshopper

Grasshopper
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. (Wikipedia)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Islanders hone emergency strategy after earthquake

The case of the missing hooligans: a Cowlitz River mystery
Thousands of Northwesterners were disappointed when they failed to meet up with some hooligans in March...They’re a species of fish with many names, including hooligan, oolichan, eulachon, savior fish, salvation fish, candlefish, Columbia River smelt, and Thaleichthys pacificus. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

Documents suggest B.C.'s hydrogen plans under threat as uncertainty halts 'large-scale' projects
Documents released through a freedom of information request reveal that B.C.'s former energy minister was told last September that at least seven "large-scale hydrogen projects" were being cancelled or paused because of issues including electricity supply, high cost and transportation.  Jason Proctor reports. (CBC)

Activists answer call to protect forests
For some people, the auctioning of a timber parcel might seem like the end of the road: no refunds, no returns, no exchanges. Not so for local environmental activists, however, whose cries to save the trees echo well past a parcel’s sale. Emma Maple reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

BC Flood Strategy advisor 'unimpressed' by lack of funding to reduce risk
Sto:lo Tribal Council President Tyrone McNeil says he and his colleagues have seen “little to no” action on BC’s new flood strategy. Tyler Olsen reports. (Fraser Valley Current)

Trump tariffs, ‘attacks’ over water complicate Columbia River Treaty negotiations
Attacks by President Donald Trump on Canada’s water and sovereignty, and a full-on trade war, have not only upended relations between the countries but have also threatened negotiations over a crucial treaty that governs use of the Columbia River. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

'Natural conditions' are at the center of disputes over dissolved oxygen standards
Oxygen is indisputably essential to aquatic life, but conflicts are brewing over water quality standards mandated in state regulations. This article is part of a series of reports funded by King County about the quest to define healthy oxygen levels in Puget Sound. Christopher Dunagan reports. (Salish Sea Currents Magazine)

WA is losing $160M in federal health funding. Here’s what to know
Washington state is losing more than $160 million in federal funding designated for public health, mental health and substance use treatment as the Trump administration slashes federal agencies’ budgets. The state Department of Health was notified Monday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was immediately terminating multiple pandemic-related grants, totaling at least $130 million. Taylor Blatchford reports. (Seattle Times) 

BLM rushes review of Oregon lithium mine following Trump’s executive order
A proposed Southeast Oregon lithium project has been under review for three years. Now the Trump administration is giving people until Sunday to comment before proceeding. April Errlich report. (OPB)

The Fraser Valley's supersized goose problem
As communities spend money to addle goose eggs, they're paying the price for a previous breeding experiment gone wrong. Grace Giesbrecht reports. (Fraser Valley Current)

To Discover the World’s First Intersex Southern Right Whale, the Third Test Was the Charm
What you think you know about the world depends on how you’re looking. In 2022, Carla Crossman was analyzing the genes of southern right whales when she came across something unexpected. Vanessa Minke-Martin reports. (bioGraphic)

The First 100 Days

• President Trump announces 25% tariffs on auto imports (Associated Press)
  
• DOGE staffer 'Big Balls' provided tech support to cybercrime ring, records show (Reuters)
  
• H.H.S. Scraps Studies of Vaccines and Treatments for Future Pandemics (NY Times)
  
• Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions From State Health Services (NY Times)
  
• 10,000 Federal Health Dept. Workers to Be Laid Off (NY Times)
  

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  240 AM PDT Thu Mar 27 2025   TODAY  SE wind 10 to 15 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: E 3 ft  at 4 seconds and W 3 ft at 11 seconds. Rain.  
TONIGHT  E wind 10 to 15 kt. Seas 5 to 7 ft. Rain.

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