Sunday, January 29, 2012

Washington State Sound Off

1-2-3-4.

"Environmental groups in Northwest sue over effect Navy’s sonar use has on marine life

SEAT­TLE - Conservation­ists and Native American tribes are su­ing over the Navy’s expanded use of sonar in train­ing exercises off the Wash­ington, Oregon, and California coasts, saying the noise can ha­rass and kill whales and oth­er ma­rine life.

In a lawsuit be­ing filed yes­ter­day by the envi­ron­mental law firm Earth­jus­tice, the Nat­ural Resources Defense Council, and oth­er groups against the National Ma­rine Fish­eries Ser­vice say the ser­vice was wrong to approve the Navy’s plan for the train­ing.

They said the reg­ulators should have consid­ered the ef­fects repeated sonar use can have on those species over many years and also required certain re­strictions on where the Navy could conduct sonar and oth­er loud activ­ities to pro­tect or­cas, humpbacks, and oth­er whales, as well as seals, sea li­ons, and dol­phins.

In­stead, the Navy is required to look around and see if sea mammals are present before they conduct the train­ing.

Kris­ten Boyles, a Seat­tle attor­ney with Earth­jus­tice, said it the fish­eries ser­vice job to bal­ance the needs of the Navy with measures to pro­tect ma­rine life.

“Nobody’s saying they shouldn’t train,’’ she said. “But it can’t be pos­sible that it’s no-holds-barred, that there’s no place where this can’t hap­pen.’’

In 2010, the fish­eries ser­vice approved the Navy’s five-year plan for op­erations in the Northwest Train­ing Range Complex, an area roughly the size of California, about 126,000 nautical square miles, that stretches from the wa­ters off Mendo­cino County in California to the Cana­dian bor­der. The Navy has con­ducted exercises in the train­ing range for 60 years, but in re­cent years proposed increased weapons test­ing and subma­rine train­ing.

The groups want the per­mit granted to the Navy to be inval­idated. They are ask­ing the court to or­der the fish­eries ser­vice to study the long-term ef­fects of sonar on ma­rine mammals, in accordance with the En­dan­gered Species Act and oth­er laws.


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"‘Barefoot Bandit' gets 61/2 years in prison" The Associated Press

SEATTLE A federal judge on Friday sentenced “Barefoot Bandit” Colton Harris-Moore, 20, to 6 1/2 years in prison for his infamous two-year international crime spree of break-ins and boat and plane thefts that ended in 2010.

Harris-Moore hopscotched his way across the United States, authorities said. He flew a plane stolen in northwestern Washington to the San Juan Islands, stole a pistol in British Columbia and took a plane from Idaho to Washington state, stole a boat in southwestern Washington to go to Oregon, and took a plane in Indiana and flew to the Bahamas, where was arrested.

He earned his nickname because he committed several of the crimes without wearing shoes, and he attracted fans across the nation for his ability to evade police....

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Also see: Barefoot Bandit Has Smelly Feet

"Town to trace gunshots in bid to catch gangs; Violence alarms rural Washington state community" by Shannon Dininny  |  Associated Press, January 29, 2012

QUINCY, Wash. - Nearly two dozen slayings last year were believed to be related to gang activity east of the Cascade Range, which divides the bustling metropolitan regions in western Washington and Oregon from largely agriculture-driven cities and towns, yet another reminder of the gang violence invading farm towns tucked amid Northwest orchards and fields.

The violence in rural America largely attributed to Hispanic gangs is not new, said Quincy Police Chief Richard Ackerman. But law enforcement officials are more aware of the vexing problem and are working harder to address it with schools and parents, who work long hours and often fail to recognize the danger of these new “friends,’’ he said....

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Also see: Rewards, big risks on Rainier

Globe's Gay Northwest

I dunno, readers; I'm just not in the mood now.