- The state that invented the bottle bill couldn't get an ambitious expansion through the Legislature this year, and the governor's grand plans for creating a Western carbon market to combat global warming flopped. With money tight in a down economy, it was tough for even a strong Democratic majority to go green, unless someone else was paying. But in those cases, environmental interests fared very well - winning creation of Oregon's first marine reserves, a new low-carbon fuel standard to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, and a trust fund to remove four aging dams on the Klamath River that have blocked salmon for a century. By Jeff Barnard.
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IDAHO:
Sunday
BLIND-DEAF SCHOOL (Id)
BOISE - The century-old school for the deaf and blind children in Idaho will be eligible to tap into an education reserve fund and absorb deeper cuts in state spending next year. The school, previously reported to and was governed by the state Board of Education, trimmed $503,700 from its budget fter Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter ordered state agencies to cut 6 percent in spending during the past year. By Jessie L. Bonner.
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ALASKA:
Keep eye on national park strike
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HAWAII:
Saturday
SHARK TOURS (DSA, HI, FL, CA, AMI)
HALEIWA, Hawaii - Three women donned scuba masks and jumped into the waters off Oahu's North Shore, floating inside a submerged cage as about a dozen sharks glided toward bloody fish scraps tossed into the water by a tour company. Tourist Kim Duniec said the experience of coming eye-to-eye with sharks was exhilarating. "Their eyes were scary but they were still graceful, absolutely beautiful," the Beaver Dam, Wis., woman said. Shark tours like this have become a popular visitor attraction in Hawaii, but a movement is gaining momentum to shut down them down. By Audrey McAvoy. AP Photos.
MONTANA:
Friday
LYME DISEASE (MT)
BILLINGS - Doctors have reported fifteen cases of Lyme disease in Montana this year. Health officials say most appear to be recently diagnosed but older illnesses and that all of them likely originated outside the state. By Matthew Brown.
Saturday
TESTER-WILDERNESS (MT)
HELENA - Wilderness advocates and key officials say Sen. Jon Tester's office has plans to bring Montana its first new wilderness designation since the 1980s. But Tester's office is keeping details quiet - just saying that anyone interested in how forests are managed should contact the senator. By Matt Gouras.
Sunday
MONTANA COAL (MT)
LAME DEER - Montana officials say they could seek leases by this fall to mine 1.2 billion tons of coal co-owned by the state - a massive reserve roughly equivalent to what the United States burns every year. Coal industry experts describe the Otter Creek tracts in the southeastern corner of the state as "world class" deposits of the fuel. A mine could mean hundreds of new jobs and tens of millions in annual revenues for the state. Threatening to trip up the project are concerns over global warming - coal is a major contributor of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide - and opposition from the nearby Northern Cheyenne reservation. By Matthew Brown.
NEVADA:
Friday
WILDLIFE RUCKUS (NV)
RENO, Nev. - The projects before the Nevada Wildlife Commission seemed simple enough: spending about $160,000 to kill ravens and coyotes to protect sage grouse and mule deer from the predators. But the situation has since turned into an ugly soap opera, with ethics questions raised over ties between one commissioner's mother and backers of the predator projects. By Sandra Chereb.
Saturday
RHODEN-SENIOR OPEN (NV)
STATELINE, Nev. - As dominant as former Major League pitcher Rick Rhoden has been in celebrity golf over the past two decades, there is another part of the game where he has even been better - qualifying for the U.S. Senior Open. The 56-year-old who has won a record seven times at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe will attempt to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open for the fifth time in five tries when he tees it up Monday at the Dye Preserve Golf Course in Jupiter, Fla.
UTAH:
Friday
ALGAE TO JET FUEL (UT, VARIOUS STATE LINES)
LOGAN, Utah - Somewhere among the beakers and the bubbling green-tinged tanks in this Utah State University lab, Jeff Muhs is looking for a champion bit of pond scum. Muhs is leading a team of scientists examining about 300 algae species - including some from Utah's Great Salt Lake - in search of one that grows fast and produces plenty of fatty oils. His lab was one of several to receive grant money from the U.S. Department of Defense this year for a project aimed at developing algae-based biofuels for military jets. By Mike Stark. AP Photos.
WYOMING
Saturday
MECHANICS-JOB OUTLOOK (wy, ca, az)
LARAMIE, Wyo. - Shane Kee loves to tinker with his purple and white 1970 Chevrolet pickup truck but recently turned down a job offer to turn wrenches at a Chevy dealership. It's just too risky with so many dealerships closing these days. "I figured it would be a safer bet to pursue some other way right now," said Kee, 21, of Crowley, Texas, who just graduated from WyoTech technical school's automotive mechanic program. The job market for new mechanics is a mixed bag of bolts lately. By Mead Gruver. Edited under 'werjhwy1'
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