My Page: Joseph Friedrichs
Outdoor News
Idaho, Oregon Need To Cut The Smog
A number of states in the West could be impacted by a proposal announced Thursday from the Environmental Protection Agency regarding stricter health standards for smog, replacing a Bush-era limit that ran counter to scientific recommendations.
The new limit will likely put hundreds more counties nationwide in violation, a designation that will require them to find additional ways to clamp down on pollution or face government sanctions, most likely the loss of federal highway dollars, according to the EPA.
The new standards could impact counties in Idaho, Oregon and Nevada, among numerous others states for the first time based on EPA data. The tighter standards will cost tens of billions of dollars to implement, but will ultimately save billions in avoided emergency room visits, premature deaths, and missed work and school days, the EPA said.
[more]Outdoors Column
Snowboarding And The Risks Of Athletic Competition
Five days after a nasty snowboard accident, Olympic hopeful and top-notch snowboarder Kevin Pearce remains in critical condition Tuesday at a Utah hospital.
Pearce, 22, was hoping to qualify for next month’s Winter Games in Vancouver when he mislanded a complicated jump on Thursday in a halfpipe at Park City, Utah.
Pearce was completing a twisting double back flip when he caught the front side of his snowboard and landed on his head. He was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.
Snowboarding has been an Olympic sport since 1998. Each year, and seemingly with each competition more extreme moves are attempted. For example, how many people on this planet could perform a twisting double black flip? If you’re not sure, let me clue you in - there aren’t many.
[more]Column: Wildlife
Struggles Continue For Kootenai River Sturgeon
The first time I crossed the path of sturgeon it scared whatever wits I have straight out of me. It happened several years ago while I was boating on Oregon’s Rogue River. The giant creature sprang from the cool water and my heart skipped a few beats.
And then the freakish fish swam back to the trenches from which it came.
Not all species of sturgeon are rare in Western waters, although news from the federal government this week is white sturgeon in the Kootenai River are facing extinction. Efforts to save North America’s largest freshwater fish - they can reach 19 feet in length and weight more than 1,000 pounds - continue as officials hope to stave off extinction by sending more water down the river so the fish can spawn in the wild.
[more]Weather limits search efforts
Chances Slim Missing Mt. Hood Climbers Are Alive
Although no official report has been issued, it is unlikely that the two climbers missing since Friday on Oregon’s Mt. Hood are alive, according to Portland Mountain Rescue.
An authority on mountain survival spoke with family members of the missing climbers Tuesday and told them that the possibility of Katie Nolan, 29, of Portland, Ore., and Anthony Vietti, 24, of Longview, Wash., surviving conditions on the 11,249-foot mountain for this many days is exceedingly slim.
Rescue workers are still on standby, but whiteout conditions and the risk of avalanche made any search effort impossible Tuesday and unlikely in the coming days.
[more]Energy
Boise Among World’s Top Cities For Geothermal Potential
During the United Nations Climate Change Conference held last week in Copenhagen, Denmark, world leaders agreed geothermal heat is part of the energy solution for cities and countries around the world. Among the cities discussed at length was Boise, and it seems the geothermal future is burning bright in Idaho.
Not only was Boise among the featured cities, it made the Geothermal Energy Association ten leading geothermal cities around the globe.
According to reports from the conference, Boise made the list for several reasons: the city’s public works department has the largest direct use geothermal system in the U.S.; the city’s geothermal system injects 100 percent of the water back into the aquifer; and the fact the Idaho State Capitol is among several buildings in the Capitol Mall area that are heated by the system.
[more]One more cup of coffee
Idaho Man Unable To Handle Caffeine
An Idaho man accused of striking two college students with his car is undergoing a mental examination this weekend to determine if he can be released on bail.
Daniel Noble, 31, of Moscow, Idaho, was charged Wednesday with two counts of vehicular assault, two counts of hit-and-run and one count of resisting arrest after he struck two Washington State University students.
Noble’s attorney, Mark Moorer, said it was likely Noble suffered delirium during the incident Monday. The delirium, Moorer claimed, could have been caused from a variety of things, ranging from face cream to excessive caffeine consumption.
Excessive caffeine consumption? Come on, really?
[more]Column: Politics
Sarah Palin Book Tour Arrives In Idaho
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Thursday afternoon to sign copies of her book “Going Rogue: An American Life.”
Palin’s book tour will then take her to north to Sandpoint, where she was born in 1964. Yes, Palin was born on this planet.
Thursday afternoon’s signing in Coeur d’Alene took place at the Fred Meyer store where fans started lining up Wednesday morning. Freezing temperatures are wide spread throughout Idaho. What planet these people who waited in line are from was not confirmed.
[more]Strange ideas and strange people are out there
Oregon Duck Spray Painted Orange
An unknown amount of swine were slaughtered in order to produce the footballs used during the Oregon Ducks versus Oregon State Beavers football game Thursday night. And while the Ducks emerged victorious, an unknown perpetrator in Albany came out as the biggest swine of them all.
An unknown goon and/or goons captured a male mallard in Albany, spray-painted Beavers’ orange on the bird and bound its legs with duct-tape.
The duck survived, but its feathers no longer shed water. If it were released today, the bird would drown and die.
“Insane,” said Jeff Picton, executive director of the nonprofit Chintimini Wildlife Center, where the bird must spend the winter.
Tales of a bored houswife
When Print Classifieds Get Strange
The ad was simple: “Bored Housewife seeking legitimate work, bondable, wage negotiable.”
I came across these words while scanning through the ‘Looking For Employment’ section of the Saturday, Nov. 28, edition of the Bend Bulletin. Some help around the house would be nice, I thought. What the heck?
I called the number listed in the ad and was instantly greeted with the voicemail of a woman named Shawnda. After leaving a short, polite message, I set down the classified section and picked up the sports page. Then I went and sat on the toilet for about 25 minutes.
Shawnda didn’t return my call until the following morning.
[more]Take the money and run
When Good Apples Get Spoiled
HOOD RIVER—Bill Neal has no problem explaining what the state should do with David Ryan and his juice company.
“They need to come up here and shut his ass down,” Neal said. “This has been a problem for 15 years.”
Ryan, the founder and CEO of Hood River Juice Company, was charged in late October with two misdemeanor counts of water pollution. This came as no surprise to Neal and a number of other farmers, ranchers and homeowners who reside near the business. After all, Ryan is already awaiting trial for six alleged felony acts of pollution tied to 16 separate charges. In addition, Ryan, 46, faces penalties for two felony counts of supplying false information to a regulatory agent, according to documents obtained by employees of this publication.
Deputy District Attorney Kate Stebbins is representing the state of Oregon in the case. Although she declined to comment specifically about Ryan and the charges, Stebbins did say it is unique for the D.A. office to become involved in an issue such as this. Stebbins is also working with the state Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department on the case.
[more]
