Weather limits search efforts

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.

Energy

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.

One more cup of coffee

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?

Column: Politics

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. 

Western Politics

Matthew Daly and Shannon Dininny of the Associated Press have a big story out today that uncovers a “vast entitlement” in the program most often referred to as county timber payments or as it was formerly know, the Secure Rural Schools and Self Determination Act.

The law was originally passed in 2000 as a way to help rural communities that were seeing dramatic drops in revenue from logging on federal lands, namely rural schools that heavily relied on that income. The act came after concern for in the 1990s for the spotted owl and other endangered species spurred a reduction in timber harvests. Total, the legislation has allocated more than $3 billion to counties. And, as the AP reports, Oregon, California, Washington, Idaho and Montana got the majority of that money—80 percent. Oregon alone got $2 billion.

When the Act came up for renewal again last fall, and especially after a Bush administration proposal that would have sold off public lands to pay for the program rose and then fell, Western congressional leaders, including Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Max Baucus pushed hard to extend the program, saying it was instrumental in keeping rural communities in their districts a live.

But, as Daly and Dininny discovered: “A four-year renewal of the law, passed last year, authorizes an additional $1.6 billion for the program through 2011 and shifts substantial sums to states where the spotted owl never flew. While money initially was based on historic logging levels, now any state with federal forests - even those with no history of logging - is eligible for millions in Forest Service dollars. Doling out all that taxpayer money is based less on logging losses than on the powerful reality of political clout.”

Strange ideas and strange people are out there

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

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.

Take the money and run

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.

H1N1 continues to spread throughout Western states.

Oregon is home to the country’s first reported fatal case of swine flu in a cat.

The cat, a 10-year-old male, died Nov. 7 near Portland.

The Oregon State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory examined the dead cat and discovered he carried the H1N1 virus.

While this is the third confirmed case of a cat with H1N1, it is the first fatality in a feline reported nationwide

Where to go? What to do?

It’s no secret there are a number of Oregonians who enjoy smoking marijuana. And while that may be the case, there are millions in the West who don’t enjoy having their water polluted to produce the plant.

An estimated 200,000 marijuana plants were discovered in raids during the Oregon growing and harvest season this year, according to state and federal documents.

And while that number may be staggering, pools filled with chemical fertilizers to grow the plants are a main nerve of concern among state officials and environmentalists.