Cheers: To publicly owned utilities. While it is a bit unusual to offer cheers for the end of an idea that was half-baked to begin with, we must take note of a recent decision by the Trump administration. Officials have backed down from a plan to privatize the Bonneville Power Administration, according to Republican members of Washington’s congressional delegation.
“We applaud the administration for responding to our concerns over the potential sale of the BPA’s transmission assets and making the formal decision to abandon such plans,” the representatives wrote. There was nothing new about the proposal; it has been suggested by previous administrations. But it was an absurd idea 35 years ago and it remains absurd today. We hope the Trump administration has, indeed, come to its senses regarding this issue.
Jeers: To a fowl mess. A tractor-trailer dumped about 40,000 pounds of chicken feathers across Interstate 5 this week when it crashed near Federal Way. The truck was hauling the feathers from a poultry facility to a company in Vancouver, B.C., that recycles animal by-products into ingredients for items such as pet feed and soap. The (Tacoma) News Tribune reported that traffic backed up for 11 miles as crews scooped up the feathers.
At least the Washington State Department of Transportation found some humor in the situation. The department tweeted that one of its traffic engineers did the math and determined that it takes about 18 million feathers to add up to 40,000 pounds — enough to cover 2,300 chickens. Most important, officials noted that 40,000 pounds of feathers weigh the same as 40,000 pounds of bricks, answering an age-old riddle.
Cheers: To some fine police work. Loss prevention officers at a Fred Meyer store teamed up with Vancouver police to identify and track down a suspected flower thief. Yes, a flower thief, who apparently had pilfered his bounty over the course of several weeks, indicating that somebody had a bad case of spring fever.
“(Detectives) recovered 157 stolen plants, a garden cart, a display rack and methamphetamine,” a release from the police department says. “The value of the stolen property is estimated at approximately $6,000.” For Thomas M. Aldin of Vancouver, April flowers will bring a May court appearance. He faces charges relating to theft and possession of stolen property.
Jeers: To the Clark County Council. The local government now has gone more than a year without a permanent county manager. On May 12, 2017, councilors fired Mark McCauley from the post, and the hiring process has languished since then. Three finalists will participate in a public forum next week.
This comes at a time when the county is facing serious questions about the future of its jail, a budget shortfall, and a troubled permit center. The county manager handles day-to-day operations while the council sets policy. The lack of a permanent replacement has poorly served residents.
Cheers: To a renovated Space Needle. A soft opening is planned for this weekend to display $100 million worth of renovations to Washington’s most notable human-made landmark. Among the changes is a glass viewing platform, with one official saying, “It’s like we’ve widened the lens in your eye, so you can see much, much more than you ever could before.”
The structure, which stands 605 feet when the antenna spire is included, was constructed for the 1962 World’s Fair and quickly became a symbol of the Northwest’s largest city. In addition to the viewing platform, changes have been made to the rotating restaurant, which now has a 37-ton see-through floor. More than 50 years after it was built, the Space Needle is more futuristic than ever.
