Salmon fishing restrictions deal a blow to industry
The Pacific Fishery Management Council meets Friday to decide the fate of the summer salmon season. With poor returns expected this year, many in the fishing industry along the Oregon Coast fear the worst. Already in March, the National Marine Fisheries Service — in consultation with fishery managers in Oregon and California and the PFMC — canceled the spring commercial ocean troll salmon fishery that runs from Cape Falcon in Oregon to the California border. The federal agency also canceled the spring recreational salmon fishery between Cape Falcon and Humbug Mountain. Federal fisheries managers said the states need to restrict fisheries dramatically in all areas where California-bound fish could be intercepted. Those fish contribute about 60% to 80% of the Chinook salmon harvested along the Oregon Coast. The picture looks bleak. “It’s not the kind of year that I like to see,” said Eric Schindler, ocean salmon project leader for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. (Katie Frankowicz/KMUN)
Records show disarray in police, school response to Bend High threat
The caller told nonemergency dispatch he was in the Bend High School parking lot with an assault rifle and bombs and was going to kill people inside. Within three minutes, dozens of police officers responded, racing into the school with rifles, ready to search for a potentially armed threat, police reports show. But Bend-La Pine Schools instead placed the school in what the district calls a “secure status,” a lower-level safeguard, for more than hour on Feb. 9. The response to the Bend High threat — which was unfounded — has raised concerns among some students around how prepared authorities are to respond to a legitimate emergency at an area school. (Bryce Dole and Noemi Arellano-Summer/Bend Bulletin)
Oreo, llama attacked by Portland police dog last summer, dies
The owners of a llama in Warren that was attacked last year by a Portland Police Bureau dog say the llama died Feb. 25. Yvonne Pea — who described the llama, Oreo, as a member of her family after the July 2022 dog attack — said Oreo likely died of hypothermia during February’s cold snap, which saw several inches of snow fall in Columbia County. Stitch, a Portland Police Bureau K-9 who lives with his police handler in Warren, got loose and attacked the llama last summer, biting and injuring Oreo. The Peas say they had to shear Oreo after the attack to examine his wounds, leaving him vulnerable to cold weather. The family is considering legal action against Columbia County and the Portland Police Bureau. (Aurora Biggers/The Portland Tribune)
Democrats sponsor bill to give Washington farmers cap-and-trade refunds
Two Democrats in the Washington Senate introduced a bill Monday to refund cap-and-trade fuel surcharges to farmers and haulers of agricultural products. Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, said lawmakers promised cap-and-trade would not raise fuel prices for agriculture, but the Department of Ecology failed to keep the promise. “They basically screwed it up,” he said. “We’re only running a bill to make Ecology do what they’re supposed to be doing.” Cap-and-trade puts a fee on the consumption of fuels. Lawmakers exempted fuels used to grow and transport farm goods and directed Ecology to find a way to do it. Ecology blames oil companies for misapplying the law. The oil industry faults Ecology for not writing rules to exempt the fuels. (Don Jenkins/Capital Press)
Cowlitz Indian Tribe reclaims traditional foods through partnership with Ridgefield refuge
One March afternoon, rain clouds parted, revealing a gentle glow onto the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge’s sloping grasslands and woodlands below. A group of Cowlitz Indian Tribe members, refuge staff and neighbors walked along the Oaks to Wetlands trail, surveying native plants, such as cattail, nettle, wapato and blackberries. They’re just a few examples of what the tribe can use for food, medicine, weaving and ceremonies. The excursion was the first of its kind — born from a partnership between the tribe and government agency that allows Cowlitz tribal members to harvest plants on the federally protected site. (Lauren Ellenbecker/The Columbian)