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9 Things To Do This Weekend 05/25

This Just In

Weather service expecting wet Memorial Day weekend 05/26

The Politics Blog

22nd LD: Incumbent Dems enjoying the free ride 05/27

South Sound Sports Blog

Story links, photo galleries from Saturday's final day of 2011-12 high school sports season 05/27

The Business Blog

'Worst is behind us': Thurston's jobless rate falls 05/22

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Local Photo Galleries

2A Fastpitch State Championship: Tumwater vs Chehalis

Storm solves area firewood woes

As with most rural property owners in Thurston County, I know what I’ll be doing for the next month of Sundays – cleaning up branches and bucking up large limbs and trees that fell all over Horsefeathers Farm in the Snow and Ice Storm of 2012.
EPA to scrap Bush-era smog rule, start over

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration signaled Wednesday that it would scrap a controversial Bush-era rule that set stricter limits for smog but fell short of scientific recommendations.
Hot water: ocean temps set records

WASHINGTON – Steve Kramer spent an hour and a half swimming in the ocean Sunday – in Maine.
Star laughs over ‘Brad Pitt for Mayor’ fund-raising effort in New Orleans

The idea of Brad Pitt running for New Orleans mayor has generated a lot of buzz around the city even though he isn’t eligible. It also generated some laughs for the actor in a Thursday television interview.
Madonna celebrates ‘one of the greatest artists’

Madonna paid tribute to Michael Jackson on Saturday night in the same London arena where he was to stage his comeback, dancing along with an impersonator doing Jackson’s distinctive moves.
House sets vote on climate bill

WASHINGTON – Democratic leaders in the House have scheduled a Friday vote on a climate change bill that would establish a complex cap-and-trade system to limit the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, a priority for President Barack Obama.
Fights brewing over massive coal-export plans for the Northwest

SEATTLE - With the Northwest poised to become the country's leading coal-export region, fights are emerging on several fronts.
Appeals court green-lights Shell Oil's drilling in Alaska Arctic this year

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An appeals court has sided with the federal government in giving the go-ahead to Shell Oil Co. to move forward with drilling in the Alaska Arctic this year, according to a ruling issued Friday night.
Heavy ice could delay start of Shell Alaska's Arctic drilling

SEATTLE — The heaviest polar ice in more than a decade could postpone the start of offshore oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean until the beginning of August, a delay of up to two weeks, Shell Alaska officials said.
Carbon dioxide emissions reach record high

WASHINGTON — Emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide reached an all-time high last year, further reducing the chances that the world could avoid a dangerous rise in global average temperature by 2020, according to the International Energy Agency, the energy analysis group for the world's most industrialized states.
New study details mercury contamination in California sport fish

SAN JOSE, Calif — SAN JOSE, Calif. - New findings from the first statewide study of contaminants in fish caught off the California coast show that methylmercury, a toxin that damages the nervous system of humans, was found in high concentrations in more than a third of the locations that researchers sampled.
Beyond oil, can Alaska be tapped as a source for renewable energy?

WASHINGTON — Alaska has massive hydro, wind, geothermal and other renewable resources, but the state's rural villages are chained to diesel and suffer oppressive energy costs they say threaten their existence. Lawmakers, energy experts and Native leaders said Thursday it's a dire problem with elusive solutions.
BP to spend $400 million in air pollution settlement

CHICAGO — In a move that promises cleaner air throughout the Chicago area, BP on Wednesday agreed to spend more than $400 million to settle legal complaints about chronic pollution problems at the oil company's sprawling refinery in northwest Indiana.
BP to spend $400 million in air pollution settlement

CHICAGO — BP will spend more than $400 million to significantly reduce noxious air pollution from its massive refinery in northwest Indiana, the company announced Wednesday in a settlement with federal authorities and environmental groups that could set a precedent for oil companies nationwide.
Ban on plastic bags at L.A. markets is approved

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation to approve a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a hard-fought victory to environmentalists and promising to change the way Angelenos do their grocery shopping.