Deborah Smith 7-29-10

Deception Pass State Park is hosting a celebration to mark the 75th anniversary of the completion of construction and opening of the Deception Pass bridges in 1935.

DOT officials say parking will not be available at Deception Pass before or during the brief event, which starts at noon.

At approximately 12:27 p.m., the bridge will be shut down for a quick ribbon-cutting ceremony and fly-over by two NAS Whidbey Island E-A-18-G Growlers.

Drivers should expect heavier-than-normal traffic at the bridge and also near Cranberry Lake, where events will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The park is providing a free shuttle to and from the day’s events. For more information, see the park website at: www.deceptionpassfoundation.org or call the event hotline at 707-5056.

Officials say the e closure affects beaches from Ala Spit to Strawberry Point and applies only to butter clams, according to a press release issued today.

However, all shellfish harvesting, including clams, oysters, mussels and scallops, in Deception Pass and Cornet Bay was also closed for red tide earlier this month.

All beaches in Skagit, San Juan, and Whatcom County are also closed for red tide conditions and have been for some time.

Island County Pubic Health officials say North Whidbey Island is experiencing a full-blown bloom of the naturally forming marine algae.

An associated biotoxin, which can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, can be deadly if ingested.

No incidents of poisoning have been reported so far.
Marine biotoxins are not destroyed by cooking or freezing, and in most cases, can only be detected through laboratory testing.

Shellfish harvesters should always check the department of health’s website at www.doh.wa.gov or call the state’s Biotoxin Hotline at 1-800-562-5632 before harvesting shellfish anywhere in Washington State.

Officials say the 170-foot articulated tug-barge Commitment lost power shortly before 1 o’clock Wednesday afternoon about 19 miles northwest of Port Angeles.

The barge contained more than 100-thousand gallons of diesel and jet fuel.

Ecology officials say it was being pushed by the tug component to Portland, Oregon, from BP’s Cherry Point refinery near Ferndale when it lost power.

The vessel, owned by Crowley Maritime, regained power at about 4 o’clock.

The Washington State Department of Ecology and the Coast Guard are inspecting the vessel.

Officials say Wednesday’s call was the first for the Neah Bay tug, which arrived at its new post July 1st.

The Jeffrey Foss is the first emergency response vessel in the state to be funded by the maritime industry. It replaced an emergency response tug paid for by the state.

The court issued its unanimous ruling in the cases of Brown and Gentry v. Vail and Stenson v. Vail brought by death row inmates Brown, Darold Stenson and Jonathan Lee Gentry.

The justices agreed that the Washington State Legislature properly delegated to the state Department of Corrections the authority to enact and implement an execution protocol.

The Court also declared the inmates’ constitutional challenge to Washington’s three-drug lethal injection protocol as moot now that the state is using just one lethal injection drug, sodium thiopental.

Brown, Stenson and Gentry argued in the trial court that that the current one-drug protocol would not inflict pain, and would therefore would be constitutional.

The court also lifted the stay of execution it had granted to Brown.

Under state law, the date of execution automatically resets for 30 judicial days.

Brown’s new execution date is set for September 10th.

He could try to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but that would not automatically stop his execution.

Gentry, who killed a 12-year-old girl in Kitsap County, and Stenson, who shot his wife and his business partner in Clallam County, were also part of the lawsuit.

But their executions were stayed by court orders in unrelated cases.

The property originally was purchased by the Trust in 2008.

State Parks recently received grant funds from the Washington Wildlife Recreation Program to acquire the property from the Trust.

Grant funds from program are available only for acquiring lands for public access and may not be used for other purposes.

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission expressed its interest in the property to the San Juan Preservation Trust in 2007.

Recognizing a unique opportunity to add accessible saltwater beach to the popular state park, the Preservation Trust’s board of trustees agreed to explore ways to acquire the property on behalf of State Parks.

Future development plans include a trail system that will provide visitors access to more
than 1,200 feet of saltwater shoreline along Orcas Island’s remote northeast shore on the Strait of Georgia and stunning views of Mount Baker.

Moran State Park is a camping park of more than 5,250 acres on Orcas Island.

Lombardy poplars are a short-lived species, and generally succumb to health problems within the first 15 years.

Officials say the poplars at Peace Arch Park are more than 40 years old and present a safety hazard to park visitors and neighboring homeowners in Washington State and Canada.

The trees line the international border between Canada and the United States, parallel and adjacent to the northern border of Peace Arch State Park.

The removal process is expected to take two weeks.

This area of the park will be closed until all trees are removed.

The State Parks arbor crew performed a safety assessment of the trees recently and determined that weakening tree structure from storm damage will eventually result in tree failure.

A landscape plan for the area will be developed after
the trees are removed.

The new single-lane roundabout on Chuckanut Drive at the Josh Wilson Road intersection is the first of two roundabouts to be built at the interchange this summer.

The second roundabout will open in September at the Old Highway 99 intersection.

Dustin Terpening in DOT’s Burlington office says crews began clearing snow from the last 2.7-mile stretch of the Mount Baker Highway on July 6th.

Artist Point is a popular viewpoint that sits at the eastern end of the highway and features 360-degree views of Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker.

At 5,100 feet above sea level, it is the jumping-off point for numerous stunning mountain hikes.

Artist Point usually is open from July to the first substantial snowfall of the year in late September or early October.

Parking permits are required for Artist Point.

Buy them at various locations, including the Glacier Public Service Center, the Heather Meadows Visitor Center, or at outdoors stores such as REI.

A one-day pass is $5; the annual Northwest Forest Pass is $30 and can be used at multiple locations.