7-year-old hero; child prodigy; pregnant woman suspect in fatal DUI
- Updated
Odd and interesting news from around the West.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A 12-year-old Sacramento student who already has three community college degrees and has been accepted to two University of California campuses says he plans on studying biomedical engineering and becoming a doctor and medical researcher by the time he turns 18.
Tanishq Abraham has been accepted to UC Davis and received a regents scholarship to UC Santa Cruz, but he has yet to decide which university he'll attend, reported Sacramento television station CBS 13 Sunday (http://cbsloc.al/1qDdGlD).
"I think I'll be 18 when I get my M.D.," he said.
Tanishq started community college at age 7 and last year he received associate's degrees from American River College, a community college in Sacramento, in general science; math and physical science; and foreign language studies.
Professors at the college didn't initially want him in their classes because of his age. But finally a professor agreed to let him attend if his mother, a doctor of veterinary medicine, also took the class. "There were times when I had to explain general relativity and special relativity to my mom," he said.
Biology professor Marlene Martinez said he was never afraid to ask lot of questions. "In lecture he would always pop up with 'so, does that mean ...' or 'what about this?' " Martinez said.
Tanishq, who joined the IQ society Mensa at only 4 years old, has always picked up knowledge quickly, his father, Bijou Abraham, told NBC News (http://nbcnews.to/1Xqr1um).
"We tested him and discovered that he was pretty smart," he said. "We were surprised when we started giving him advanced stuff and he was picking it up really fast."
Tanishq says child geniuses are often seen as odd. "When you think of a genius, you think of a mad scientist kind of thing," he said.
But he pointed out he's just an ordinary kid who likes learning and microscopes but also playing video games. "I just think learning is fun," Tanishq said.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
RESERVE, N.M. — Construction is set to begin on a fish barrier project along a creek in the western New Mexico.
U.S. Forest Service officials said Sunday the public should expect to see heavy equipment along Forest Road 28 between Snow Lake Road and Willow Creek for the next two months.
The Willow Creek fish barrier project is just north of the boundary of the Gila Wilderness.
Officials say the barrier will assist in the recovery of the Gila trout, which has been federally listed as threatened since 2006.
The permanent barrier will follow 10 miles of Willow Creek and prevent non-native trout species from heading upstream.
Federal and state wildlife grants are helping to fund the project.
The Gila trout was first listed as endangered in 1966.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Authorities in Orange County say a 7-year-old boy didn't hesitate when he smelled smoke at his home, waking up his sleeping father so the pair could escape a spreading fire.
The Orange County Register says the boy was getting ready for bed Saturday night when he smelled smoke and saw that the garage of his Costa Mesa home was engulfed in flames.
Fire Captain Chris Coates says the boy ran to wake his father, who had fallen asleep watching television. The two ran out of the house as the fire spread from the garage to a motorhome in the driveway and to a neighbor's storage shed.
Firefighters stopped the flames before they spread to the main living area of the house. The cause is under investigation.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
MEDFORD, Ore. — Medford voters will decide whether city residents can grow marijuana outdoors.
The Medford Mail Tribune reports that the City Council sent a measure to voters that would ban residents from growing marijuana outdoors.
It would also create an ordinance related to complaints about the smell of neighbors growing pot indoors.
Councilmembers are expected to send voters another measure, this one banning indoor and outdoor grow sites altogether within city limits.
The two councilmembers to vote against pursuing a complete ban noted the difficulty in indoor enforcement.
Medford police Lt. Kevin Walruff says the city received 30 complaints related to marijuana in a recent six-month period.
Officials said many complaints go unreported.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
TWIN FALLS, Idaho — A Canadian BASE jumper's death has been ruled an accident and investigators say they found a hole in her pilot chute.
The Times-News reports (http://bit.ly/1sMskZK) 34-year-old Kristin Renee Czyz of Calgary packed her own parachute before she jumped from Perrine Bridge on May 13.
Investigators found a hole in her pilot chute, which is supposed to pull the main parachute from its pack. They also found a broken zipper on her harness.
Boaters pulled her body from the Snake River, attempted CPR and met up with emergency responders.
Czyz was pronounced dead at the Centennial Waterfront Park docks.
Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lori Stewart said investigators determined the death was an accident.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
MADERA, Calif. — Authorities say a pregnant woman is facing multiple drunken driving charges in connection with a crash in Central California that left a man dead and three others injured.
The California Highway Patrol says 23-year-old Candice Ooley was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter after a crash Friday night on Highway 41 in Madera County.
The CHP tells KFSN-TV in Fresno that Ooley, who is six months pregnant, was driving a sedan at a high speed when she rear-ended an SUV. The impact caused the SUV to lose control, sending it down an embankment.
Officials say Federico Nunez Silva, a passenger in the SUV, died at the scene. The driver was airlifted to the hospital and his two female passengers were taken by ambulance — after being pinned inside the vehicle for about an hour. Their injuries range from moderate to major.
Authorities say Ooley was driving on a suspended license because of a previous DUI conviction.
- CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press
- Updated
LOS ANGELES— Nick Menza, former drummer for the influential metal band Megadeth, died after collapsing on stage during a performance of his progressive jazz trio in Southern California, a family spokesman said Sunday.
Menza's latest band OHM was three songs into a semi-regular set at a Los Angeles-area club Saturday night when the drummer collapsed, J. Marshall Craig told The Associated Press. Friends and audience members rendered aid while paramedics were called.
The 51-year-old died at the club of a suspected massive heart attack, Craig said.
Menza was Megadeth's longest-serving drummer, performing on five records over nine years, including 1990's thrash metal landmark, "Rust In Peace."
Dave Mustaine, co-founder of Megadeth, said on Twitter that he awoke at 4 a.m. to the news.
"Tell me this isn't true," Mustaine wrote.
Marty Friedman, the band's guitarist from 1990 to 2000, wrote on Facebook that Menza was "a great and unique drummer" and "a trustworthy friend, a hilarious bandmate, as well as a very loving dad."
After leaving Megadeth in 1998, Menza pursued an interest in jazz and became an accomplished woodworker.
Menza's autobiography, co-written by Craig, will detail the drummer's life in and out of music and is set for a July release.
He is survived by his mother and father, the jazz saxophonist Don Menza, and two sons.
- By FELICIA FONSECA Associated Press
- Updated
The largest farm on the Navajo Nation has been without water for more than a week after a pipeline break, endangering food crops worth millions of dollars and threatening jobs.
Most of the crops on the land managed by the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry near Farmington, New Mexico, were planted just before the concrete pipe failed, cutting off water to 72,000 acres of farmland. Officials have pegged June 11 as the date to have repairs completed, with water flowing through a canal system days later.
In the meantime, they're holding out hope that the skies will stay cloudy and enough moisture will fall to sustain the plants in the desert.
"Hopefully with the small amount of rain we've gotten, that will help," said LoRenzo Bates, a farmer who represents the region on the Navajo Nation Council. "At the end of the day, there will need to be some serious management decisions by all the growers as to whether or not to go with what's still there or replant."
The irrigation canal delivers water to the tribal farm from the San Juan River through Navajo Dam. The water that was in the canal when the 17-foot diameter pipe broke May 13 is being rationed among the crops grown by the tribal company and those who lease land.
A New Mexico State University research station is not taking water on its 250-acre plot nor is it planting anything new. Instead, the station is using the situation to study how plants respond to stress and the vulnerability of irrigation-dependent agriculture in the Southwest, said Kevin Lombard, superintendent of the school's Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, New Mexico.
"It's not a good time to be worrying about not having water," he said. "It's very stressful, very emotional."
Contractors and the chief executive of NAPI, Wilton Charley, said they believe the crops that include alfalfa, corn, beans and pumpkins can weather three weeks with little to no water, but anything beyond that becomes risky.
The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for operating and maintenance of the irrigation system that was built decades ago by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, federal officials said. The Navajo Nation oversees all on-site activities on the farms. Crews have spent the past week excavating the 20-foot section of pipe and figuring out where a replacement could be manufactured, given its age of 44 years.
The expectation is that it could be fixed by June 11, but it would take a few days to refill the canal before crops could be watered from it, bureau spokeswoman Nedra Darling said. Darling did not have a cost estimate and didn't immediately know the pipe's last inspection date.
Hauling water to the farms or laying a pipe across the wash are not viable options because of the size of the farmland, Charley said.
Already, the tribal farm and contractors are making tough decisions to let some crops go dry, forgo additional planting and lay off workers.
John Hamby, whose family owns companies that grow pumpkins and popping corn on 5,100 acres of the tribal farm, cut half of the staff after the water break, leaving 15 workers. The number of people needed at harvest time swells to 600.
The 1,000 truckloads of pumpkins produced per year are destined for fundraising and the popped corn to the wholesale market. Hamby said popping corn is less important right now than the pumpkins, which haven't sustained much damage but also don't need a whole lot of water right now.
"If this would have happened in July, this would have been a disaster," he said.
Mark Anderson, who heads Anderson Hay and Grain Co. Inc., said the company will expedite its first cut of alfalfa by a few days. From there, it goes to a compressing facility in Los Angeles and to domestic and export markets and to dairy farmers in the United States.
"So there's plenty of jobs impacted and plenty of customers and marketplaces that expect hay," he said. "If there wasn't a fix in fairly short order, there could be a fairly big impact."
Some of the tribal farm's inventory from last year still is being shipped to the market, Charley said. Alfalfa, pinto beans, potatoes and corn are sold under the Navajo Pride label. He said it's too early to tell whether this year's expectations for harvest will be met.
"Once we get a better handle of where we're at, we'll approach those discussions then," he said.
- By KIMBERLY CAUVEL Skagit Valley Herald
- Updated
MARCH POINT, Wash. — From a beach on east March Point, Sue Ehler scanned the shallow waters of an ebbing Padilla Bay, tallying the number of great blue herons standing in the eelgrass beds.
At about 9:30 a.m., Ehler reported to Matt Kerschbaum that she saw 182 of the region's iconic birds foraging for food.
Ehler, Kerschbaum and Bonnie Kerschbaum are part of a 19-member team of volunteer citizen scientists working on a survey of herons in Skagit County, the Skagit Valley Herald reported.
The survey was initiated in 2014 by regional heron expert Ann Eissinger, who is using the data to create maps highlighting areas where the herons tend to congregate when looking for food.
Matt Kerschbaum said during nesting season the volunteers survey area bays from nine different stations once every two weeks from mid-April to September.
During a recent count, the March Point team tallied 75 to 280 herons during each of its four counts, or sweeps, of the bay between Hat Island and the Twin Bridges.
After the initial sweep, the volunteers identified how many birds were grouped in different parts of the bay.
"The reason we're doing the grouping is to see if there's some areas of habitat they're using more than others," Ehler said.
Padilla Bay is known to have one of the largest eelgrass beds in the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The eelgrass is essential to supporting many marine, bird and mammal species. The great blue herons are among those species, and in west Skagit County are found in some of the largest numbers along the West Coast.
According to a 2007 report "Great blue herons in Puget Sound," the Padilla Bay colony — which includes birds from March Point and Samish Island — is the largest in the Salish Sea.
Based on Skagit Land Trust data collected in 2015, about 1,700 adult herons nest in colonies on March Point and Samish Island.
Based on that data, Eissinger estimates about 2,550 young herons may occupy the nesting sites and feed in area bays this year.
"These are the most significant, largest heronries in the Pacific Northwest ... and they're indicators of environmental health," Matt Kerschbaum said.
The birds that nest on March Point and Samish Island rely on the area bays for their primary food source, which is small fish, according to the Audubon Society.
"They're an iconic species and they're making their living off of these bays," Matt Kerschbaum said.
That's why it's important to monitor the population and its nesting and feeding habits, according to Eissinger.
In addition to supporting two large heron colonies, the area is an industrial hub with two oil refineries on March Point.
Ehler said the potential for an oil spill is a concern because the birds are sensitive to disturbances at their nesting sites and rely heavily on the marine environment for their survival.
"If something happens to these colonies, it can take out a large part of the population. While it's great that they're here, a disaster would be a real disaster," she said.
Another threat surfaced this nesting season after a major protest occurred at March Point.
"Because it's May the chicks are about to hatch. The birds are particularly sensitive," Skagit Land Trust Executive Director Molly Doran said.
The land trust owns property on March Point where the herons nest.
According to Google Maps, the heronry is within about 1,000 feet of the nearest refinery.
The refineries were the focal point of the protest, which was aimed at promoting a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources.
Eissinger, the land trust and others who want to see the herons protected were concerned about traffic and protesters using loudspeakers. Both could interfere with the nesting birds.
Eissinger said the activity "has potential for disturbing wildlife in a sensitive area at a critical time in their breeding cycle."
She provided protest organizers and some media outlets with maps of areas she recommends avoiding, particularly with aircraft, and hoped for the best, she said.
Volunteers will continue to count the birds from a distance this summer and hope they don't see negative effects of the event on the population later in the season, Ehler said.
For Ehler, whose background is in ornithology, which is the study of birds, it's hard to put into words why the herons fascinate her.
"They're absolutely beautiful birds," she said. "They have a prehistoric look to them."
Matt Kerschbaum said in some ways, the survey work is similar to his past duties managing wildlife refuges for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in the Midwest. He enjoys seeing the birds nest, fly and forage.
"You know why the little fish didn't want to go to the restaurant with the heron? He was afraid he would get stuck with the bill," he said.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
PINEDALE, Wyo. — A Wyoming sheriff says the father-son pair accused of a kidnapping in Utah may have left weapons in his state, where they two were arrested after a five-day manhunt.
Sublette County Sheriff Stephen Haskell said Friday that firearms and knives Flint Wayne Harrison and his son Dereck James "DJ" Harrison were believed to have had were unaccounted for. Haskell says anyone who finds weapons should contact authorities and not touch the items.
The Harrisons, who were booked into a Utah jail Thursday on kidnapping and other charges, are accused of tying up a woman and her four teenage daughters in a basement. The women escaped.
The body of a missing rail line worker was discovered along the Harrisons' likely route to Wyoming. They have not been charged in his death.
- The Associated Press
- Updated
POWELL, Wyo. — Northwestern Wyoming's Heart Mountain Interpretive Center is getting $116,000 to create an archive on World War II-era Japanese-American draft protests.
The Casper Star Tribune reports (http://tinyurl.com/zf9rl36 ) Heart Mountain is among centers across the country sharing $2.8 million in new National Park Service grants to help ensure the injustice of the World War II confinement of Japanese Americans is not forgotten.
Heart Mountain housed more than 10,000 Japanese Americans. Brian Liesinger, who is executive director of the center, says a group of Heart Mountain detainees refused to be drafted, saying that if they were going to fight, the government had to release their families and restore their rights. That led to the largest mass trial in Wyoming history. In the end, 63 men were each sentenced to three years in prison.
- The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A 12-year-old Sacramento student who already has three community college degrees and has been accepted to two University of California campuses says he plans on studying biomedical engineering and becoming a doctor and medical researcher by the time he turns 18.
Tanishq Abraham has been accepted to UC Davis and received a regents scholarship to UC Santa Cruz, but he has yet to decide which university he'll attend, reported Sacramento television station CBS 13 Sunday (http://cbsloc.al/1qDdGlD).
"I think I'll be 18 when I get my M.D.," he said.
Tanishq started community college at age 7 and last year he received associate's degrees from American River College, a community college in Sacramento, in general science; math and physical science; and foreign language studies.
Professors at the college didn't initially want him in their classes because of his age. But finally a professor agreed to let him attend if his mother, a doctor of veterinary medicine, also took the class. "There were times when I had to explain general relativity and special relativity to my mom," he said.
Biology professor Marlene Martinez said he was never afraid to ask lot of questions. "In lecture he would always pop up with 'so, does that mean ...' or 'what about this?' " Martinez said.
Tanishq, who joined the IQ society Mensa at only 4 years old, has always picked up knowledge quickly, his father, Bijou Abraham, told NBC News (http://nbcnews.to/1Xqr1um).
"We tested him and discovered that he was pretty smart," he said. "We were surprised when we started giving him advanced stuff and he was picking it up really fast."
Tanishq says child geniuses are often seen as odd. "When you think of a genius, you think of a mad scientist kind of thing," he said.
But he pointed out he's just an ordinary kid who likes learning and microscopes but also playing video games. "I just think learning is fun," Tanishq said.
- The Associated Press
RESERVE, N.M. — Construction is set to begin on a fish barrier project along a creek in the western New Mexico.
U.S. Forest Service officials said Sunday the public should expect to see heavy equipment along Forest Road 28 between Snow Lake Road and Willow Creek for the next two months.
The Willow Creek fish barrier project is just north of the boundary of the Gila Wilderness.
Officials say the barrier will assist in the recovery of the Gila trout, which has been federally listed as threatened since 2006.
The permanent barrier will follow 10 miles of Willow Creek and prevent non-native trout species from heading upstream.
Federal and state wildlife grants are helping to fund the project.
The Gila trout was first listed as endangered in 1966.
- The Associated Press
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Authorities in Orange County say a 7-year-old boy didn't hesitate when he smelled smoke at his home, waking up his sleeping father so the pair could escape a spreading fire.
The Orange County Register says the boy was getting ready for bed Saturday night when he smelled smoke and saw that the garage of his Costa Mesa home was engulfed in flames.
Fire Captain Chris Coates says the boy ran to wake his father, who had fallen asleep watching television. The two ran out of the house as the fire spread from the garage to a motorhome in the driveway and to a neighbor's storage shed.
Firefighters stopped the flames before they spread to the main living area of the house. The cause is under investigation.
- The Associated Press
MEDFORD, Ore. — Medford voters will decide whether city residents can grow marijuana outdoors.
The Medford Mail Tribune reports that the City Council sent a measure to voters that would ban residents from growing marijuana outdoors.
It would also create an ordinance related to complaints about the smell of neighbors growing pot indoors.
Councilmembers are expected to send voters another measure, this one banning indoor and outdoor grow sites altogether within city limits.
The two councilmembers to vote against pursuing a complete ban noted the difficulty in indoor enforcement.
Medford police Lt. Kevin Walruff says the city received 30 complaints related to marijuana in a recent six-month period.
Officials said many complaints go unreported.
- The Associated Press
TWIN FALLS, Idaho — A Canadian BASE jumper's death has been ruled an accident and investigators say they found a hole in her pilot chute.
The Times-News reports (http://bit.ly/1sMskZK) 34-year-old Kristin Renee Czyz of Calgary packed her own parachute before she jumped from Perrine Bridge on May 13.
Investigators found a hole in her pilot chute, which is supposed to pull the main parachute from its pack. They also found a broken zipper on her harness.
Boaters pulled her body from the Snake River, attempted CPR and met up with emergency responders.
Czyz was pronounced dead at the Centennial Waterfront Park docks.
Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lori Stewart said investigators determined the death was an accident.
- The Associated Press
MADERA, Calif. — Authorities say a pregnant woman is facing multiple drunken driving charges in connection with a crash in Central California that left a man dead and three others injured.
The California Highway Patrol says 23-year-old Candice Ooley was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter after a crash Friday night on Highway 41 in Madera County.
The CHP tells KFSN-TV in Fresno that Ooley, who is six months pregnant, was driving a sedan at a high speed when she rear-ended an SUV. The impact caused the SUV to lose control, sending it down an embankment.
Officials say Federico Nunez Silva, a passenger in the SUV, died at the scene. The driver was airlifted to the hospital and his two female passengers were taken by ambulance — after being pinned inside the vehicle for about an hour. Their injuries range from moderate to major.
Authorities say Ooley was driving on a suspended license because of a previous DUI conviction.
- CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press
LOS ANGELES— Nick Menza, former drummer for the influential metal band Megadeth, died after collapsing on stage during a performance of his progressive jazz trio in Southern California, a family spokesman said Sunday.
Menza's latest band OHM was three songs into a semi-regular set at a Los Angeles-area club Saturday night when the drummer collapsed, J. Marshall Craig told The Associated Press. Friends and audience members rendered aid while paramedics were called.
The 51-year-old died at the club of a suspected massive heart attack, Craig said.
Menza was Megadeth's longest-serving drummer, performing on five records over nine years, including 1990's thrash metal landmark, "Rust In Peace."
Dave Mustaine, co-founder of Megadeth, said on Twitter that he awoke at 4 a.m. to the news.
"Tell me this isn't true," Mustaine wrote.
Marty Friedman, the band's guitarist from 1990 to 2000, wrote on Facebook that Menza was "a great and unique drummer" and "a trustworthy friend, a hilarious bandmate, as well as a very loving dad."
After leaving Megadeth in 1998, Menza pursued an interest in jazz and became an accomplished woodworker.
Menza's autobiography, co-written by Craig, will detail the drummer's life in and out of music and is set for a July release.
He is survived by his mother and father, the jazz saxophonist Don Menza, and two sons.
- By FELICIA FONSECA Associated Press
The largest farm on the Navajo Nation has been without water for more than a week after a pipeline break, endangering food crops worth millions of dollars and threatening jobs.
Most of the crops on the land managed by the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry near Farmington, New Mexico, were planted just before the concrete pipe failed, cutting off water to 72,000 acres of farmland. Officials have pegged June 11 as the date to have repairs completed, with water flowing through a canal system days later.
In the meantime, they're holding out hope that the skies will stay cloudy and enough moisture will fall to sustain the plants in the desert.
"Hopefully with the small amount of rain we've gotten, that will help," said LoRenzo Bates, a farmer who represents the region on the Navajo Nation Council. "At the end of the day, there will need to be some serious management decisions by all the growers as to whether or not to go with what's still there or replant."
The irrigation canal delivers water to the tribal farm from the San Juan River through Navajo Dam. The water that was in the canal when the 17-foot diameter pipe broke May 13 is being rationed among the crops grown by the tribal company and those who lease land.
A New Mexico State University research station is not taking water on its 250-acre plot nor is it planting anything new. Instead, the station is using the situation to study how plants respond to stress and the vulnerability of irrigation-dependent agriculture in the Southwest, said Kevin Lombard, superintendent of the school's Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, New Mexico.
"It's not a good time to be worrying about not having water," he said. "It's very stressful, very emotional."
Contractors and the chief executive of NAPI, Wilton Charley, said they believe the crops that include alfalfa, corn, beans and pumpkins can weather three weeks with little to no water, but anything beyond that becomes risky.
The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for operating and maintenance of the irrigation system that was built decades ago by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, federal officials said. The Navajo Nation oversees all on-site activities on the farms. Crews have spent the past week excavating the 20-foot section of pipe and figuring out where a replacement could be manufactured, given its age of 44 years.
The expectation is that it could be fixed by June 11, but it would take a few days to refill the canal before crops could be watered from it, bureau spokeswoman Nedra Darling said. Darling did not have a cost estimate and didn't immediately know the pipe's last inspection date.
Hauling water to the farms or laying a pipe across the wash are not viable options because of the size of the farmland, Charley said.
Already, the tribal farm and contractors are making tough decisions to let some crops go dry, forgo additional planting and lay off workers.
John Hamby, whose family owns companies that grow pumpkins and popping corn on 5,100 acres of the tribal farm, cut half of the staff after the water break, leaving 15 workers. The number of people needed at harvest time swells to 600.
The 1,000 truckloads of pumpkins produced per year are destined for fundraising and the popped corn to the wholesale market. Hamby said popping corn is less important right now than the pumpkins, which haven't sustained much damage but also don't need a whole lot of water right now.
"If this would have happened in July, this would have been a disaster," he said.
Mark Anderson, who heads Anderson Hay and Grain Co. Inc., said the company will expedite its first cut of alfalfa by a few days. From there, it goes to a compressing facility in Los Angeles and to domestic and export markets and to dairy farmers in the United States.
"So there's plenty of jobs impacted and plenty of customers and marketplaces that expect hay," he said. "If there wasn't a fix in fairly short order, there could be a fairly big impact."
Some of the tribal farm's inventory from last year still is being shipped to the market, Charley said. Alfalfa, pinto beans, potatoes and corn are sold under the Navajo Pride label. He said it's too early to tell whether this year's expectations for harvest will be met.
"Once we get a better handle of where we're at, we'll approach those discussions then," he said.
- By KIMBERLY CAUVEL Skagit Valley Herald
MARCH POINT, Wash. — From a beach on east March Point, Sue Ehler scanned the shallow waters of an ebbing Padilla Bay, tallying the number of great blue herons standing in the eelgrass beds.
At about 9:30 a.m., Ehler reported to Matt Kerschbaum that she saw 182 of the region's iconic birds foraging for food.
Ehler, Kerschbaum and Bonnie Kerschbaum are part of a 19-member team of volunteer citizen scientists working on a survey of herons in Skagit County, the Skagit Valley Herald reported.
The survey was initiated in 2014 by regional heron expert Ann Eissinger, who is using the data to create maps highlighting areas where the herons tend to congregate when looking for food.
Matt Kerschbaum said during nesting season the volunteers survey area bays from nine different stations once every two weeks from mid-April to September.
During a recent count, the March Point team tallied 75 to 280 herons during each of its four counts, or sweeps, of the bay between Hat Island and the Twin Bridges.
After the initial sweep, the volunteers identified how many birds were grouped in different parts of the bay.
"The reason we're doing the grouping is to see if there's some areas of habitat they're using more than others," Ehler said.
Padilla Bay is known to have one of the largest eelgrass beds in the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The eelgrass is essential to supporting many marine, bird and mammal species. The great blue herons are among those species, and in west Skagit County are found in some of the largest numbers along the West Coast.
According to a 2007 report "Great blue herons in Puget Sound," the Padilla Bay colony — which includes birds from March Point and Samish Island — is the largest in the Salish Sea.
Based on Skagit Land Trust data collected in 2015, about 1,700 adult herons nest in colonies on March Point and Samish Island.
Based on that data, Eissinger estimates about 2,550 young herons may occupy the nesting sites and feed in area bays this year.
"These are the most significant, largest heronries in the Pacific Northwest ... and they're indicators of environmental health," Matt Kerschbaum said.
The birds that nest on March Point and Samish Island rely on the area bays for their primary food source, which is small fish, according to the Audubon Society.
"They're an iconic species and they're making their living off of these bays," Matt Kerschbaum said.
That's why it's important to monitor the population and its nesting and feeding habits, according to Eissinger.
In addition to supporting two large heron colonies, the area is an industrial hub with two oil refineries on March Point.
Ehler said the potential for an oil spill is a concern because the birds are sensitive to disturbances at their nesting sites and rely heavily on the marine environment for their survival.
"If something happens to these colonies, it can take out a large part of the population. While it's great that they're here, a disaster would be a real disaster," she said.
Another threat surfaced this nesting season after a major protest occurred at March Point.
"Because it's May the chicks are about to hatch. The birds are particularly sensitive," Skagit Land Trust Executive Director Molly Doran said.
The land trust owns property on March Point where the herons nest.
According to Google Maps, the heronry is within about 1,000 feet of the nearest refinery.
The refineries were the focal point of the protest, which was aimed at promoting a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources.
Eissinger, the land trust and others who want to see the herons protected were concerned about traffic and protesters using loudspeakers. Both could interfere with the nesting birds.
Eissinger said the activity "has potential for disturbing wildlife in a sensitive area at a critical time in their breeding cycle."
She provided protest organizers and some media outlets with maps of areas she recommends avoiding, particularly with aircraft, and hoped for the best, she said.
Volunteers will continue to count the birds from a distance this summer and hope they don't see negative effects of the event on the population later in the season, Ehler said.
For Ehler, whose background is in ornithology, which is the study of birds, it's hard to put into words why the herons fascinate her.
"They're absolutely beautiful birds," she said. "They have a prehistoric look to them."
Matt Kerschbaum said in some ways, the survey work is similar to his past duties managing wildlife refuges for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in the Midwest. He enjoys seeing the birds nest, fly and forage.
"You know why the little fish didn't want to go to the restaurant with the heron? He was afraid he would get stuck with the bill," he said.
- The Associated Press
PINEDALE, Wyo. — A Wyoming sheriff says the father-son pair accused of a kidnapping in Utah may have left weapons in his state, where they two were arrested after a five-day manhunt.
Sublette County Sheriff Stephen Haskell said Friday that firearms and knives Flint Wayne Harrison and his son Dereck James "DJ" Harrison were believed to have had were unaccounted for. Haskell says anyone who finds weapons should contact authorities and not touch the items.
The Harrisons, who were booked into a Utah jail Thursday on kidnapping and other charges, are accused of tying up a woman and her four teenage daughters in a basement. The women escaped.
The body of a missing rail line worker was discovered along the Harrisons' likely route to Wyoming. They have not been charged in his death.
- The Associated Press
POWELL, Wyo. — Northwestern Wyoming's Heart Mountain Interpretive Center is getting $116,000 to create an archive on World War II-era Japanese-American draft protests.
The Casper Star Tribune reports (http://tinyurl.com/zf9rl36 ) Heart Mountain is among centers across the country sharing $2.8 million in new National Park Service grants to help ensure the injustice of the World War II confinement of Japanese Americans is not forgotten.
Heart Mountain housed more than 10,000 Japanese Americans. Brian Liesinger, who is executive director of the center, says a group of Heart Mountain detainees refused to be drafted, saying that if they were going to fight, the government had to release their families and restore their rights. That led to the largest mass trial in Wyoming history. In the end, 63 men were each sentenced to three years in prison.
Faculty concerned about changes to U of A admissions policy
