Island Guardian

Good News: WA Still Special!

OLYMPIA -- Blood tests conducted by the Department of Health show the illness of a Spokane-area woman was not caused by West Nile virus infection. Click Here For Story "Were Not Special Anymore" The woman had initially tested positive; however, additional tests showed that her illness was not caused by West Nile virus. There have not been any cases of West Nile virus infection in horses, birds or humans this year in Washington. Last year, the confirmed human West Nile virus infections in our state had been traveling to areas where West Nile was active when exposed.
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When A Boat Sinks, "Stuff" Floats Away

ig_BOAT_SINK-TRASH-1 (68k image)
(Port of Friday Harbor photos)
In a recent story on derelict vessels (See below "DNR Asks For Information On Derelict Vessels"), the public was asked to inform the Department of Natural Resources of any boat that appears to be a derelict. One of the reasons for the concern about derelict vessels was illustrated this week when the latest boat sank in the bay at Friday Harbor.

ig_BOAT_SINK-TRASH-2 (15k image) When a boat sinks, "stuff" floats away, and that is exactly what happened when the latest boat recently sank -the second one in three weeks (story below). The debits from this second derelict boat floated into the port of Friday Harbor, where the Port crew spent 24 hours of staff time and another 12 hours of equipment time removing the trash from the water. Some of the debris was a bit unpleasant to deal with. It was reported that the debris " included large garbage bags full of human waste."

According to the Port of Friday Harbor Director Steve Simpson, the Port may discuss asking liveaboards to, "have an agreement with the underlying municipality or with the Port as prescribed by the DNR rules for liveaboards" if they wish to use the services the Port can provide.

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