From the open publishing newswire: In late November and early December there will be a number of events across the Northwest commemorating the 10 year anniversary of the historic protests against the WTO in Seattle in 1999. As well as opposing the largest round of WTO meetings in years, which are scheduled to take place November 30th-December 2nd in Geneva, Switzerland. Ten years to the day after the Seattle WTO protest!

From the open publishing newswire: While the community was expected to sit back and watch helplessly, a young sea lion lay dying on the coast near Seaside. Authorities were adamant that no treatment would be provided: They decreed that nature should take its course with the animal, and that they felt they needed to "keep humans out of the equation." This might have made more sense, had the sea lion not been sick and malnourished in the first place due to human interference in the ocean ecosystem. And nothing could be more hypocritical than the suggestion that humans must keep their compassion "out of the equation" on the coast while other humans have inserted themselves violently into the equation on the nearby Columbia - by killing sea lions for eating fish.

In Cascadia, though, we like to think for ourselves. We follow our hearts more faithfully than we follow the dictates of people who consider themselves to be "The Authorities." And so the people of Seaside began bringing fresh water to the sea lion dubbed Sadie by the nearby community.

 http://sealiondefensebrigade.org

From the open publishing newswire: After 6 hours of freedom, Jeff "free" Luers is back behind bars.

In a bizarre turn of unfortunate events, Jeff has been taken back in to custody after having a few moments of freedom.

Apparently this is because of an "error" on behalf the Oregon Department of Corrections. He was "mistakenly" released because they thought he was eligible for early release, but because of - as we understand it at this point - Oregon's Measure 11 mandatory minimum sentencing Jeff did not qualify for this early release.

Please write him letters of support:

Jeffrey Luers # 13797671
CRCI
9111 NE Sunderland Ave
Portland, OR 97211-1708

freejeffluers.org

From the open publishing newswire: BREAKING: Jeff was released this morning!!!!!!!

A Lane County Circuit Court Judge has just signed a supplemental judgment granting Jeff an additional 30% reduction in his total incarceration time!!!

This is huge news and could mean that Jeff is released much, much earlier than the expected date of December 16, 2009, and of course 12 years earlier than his original sentence prior to appeal.

In the meantime, the weeks from now to December we had planned to fundraise for education and living expenses for Jeff are now out the window, so please dig deep and send in your donations now.

Donation options are available here, http://freejeffluers.org/donate.html | or you can buy something on Jeff's wishlist here: http://freejeffluers.org/assets/pdfs/WISH_LIST.pdf | http://www.freejeffluers.org

From the open publishing newswire: Maltby, WA - The underground environmental protection group, Earth Liberation Front (ELF) left a strong warning in Washington State this week, spray-painting a message on industrial buildings in the City of Maltby. The message, left specifically for the Master Builder's Association and Andy Skotdal, owner of Everett's KRKO-AM 1380 radio station, stated:
"MBA KRKO/Snotdol Empire. If you continue to risk killing children, mother earth and her creations, all your holdings are targets. Rise up earth children, ever, ever, ever, ever so carefully. They watch everything. The time is now. Authentic ELF? Ask ATF/FBI about restricted water mains. Little water, better burn. ELF."

On September 4, the ELF knocked down two radio towers owned by Skotdal and KRKO near Everett, WA, leaving a banner claiming responsibility. Previously, on March 3, 2008, the ELF was responsible for burning three homes in the Woodinville, WA Street Of Dreams, inflicting $7 million in damages.

"The ELF takes action to stop the ecoterrorism caused by industries and governments who are more concerned with financial gain than they are with the health of their children, of their citizens, wildlife and planet," ... "Only when all of the corporate and governmental ecoterrorists have ended their destructive practices will the ELF be satisfied."

elfpressoffice.org

From the open publishing newswire: N.E.S.T : the Northwest Eco-system Survey Team is in need of climbers and Ground supporters to join them in the forests of Mt. Hood N.E.S.T. is out climbing along the quadrants of the proposed LNG pipeline. The purpose: locating nests of the red tree vole, the main food source of the northern spotted owl. We need all the help we can get whether in the form of: climbers, ground support, $, veggies, climbing/ camping gear...everything helps.

NEST is putting out a call for volunteers. We need able bodies would can climb, do ground support, watch camp, and help out as much as possible. This is a pressing matter. These units need surveyed to gather resources and comments to stop the pipeline going through Mt. Hood.

Questions about ride shares, or general information contact Shawn at: 10101010@riseup.net

From the open publishing newswire: Once again, the State of Oregon's Department of Fish and Wildlife has lied to the public regarding the killing of Columbia river sea lions. On May 19th of this year, they claimed in a public statement that the trapping and killing had ended for the year. However, on August 24th, they trapped a sea lion on the Oregon coast, in Astoria, more than a hundred miles from Bonneville dam. And they killed him. They claimed he "met the criteria for removal," meaning that he had been "observed eating at least one fish."

At a time when thousands of sea lions are starving to death from Chile to Canada, when the public is struggling to save them, and while NOAA is apparently trying to figure out why they are dying, the ODFW has resumed killing those sea lions who venture into Oregon waters. The irony is compounded when one appreciates that the reason so many sea lions are starving to death is very likely over-fishing.

Monitors are urgently needed to observe the Astoria traps, and to hand out fliers and educate the public about what is happening to these sea lions. If you care about this ecosystem and the animals who share it with us, we need your creativity, your energy, and your passion.

For more info: http://sealiondefensebrigade.org

From the open publishing newswire: All the Mercury in the USA, currently existing, and generated by private sources, up to 11,000 metric tons, may be stored at Hanford Nuclear Reservation, 215 miles upstream of Portland, on the Columbia River. The US Department of Energy is considering this plan and accepting comments.

COMMENT DEADLINE: AUGUST 24, 2009

COMMENT ONLINE: click here

HANFORD IS THE MOST CONTAMINATED SITE IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE, AND THE LARGEST ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN-UP PROJECT IN THE WORLD.

DOES THIS PLACE NEED YET ANOTHER 'MISSION'?

Hanford covers 586 square miles of desert in eastern Washington. 51 miles of the Columbia River runs through it. It is 35 miles north of the Oregon border, and 215 miles upstream from Portland.

Recommended commentary is that the USDOE TAKE NO ACTION, NOT ACCEPT COMMERCIAL MERCURY WASTE, the army should handle the mercury storage. At the very least, NO MERCURY TO HANFORD.

From the open publishing newswire: Portland City Council will consider this week a proposal to build a water treatment plant (LT2) for our pristine Bull Run water. The plan is, we are told, designed to address a US EPA requirement that all drinking water in the US be treated/filtered for Cryptosporidium. While this cookie cutter approach will likely add to the safety of water in other cities, it is not appropriate in Portland because our Bull Run system supplies water with virtually no possibility of contamination. Cryptosporidium in a form that is lethal to humans has never been found in the Bull Run water system. There has been no demonstrated need for treatment/filtration.

The construction of a water treatment plant will be very expensive, $385 million, all of it to be paid for by the city water users. The $385 million would be financed via the issuance of bonds; interest payments due and paid for by water users would increase that figure to close to $1 billion dollars.

Alliance for Democracy has joined others in calling for the Portland city council to postpone a decision until later in August, and to hold public meetings scheduled it a time when citizens can attend. Ask the Portland city council now to postpone a decision until the public can gain knowledge of what is at stake and can get their voices heard. In addition to the letter below from Oregon Wild, please see the editional comment by the Oregonian where they write "The best solution, of course, is the one that would cost nothing: Leave Portland's water alone."

[Background Article:  http://friendsofreservoirs.org/background.html]

From the open publishing newswire: The last few weeks have been unbelievable! I want to share some of my experiences so that anyone who hesitates taking time off their job might think again, and renounce being consumer slaves of corporate capital, in favor of radical adventure and creative insurrection against the global government of militant madness.

Nearly a month ago I took time off work to partake in the most amazing Cascadia Summer, something like a summer vacation, even with an overnight in Douglas County Jail.

From the open publishing newswire: We are thrilled to report that the Obama Administration pulled all six Records of Decision this morning on the WOPR! These forests will again be managed under the Northwest Forest Plan. Please do celebrate this victory for the forests, critters and salmon of western Oregon.

Portland, OR -- People throughout the west celebrated an Obama administration decision to cancel a Bush era plan that would have nearly quadrupled current logging on public lands in western Oregon. The Bush plan, called the Western Oregon Plan Revision, or WOPR, rezoned 2.6 million acres of federal public forests in Oregon managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The announcement came in response to a lawsuit filed by thirteen conservation and fisheries protection organizations challenging the Bush logging plan. Obama administration officials said the Bush plan illegally ignored requirements to protect endangered species living in the forests and could not be defended in court.

KS Wild

| Cascadia Wildlands

From the open publishing newswire: Roseburg, OR - Following its annual national gathering, the no-compromise group Cascadia Earth First!, along with Cascadia Rising Tide, dropped a huge "Dam Home Depot, Save Chile's Rivers" banner at the corporation's Roseburg, Oregon store. The store is at 3000 NW Aviation Drive.

The groups are protesting The Home Depot's buying of timber products from the Matte Group, which is involved in a proposal to build five big dams on two pristine rivers in Patagonia, southern Chile. The dams and their associated transmission lines would ruin the Baker and Pasqua river ecosystems, flood rare endangered forests and destroy livelihoods.

www.internationalrivers.org/patagonia

From the open publishing newswire: California Sea Lions are being killed in the spring at the Columbia River by Oregon and Washington Fish and Wildlife. They eat a small number of salmon, but a senseless policy of killing them to protect salmon is going forward. If citizens got involved and requested this to end, then the Oregon and Washington Fish and Wildlife would stop this. It is just a matter of citizen pressure and media attention.

 http://sealiondefensebrigade.org