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By The Associated Press, Anchorage Daily News
Rep. Les Gara says a resolution passed by the state House could undercut efforts in Congress to secure a natural gas pipeline in Alaska.
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By Richard Mauer, Anchorage Daily News
The drive to build an in-state gas pipeline, with public funds if necessary, got a boost Thursday with the enthusiastic testimony of two of Alaska's elder statesmen, Ted Stevens and Bill Sheffield, with Frank Murkowski offering more conditional support.
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AK: Collared wolves killed during predator control
By Sean Cockerham, Anchorage Daily News
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game resumed killing wolves from helicopters this week in the Interior and immediately sparked controversy by wiping out a pack that included wolves collared for research by the National Park Service.
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AK: Hearing held on Sealaska lands bill
By Mary Pemberton, The Associated Press, The Juneau Empire
U.S. Rep. Don Young defended a bill Wednesday to give Sealaska Corp. its remaining lands under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
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AL: Mixed emotions over proposed state park bill
By Staff Reports, WAFF.com
FLORENCE, Ala. –- Are you visiting a state park this summer? You could cash in on a pretty sweet deal. A new bill in state legislature would cut rental fees in half for Alabama residents. It might sound good to travelers, but tourism officials say it could cost jobs and create major budget issues.
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AZ: Federal funds to help Arizona storm cleanup
By Staff Reports, Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff)
President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration Thursday that authorizes federal aid for eight Arizona counties and six tribal nations still struggling to recover from flooding and winter storm damage two months ago.
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CA: Scientists side with smelt, salmon protections
By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times
A National Academy of Sciences panel has concluded that the much-disputed fish protections that have curbed water deliveries to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California are scientifically justified.
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CA: Proposed smoking ban falls short in Assembly
By Kurtis Alexander, The Mercury News (San Jose)
Californians who grumble about cigarette butts in the parks and beaches may have to wait before their wish comes true — if it happens at all. The most far-reaching ban to outlaw smoking in California's state parks, including more than a dozen beaches and wilderness areas in Santa Cruz County, has fallen short of a key legislative hurdle.
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DE: Historic panel OKs Woodburn solar plant project
By James Merriweather, The News Journal (New Castle-Wilmington)
The proposal to install a solar power plant atop Woodburn, a 212-year-old house that serves as the state's official governor's residence, Thursday breezed to unanimous approval by the city's Historic District Commission.
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DE: Delaware River dredge at work while talks go on
By Jeff Montgomery, The News Journal (New Castle-Wilmington)
Ron Wyche restlessly scanned a jumble of readouts and video displays on Thursday as he summed up life in the driver's seat of a controversial $28 million dredging job along the Delaware River near Pea Patch Island.
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FL: Florida water managers weigh cuts, selloffs to finance U.S. Sugar land deal
By Curtis Morgan, The Miami Herald
With the odds of borrowing a half-billion bucks growing dicey, water managers are exploring new ways to finance Gov. Charlie Crist's deal with the U.S. Sugar Corp. -- a controversial land buy the governor stood firmly behind Thursday during a South Florida visit. One possible alternative: Pay for a big chunk -- perhaps even all -- of the $536 million price tag in cash.
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GA: Water remedies sail through General Assembly
By Dan Chapman and Nancy Badertscher, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue's water wish list sailed smoothly through the General Assembly on Thursday with his prized conservation bill awaiting his signature. The House overwhelmingly approved the Water Stewardship Act of 2010 to curtail outdoor watering and require builders and apartment building owners to more efficiently manage water.
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KY: Bill would create ATV trails in Eastern Kentucky
By Andy Mead, Lexington Herald-Leader
A bill that would lead to a system of ATV trails in Eastern Kentucky was approved by a House committee Thursday. House Bill 173, sponsored by Rep. Keith Hall, D-Phelps, would connect to similar trail systems in West Virginia and south-western Virginia.
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KY: Time running out on alternative energy bill
By James S. Bruggers, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
With time in the General Assembly running out, a key House leader on Thursday tried to sell his alternative energy bill as a multi-billion dollar job-creation measure that would protect Kentuckians from a future spike in utility rates.
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MA: Cape homes, beaches losing ground
By Mary Ann Bragg, Cape Cod Times
TRURO, Mass. — The beach stairs lie broken and the sand fences are mangled along this town's bay side, while an antique house overlooking the Atlantic Ocean juts perilously over the edge of the bluff. It's been a hard winter along the shores of the Lower Cape.
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MD: EPA calls for more study on State Dept. Shore training facility
By Paul West, The Sun (Baltimore)
WASHINGTON - Federal environmental officials are recommending a more thorough study of a controversial State Department security facility on Maryland's Eastern Shore, a step likely to delay construction into next year. The plan to build a training center for diplomats on 2,000 acres of privately owned farmland in Ruthsburg has been pushed back several months by local opposition that caused some politicians to backpedal from their support.
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MI: U.S. Supreme Court may rule on Asian carp case
By Nathan Hurst, The Detroit News
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court could decide as early as today if it will consider a lawsuit filed by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox seeking immediate closure of the locks near Chicago to keep the invasive Asian carp out of Lake Michigan.
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MS: Board approves agency furloughs
By LaRaye Brown, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)
More than 5,000 state employees could be sent home without pay as agencies grapple with continually shrinking budgets. The state Personnel Board on Thursday approved furloughs up to six days for employees of the Department of Public Safety, said Lynn Fitch, the board's executive director. The state Tax Commission and Department of Agriculture and Commerce were each approved for personnel furloughs of four to 12 day
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NC: DOT -- Bridge wasn't feasible
By Bruce Siceloff, The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Asked to referee a fight between a powerful coastal senator and an environmental group, the state Department of Transportation has sided with the senator. Mostly.
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NC: Good weather may accelerate I-40 rockslide clean-up
By The Associated Press, The Winston-Salem Journal
ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Crews trying to stabilize a mountainside to prevent future rockslides along a closed portion of Interstate 40 in North Carolina say the weather is finally right for getting a lot of work done.
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ND: Levees ready; now we wait
By Helmut Schmidt, The Forum (Fargo)
Nearly all of Fargo's levees and dikes were in place Thursday, with just a few neighborhoods needing work to button up sandbag and clay dikes along the Red River, Rose Coulee and county drains, officials said Thursday.
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ND: Crews armor spillway at Clausen Springs Dam
By Mike Nowatzki, The Forum (Fargo)
Crews are reinforcing an emergency spillway at Clausen Springs Dam in Barnes County, N.D., hoping to prevent the kind of severe erosion that forced residents downstream in Kathryn to flee their homes last April.
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ND: Frost sneaks out faster than last year
By Stephen J. Lee, Grand Forks Herald
It appears, according to some observers, that the frost has come out of the ground a little faster than expected and much faster than a year ago, when rock-hard soil saturated and frozen, contributed to the flooding up and down the Red River Valley.
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NE: State joins in EPA challenge
By Martha Stoddard, Omaha World-Herald
Nebraska joined 11 other states Thursday in seeking to participate in a legal challenge to the federal Environmental Protection Agency's recent findings about greenhouse gases.
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NE: Bring a tent -- and a corkscrew
By David Hendee, Omaha World-Herald
ASHLAND, Neb. -- Campers may soon be allowed to legally drink a glass of wine or a beer at their picnic table around the campfire at Nebraska state parks.
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NM: State urged to monitor stray voltage
By Tom Sharpe, Santa Fe New Mexican
A New Jersey company on Thursday urged the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission to require monitoring of stray electricity like that which was shocking dogs in downtown Santa Fe late last year.
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NV: Special legislative session advocated for water rights
By Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun
The Nevada Legislature should be called into special session soon to clarify confusion created by the Nevada Supreme Court on thousands of water rights, say advocates for homebuilders, organized labor and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
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OK: Oklahoma Capitol briefs
By Michael McNutt, The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)
Oklahoma is one of a dozen states seeking permission to challenge an Environmental Protection Agency finding that could potentially cripple economic development in the state, Attorney General Drew Edmondson said Thursday.
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OR: Portland based EcoTrust unveils carbon credits from Olympic forest
By Scott Learn, The Oregonian (Portland)
A for-profit subsidiary of Portland-based EcoTrust has signed its first deal to sell carbon credits from forest land it owns, putting 3,276 acres on Washington's Olympic Peninsula into the market for credits designed to offset business and government greenhouse gas emissions.
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OR: Oregon energy tax incentives face new limits
By Harry Esteve, The Oregonian (Portland)
A host of reforms aimed at reining in Oregon's budget-busting subsidies for green energy projects were signed into law Thursday by Gov. Ted Kulongoski -- a year after he vetoed a similar bill.
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PA: PUC sets hearing on Marcellus shale pipes
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is holding a special hearing as part of efforts to clarify and possibly expand its role in regulating burgeoning Marcellus shale gas well and gas pipeline development.
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TX: A border runs through it
By Julian Aguilar, The Texas Tribune
Steeped in the annals of the America's symbiotic relationship with Mexico is the two countries' long-standing and sometimes tense agreement over an issue more far-reaching than border security and immigration: water.
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UT: WVC wants UTA to delay rail designs for 5600 West
By María Villaseñor, The Salt Lake Tribune
West Valley City officials are concerned that, with no guarantee that light rail will travel along the 5600 West corridor in the near future, the Utah Transit Authority wants to acquire too much right of way in that area for mass transit.
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VA: Beach says mow wetlands; state says no
By Scott Harper, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk)
Regulating wetlands is hardly an easy task in marshy Hampton Roads. Take, for example, the case against developer Glenwood South LLC, which involves the city, the state and the construction of 19 homes near Stumpy Lake.
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VT: PIRG challenges Vermont Yankee application
By Terri Hallenbeck, Burlington Free Press
The Vermont Public Interest Research Group filed a request with the state Public Service Board on Thursday asking the panel to throw out Vermont Yankee's application for continued operation because of misinformation the nuclear plant's owners provided.
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VT: Vermont sugar season starts fast
By Matt Ryan, Burlington Free Press
A Vermont maple-sugaring season that began early may be on the verge of ending the same way. "Somewhat of a strange year," said Rick Marsh, president of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association.
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WA: Green economy on the rise
By John Dodge, The Olympian
Green jobs in the state's private sector grew by nearly 33 percent last year, according to a state Employment Security Department report released Thursday.
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WI: More hearings sought on Great Lakes levels
By Dan Egan, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A coalition of environmental groups worried about dropping water levels on Lakes Michigan and Huron is asking the U.S. and Canadian governments to expand a planned series of public hearings on the issue.
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WV: Game farm bill flaw prompts Manchin veto
By The Associated Press, Charleston Daily Mail
Another technical error has prompted Gov. Joe Manchin to veto a recently passed bill, this one addressing private game farms. The legislation proposed a new misdemeanor when someone kills or injures a game farm animal without the owner's permission.
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WY: Wyoming may modify 'fracking' rules
By Dustin Bleizeffer, Casper Star-Tribune
In order to protect fresh and potable water, state regulators may require the oil and gas industry to provide more detailed and readily available information about hydraulic fracturing activities.
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