All fish were caught using one of a variety of orange, tangerine and multicolored egg and flesh patterns under an indicator. Several of the anglers fished many of the runs swinging leeches with spey rods, however no fish were caught on the swing. With the exception of the inconsiderate guide out of Oregon running a jet boat up the river, the anglers had the river nearly to themselves. You are urged to contact Washington Dept. of Fish and Game to ask that jet boats be banned from the Grande Ronde.

On a 33-15 vote Friday, the Senate passed a bill that makes it a primary offense to be caught holding a cell phone to your ear while driving, or to be reading, writing or sending text messages. That strengthens the state’s current secondary offense law, which only slaps drivers with an extra fine if they are pulled over for another infraction, such as speeding.

“It’s becoming an epidemic, people are not paying attention, and it’s extremely serious,” said Sen. Tracey Eide, D-Federal Way, and sponsor of the bill.

Under the bill, police could immediately pull over someone for texting or talking without a headset and give them a $124 ticket.

A ticket will not become part of a driver’s record and dialing a phone is not considered text messaging. The measure exempts transit and emergency vehicle personnel, as well as anyone who is text messaging or calling and not using a headset to report illegal activity or summon emergency help. People who are using a hearing aid or operating a tow truck are also exempt.

Some expressed concern about this becoming a priority for police.

“I just have to ask whether the most important thing for law enforcement to do right now is to be out looking to see if people are using their cell phones incorrectly,” said Cheryl Pflug, R-Maple Valley, who voted against the bill.

The bill passed Friday also outlaws any cell phone use by a driver with a learner’s permit or an intermediate license, which is given to drivers under 18 years old.

The measure now heads to the House for further consideration.

Washington is one of six states and the District of Columbia that have passed laws regulating cell phone use by drivers, but is the only one that that considers the use of a phone without a handsfree device a secondary offense, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon all make it a primary offense. Parts of Hawaii have passed bans as well. Oregon’s ban on driving while using hand-held phones went into effect last month.

Oregon State Police say they issued 41 tickets and 250 warnings last month to drivers who improperly used cell phones. The penalty is $142, but there are exceptions for professional drivers and those who use their vehicles as a mobile office.

The cell phone bill is Senate Bill 6345.

– From the Spokesman Review on www.spokesman.com

With the first chinook salmon of the year already arriving in the Columbia River, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will present initial forecasts of 2010 salmon returns that will be used to help establish salmon-fishing seasons for dozens of other waters around the state.

The meeting is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the General Administration Building Auditorium at 11th Ave. and Columbia St. on the Capitol Campus.

Those attending the meeting will have an opportunity to talk to fishery managers about the pre-season forecasts and participate in work sessions focusing on key salmon-management issues in the region.

“Public input is an important part of the season-setting process,” said Pat Pattillo, salmon policy coordinator for WDFW. “We encourage anyone who has an interest in recreational and commercial salmon fisheries to get involved in these discussions and take part in the development of upcoming fishing seasons.”

WDFW has also scheduled seven additional public meetings focusing on regional salmon issues through early April.

Public review of the pre-season forecasts traditionally marks the start of the North of Falcon process, which brings state, tribal and federal fishery managers together to establish salmon seasons for Puget Sound, the Columbia River and the Washington coast.

The North of Falcon process is held in conjunction with public meetings conducted by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), which establishes fishing seasons in ocean water three to 200 miles off the Pacific coast.

Final adoption of the 2010 salmon fisheries is scheduled for April 15 at the PFMC meeting in Portland, Ore.

While anglers will have a range of fishing opportunities this year, restrictions will be needed to protect wild salmon, including those listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

“Our first priority is protecting and recovering wild salmon,” Pattillo said. “That can be accomplished while still providing significant fishing opportunities on abundant hatchery fish and healthy wild populations.”

More information about the North of Falcon process is available on WDFW’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/northfalcon, which will be updated periodically throughout the salmon season-setting process.

Other key meetings related to the North of Falcon process, all open to the public, are as follows:

•Feb. 18 – Strait of Juan de Fuca sport fisheries discussion, 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Trinity Methodist Church, 100 South Blake Ave., Sequim.
•March 6-12 – Pacific Fishery Management Council, Doubletree Hotel, 2001 Point West Way, Sacramento.
•
•March 11 – First coastal fisheries discussion, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Montesano City Hall, 112 N. Main St., Montesano.
•March 15 – Columbia River fisheries discussion, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., YMCA Community Room, 3609 Main Street, Vancouver, Wash.
•March 16 – First North of Falcon meeting, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., General Administration Building Auditorium, 210 11th Ave. S.W., Olympia.
•March 23 – Eastern Washington North of Falcon discussion, 6 p.m.-9 p.m., Benton PUD, 2721 W. 10th Ave. Kennewick.
•March 24 – Second coastal fisheries discussion, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Raymond Elks Lodge, 326 Third St., Raymond.
•March 25 – Puget Sound commercial fisheries discussion, 10 a.m.-noon, WDFW Mill Creek Office, 16018 Mill Creek Blvd., Mill Creek.
•March 25 – Puget Sound recreational fisheries discussion, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., WDFW Mill Creek Office, 16018 Mill Creek Blvd., Mill Creek.
•March 30 – Final Grays Harbor/Willapa Bay fisheries discussion, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Room 172 of the Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E., Olympia.
•April 6 – Second North of Falcon meeting, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., Embassy Suites Hotel, 20610 44th Ave. West, Lynnwood.
•April 10-15 – Final Pacific Fishery Management Council meeing, Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel, 8235 NE Airport Way, Portland, Ore.

– From www.wdfw.wa.gov

Associated Press Writer

OLYMPIA, Wash. —
After 2009 ended in a hail of high-profile gun violence, Washington state’s gun-control advocates are frustrated by an apparent lack of political support for an assault weapons ban, warning that the state will likely face more deadly shootings without it.

The bill comes just weeks after a spate of deadly police shootings, and proponents of the ban say those killings should force politicians to confront gun violence.

“There’s more guns, a repressed economy and a lot of angry people,” said Ralph Fascitelli, board chairman for state gun control group Washington Ceasefire. “You can’t sweep this problem under a rug. Apparently the shooting of eight police isn’t enough to confront gun violence in the state.”

The bill was named in honor of 18-year-old Aaron Sullivan, who was shot and killed by a SKS 7.62-caliber rifle in Seattle in July. The legislation focuses on “military-style” assault weapons, which can fire rapidly and carry large magazines of ammunition.

Similar bans have not fared well in the state Legislature in the past, and in an election year, supporters face a battle to even get the bill out of committee.

“I will do everything I can to pass this bill this year,” said Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, the sponsor of the bill and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. A hearing on the bill is scheduled for Tuesday.

Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, said she is mobilizing with other lawmakers against the bill. Since it was announced, her office has received more than 1,000 e-mails asking the Senate to defeat it, Roach said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure (Kline) doesn’t diminish the Second Amendment right,” she said.

The National Rifle Association and the Citizen’s Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms are also lobbying against it.

Alan Gottlieb, the director of the Citizen’s Committee and the Second Amendment Foundation, said he is confident the bill will fail. Not many Democrats, especially those in more conservative districts, want to come out against gun rights in an election year, he said.

“It’s extreme,” Gottlieb said. “I am kind of surprised they put it in, because it riles up our people.”

The bill could have a tough time getting out of Kline’s committee, which has five Democrats and three Republicans. One of the Democrats, Sen. Jim Hargrove of Hoquiam, says he will vote no.

Gov. Chris Gregoire said she has not reviewed the bill or closely followed its process, instead choosing to focus on the group of bills that came in response to recent police shooting, including better communication between law enforcement on jail bookings and releases, a review of the bail bonds system, and enhanced benefits for survivors of officers who die in the line of duty.

– From the Seatle Times

Serving the Legal Needs of the Sportsmen of the Northwest

You are from the Great Northwest.  You live amongst the mountains and the streams, and you pursue their inhabitants.  While others are just waking up in the warm beds, you are deep in the woods, breathing steam and cresting the top of a ridge.  You could be at home in your bathrobe, in front of the computer, but you are belly-button deep in a swirling current, chipping the ice out of your guides, swinging a fly for chrome bright steelhead.  When your attorney isn’t working to protect your rights and secure you and your family, he is out there with you.

The sportsmen of the Northwest have a particular set of legal needs.  Like you specialize when selecting your bow or picking out your next flyrod, you should take the same consideration when selecting your legal representation.  Whether you stepped over the line in the pursuit of your quarry and need a defense to a WDFW or criminal charge, you have finally saved up enough to purchase that perfect piece of land, you want to protect your family in case of an unfortunate streamside accident, or any of the other issues particular to us sportsmen, this law office understands where you are coming from, and has the insight that you expect from a like-minded outdoorsman. Alan also specializes in the restoration of gun rights.

Give me a call and schedule a time to come in and meet with your new attorney and trade some fish stories.

The notice letter addresses the city’s violations of the Phase II Permit of the Federal Clean Water Act. Studies from 2004 and 2007 show that the pollution level of water in the Spokane River exceeds that of Water Quality Standards.

The Gonzaga University Environmental Law Clinic is representing the Spokane Riverkeeper, Rick Eichstaedt. The Riverkeeper program started in New York with the Hudson River in 1966. Eichstaedt’s role is centered on the surveillance of a major body of water and he is to be the “eyes, ears and voice for the river,” said director of the Gonzaga Environmental Law Clinic, Mike Chappell. This position is distributed through the Center for Justice.

The Environmental Law Clinic is a non-profit law firm that emerged within the Gonzaga Law School this past fall. Chappell described the importance of the notice letter as the first step toward action.

“The effect of filing a complaint is that litigation in federal court begins and the two sides are required to comply with the requirements set forth by the court,” Chappell said.

One of the more serious chemical pollution problems is because of the discharge of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, into the Spokane River. PCBs are industrial compounds that were manufactured and used in heavy industrial machinery until they were banned in 1979. Chappell said these chemicals acted as lubricants and transformers.
PCBs have been shown to cause cancer and a number of other serious health conditions on the immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems.

Chappell explained the detrimental effects of PCBs as being an adherent, which makes it almost insoluble in water because they attach to sediment and particles that become suspended in the water. The result affects the aquatic life of the river, which poses a threat to their life and contaminates the wildlife for humans to eat. This attachment to other organisms after attaching to sediment is known as bioconcentration, Chaplell said.

Both second year law students, Jennifer Murdock and Elizabeth Dunfee, contributed the most to the drafting of the notice letter.

Murdock, who did most of the research and worked on several drafts of the notice letter, explained the value of the case to both the Gonzaga and Spokane community.
“The Spokane River is a great asset to Spokane and Gonzaga. The notice letter has informed the City that Gonzaga and the community care about the River and is willing to take a stand to protect and clean up this asset.”

“Hopefully the next step will be entering settlement and negotiations: getting together to decide what will be effective,” Dunfee said.

The river isn’t the only case the Law Clinic is handling. “The clinic has issued one other 60-day notice letter to the Federal Highway Administration on behalf of Kootenai Environmental Alliance and Idaho Conservation League,” Chappell said. “We also represented several residents on Long Lake/Lake Spokane and KEA on comments before the Department of Ecology on Ecology’s draft Spokane River cleanup plan for phosphorous.”

“We are also partnering with Spokane Community College to implement storm water monitoring and sampling in and around the Spokane River,” Chappell said.
The Environmental Law Clinic is moving forward with the case.

“We are drafting the complaint, but we are in the midst of talks with the City of Spokane and may not file it immediately after expiration of the 60 days, if talks are ongoing and moving toward settlement of the action,” Chappell said.

“We are thus far pleased with the city’s response,” Chappell said. “They appear to be taking it seriously and moving toward a solution.”

-From The Gonzaga Bulletin By Natalie Weryk on Friday, January 22, 2010

As a small business owner, an equity partner in a web and software design company, and in-house counsel for a growing business, Alan has the experience and knowledge to assist you with whatever concerns you may have about your new or existing business, from incorporation to providing advice on safety procedures or employee manuals.  Contact Alan to schedule a time to come and learn more.

Whether you are purchasing a home, commercial real estate, or a piece of ground on the banks of a river to hunt and fish with generations of your family to come, Alan understands the importance of the transaction.  Few decisions in your life will be this big.  Let someone you can trust, and who can relate to your experience provide you the legal advice and services you need to ensure your land deal is secure.

Or maybe you have already secured your home or your land, but someone has decided to encroach upon it.  Property boundary disputes, contested easements or licenses, and even the eminent domain power of the State can cause confusion, expense and heartache.  Don’t try to tackle these questions alone.  Let The Law Office of Alan H. Green, PLLC assist you in protecting your property.