Feb. 11--WILSON -- Land owners along Lake Ontario are concerned about a potential International Joint Commission plan which may allow water levels to reach higher highs and lower lows.

Wilson Town Supervisor Joseph Jastrzemski, who bought property on the lake last year, said a previous owner had to move the boat house up the cliff and use it as a garage.

The IJC gathered stakeholders in 2008 to discuss lake levels.

Feb. 10--Two local forests could receive more than $90 million over the next decade for projects that would create jobs in the woods, reduce the risk of catastrophic forest fires and improve wildlife habitat and water quality.

The Colville and Idaho Panhandle national forests were among 13 national forests chosen for millions of dollars worth of restoration projects.

On the Colville, the money will be used to create open, parklike stands of ponderosa and lodgepole pine in dry areas of the forest through thinning and small, controlled fires.

Feb. 12--River Street's cobblestones divide Savannah's waterfront.

The day the city laid the first stones in the mid-1970s, the north and south sides of the street took on separate identities.

"That was the vision, that the north side would be for public places," said Eric Meyerhoff, the retired architect who along with partner Robert Gunn worked with the city and a local engineering firm on the riverside's centerpiece, Rousakis Plaza.

Feb. 12--After hundreds of hours in scores of meetings over three years, including staff sessions, neighborhood forums, 19 workshops and nine formal hearings, county planner Jack Liebster and three Civic Center colleagues look forward to a milestone Monday when the Planning Commission is expected to sign off on coastal development policies.

It's been mind-numbing but fascinating and critical work, said Liebster, the 61-year-old principal planner overseeing the "local coastal plan" that revises dated policies outlined in a program adopted 30 years ago to protect the coast.

At issue are the locations, types, densities and other ground rules governing future development in the coastal zone, while assuring public access

Feb. 12--OLYMPIA -- State Sen. Jerome Delvin applauded the Senate's passage today of a measure aimed at producing less cumbersome and more responsible off-road vehicle (ORV) access to public roads.

Delvin worked with other legislators, representatives of the Washington State Patrol, outdoor enthusiasts and conservationists state-wide to produce Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5366, which passed the Senate by a vote of 41 to 5.

"Removing the barriers to using and enjoying off-road vehicles is very important to the people of the Tri-Cities," said Delvin, R-Richland.