Monday
Gun debate heats up
Partly sunny with a high near 43 B10
NRA takes heat over plan to arm schools A3
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS December 24, 2012 | 75¢
Port Townsend-Jefferson County’s Daily Newspaper
PA cogeneration plant clears permit hurdle house, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles. “The preliminary concluPORT ANGELES — Nipsion is that it does not pose a pon Paper Industries USA health concern . . . and it commay have cleared the last per- plies with all the applicable mit hurdle for the company’s air regulations,” ORCAA Prodisputed biomass cogeneration fessional Engineer Mark plant. Goodin said Friday. The Olympic Region Clean Air Agency has given prelimi- On schedule nary approval for a dual-cell, Mill Manager Harold Nor5,500-gallon-per-minute coollund last week called the preing tower for the project at the liminary decision “a good sign” base of Ediz Hook. An ORCAA public hearing and said the project remains on the permit is scheduled for on schedule for completion by Sept. 1. 5 p.m. Jan. 14 in Room 160 at the Clallam County CourtTURN TO NIPPON/A4 BY PAUL GOTTLIEB
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
Appeals delaying work on PT biomass project BY CHARLIE BERMANT
“This is huge.”
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
PORT TOWNSEND — A series of appeals of court actions against Port Townsend Paper Corp. has delayed work on the firm’s biomass cogeneration expansion until 2014 or 2015, the company said. Original projections had the expansion operating by April 2013. The mill’s statement follows a Dec. 10 state Court of Appeals ruling that sends a suit filed by five environmental groups to the state
GRETCHEN BREWER PT Airwatchers spokeswoman Supreme Court. The suit urges the requirement of an environmental impact statement prior to construction of the expanded facility that burns wood waste to create electricity.
18-month extension The appeal process has prompted the company to apply for and receive an 18-month
extension of its construction permit, said Kevin Scott, the company’s environmental officer, in a prepared statement. “This will allow additional time before construction must be restarted to allow for the time lost in appeals [and] could mean a delay in the project startup until 2014 or 2015,” the company’s statement said. Gretchen Brewer, a spokesperson for PT Airwatchers, expects the Supreme Court to hear the case sometime in the spring. TURN
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A (relatively) silent night in PT But for a patrol officer, anything can happen BY CHARLIE BERMANT PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
PORT TOWNSEND — Drivers, here’s a tip to take to heart if a police officer ever pulls you over: Your
behavior will directly affect whether you get a ticket. That’s according to Port Townsend Police Officer Luke Bogues. “I think about 90 per-
cent of them are nice.” he said, “but occasionally you get people who are rude and belligerent, and I react to that.” During a reporter’s ride-
along Saturday night, Bogues made three traffic stops in three hours but issued no tickets. The first, a young woman in a gold Volkswagen, was stopped for going 37 mph in a 20-mph zone. Upon collecting her documents, Bogues determined her insurance card had expired and she hadn’t filed a change of address.
Warming up her car
CHARLIE BERMANT (2)/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
Port Townsend Police Officer Luke Bogues prepares Saturday for his patrol shift. It included three traffic stops and a trip to the hospital.
“She told me she had never been pulled over before and that she was driving fast because she wanted to warm her car up,” Bogues said. “I had no reason to disbelieve her so I decided to not write her a ticket. But if she gets pulled over again, it will be in the record.” A few minutes later, he stopped a driver for speeding who turned out to be an East Jefferson Fire-Rescue firefighter on his way home from a shift. Bogues said that he “didn’t want to make it any
After pulling over a car with a burned-out headlight, Officer Luke Bogues lets the driver off with a warning. harder for the people who stop the bleeding” adding that if a particular firefighter becomes a repeat speeding offender, the police department will contact the fire chief. The third person he stopped was a woman on Umatilla Avenue with a burned-out headlight. On his first and third stops, Bogues told the drivers how much they could have paid if he had written up all the violations — more than $800 in the case of the VW — to underscore their seriousness. The officer also turned around in front of the ferry
terminal to pursue a driver with his lights off. As soon as he pulled behind the car, however, the lights went on. Bogues followed it to the QFC lot to see if it was weaving. It wasn’t.
‘Natural to be nervous’ “It’s natural to be nervous when a patrol car is behind you,” he said. “I know that I am.” Bogues said the city’s 25-mph limit may seem to slow for some, but on dark streets excessive speed can be dangerous because drivers can’t see pedestrians. TURN
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State set to dispose of derelict New Star Rusting hulk still at Ludlow marina after 2½ months
in the guest slot at the Port Ludlow Marina since Oct. 1, was served with a notice from the Department of Natural Resources on Dec. 3. The notice gives the owner one month to move the vessel or the DNR would assume ownership.
BY CHARLIE BERMANT
Doesn’t return calls
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
PORT LUDLOW — Residents of this affluent resort town hoped the derelict New Star would be gone by Christmas. But now they will have to wait until January for that particular wish is granted. The vessel, which has been moored
Since that time, George Marincin, president of VicMar Inc. of Tacoma and owner of the 180-foot-long, 325-metric-ton vessel, has not returned calls from the DNR, the marina or the media. “He said all the right things at first,” said Kelle Kitchel-Cooper, a PR counsel who represents Port Ludlow
Associates. “He would tell us a story about how everything was in place, and the next day it would change, which was extremely frustrating. “Right now, I think he is just out of money,” The DNR posting, now on the ship’s hull, states that if the boat’s owner does not accomplish its removal by Jan, 3, the agency will dispose of the vessel and hold the owner responsible for the cost. DNR’s Dennis Clark said Friday that if the agency takes possession, it could be removed sometime in January. TURN
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CHARLIE BERMANT/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
The New Star sits at Port Ludlow Marina. Its owner had promised to move it months ago.
INSIDE TODAY’S PENINSULA DAILY NEWS 96th year, 309th. issue — 2 sections, 20 pages
CLASSIFIED COMICS COMMENTARY/LETTERS DEAR ABBY DEATHS MOVIES NATION PENINSULA POLL PUZZLES/GAMES
B5 B4 A9 B4 A8 B10 A3 A2 B6
SPORTS SUDOKU WEATHER WORLD
B1 A2 B10 A3