Topic: Columbia River

DB Cooper parachute packer found murdered (+video)

DB Cooper parachute packer: Earl Cossey packed the parachute for the famous fugitive DB Cooper. Cossey was found dead Friday, and police suspect he was murdered.

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Immigration reform: What the last 'path to citizenship' did for immigrants

Congress is considering comprehensive immigration reform, including amnesty, work visas, and guest worker programs. What this path to citizenship  could mean for 11 million illegal immigrants can be seen in the 1986 amnesty of 3 million legalized in the last major immigration overhaul.

911 dispatcher sends mom to rescue kayaker

911 dispatcher sends mom, instead of the police, to rescue a kayaker stranded on the Columbia River. The 911 dispatcher knew the river, and knew that her mom could get there before police.

Energy Voices Former Manhattan Project nuclear plant leaking radioactive waste

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation, one of two Manhattan Project nuclear plants, is leaking highly toxic sludge, Daly writes. How much will it cost taxpayers?

Hanford nuclear tank in Washington State is leaking liquids

The long-delayed cleanup of the nation's most contaminated nuclear site became the subject of more bad news Friday, when it was announced that a radioactive waste tank is leaking.

Is 'Uncle L.D.' the notorious skyjacker D.B. Cooper? Experts are skeptical.

Two Oklahoma women claim their late relative, Lynn Doyle Cooper, is the real 'D.B. Cooper,' who plotted a hijack heist on Thanksgiving Day 1971, the only unsolved skyjacking in US history.

A new D.B Cooper book – and a new lead

Yesterday a new lead was announced in the infamous D.B Cooper case, a week before a new book about the Cooper case is scheduled for release. Coincidence?

D.B. Cooper mystery: FBI claims 'most promising lead' in legendary hijacking

D.B. Cooper, as he has since become known, in 1971 hijacked a plane bound for Seattle, got $200,000 and a parachute in ransom for passengers, then jumped out into a stormy night. D.B. Cooper has never been found. The FBI says it has a new clue.

The new water wars? Study shows broad decline in Rockies snowpack.

Many studies have documented the West's declining snowpack. But a new one, published Friday in the journal Science, covers the length of the Rockies over an 800-year period.

Top 10 senators seeking earmarks

Senate leaders decided to scrap a 1,900-page omnibus spending bill that contained $8 billion in home state spending projects – otherwise known as earmarks, pet projects, or "pork." Government spending and the deficit became an issue in the midterm election, and lawmakers are keenly aware of voter anger about large, catch-all bills that are quickly passed. The following senators have been ranked by the monetary value of earmarks they backed, whether alone or with others, in the now-scuttled omnibus spending bill. The earmark process became more transparent with the 2006 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which required creation of a database of all government spending. The watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense used the database to compile this ranking. Sen. Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma, who co-sponsored the legislation, also has a list of the disclosed earmarks in the omnibus bill on his website. *This is the amount requested both alone and with other members of Congress.

Orca population bounces back in the Northwest

New killer whale babies lift the Northwest's endangered orca population out of the red zone (somewhat).

How to clean up a lake? Floating islands might be the answer.

Man-made islands can remove ammonia, heavy metals, and other chemicals from the water.

Too many 'straws' sucking water out of the Colorado River

Tribes strive to save native tongues

In the Pacific Northwest, some 40 indigenous languages are at risk of disappearing within a decade.

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Fishermen hit hard by closure of West Coast salmon fishing

Drastic federal action to try to save chinook salmon is latest move in ongoing battle.

Fishermen hit hard by closure of West Coast salmon fishing

Drastic federal action to try to save chinook salmon is latest move in ongoing battle.

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Clean energy vs. whales: how to choose?

Northwest's dams are a source of clean energy. But scientists say they endanger salmon and orcas.