May 24, 2001 Eureka teacher nominatedCompromise on the Eel?Flu vaccine supply OKCaregiver registry launchedPossible drilling off coast?Eureka teacher nominated"I have really high expectations for kids," said Judy George, first grade teacher at Eureka's Grant Elementary School. "I think that's one of the reasons kids follow through." Somebody -- she said she doesn't know who -- has followed through for George by nominating her for the Disney Teacher of the Year award. Just 30 of the awards are given out every year, each of which carries a monetary prize of $10,000 for the teacher and $5,000 for the school he or she teaches in. The selection process is just beginning, George said, and she's not counting on receiving the award. But the Humboldt State alumna and 33-year veteran of the Eureka school system said that while the recognition is nice, the real goal is to prepare her students for the future. "What I strive for is to get them way above grade level so that they're really ready for next year," she said. Compromise on the Eel?PG&E and federal and state agencies that have been at loggerheads over Eel River flows may be close to an agreement. The National Marine Fisheries Service has been conferring with the state Department of Fish and Game for the last three months, and an agreement may have been hammered out, said Pat Rutten, field supervisor with NMFS' protected resource division. "We have come up with some proposals that would meet some of our concerns and satisfy PG&E and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission," Rutten said. The agreement would end months of controversy that followed the release by NMFS of a scientific review of plans by PG&E to increase the amount of water in the Eel by 15 percent. NMFS claimed the plan, supported by Fish and Game and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, didn't leave enough water in the river and would jeopardize threatened salmon species in the river. FERC has the final say over whether PG&E can go forward with the plan but is required under the Endangered Species Act to get NMFS to approve. Rutten declined to reveal the substance of the potential agreement, noting that NMFS had yet to receive the official version from PG&E, but said that issues discussed included summer flows, water temperatures, the impact of non-native pike minnows and tapering flows in the spring and fall. Sources close to the process said it may involve "adaptive management," in which management practices are changed to reflect data gathered from studies conducted during the project's execution. Water from the Eel River is diverted to the Russian River by PG&E at the Potter Valley Project for development and agriculture in Sonoma County. |