The geekiest arsonist

Software engineer Jennifer Kolar is to be sentenced this week in federal court for her role in Earth Liberation Front arsons, including one at the University of Washington. Her time in prison will be reduced because she turned state's witness, but that doesn't mitigate the fact she is now regarded as a snitch by peers and could be labeled a terrorist by the government.

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The Sonics' hidden fan base

Like every one else over the age of 40 who lived in Seattle during 1979, I can remember that glorious spring when the Sonics dominated the NBA. Similar to the Mariners in 1995, the Sonics run to the championship created a sense of greater community in Seattle. The night they won, I was sitting in the Moore Theatre watching some foreign film as part of the fledgling Seattle International Film Festival. The film suddenly stopped, and someone walked on stage to announce: "We Won!" The film ended a few minutes later and everyone walked out onto Second Avenue hearing car horns, people yelling, total pandemonium. And remember the parade? It may have been the last time downtown Seattle had energy!

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Conservation groups buy pieces of Montana — a lot of pieces

The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land are buying 500 square miles of western Montana from Plum Creek, the timber real estate investment trust, for $510 million. It involves a federal financing mechanism, to the consternation of conservatives, and compromise, to the displeasure of some environmentalists. But it is preventing development of forest habitat.

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Wilderness redefined

Wild Sky in Washington's Cascades is just one of a number of areas designated for protection that are not, in the strictest sense, primeval environment. But they are wild, and in modern times they're worth preserving, say environmentalists — even if unprecedented compromise is necessary.

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The sentencing of another in the ELF 'Family'

Beltane is a Gaelic holiday marking the beginning of summer. The first communique sent by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), in 1997, stated it was sent on Beltane. And now two days before the summer solstice, Briana Waters today will be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma by Judge Franklin Burgess for her role as lookout during a 2001 arson at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture. The end is in sight for the government's "Operation Backfire."

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Beach fires? Let's talk about real carbon footprints

The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department is considering a ban of beach fires at Alki and Golden Gardens parks — not this year, as first announced, but next year — stating that beach fires contribute to global warming.

If the parks staff is really concerned about global warming, perhaps they will also recommend no fires in the barbecue pits at Woodland, Lincoln, Carkeek, and other parks throughout our city. Or perhaps they will cease using the large leaf-blowers at Golden Gardens, which blows sand off the sidewalk and parking lot, or stop driving around Discovery Park in large trucks. In fact, there are dozens of things the parks staff themselves can do to reduce the carbon footprint.

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A 'green scare' in shades of gray

Invoking the Red Scare of the 1950s, some environmentalists claim the federal government is committing something similar against the green movement of the 2000s. Of course, it could simply be vigorous enforcement of laws against violence and property damage.

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So much talk about so few fish

The salmon fisheries of the Northwest have spawned a new industry of bureaucrats, lawyers, environmentalists, sport fishers, commercial interests, scientists, and natives, all focused on the absence of fish. Meanwhile, four sockeye returned last summer to a lake in Idaho once teeming with tens of thousands.

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The 'Street of Dreams' defense

Outside court, it had been eerily silent during the Briana Waters trial. No courthouse protests, no action in the streets, not even flyers at The Evergreen State College. Her supporters had been circumspect. Then, this morning, it was all over the news. "Street of Dreams" arson. ELF.

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Where the wild things aren't

Briana Waters is on trial in Tacoma for her alleged role in the 2001 arson at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture. It was one of a number of incidents of vandalism in the Northwest attributed to Earth Liberation Front's campaign to rid the world of things that aren't "wild." So what is wild?

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