Uncovering the nasty origins of an ugly event OMAK, Washington––The 87th edition of the bizarre and often deadly “World Famous Suicide Race” held annually in Omak, Washington, is to be held nightly, August 12-15, 2021, after a year’s hiatus due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements. Bizarre as the race itself is, even more bizarre––and […]
Fixing for a fight of Leviathans
The Makah Harpooners vs. Willy the Whale, alias Killer Keiko [Originally published in September 1998] NEAH BAY, Washington; NEWPORT, Oregon––If the September 1998 media drama underway in the Pacific Northwest was a professional wrestling match, it would be billed as the Makah Harpooners vs. Willy the Whale, alias Killer Keiko, orca star of the hit […]
Eaglet & redtail sacrifice: ancient defense against cannibal raiders
Cruel practice is remnant of crueler history FLAGSTAFF, Arizona––As many as 40 newly hatched golden eagles and at least as many fledgling redtailed hawks may be stolen by Hopi warriors from nests within the Wupatki National Monument north of Flagstaff this spring, as in every spring of the 21st century, for eventual use in sacrifices originating out […]
Ice age rock art find exposes nearly 200 years of horse manure
The discovery does not improve the case for horses having survived the Ice Ages in the Americas CHIRIBIQUETTE NATIONAL PARK, Colombia––Images of ice age horses, among thousands of other animals painted along an eight-mile mural of rock art recently found in southern Colombia, have revived hopes among wild horse advocates––and Mormon literalists––that horses somehow remained […]
Killing the dam sea lions is about hook-&-bullet votes for Trump
And Jaime Herrera-Beutler, Trump stooge in Congress PORTLAND, Oregon––As many as 540 California sea lions and up to 176 Stellar sea lions are to be sacrificed to placate frustrated recreational salmon fishers, beginning during the run-up to the November 2020 election and continuing throughout what would be President Donald Trump’s second term if re-elected. […]
Takaya the “sea wolf” headed for home, but hunter shot him
Lived for eight years almost within sight of British Columbia provincial parliament VICTORIA, B.C., Canada––Takaya, 10, the “sea wolf” star of the 2019 CBC Nature of Things documentary “Takaya: Lone Wolf,” was on March 24, 2020 shot by a hunter near Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia, possibly after being chased and/or mauled by the hunter’s […]
Beavers gnaw way toward wolf, grizzly & economic recovery in the Cascades
Future of logging, hunting, fishing & ranching region lies with nonlethal wildlife tourism TWISP, Washington––Vanishing salmon, Washington’s worst wildfire roaring through the Methow River Valley in July 2014, and flash floods that turned roads into rivers even before Finley Canyon stopped reeking of smoke and ash have brought beaver back to the Upper and […]
Shoot wild horses, sell them to slaughter, or just let them die?
Navajo Nation & BLM look at grim options CAMERON, ARIZONA––Why did 111 wild horses die stuck in the mud at a Navajo Nation stock pond near Cameron, Arizona, during the last week of April 2018? Photos distributed by Navajo Nation spokesperson Mihio Manus “showed clusters of horses with dried mud on their bodies, some overlapping one […]
Standing Rock: Who let the dogs out?
With suspects identified, will the injured Sioux sue? FORT YATES, North Dakota––Who let the dogs out? Confronting protesters near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation on September 3, 2016 with five to eight leashed but leaping, lunging, and biting dogs, who injured at least six people and a horse, the Dakota Access pipeline construction security […]
Security guards set dogs on Sioux demonstrators at Standing Rock
Oil pipeline builders didn’t await court verdict before bulldozing on Labor Day weekend (Part I of two parts. See also How Standing Rock 2016 echoes Birmingham 1963.) FORT YATES, North Dakota––1,130 linear miles, almost the 1,168-mile length of the projected Dakota Access pipeline route from the Bakken oil shale fields of North Dakota to Illinois, […]