While the media's been busy cooking up stories about bioterrorism and reporting every arrest as somehow linked to the World Trade Center attack, there's a lot of important news that simply hasn't been reported.

On Aug. 29, an independent hearing board quietly scrapped Washington State's new shoreline protection rules. Responding to farmers and logging interests, the Shoreline Hearings Board suspended the new rules, which took effect last November and replaced less stringent guidelines written 30 years ago. The new rules were written by the Department of Ecology with input from environmental groups like People For Puget Sound. The next step, of course, is a court challenge.

The city of Seattle's Salmon Team, a group of city-funded researchers, have discovered that two endangered fish species--chinook salmon and bull trout--use Seattle's waterways (surprise!). Both fish prefer undisturbed, rocky shorelines, which brings them in direct conflict with businesses and homeowners who want to use local shorelines without restrictions. Up to 800 wild chinook annually make the journey through the Ballard Locks and the Montlake Cut into Lake Washington and the Cedar River, where they lay eggs in the gravelly riverbed. The hatchlings swim down to Lake Washington, where they feed for four or five months before heading out to sea.

The Duwamish waterway has been officially added to the federal Superfund List. The EPA and the state Department of Ecology will oversee cleanup of the waterway and attempt to recover the cost of the cleanup from businesses located on a five-mile stretch of the Lower Duwamish. The two largest property owners are the Port of Seattle (250 fetid acres) and Boeing (several parcels that add up to 110 toxic acres). Part of Boeing's Plant No. 2 squats on pilings directly over the waterway.

On Sept. 27, the federal government denied recognition for the Duwamish Tribe, reversing a decision granted by Bill Clinton as he was leaving office. The Duwamish are the original inhabitants of Seattle. Chief Seattle was a member of the Duwamish Tribe.

Speaking of water quality, the National Academy of Sciences issued a report that says the Clinton administration's proposed arsenic standards may not be strict enough. The report is based on 300 recent arsenic studies. For decades, the standard set by the EPA was 50 parts per billion (ppb) in drinking water. After months of pressure from environmental groups and scientists, Clinton finally set a standard of 10 ppb just as he was leaving office. One of Bush's first acts in office was to suspend the new standard. Congress, however, passed legislation calling for a new standard to be instituted--one that's no higher than 10 ppb. Bush has yet to act, so the Academy of Sciences is pouring on the pressure again. Meanwhile, an estimated 13 million people in the US drink water with more than 10 ppb of arsenic in it.

In other water-related news, the UN's Environment Program has documented the accelerated destruction of coral reefs. The world's reefs cover 113,720 square miles (much less than was previously thought) and provide important habitat for marine life, as well as the chemical compounds used to make the HIV drug AZT. Pollution is a major cause of damage to coral reefs, particularly sewage and fertilizer runoff, which breeds a type of algae that smothers reefs. Global warming also bleaches reefs, killing the beneficial algae that supports the coral. Fishermen often use dynamite or cyanide to kill or stun fish that live in reefs, destroying coral in the process. The US has about 1,500 square miles of coral reefs.

The decision to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge hangs by a thread in the Senate. Three business groups--the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Small Business Survival Committee--have joined with the Teamsters' Union and Senate Republicans to push legislation that would open up the ANWR for drilling. In addition to the argument that the US shouldn't rely on the Middle East for oil, businesses are whining about the bogeyman of "future price shocks," which could be the last nail in the coffin for some businesses suffering from the recession. In the name of spurring an economic recovery, we could lose the ANWR to the oil barons.

Meanwhile, Sound Transit approved a $2.1 billion light rail plan to build an abbreviated route from downtown Seattle to Tukwila. The route would stop one mile short of SeaTac airport; rail commuters would have to get off the train and take shuttle buses to the airport. Why bother when there are already several express buses that run non-stop from downtown to the airport? As Greg Nickels, who may soon be our new mayor, said: "you have to start with something." That's lame. But even worse is the reason why the trains stop short of their goal: the Port of Seattle doesn't want a rail station built until it's finished building the third runway, which still doesn't have the required environmental permits and waivers. Can you say Catch-22?

Emory Bundy, a critic of Sound Transit's light rail project, described the decision: "It was a depressing experience. It is painful to witness how vast a sum the board is prepared to invest in such a tiny piece of the region's transportation problem--and how indifferent the board is to the most elemental relationship between costs and benefits."

And speaking of costs and benefits, local charities are reporting that donations have dried up since Sept. 11. National charities have raised more than $700 million for the families of the victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. Congress just approved a bill that would pay the families an additional $1 million each. It's past time we turn our attention back to the people in our own community who need our help (and who won't be getting a million bucks from the government any time soon).