Other News

It will be a rainy and windy Monday around Western Washington, with high temperatures in the low 50's.  Rain is in the forecast all this week. 

Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Mudslides Affect Commute
• Northwest Relief Workers to Japan
• Obama's Education Secretary Here, Virtually

Rails and Roads Covered in Mud

Sounder rail lines, Amtrak routes and at least one major highway are blocked by mudslides this morning. Sunday's heavy rains caused at least three separate slides over Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks: two north of Seattle, and one in southwest Washington near Vancouver. 

It was a wet and rainy day for Sunday's St. Patrick's Day Dash in Seattle. But that didn't deter about 14,000 people from participating in this 3.8-mile run and walk near Seattle Center. The wearin' of the green was also embraced.

Beer hats, green tutus, and KPLU's favorite - a man in a Seattle "shower" - added color and much appreciated whimsy to the event. The dash was sponsored by the Detlef Schrempf Foundation, with all proceeds going to Camp Fire USA Puget Sound Council and Seattle Children's Autism Center.

A Pierce County dog trainer is fielding heaps of praise for saving the life of Sugar, a 4-year old boxer.  The animal collapsed during a training class Saturday.  Ron Pace said when he saw the animal fall, his instincts took over, according to the News Tribune's Sara Schilling:

Pace, 54, who owns Canyon Crest K9 Training Center in the Summit/Waller Road area, used a version of CPR to get Sugar breathing again...

It took about two minutes of steady massage to the dogs chest, and a couple of breaths into the animal's mouth, to help bring Sugar around, to the delight and relief of the dog's owner, Tiffany Kauth of Bremerton.

One of the Gates Foundation’s primary goals is to improve the lives of smallholder farmers in Africa by helping improve agricultural productivity.

On Tuesday, the United Nations issued a report that appeared to challenge the Seattle philanthropy’s approach.

The Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation have launched what they are calling a new Green Revolution for Africa. It is a multi-pronged strategy that tends to favor scientific and technological solutions and that some see as too heavily dependent upon Western-style, industrialized farming techniques.

This week, the UN issued a report urging “eco-farming” as the best strategy for improving farming in the developed world. In it, the author appears to challenge the wisdom of the Gates Foundation’s approach in agricultural development.

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Heavy rains brought mudslides that covered roads in Pierce County early this morning, including a slide over East Jovita Boulevard in Edgewood. More rain is expected today, along with gusting winds that could topple trees in already soaked earth, according to KOMO News:

Forecasting models put this storm about on par with the one that blew through on March 2 -- enough to perhaps cause a few power outages and knock over a few trees, but we are not expecting a major windstorm.

In Tacoma, a slide brought a tree down over one lane of Schuster Parkway. There were no injuries or cars involved with that slide, and traffic is getting by the area, according to KIRO-TV.

The peak winds are expected this afternoon in the Puget Sound lowlands, with gusts as high as 50 miles per hour in the late afternoon and early evening hours, according to the National Weather Service.