Stories for Jan. 1, 2008

Old Testament punishment for timber thieves, please

Tue, Jan 1, 3:22 p.m.

The Northwest is no stranger to timber theft, but a case that raised a lot of eyebrows was the recent plea-bargain of a Camano Island man who pled guilty to a federal theft charge for cutting down 27 old-growth cedars in an isolated part of Wenatchee National Forest. The trees were between 400 and 700 years old. Unfortunately, the logger faces a sentence that's much shorter than the damage he's done.

Famous cities don't have happy residents

Tue, Jan 1, 2 p.m.

By David Brewster

Statistics Canada has just released a fascinating study of how people feel about Canadian cities. There's a big surprise. Cities that rank high in international surveys of livability, such as Vancouver and Victoria and Toronto, score poorly with their local residents, when ranked for satisfication among residents. The top cities in Canada, as rated by those who live there, are Saint John, New Brunswick, followed by Quebec City, and such where's-that-again? places as Charlottetown and Moncton, N.B., and Kitchener, Ontario. Victoria? Dead last, tied with booming Calgary. Vancouver was 12th (of 18 cities measured) and Toronto was 15th.

The Times within the Times

Tue, Jan 1, 7:10 a.m.

By Chuck Taylor

Today The Seattle Times added the New York Times News Service to its wire resources. This enables the local Times to publish almost anything The New York Times publishes, usually the same day. Previously, The Seattle Times had rights to the NYTNS only for the Sunday edition, because that was the one day the Seattle Post-Intelligencer didn't publish, and the P-I had exclusive rights. It goes without saying that the NYTNS is the most prestigious news service money can buy. It's not as comprehensive or fast as The Associated Press, which is the baseline wire report any paper must have, but it's the first choice if you can afford a second service.

Five weeks: The sprint to the presidential nominations

Tue, Jan 1, midnight

By Ted Van Dyk

Between now and Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, and before Washingtonians caucus, the presidential nominees will be determined. The national campaign then will last a withering nine months, during which the parties will pray nothing scandalous arises. Here's what to watch for in coming weeks as folks in other states decide who will enter that uncharted territory.