In the News
May 2017
A selection of paddling-related news stories.
"Spokane River closure leaves play-wave kayakers high and dry" (WA)
"Expert kayakers have been watching a rare and fleeting opportunity flowing by this week. The Spokane River is running at flood stage and some play waves are in prime condition for doing tricks that can’t be done at lower flows. "This is a year we see once, twice, three times maybe in a lifetime,” kayaker Judd Kaiser said. However, at the request of the Sheriff’s office, Spokane County Commissioners issued a temporary river closure. Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said the overriding concern for closing the river was the risk to first responders who would be called for a rescue..."
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"Group petitions Texas Parks and Wildlife to permanently close Christmas Bay to oyster industry" (Galveston, TX)
"Bruce Bodson looked disapprovingly at a wide, rutted trail carved through the marsh at the edge of one of the most pristine bays on the upper Texas Gulf Coast. Four-wheeled ATVs ferrying 110-pound bags of oysters had crushed the glasswort and cordgrass into the mud along a long arc around the lip of Drum Bay, which forms the western end of Christmas Bay. The damage left a scar that could take years to heal and cause the shoreline to erode, said Bodson, executive director of Galveston Bay Keepers..."
"Coast Guard gives out free ID stickers ahead of boating season" (VT)
"As many boaters will tell you, it's still a little early to take to the water. But if you're heading out on your kayak, paddle board or small boat, you're going to want to slap on one of the orange identification stickers the U.S. Coast Guard provides... He said the orange stickers the Coast Guard is giving out work like luggage tags. If the rising spring tide takes your boat away, Coast Guard teams that find it can return it to you..."
"Angelika Graswald murder trial set for June 13" (NY)
"Graswald, 37, has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection to the death of her fiancé, Vincent Viafore... She is accused of killing the 46-year-old Poughkeepsie man during a Hudson River kayaking trip the couple took to Bannerman Island ... Prosecutors contend Graswald tampered with Viafore's kayak, causing it to sink in the frigid Hudson River, in an effort to claim a $250,000 life insurance policy..."
"Kayaking burglar raided fridge before assaulting man" (WA)
"A 43-year-old man who broke into a Harbor Island boathouse last month raided the fridge before assaulting a man and hiding from authorities in the Duwamish River for 45 minutes.A man who owned a boathouse was on his way to the area when he received a text alerting a group of people to a suspicious person seen kayaking near the entrances to the boathouses. The man headed for his boathouse, and saw a stranger..."
"Man rescued after shark attacks kayak off Queensland coast" (Australia)
"A police boat rescued a man after a shark bit the back off his kayak and left him sinking off Australia's east coast, police said. The 39-year-old man was paddling in a group of nine people when his kayak was attacked on Sunday about eight kilometres from shore. He made an emergency phone call from his sinking watercraft..."
"Family stranded 2 days on Utah river is rescued" (UT)
"A family of four was safely rescued from the banks of a southern Utah river over the weekend, two days after their boats capsized after hitting high water and boulders. A mother, father and two teenage girls were rescued from the Escalante River when a Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter searching for a missing kayaker spotted the family desperately waving their arms...."
"Kayaker's attempt at Great Lakes record faces another obstacle" (MI)
"A 52-year-old Missouri woman's attempt at a Great Lakes kayaking record took another difficult turn Monday evening.Shore crew for kayaker Traci Lynn Martin had lost site of her in the fog, about a mile offshore. According to an iPad that was tracking her journey, Martin had been stopped in ice for a while, before she began traveling east. For whatever reason, difficulties arose with her navigational equipment. Using the shore crew's iPad and navigational equipment aboard the sheriff's airboat, deputies responded to her through over two miles of broken ice and slush..."