The Bellingham Herald from Bellingham, Washington • A1

TheBellinghamHerald.com Thursday, April 23, 2009 50 cents Business Classifieds Comics Horoscope Lottery Movie times Sports TV listings Whatcom INDEXNEWS TIPS WEATHER HIGH 54 LOW 36 Full report inside on A4. Send news and event information to ham herald.com Customer Service: 676-2660 Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. THIS CREDIT UNION IS FEDERALLY INSURED BY THE NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION. WECU has money to Lend! Auto, real estate, VISA, personal See us today or visit www.wecu.com Live, work, or go to school in Whatcom County? Then easy to become a member! CITY SEEKS BUDGET ADVICE Public is asked six questions on Web site, A3 FERRY CONTRACT LANDED Fairhaven company will build high-speed craft, A8HISTORICAL FUN Dirty Dan Harris Days highlight entertainment, TAKE FIVE ONLINE bellinghamherald.com/movies a Disney documentary following three species of mothers and babies for a year, is among films opening this week in town. SEARCH film showtimes from Burlington to B.C.

WATCH previews of movies now playing here. Marc Carey, a carpenter with Local 756, works on one of the five spans recently put into place in preparation for the new Guide Meridian bridge over the Nooksack River on Wednesday, April 22. The bridge is expected to be completed in roughly one year. Katie Barnes The Bellingham Herald JEFFREY P. MAYOR THE (TACOMA) NEWS TRIBUNE National parks in Wash- ington state will get more than $62 million to fund 33 projects, including $518,000 for work at North Cascades National Park.

An infusion of $54 million will move a project to remove two Elwha River dams at Olympic National Park about a year earlier. Another $3.3 million will be used to deal with a back- log of maintenance projects at Mount Rainier. The money is part of $750 million in economic stimu- lus funding for the parks, announced on Earth Day by the Interior Depart- ment. Nationwide, the proj- ects are expected to save or create at least 20,000 jobs, said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. At North Cascades, the projects include improving visitor facilities with basics such as replacing heaters and hot water heaters and painting the historic houses Stimulus money will buy upgrades $62M for U.S.

parks ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C. Seventeen-year-olds will soon be able to buy the emergency contraceptive without a prescription. Reversing a policy of the Bush administration, the Food and Drug Administra- tion on Wednesday said it will not appeal a order that overturns restric- tions limiting over-the- counter sales of Plan to women 18 and older. U.S. District Judge Ed- ward Korman ruled last month that Bush adminis- tration appointees let poli- tics, not science, drive their decision to restrict over-the- counter access.

The latest action does not mean that Plan will be immediately avail- able to 17-year-olds. The manufacturer must first submit a request. 17-year-olds to have access to Plan pill PHUONG LE ASSOCIATED PRESS EDMONDS Trying to live green and beat high gaso- line prices, some enterprising Americans are turning cook- ing oil into biodiesel in their garages. Problem is, some of these do-it-yourselfers are burning down the house. Fire officials around the country are warning of the dangers and considering new restrictions to make sure peo- ple torch the whole neighborhood.

find a rule any- where that says you cook biodiesel in your said Bob Benedetti, a flammable-liquids engineer for the National Fire Protec- tion Association in Quincy, Mass. Ferocious fires and explo- sions blamed on backyard refining operations have been reported in Washington state, Arizona, Colorado, Massa- chusetts and Oregon. No deaths or serious injuries have resulted, but some fire officials say it is only a matter of time. In recent years, many Americans have discovered that diesel cars can run on fuel made primarily of veg- etable oil, and about the only drawback is a french fry smell. Some motorists brew their own fuel from used fry- ing oil obtained from restau- rants, which are often glad to get rid of the gunk for little or no charge.

Biodiesel is typically made by combining cooking oil with methanol, or wood alco- hol, in a mixture heated to about 120 degrees. But methanol is highly flamma- ble. And frying oil, as any cook knows, can catch fire if it gets too hot or comes into contact with a flame. Biodiesel brewers risk explosions, fires JARED PABEN THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Crews working to widen Guide Meridian will soon begin assembling a steel truss bridge, a relatively rare type of bridge, where Guide Merid- ian crosses the Nooksack River just south of Lynden. an engineer, building a truss bridge is a civilian equivalent of watch- ing the Detroit Lions win the Super Bowl.

a once-in-a- blue-moon wrote state Department of Trans- portation spokeswoman Bronlea Mishler on the blog for the Guide project. The last one in the state was built in 1986 on Highway 12 over the Snake River east of Pasco. The last one in Whatcom County was in- stalled in 1971 on Interstate 5 over the Nooksack River in Ferndale, she wrote. Starting Monday, May 4, crews working for Spokane- based Max J. Kuney Co.

will begin assembling the roughly 700-ton steel truss structure, which will span more than 300 feet without setting foot in the river, Project Engineer Chris Damitio said. He said the two-lane bridge will cost roughly $10 million. Eventually, the new bridge will carry two lanes of south- bound traffic. The existing bridge will carry northbound traffic as Guide Meridian is expanded to four lanes from Construction to start Monday on rare type of bridge on Guide Lyle Rudensey takes a sip of the pure biodiesel he made in his garage to illustrate the nontoxic properties of the fuel on Wednesday, April 22, in Seattle. He adds that you sip biodiesel from most commercial biodiesel stations, because it often has regular diesel fuel mixed in.

Ted S. Warren Associated Press Officials consider restrictions on home operations NORTH CASCADES PROJECTS North Cascades National Park proj- ects to be funded with federal stimulus money: $185,000: Improve energy efficiency at the Stehekin Landing. Replace heaters, win- dows, doors, water heaters, in sev- eral concession-oper- ated facili- ties. $118,000: Finish exterior and paint interior of historic houses used as employee housing in Stehekin and Marble- mount. $175,000: Rehabili- tate Stehekin Landing fuel system.

Bring land and boat fueling systems into compli- ance and upgrade components. $40,000: Repair storm damage at Ste- hekin. Relocate Har- lequin Campground vault toilet to higher ground. Complete bank barb repair on Company Creek Road. BE WARNED Home biodiesel maker Lyle Rudensey of Seat- tle urges people to make their own fuels to store chemicals in metal cabinets and keep fire extinguishers on hand.

ABOUT PLAN WHAT IT DOES: The pill can reduce the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. HOW IT WORKS: Plan prevents ovu- lation or fertilization of an egg; it also may prevent a fertil- ized egg from implanting into the uterus. It has no effect on women who are pregnant. GETTING IT: The treatment, two pills, sells for $35 to $60. Women must ask for Plan at the phar- macy counter and show ID with their date of birth.

See BIODIESEL, A7 See PARKS, A7See BRIDGE, A7 WATCH BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION To watch crews assemble the Guide Nooksack River bridge, go to guidemeridian.blogspot.com and see the Road Camera blog entry. Steel truss structure will span river.