How much do you know about this state you call home?

"A point in space that contains all other points; anyone who gazes into it can see everything in the universe from every angle simultaneously, without distortion, overlapping or confusion."

That's a very brief description of the Aleph in a gripping short story written by Jorge Luis Borges in 1945, almost two decades before the birth of what would eventually become the Internet.

Granted, the World Wide Web is a funky and chaotic place, but like Borges' Aleph, it is a place where you can find just about everything. That includes things you're not even looking for, as is the case of this amusing little post on interesting facts about Washington state that we found by mere chance.

Surely, you do know we produce more apples than any other state in the union; in fact, the 2012 crop went through the roof. And you may well be aware that we have the most coffee bean roasters per capita, which is why Seattle is known as the coffee capital of the world. But you may not know that Washington is home to the largest slug in all of North America, including Mexico and Canada. Or how about this one: Father's Day was founded in Washington in 1910. Or, were you aware that there are only five really long floating bridges in the world and four of them are here in Washington?

It's a holiday, so take a short break and learn some more fun trivia about our state here and here.

Read this story in Spanish.

April 30 through May 6 is Air Quality Awareness Week

Off the top of your head, can you name the main contributors to air pollution in Washington state?

Not surprisingly, the answers are motor vehicles, smoke from outdoor burning (including wildfires) and wood smoke from home-heating devices.

Laws have been passed at the state and federal levels in attempts to regulate and decrease the amount of pollution in the air we breathe. However, legislation isn’t the only tool necessary to get the word out about the importance of protecting our air quality. What other tools can we use, you might find yourself wondering.

The answer to that question is: Education. This week, take the opportunity to educate yourself and your community about the importance of healthy air.

Did you know:

• Vehicle emissions and smoke from outdoor burning both add small, fine particles to our air which are easily inhaled deeply into our lungs. These particles can lead to heart and breathing problems, and in some cases even death.

          Children, asthma sufferers and those aged 65 and up are the
          most at risk.

• Smoke from burning yard waste contains some of the same chemicals found in cigarette smoke. Just like smoking cigarettes, breathing in the tiny, toxic particles can lead to asthma, emphysema, bronchitis and lung cancer.

          Composting is a great alternative to burning and can be used
          in so many productive, healthy ways. For more information
          on what to do with yard waste, click here.

• Fine particles polluting our air contribute to approximately 1,100 deaths and about $190M in health care costs annually in Washington, according to a 2009 Ecology analysis.

To read more about Air Quality Awareness Week, click here. Visit the Department of Ecology's website to track the air quality in your area!

To read this post in Spanish, click here.

Proud to be a “tree-hugger”

Photo credit: Upload Bot

Today marks the 140th celebration of Arbor Day in the United States.

Great! But, you’re no doubt asking yourself, just what exactly is Arbor Day and how did it come to be a national holiday?

OK. Sit back. Relax. And enjoy a little cruise down History Lane.

J. Sterling Morton, a pioneer in the Nebraska Territory and a lover of nature, proposed a tree-planting holiday to the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture on January 4, 1872. The date was set for April 10 of that year, and prizes were awarded both to individuals and to counties who planted the most trees on that day. Much to Mr. Morton’s surprise and delight, over more than a million trees were planted that very day in Nebraska!

In 1885, the Nebraska state Legislature declared Arbor Day to be a legal holiday to be celebrated on April 10th every year.

Nationally, the last Friday in April is recognized as Arbor Day – and that just so happens to be today. So, go out and celebrate the beauty that is a tree! Ladies and gentlemen, let the hugging begin!

Click here to read more about the history of Arbor Day. For ideas on how to celebrate or for educational materials, visit the Arbor Day Foundation’s website.

To read this story in Spanish, click here.

Meet Smokey Bear and help protect our forests

This Sunday, the Department of Natural Resource’s Volunteer and Wildfire Prevention Program is hosting an event to clean out the campfire pits at Ahtanum Campground.

With the aim of reducing the risk of wildfires due to escaped recreational fires on DNR-protected land, everyone who comes to this event will be clearing debris from and assessing campfire pits for maintenance and safety.

Smokey Bear will be in attendance so make sure to bring the kids!

When:            Sunday, April 29, 2012
                      9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where:           Ahtanum State Forest: Ahtanum Campground

Directions:      From Yakima, go south on Interstate 82 for 2 miles.
                      Drive west on Ahtanum Road to Tampico.
                      Turn west onto the A-2000 (Middle Fork road) and    
                      drive approximately 9.5 miles.

Why:             Over the past four years, there have been nearly 700
                     wildfires that resulted from negligent campers
                     leaving their fire pits smoldering and unattended.
                     Another 100 campers left campfires burning without first
                     making sure they were fully extinguished. Fortunately,
                     those were reported and put out before they escaped.

For more information, click here.

To read this story in Spanish, click here.

Washington: a top 10 best state for women

Sen. Patty Murray

Sen. Maria Cantwell

Gov. Chris Gregoire

“In Washington,” the iVillage web site says, “the ladies rule – literally.” The governor and both U.S. senators are women, the site notes, as are one-third of the members of the Legislature. Besides that, the state earns points for reproductive choice and access to birth control, as well as for health insurance policies, the fitness practices of its female residents and their income levels. Not so good are the high cost of child care and below-average rates of Pap smears and mammograms.

It all adds up to a No. 9 ranking for Washington on the best-for-women scale of iVillage, a women-centric NBC site that rates all 50 states. No. 1 is Connecticut; No. 50 is Mississippi.
 
What iVillage doesn’t tell you – but we will because, after all, we’re the House Democratic Caucus – is that 19 of the top 20 states are  “blue” states, based on their support for Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. The exception is Alaska, at No. 15.

To read the full report, click here.

To read this post in Spanish, click here.

Western cities most favorable

According to an unscientific survey by an urban-centric web site affiliated with The Atlantic magazine, the U.S. city that generates the most favorable impression nationwide is Seattle. Coastal cities generally rated high, while the Midwest fared poorly as a region.

Denver, San Francisco, San Diego, and Portland, Oregon rounded out the top five most favorable cities.

Click here to read the entire story from the Atlantic Cities. 

Image source: theatlanticcities.com

To read this story in Spanish, click here.