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In first case of its kind, power company pleads guilty to killing eagles at wind farms
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- A major U.S. power company has pleaded guilty to killing eagles and other birds at two Wyoming wind farms and agreed to pay $1 million as part of the first enforcement of environmental laws protecting birds against wind energy facilities.
• Until the settlement announced Friday with Duke Energy Corp. and its renewable energy arm, not a single wind energy company had been prosecuted for a death of an eagle or other protected bird -- even though each death is a violation of federal law, unless a company has a federal permit. Not a single wind energy facility has obtained a permit.
• The Charlotte, N.C.-based company pleaded guilty to killing 14 eagles and 149 other birds at its Top of the World and Campbell Hill wind farms outside Casper, Wyo. All the deaths, which included golden eagles, hawks, blackbirds, wrens and sparrows, occurred from 2009 to 2013.
• "Wind energy is not green if it is killing hundreds of thousands of birds," said George Fenwick, president of the American Bird Conservancy, which supports properly sited wind farms. "The unfortunate reality is that the flagrant violations of the law seen in this case are widespread."
• There could be more enforcement. The Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating 18 bird-death cases involving wind-power facilities, and about a half-dozen have been referred to the Justice Department.
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Big TV screen set up in typhoon-hit Philippine city to beam Pacquiao's fight and boost morale
• TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) -- Hoping to lift the spirits of thousands of people left homeless by a deadly typhoon in the Philippines, cable operators on Saturday set up TV screens inside an astrodome, near a church and in other landmarks in the devastated region to broadcast live boxing icon Manny Pacquiao's comeback fight.
• Officials said that rooting for Pacquaio in Tacloban and other places ravaged by Typhoon Haiyan two weeks ago would help inspire survivors as they struggle to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of the destruction that killed more than 5,000 people.
• Cable inspector Allan Larano said he and other technicians from the country's (Continued on page 28)
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