K2 Radio News: Flash Briefing For September 11th, 2017 – Morning

TAMPA, FLA. (AP) - TROPICAL STORM IRMA IS DRENCHING THE GEORGIA COAST, AND FORECASTERS SAY FLOODING IS A SERIOUS THREAT. DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH WAS GETTING SOAKED MONDAY MORNING, WITH WINDS JUST STRONG ENOUGH TO RUSTLE TREETOPS AND SHAKE SMALL BRANCHES ONTO THE ROADS. IMPACTS FROM THE STORM WERE EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

NEW YORK (AP) - A BELL IS TOLLING TO MARK THE MOMENT WHEN THE NORTH TOWER OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER COLLAPSED ON SEPT. 11, 2001. THE U.S. ON MONDAY IS MARKING THE 16TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TERRORIST ATTACK THAT KILLED NEARLY 3,000. FOUR HIJACKED PLANES HIT THE TRADE CENTER AND THE PENTAGON, AND CRASHED IN A PENNSYLVANIA FIELD. VICTIMS' RELATIVES ARE READING THE NAMES OF THOSE KILLED.

WASHINGTON (AP) - PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IS LEADING A NATIONAL MOMENT OF SILENCE ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE SEPTEMBER 11TH TERROR ATTACKS, HIS FIRST COMMEMORATION OF THE SOLEMN ANNIVERSARY IN OFFICE. TRUMP JOINED WITH FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP AND WHITE HOUSE AIDES TO OBSERVE A MOMENT OF SILENCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE, TIMED TO THE MOMENT THAT THE FIRST AIRPLANE STRUCK ONE OF THE TWIN TOWERS OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER. THE TRUMPS WERE ALSO TRAVELING TO THE PENTAGON FOR AN OBSERVANCE.

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) - POPE FRANCIS HAS SHARPLY CRITICIZED CLIMATE CHANGE DOUBTERS, SAYING HISTORY WILL JUDGE THOSE WHO FAILED TO TAKE THE NECESSARY DECISIONS TO CURB HEAT-TRAPPING EMISSIONS BLAMED FOR THE WARMING OF THE EARTH. FRANCIS WAS ASKED ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE SPATE OF HURRICANES THAT HAVE PUMMELED THE U.S., MEXICO AND THE CARIBBEAN RECENTLY AS HIS CHARTER PLANE LEFT COLOMBIA AND FLEW OVER SOME OF THE DEVASTATED AREAS.

HAVANA (AP) - CUBAN STATE NEWS MEDIA SAY 10 PEOPLE DIED ACROSS THE ISLAND AS IT WAS BEING BATTERED BY HURRICANE IRMA. MOST OF THEM DIED IN HAVANA, WHERE CHEST-DEEP SEAWATER PUSHED SEVERAL BLOCKS INTO DENSELY POPULATED NEIGHBORHOODS.
===================================
A LONG-TERM VIEW OF ELECTRICAL GENERATION -- NOT POLITICS OR FADS -- DRIVES ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER'S DECISION TO INVEST $3.5 BILLION IN TRANSMISSION CAPABILITY, WIND POWER AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE IN WYOMING BY 2020.

WYOMING ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER VICE RESIDENT RITA MEYER SAID FRIDAY THAT WIND POWER DOES NOT COMPETE WITH COAL POWER OR OTHER ENERGY SOURCES, BECAUSE THE COMPANY NEEDS THEM ALL FOR A DIVERSE MIX OF ELECTRICAL GENERATION.

COMPANY SPOKESWOMAN SHARON FAIN SAID THE COMPANY'S ENERGY VISION 2020 PROJECT INTENDS TO EXPAND THE GATEWAY WEST TRANSMISSION LINE BY 140 MILES FROM THE AEOLUS SUBSTATION NEAR MEDICINE BOW TO THE JIM BRIDGER POWER PLANT NORTH OF ROCK SPRINGS, ALL BY THE FALL OF 2020.

WITH THIS PROJECT, ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER WILL ADD 1,100 MEGAWATTS OF NEW WIND POWER AND IMPROVE EXISTING WIND FARMS BY INSTALLING LONGER BLADES AND NEWER TECHNOLOGY TO BOOST THE TURBINES' GENERATION POWER BY 20 PERCENT.

THE PROJECTS WILL ADD UP TO 1,600 CONSTRUCTION JOBS, PUMP ABOUT $115 MILLION IN TAX REVENUE THROUGH CONSTRUCTION, AND ADD ABOUT $14 MILLION IN TAX REVENUE BY 2024.
======================================
THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE HAS APPROVED A PLAN TO INSTALL A 172-FOOT-LONG STEEL BRIDGE TO SPAN THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER IN A NORTHWEST WYOMING WILDERNESS AREA.

THE NEW BRIDGE IN THE TETON WILDERNESS IN THE BRIDGER-TETON NATIONAL FOREST WOULD REPLACE ANOTHER KNOWN LOCALLY AT THE HAWKS REST BRIDGE, WHICH IS 57 YEARS OLD.

DISTRICT RANGER TODD STILES SAYS THE CURRENT BRIDGE IS UNSAFE.

THE BRIDGE IS CONSIDERED A CRITICAL LINK ALONG THE MOST-USED TRAIL IN THE TETON WILDERNESS.

BUT CRITICS SAY THE NEW STEEL BRIDGE WILL DEGRADE THE CHARACTER OF THE WILDERNESS. THEY PROPOSED EITHER REPLACING IT WITH A PACKABLE BRIDGE OR HAVING NO BRIDGE AT ALL.

OFFICIALS HOPE THE NEW BRIDGE CAN BE INSTALLED NEXT YEAR.