a) Snowy Owl named Time magazine’s “Bird of the Year”
b) “Hooter Shooters,” reality TV show about Snowy Owl photographers
c) “Bird on a Ledge,” big-screen thriller about a Snowy Owl threatening to jump off the Tonquin Bridge
d) “Snowy Come Home!”: an Arctic own family goes in search of little Snowy, who has run away to . . . Ocean Shores

“I’m not concerned about the very-hungry Snowy Owls.” -Romney

“We have a pipeline for birds from the north – now we need one for oil!” -Gingrich

“This is another example of hard-working immigrants who are making America a great country – and God Bless Ocean Shores!” -Obama

As commenter Lorraine T. pointed out, if you watch the web version of the NBC “Nightly News” story on our Snowy Owls, after that plays there are two more extended stories, with more shots of the white hooters – and lovely footage of Damon Point. (If you haven’t seen these, just click on the highlighted link in the post below.)

Nice NBC “Nightly News” feature on Ocean Shores/Damon Point, and those beautiful Snowy Owls, here.

According to weather.com projections for our area, this new month will have a great start, with sunshine and highs near 50, every day for nearly a week:

Wednesday February 1

TodayPartly cloudy. High 49F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.

TonightPartly to mostly cloudy. Low near 35F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday February 2

DaySun and a few passing clouds. High 52F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph.

Read more…

Press release from the OSPD: A 42-year old Ocean Shores woman and her 24-year-old daughter are in custody for assaulting two Ocean Shores police officers. Ocean Shores officers Paul Henderson and Shaun Beebe responded to a report of disorderly subjects at a residence on Magellan Avenue at approximately 8:30 PM on Tuesday January 31^st. Upon arrival officers found the mother and daughter physically fighting.  Officer Henderson, who had arrived just moments before Officer Beebe, attempted to take the daughter into custody as she was struggling with the mother. When Henderson began to arrest the daughter  the mother intervened and the three of them fell to the ground. While trying to handcuff the daughter, the mother placed a leg lock around Henderson’s neck and began choking off his airway. Henderson temporarily released his

By Stuart May, documenting the pirates unconventional convention this weekend:

From last week’s North Coast News.

Copy of email sent to ngsforum@nationalgeographic.com

Dear National Geographic,

Your recent issue has a writer driving around Ocean Shores with a University of Washington geologist. Noting we have no high ground, and but one little road out of town, the scientist moans that if a tsunami comes, “These people are toast, soggy toast.”

Thank you so much. This is exactly what we need, and you folks are so awesome. (I’m being sarcastic, in case you haven’t noticed).

As the editor of the most widely-read weekly newspaper in all of Ocean Shores, I cannot protest this strongly enough!

Indeed, I demand a retraction, and one with traction!

From last week’s North Coast News:

Good news: Ocean Shores is mentioned in the latest National Geographic.

Not-so-good news: We’re called “soggy toast.”

The Feb. 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine has an article titled “The Calm Before the Wave.” In the article on tsunamis, Tim Folger writes:

“In Washington there are tsunami evacuation signs, tall towers on the beaches to broadcast warnings, and tsunami information booklets in hotel rooms, next to Gideon Bibles. But evacuation centers are sparse; and not everyone has access to high ground.

“Ocean Shores, a resort town that NOAA lists as ‘tsunami-ready,’ lies on a narrow peninsula with no high ground and just one two-lane road to safety;

The North Beach High wrestling coach was just voted “Coach of the Year” by his district peers. Photo by Jody Cadle: