FROM WASHINGTON CITIZEN'S COASTAL ALLIANCE ------------------------------ 1999- ONE WHALE KILLED ---------------------- Happy Holidays to all of you from WCCA Central! We hope this holiday season finds you and your family safe and well. A quick housekeeping matter: Several of you asked to unsubscribe from this list in the last two months, and we have accomodated you. However, due to a glitch in our computer, we are not SURE that the request was processed. If you are still receiving these updates and wish not to, please resubmit your request to dano@rockisland.com and we will speedily comply. It looks like the gray whales have escaped the Makah killing waters during the fall and winter of 1999. However, our sources tell us that several families within the tribe are itching to kill again this spring, probably in "quick succession." ***** COURT CHALLENGE TO BE HEARD ------------------------- The long-awaited appeal of 'Metcalf v. Daley' (regarding the legality of the Makah killings and the mindless subservience of the National Marine Fisheries Service) will be heard by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on February 8, 2000. With even a modicum of logic, the court should see through the obvious lies, irregularities, political pandering and shameful conduct of the feds in their quest to push the Makah whale hunt down the throats of outraged Americans. We'll keep you posted on developments... ***** WASHINGTON CITIZENS GO ON THE OFFENSIVE --------------------------------------- LOOK FOR a bombshell announcement from several whale protection groups within the next week or so. Our spies tell us that a legal action of major significance will be filed soon, and that the Makah Tribal Council is sweating .50 caliber bullets. Our source in the Neah Bay Coast Guard station tells us that the Tribal Council is "very nervous" since Governor Locke asked Washington state to investigate potential state intervention in the killings. Uncertainty and doubt are in the air.... ***** LOCKE FOLDS, SELLS OUT WASHINGTON CITIZENS ----------------------------------------- Of course, the Makah Tribal Council had a wonderful opportunity to get the Governor to back off- they met with the Governor privately on December 6. Documents obtained by the WCCA through the Freedom of Information Act document the entire meeting, including some world-class waffling by Governor Locke. Our personal favorite? Page 7: His denial to the Makah Tribal Council that he ever met with Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd during the Port Angeles protest. The next page? A picture of Locke shaking hands with Paul Watson. The WCCA is outraged that the Governor would conduct a private meeting with the Makah Tribal Council with absolutely no notice to the public, and is further outraged that the Governor's recommendation from the meeting was redacted (blacked out with a pen) on the documents. The WCCA is currently researching a possible lawsuit against the Governor for conducting an illegal closed meeting in violation of Washington state law. We strongly condemn the actions of the Governor in committing the people of the State of Washington to a course of action DICTATED IN AN ILLEGAL PRIVATE MEETING by the very people who are killing whales in our state waters. Here at the end of 1999, the threat remains. The killings will continue, unless some very brave folks continue to make their voices heard! Thanks to all of you who have worked so hard on behalf of the whales. ***** 1999: FAREWELL TO YABIS ------------------- I can add only this at the end of a brutal year: We fight a battle against an opponent armed to the teeth with lies, half-truths, redacted documents, corrupt, bought-and-paid-for-politicians, an opponent flush with cash and blood lust. We fight a battle against an opponent that can call in military power as a private police force anytime they wish, an opponent that thinks nothing of sweeping the sea and land clean of anyone who might disagree, and able to change the rules anytime it suits them, or throw the Bill of Rights out the window. We fight a battle against an opponent that stands secure tonight in their belief that the death of an innocent will make them strong and complete. An opponent who could care less what anyone thinks about that, because thay have the "right" to spill blood in the waters of our state, even though the overwhelming majority of the citizenry wants it stopped- NOW. But you know what? We are going to stop them. Thanks again to all of you- now on to the new millenium, and a new era for our oceans! *****