UO E-clips, Feb. 10

Columbia salmon plan goes before judge for third try (Seattle Times): Perhaps no person has more control over the fate of Columbia River salmon and dams today than a 79-year-old Red Sox fan who doesn't fish or much care for the taste of salmon. From his Portland courtroom, U.S. District Judge James Redden has scolded top federal bureaucrats like the coach of a losing football team. He's taken the extraordinary step of seizing partial control of a string of massive government dams, against the wishes of the government. He has even raised the prospect of tearing down dams to make way for endangered fish. Now, in the twilight of a 47-year political and judicial career, Redden is trying to prod, threaten and cajole to solve a conflict that has vexed the Northwest for decades. … Perhaps more important, the ruling broke through a logjam in which paperwork shuttled back and forth in the courts for years with little substantive change, said Mary Wood, environmental-law professor at the University of Oregon.

Big changes urged for U.S. track (Oregonian, similar story in the Register-Guard): A blue-ribbon task force on Monday recommended sweeping changes to the way USA Track & Field prepares national teams for the Olympic Games, including a proposal to slash the length of the Olympic trials, scheduled for Eugene. Known as Project 30, the task force also recommended changes in the way the sport is administered, the manner Olympic coaches are selected and managed, and how athletes, particularly those in events typically not underwritten financially by athletic apparel and equipment companies, are funded and trained. … To fans in Oregon, the most eye-catching proposal will be to shorten the trials, held last summer at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field, from eight days of competition spread over 10 days, to no more than five days. The trials are scheduled to return to Hayward in 2012.