SAND SUCKER:

Thanks to Congress-woman Lois Capps’s efforts, the federal
capital needed to clean and safeguard Santa Barbara harbor was all
but secured last week. The money will be used to dredge the harbor
next year, and to carry out a sand-sucking process that ensures
boats’ safe passage in and out of the harbor – not to mention
grooming the sandbars of a nearby world-class wave. Faced with an
ever-dwindling local commercial fishing fleet and subsequent
scarcity of annual dredging funds, the $1.2 million in federal cash
for the harbor floor tuneup is a boon for city officials and harbor
users alike. The money comes as part of the fiscal year 2007 Energy
and Water Appropriations bill passed in Congress last Wednesday.
Payday is not yet a done deal, however, as it must still pass
muster with an upcoming Senate vote on the bill.