Ross Anderson

Ross Anderson is a founding member of the Rainshadow Journal collective. He retired to Port Townsend after 30 years of journalism at the Seattle Times.

(Not) Just for the Halibut: The Economics of a Popular Fish

This is a supply-and-demand issue, but it’s also a case study of the complexities of managing a valuable public resource.

Paper, Plastic or Cloth? What’s Best for the Environment?

Some years ago, I spent a couple of days calling the experts, asking which is the Path to Virtue? Paper or plastic?

Critical Mass

Our brains work differently. Scientists are specialists who know a lot about a few things. Journalists are generalists who know a little about a lot of things.

A Northwest Night Before Christmas

The crab pots were hung and the crabbers reposed Since Dungeness season was finally closed. The children were snuggled as if in a coma Induced perhaps by the pulp mill’s aroma.

Puget Sound This Weekend: King Tides and Climate Change

The sound will bulge to more than 1,000 square miles. Beaches will all but disappear. Waves on Elliott Bay may slosh onto piers and ferry ramps will flatten.

Write Stuff: Typing in Port Townsend

“Writers still love them. Typewriters open a part of the brain that computers don’t.  It’s tactile, linear thinking."

There’s Blue in Them There Provinces

Whether they’ve retreated to Port Townsend or the San Juans, the mostly affluent retirees on both sides of the Strait cling to their liberal, urban sensibilities. And they vote accordingly.

Escape Pods: The Rise of the Homeowners Associations

Homeowners associations are quietly, steadily taking over local governance – especially in the suburbs.

#3. Puget Sound Crab Populations are Flourishing

Why are crab prospering while salmon aren’t? No one knows for sure.

A Fascinating Explosion of Puget Sound Plankton So Big It was Seen from Space

“Puget Sound is to plankton what Florida is to oranges, what Iowa is to corn, and what the Cascades are to Douglas fir.”

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