Free Republic

CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. - In his way, C404 is kind of cute, with those sea-lion whiskers, soft brown eyes and furry little head. But to many he is a sea lion either from hell _ or from Harvard. C404 has driven the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Bonneville Dam to near distraction as he and his ilk sit at the base and munch salmon gathered to continue upriver to spawn. Numerous sea lions head for the dam each spring, but C404 is in a class by himself. He has figured out how to get into fish ladders that help...

CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. - For 12,000 years or more, Columbia River tribes gathered along the banks near here to do business with distant tribes. Now they want to come back - not to cut deals in fish and baskets, as their ancestors did, but to deal blackjack and poker. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs want to close a small casino on their reservation in remote central Oregon and build one on nontribal land in this town on the banks of the Columbia, much closer to Portland, the state's largest city, and the thousands of gamblers a casino would attract....