The river, meanwhile, has no comment

The river, meanwhile, has no comment: "The river, meanwhile, has no comment
Sunday, January 15, 2006

U p against the floating walkway on the Vera Katz East Bank Esplanade, Floyd Hendren pushes his gaff into the log the current has pressed against the front of his tugboat, Fury. It doesn't budge.

His brother Lee steps out the door of the wheelhouse and looks along the side of the tug. The brothers' 14-month-old black lab, Shorty, looks out too.

The tug and its accompanying boom boat have been tied up for 15 minutes and a dense mat of wood debris and garbage has piled up under and around them. Lee shouts a few words to Floyd, then backs the tug's stern away from the walkway. The released debris rushes out, continuing downstream.

The river is high and fast, but 'pretty calm,' Lee says. Floyd says the logs collecting at the entrance to the Newport Bay restaurant upriver are bigger than usual."