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Lehman bankruptcy will not affect Cape Wind; Dead whale on Plymouth beach; Kennedy host Chile's Prexy here

Cape Wind: Lehman bankruptcy should have no impact on windmill project
Says Wall Street turmoil will be over by the time it seeks financing

Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rodgers said the team that was tapped to line up financing for Cape Wind is among the more than 10,000 Lehman employees who joined Barclays Capital on Monday

A spokesman for developer Cape Wind Associates LLC said the bankruptcy of Lehman Bros. should have no significant impact on the firm's proposed 130-turbine project for Nantucket Sound.

Cape Wind originally hired Lehman Bros. to line up financing for the project in 2005. But Lehman filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week after the collapse of its debt investments. A subsidiary of Barclays, the British banking conglomerate, acquired much of the Lehman business out of bankruptcy on Monday.

Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rodgers said the team that was tapped to line up financing for Cape Wind is among the more than 10,000 Lehman employees who joined Barclays Capital on Monday.

Rodgers said the shakeup at Lehman will not affect the Cape Wind project because the Boston-based developer doesn't plan to seek outside investors or lenders until next year, after the company lines up all its federal and state permits. So far, the predevelopment costs for the $1 billion-plus project have been funded internally, Rodgers said...

Rodgers said he expects that by the end of this year, the permitting process for the project will be complete, or nearly complete. The project still needs a final approval from the federal Minerals Management Service as well as a ruling from the state Energy Facilities Siting Board... Daily News Tribune.
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Dead Whale Washes Up On Plymouth Beach
25 foot Humpback was seen floating on bay last week

Officials are working to dispose of the whale. They plan to save the whale's skeleton for the state. See WCVB video.

A dead whale has washed up on a Plymouth beach and now researchers are preparing to take it away. The young humpback whale is about 25 feet long.

"It floated in around 6:30 a.m. We were having coffee, and we didn't know what it was. It just floated in. It is pretty amazing," witness Bill Driscoll said.

"I've never seen anything beached here before," another witness said.

Tony LaCasse of the New England Aquarium told WBZ it had been dead for awhile and had been floating in Cape Cod Bay last week.

It washed ashore on Manomet Beach Tuesday morning. There is no indication it had been tangled or struck by a boat. It's not clear yet what killed it... WCVB.
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Sen. Kennedy to talk politics after getting award
Will host Chile's President at Hyannis Compound

Sen. Edward Kennedy, who is continuing to improve after brain cancer surgery, planned to host Chile's president today at his Cape Cod home, where he was to receive an award and address pending congressional matters.

Kennedy is rich, but Kerry is richer
   Roll Call newspaper has issued its annual list of the "50 Richest Members of Congress" - and despite the oft-held view that Republicans are the only fatcats, there are actually more Democrats in the top 10 than Republicans.
   Democratic Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., heads the list with nearly a quarter of a billion dollars, and Sen. Ted Kennedy, for example, reports a worth of less than $48 million on his disclosure form, while his trusts have reportedly been valued at over $500 million.

The Massachusetts Democrat planned to speak about Wall Street turmoil and pending bailout legislation. He also wanted to discuss negotiations on a so-called mental health parity bill that would equalize insurance coverage for those with mental as well as physical ailments, according to a statement from his office.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet planned to present Kennedy with the Order to the Merit of Chile - her country's highest civilian award - during a visit to Kennedy's family compound in Hyannis Port, see photo on right.

The senator has been linked to Chile since a 1973 coup against democratically elected president Salvador Allende. He also led congressional efforts to cut off military aid to the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet... Herald.
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Whale's death remains mystery

Marine scientists will likely not be able to determine the cause of death of a 27-feet-long juvenile Humpback whale that washed ashore yesterday in Plymouth...

The Cape Cod Stranding Network initially spotted the humpback and took biological samples for testing Thursday, she said.  At the time, there was no evidence that human interaction caused the whale's death, Sardi said.

Sardi said by the time the mammal washed ashore yesterday it was too decomposed to do a necropsy, or animal autopsy.  ‘'Now, it's somewhat of a deflated mess," she said. "There's no way to say thoroughly why it died."

The whale drew crowds yesterday, but the stench forced many onlookers, including children, to hold their noses and turn away... Herald.