Rep. Mike Thompson, our perennial squeaky wheel in the U.S. Congress, has requested $387 million from the federal gubmint for 128 projects including:

• $80 million to restore salmon habitats
• $5 million to widen Hwy. 299 for big semis (do the Richardson Grovies know about this?)
• $5 million for St. Joseph Hospital’s new tower construction
• $3.9 million to modernize Arcata's fire services facility
• $3 million to bring redundant broadband to the county
• $2.9 million to acquire 159 acres of Arcata forest, currently zoned residential
• $1.5 million for Eureka's long-planned Martin Slough Interceptor wastewater project
• $1.2 million for the Hoopa Tribal Police Department
• $350,000 in Homeland Security funds to restore the antique lighthouse lens in Ferndale and build a "museum-quality facility" in which to display it