Nobody Was Ever Executed on Execution Rocks

A tugboat pulling an oil barge smacked into Execution Rocks in the middle of the month (I read aboout it here; it's odd that it didn't get more news coverage) and the myth of how Execution Rocks got its name was perpetuated. From the news story:

It’s rumored that the rocks and lighthouse were named for a brutal Colonial-era custom.

“If you did something wrong, the British authorities would tie you out on the rocks and the tide would come up and drown you,” said Jim Lynch of the City Island Yacht Club.

But another fellow quoted in the story hinted at the truth:

A 150-year old lighthouse presides over the rocks where the barge ran aground. At low tide, the rocks jut 300 yards east of the lighthouse and are well marked.

“There’s a reason why those rocks are called Execution Rocks,” said Bill Stanton, City Island Civic Association president.

They're called Execution Rocks because they took down so many boats. Even though i's a better story, nobody was ever executed by being chained to them and left to drown in the incoming tide.

Westchester Hopes It Has Delayed Its Way Into the Federal Stimulus Package

For years Westchester County delayed the nitrogen removal that it is obligated to do at its Long Island Sound sewage plants because the cost was greater than anticipated and the county didn't know where it would get the money. Now the hope is that they've managed to combine the right amount of delay with the right amount of planning so that they're eligible for economic stimulus money from the Obama administration.

Life isn't always fair, but I approve of the idea anyway.

The Times Creates an Enviro Reporting Team

I first saw the news on Andy Revkin's Facebook page this morning and then (via Romanesko's journalism blog) noticed that the Columbia Journalism Review has a story about it: The New York Times has formed a special eight-person team to cover the environment (Andy, their global warming specialist, is part of the team).

They'll have bigger fish to fry, obviously, than Long Island Sound, but maybe the Times's decision will encourage papers in Connecticut and New York to restore their environmental reporting positions (stop laughing).

Dead Dolphin in Rye Today?

This interested me: an anonymous comment to this post came in during the Giants game:

Found a dead dolphin on the beach in Rye, NY today. It was small, not more than 4 feet long. Other than missing one eye, it hadn't decomposeed. I'm trying to figure out what kind it was.

Be nice to know more.