Herald staff
EVERETT — How the departure of Bonneville Power Administration chief Judi Johansen will affect the Snohomish County PUD remains to be seen, officials said upon hearing of her Thursday resignation.
Johansen, who since June 1998 has headed the federal hydroelectric power agency, is leaving for private business.
"It depends on who the administration appoints — and who the new president is," said John White, PUD assistant general manager.
A BPA spokesman said it is "highly unlikely," given the timing and the situation with the election, that the Clinton administration would appoint Johansen’s replacement.
Friday prices: Gold sold for $264.85 a troy ounce, silver sold for $4.74 and platinum sold for $592.60.
New virus: Computers in at least 10 Fortune 500 companies have been infected recently by an annoying but only mildly dangerous Christmas-theme virus that security experts call "Navidad." The virus, which affects computers using Microsoft’s Windows operating system, arrives as a reply when a user sends an e-mail to an infected computer. The attachment, called "NAVIDAD.EXE," is mainly in Spanish. Security experts always warn against opening attachments unless the user knows what it is. When opened, this one can stop most programs from being run.
Airbus also honored: The proposed Airbus A3XX superjumbo airliner has been named one of the 100 best new technology ideas in the past year by Popular Science magazine. As noted in this column Friday, Boeing’s 777-200 Longer-Range jet also was on the list. Airbus has not actually started production of the A3XX.