NWPPA eBulletin | July 24, 2017

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Legislative Announcements

Alaskan Nominated for DOI Post; NWPPA Sends Letter of Support on Energy Bill; House

Committee Approves FY18 Budget Blueprint, Rejects Climate Amendments; House Passes

Energy Bills; and Senate Committee Considers Energy Security. 

   

 

Public Power Industry Announcements

Mason PUD 1 Recognizes Employee Service Milestones; Columbia River PUD Hosts Blood

Drive on August 8; and Hydro One to Acquire Avista to Create Growing North American Utility

Leader with C$31.2 Billion in Enterprise Value. 

   

 

Associate Member Announcements

Novinium Hires Horvat as Director of New Product Development; and Tantalus Named Among

Top 10 Best Smart Grid Solution Providers. 

   

  Upcoming Educational Opportunities  

2017 Event Catalog

Plan now for your fall 2017 training. Check out NWPPA's 2017 class offerings in the 2017

eCatalog. Click on the button below. 

Don't miss these upcoming training events:

Introduction to Roberts Rules of Order

August 8, 2017 in Boise, ID

Hands-on Basic Records Management

August 16–17, 2017 in Newport , OR

HAZWOPER 8-Hour First Responder Awareness and Refresher Training for Utility

Personnel

September 13, 2017 in Lake Tahoe, NV

Electric Utility System Operations

September 13–14 in Spokane, WA

Northwest Communications & Energy Innovations Conference

September 17-20, 2017 in Sacramento, CA

Oregon Engineering Meeting

September 19, 2017, Salem, OR

Leadership Skills #4; HR Basics & Building a More Effective Workplace

September 27–28, 2017 in Anchorage, AK

Disaster Management for Electric Power Systems

October 10–11, 2017, Vancouver, WA

Lineman Skills Series: AC Transformers, Advanced Theory, and Practical Application

October 11–12, 2017, Richland, WA

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Have new employees? Want to learn more about how utilities work?

Subscribe now to Learning on Demand, NWPPA’s new online learning program!

Increase your employees’ knowledge about the business of public power and how to mitigate

violence in the workplace or the field. Return to the learning activities anytime, anywhere, and

as often as you wish.

To get more information about this program and learn how you can subscribe, visit the NWPPA

website.

 

   

 

Industry Calendar of Events

A list of upcoming industry events and meetings.  

   

  RFP's and RFQ's

Utilities: NWPPA offers its utility members the opportunity (at no cost) to post RFPs and RFQs

on our website at no charge. Reach out to NWPPA's almost 4,000 associate member contacts

that supply goods and services to the utility industry and might be interested in responding to

your utility RFP/RFQ. To post your RFP/RFQ, visit our RFP/RFQ page. For more information,

contact Debbie at debbie@nwppa.org or Mark at mark@nwppa.org.

 

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On This Day in History

Bonneville Leads First Wagon Crossing of South Pass; Machu

Picchu Discovered; Saving Private Ryan Opens in Theaters;

and Lance Armstrong Wins Seventh Tour de France.

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Associate Members: Make sure to check out NWPPA's RFP/RFQ Web page to view utility

RFP listings. Listings are posted as they are received by NWPPA.

New RFP posted July 18, 2017!

   

 

Recent Industry Jobs

View the job opportunities posted to NWPPA's website in the past week.  

   

   

   

   

Legislative Announcements

 

Alaskan Nominated for DOI Post

Update provided by Meguire Whitney

On July 19, President Trump nominated Joe Balash to be assistant secretary of the Interior for Land and

Mineral Management. Balash formerly served as the Alaska Natural Resources Committee commissioner and

currently serves as chief of sta� to Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan (R). Balash has had a long career in Interior-

related issues, advising two Alaskan governors on natural resources policy, permitting, and energy, as well as

holding a variety of sta� roles in the Alaska Legislature. In his new role, Balash would head up the Bureau of

Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental

Enforcement, and the O�ce of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.

The Trump administration has been pushing for more oil and gas development in Alaska such as possible

exploration of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The Senate

Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska (R), will hold the con�rmation

hearing for Balash’s nomination before sending it to the full Senate for a vote.

NWPPA Sends Letter of Support on Energy Bill

Update provided by Meguire Whitney

On July 20, NWPPA sent a letter of support to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa

Murkowski (R–Alaska) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D–Wash.) on S. 1460, the Energy and Natural

Resources Act of 2017. The letter thanked their e�orts in crafting a bill that includes many of NWPPA’s

priorities, including recognizing hydropower as a renewable resource, expediting the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission hydropower licensing process, and expediting permitting for utility vegetation

management on federal lands. The bill awaits action in the Senate.

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House Committee Approves FY18 Budget Blueprint, Rejects

Climate Amendments

Update provided by Meguire Whitney

On July 19, the House Budget Committee approved a budget resolution for FY18 by a 22-14 vote. The budget

was accompanied by a policy blueprint entitled “Building A Better America.” The budget sets discretionary

spending at $1.13 trillion overall and calls for more than $200 billion in cuts to �xed programs such as

Medicare and Medicaid. More than 24 Democratic climate amendments to alter spending, tax, and other

policy provisions were rejected on party-line votes.

House Budget Committee Chair Diane Black (R–Tenn.) noted that the FY18 blueprint would act as a

“governing document that outlines how we build a better America.” She added that it’s “a plan that the entire

House Republican conference can support and will form the cornerstone of our legislative agenda,” though

intra-party �ghting may prove otherwise. House Freedom Caucus members say the measure doesn’t go far

enough in cutting spending and that there isn’t enough support to pass the House �oor before August

recess.

House Passes Energy Bills

Update provided by Meguire Whitney

On July 18, the House passed four energy-related bills. Most notably, H.R. 3050, Enhancing State Energy

Security Planning and Emergency Preparedness Act of 2017, sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton (R–Mich.), was

approved by voice vote. It would authorize the appropriation of $90 million per year for �ve states to account

for risks such as fuel supply disruptions, cyber threats, and “cross-sector interdependencies.” Lawmakers are

concerned about a series of high-pro�le hacking incidents that have a�ected the electric industry and are

looking at prevention measures. NWPPA members are actively engaged in e�orts to protect the electric grid

from cyber and physical attacks, and ensure a reliable and safe electrical system. NWPPA supported

enactment of information-sharing legislation in 2015, which facilitates interactions such as the above.

Regarding hydropower, H.R. 2786 by Rep. Richard Hudson (R–N.C.) was approved by a vote of 420-2. Similar

to a bill by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (R–Wash.) that provides regulatory relief to facilitate development of

small hydropower projects, this bill promotes development of small conduit hydropower facilities by

requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to make a determination on whether a facility

meets criteria within 30 days of a notice of intent to construct. NWPPA supports e�orts by Congress to

modernize hydropower licensing by passing legislation that requires the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission to recognize early investments made by a licensee when setting a new license term.

Additionally, H.R. 2828, sponsored by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R–Wash.), was approved by voice vote. This bill

extends the deadline for constructing an extension of a hydroelectric project in Washington state. The

project intends to provide the Paci�c Northwest with clean, renewable energy and promote development of

hydropower by electrifying the existing Enloe Dam. The Enloe Dam Hydroelectric Project will have a smaller

footprint than the decommissioned Enloe Dam but will provide around three times the generating

capacity. NWPPA supports Congress recognizing all hydropower – not just new, small, or incremental

hydropower – as a renewable, emission‑free base load resource.

Finally, H.R 806, the Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017, sponsored by Rep. Pete Olson (R–Texas),

was approved under regular order by a vote of 229-199. This bill gives the Environmental Protection Agency

an extra eight years to determine which areas of the country do not meet the 70-parts-per-billion ozone

standards set in 2015 by the Obama Administration. Six amendments o�ered by Democrats were rejected

during �oor debate.

House Holds First Hearing in Powering America Series

Update provided by Meguire Whitney

On July 18, The House Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing entitled, “Powering America: Examining the

State of Electric Industry through Market Participant Perspectives.” The Powering America series is meant to

give members the ability to understand electricity markets while learning more about electricity generation,

distribution, and consumption, and the grid’s overall resiliency. Chairman Fred Upton (R–Mich.) initiated the

hearing by noting the signi�cant transformation the electric sector is currently facing, which has a�ected the

overall con�guration of the country’s electric generation mix and the industry’s approach to grid reliability.

Rep. Greg Walden (R–Ore.) expressed that consumers expect a�ordable and reliable electricity regardless of

its origin, but doing so is becoming more complex. He further encouraged the panel of seven witnesses to

help come up with a way to achieve state priorities while maintaining wholesale prices. NextEra Energy’s

Joseph Kelliher argued that the closure of baseload coal and nuclear plants was due to policies favoring

renewables, weakening reliability. Conversely, Tamara Linde of the Public Service Enterprise Group noted

that diversifying the nation’s electric generation sources was key in preserving its resiliency and reliability.

The second hearing of the Powering America series will take place next week with witnesses from RTOs and

ISO New England.

NWPPA supports the federal government’s continued role in stimulating grid modernization technology

development by supporting research, development, and grants for pilots and implementations of various

grid modernization technologies.

Senate Committee Considers Energy Security

Update provided by Meguire Whitney

On July 18, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing to examine the outlook for

U.S. and North American energy resource security. Witnesses addressed the rapid development of the U.S.

shale gas industry, the lifting of the ban on crude oil exporting, and the global “energy dominance” of the

United States.

In relation to cybersecurity, Stephen Cheney, CEO from the American Security Project and a retired brigadier

general from the U.S. Marine Corps, said that the U.S. could not counter emerging threats if Congress

approves of spending cuts to research proposed by the Trump administration. He expressed concern about

the cost for utilities to conduct their own cybersecurity R&D and recommended that DHS handle information

sharing and consultation for securing networks at private utilities. He also said that DOD should provide

“boots on the ground” in the event of a blackout or cyber incident that threatens civilian safety. NWPPA

members are actively engaged in e�orts to protect the electric grid from cyber and physical attacks, and

ensure a reliable and safe electrical system.

Senators asked the panel about the growing diversi�cation of the country’s energy mix. Cheney

recommended Congress promote the rapid proliferation of renewables, and Mark Mills, senior fellow from

the Manhattan Institute, encouraged the committee to support policies that promote renewables while not

undermining oil and gas in sectors where there are not a�ordable or reliable alternatives.

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Public Power Announcements

Employees recognized in 2017 include:

(L-R) Water Technician Marty Crossan (10

years), Lineman Tim Brown (15 years),

Credit and Collections Specialist Julie

Gray (30 years), General Manager Steve

Taylor (10 years), Lead Water System

Operator TJ Goos (10 years), Water

Engineering Technician Brandy Milroy (10

years) with her son Kyler Jimenez,

Commissioner Ron Gold (15 years), and

Customer Service Representative Teresa

Hummer (15 years). Not pictured:

Lineman Mike Rose (20 years).

 

Mason PUD 1 Recognizes Employee Service Milestones

At Mason PUD 1’s (Shelton, Wash.) all-employee meeting on

July 14, nine employees were recognized for achieving service

milestones with the District.

“I appreciate the work you all do every day to serve our

customers and help each other be the best utility we can be,”

said General Manager Steven Taylor, before he and Board

President Jack Janda recognized each employee individually.

Janda also thanked the employees on behalf of the board for

their service to the ratepayers.

 

Columbia River PUD Hosts Blood

Drive on August 8

Columbia River PUD will host an American Red Cross Blood

Drive on Tuesday, August 8, 2017, from 1 to 6 p.m. The drive

will be in the Community Room at the PUD’s o�ce in Deer

Island, Ore.

You can schedule your appointment at

www.redcrossblood.org using sponsor code SaintHelens. You

may also call (800) RED-CROSS to make an appointment.

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Donating blood is one of the simplest things someone can do to help save a life. It takes an hour to give

blood. That hour could make a whole community thankful for a loved one gaining another birthday.

Volunteer blood donors are the primary source of blood used for transfusions. These transfusions regularly

go to those with cancer or other diseases. They also help premature babies, organ transplant recipients, and

accident or trauma victims.

Hydro One to Acquire Avista to Create Growing North

American Utility Leader with C$31.2 Billion in Enterprise

Value

Update provided by Marketwired (07/19/2017)

Hydro One Limited (“Hydro One”) (TSX:H) and Avista Corporation (“Avista”) (NYSE:AVA) today jointly

announced a de�nitive merger agreement (“Agreement”) under which Hydro One will acquire Avista for C$67

(US$53) per share in a C$6.7 billion (US$5.3 billion) all-cash transaction. Together, Hydro One and Avista will

create a North American leader in regulated electricity and natural gas business with over C$32.2 billion

(US$25.4 billion) in combined assets. The transaction brings together two industry-leading regulated utilities

with over 230 years of collective operational experience as well as shared corporate cultures and values. The

combined entity will safely and reliably serve more than two million retail and industrial customers and hold

assets throughout North America including Ontario, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.

“This marks a proud moment for Canadian champions as we grow our business into a North American

leader,” said Mayo Schmidt, President and CEO, Hydro One Limited. “This transaction demonstrates the

power and value of the transition into an investor-owned utility, by allowing for healthy expansion into new

lines of regulated utility business and new jurisdictions, such as the U.S. Paci�c Northwest which is

experiencing customer and economic growth.”

“With a focus on operational excellence and building our earnings streams, we are positioned for long-term,

sustainable growth,” said Schmidt. “We are further accomplishing this goal by bringing together two

companies with shared cultures and industry expertise to create a North American regulated utility leader.

This combination means greater scale, diversity and �nancial �exibility.”

Hydro One has a uniquely strong track record consolidating electricity utilities. Since the IPO, Hydro One has

also delivered on cost savings and e�ciencies for shareholders and customers. Through the company’s

energy conservation programs, Hydro One has helped customers and municipalities save 700 GWh year-to-

date.

Associate Member Announcements

   

Novinium Awarded Golden Shovel Standard

Novinium®, a supplier of underground electrical cable rejuvenation products to electric utilities including a

new product to prevent manhole events, is pleased to announce it has been awarded the Gold Shovel

Standard (GSS) for improving public safety and the integrity of vital buried infrastructure. GSS, a non-pro�t

organization, believes that greater transparency in all aspects of damage prevention among buried-asset

operators, locators, and contractors is essential to drive continuous improvement and vital to ensure

increasingly safe working conditions and communities. GSS is an ambitious e�ort driven by industry leaders,

including contractors and locators, to create fair and transparent metrics for damage prevention similar to

other safety metrics (LTIR, EMR, TRIR, DART, etc.). Novinium was awarded the GSS standard as its

technologies re�ect industry best practices being used to rejuvenate electrical cable vital for electrical utility

infrastructure. Novinium’s technology allows damaged electrical cable to be repaired and rejuvenated

without excavation. According to GSS, excavation work damages an underground utility line every six

minutes in the US.

“We are very pleased to have been awarded the Golden Shovel Standard as we are committed to

being a part of the safety and well-being of America’s electrical infrastructure,” said Glen Bertini, CEO

of Novinium.

Novinium’s patented injection process rejuvenates and extends the reliable life of cable up to 40 years.

Further information is available at www.novinium.com.

Black & Veatch-Designed Microgrid to Power Innovation at

Shell Technology Center

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Black & Veatch, a leader in the design and deployment of clean energy-producing microgrids, has been

selected by Shell International Exploration & Production Company, Inc. to perform engineering,

procurement, and construction (EPC) on a new microgrid system at Shell’s Technology Center in Houston.

The microgrid will incorporate solar photovoltaic and a natural-gas-fueled reciprocating engine as well as

advanced battery storage technology and other elements to create a sustainable, resilient, and �exible

microgrid system. The microgrid is designed to accommodate future additional resources, and includes Black

& Veatch’s ASSET360® data analytics platform. The ASSET360® platform will provide actionable insights

about the microgrid’s performance and allow Shell operators to optimize operation based on energy

demand, solar production, and other conditions.

The microgrid will be a platform for collaborative research undertaken by Shell and Black & Veatch to

develop and deploy the next generation of clean and resilient energy technologies. The project will be used

to test a spectrum of microgrid use cases with the objective of understanding technical solutions to di�cult

distributed energy use cases and to develop better distributed energy solutions for future application.

Microgrids are integrated systems of multiple power generation sources and electric loads. When operated

under a consolidated control with a sustainable energy management system, microgrids can produce and

distribute electricity and operate independently from the larger power grid or provide reliable service to

remote areas.

“The Shell microgrid will provide an excellent platform for demonstrating and developing resilient and

sustainable power generation systems,” said Dustin Rogge, Black & Veatch’s project manager. “We are

excited about the opportunity to build a great microgrid while collaborating on innovative research

that will build the foundation for better distributed energy solutions. This microgrid will feature Black

& Veatch’s data analytics and visualization platform, ASSET360®. The ASSET360® Microgrid, Issues

Management, and Performance Monitoring Applications will provide Shell with industry-leading

performance monitoring, warranty issue support, distributed energy resource management, and

research data visualization.”

Black & Veatch is an employee-owned, global leader in building critical human infrastructure in energy,

water, telecommunications, and government services. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the

lives of people in over 100 countries through consulting, engineering, construction, operations, and program

management. Follow us on www.bv.com and social media.

 

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Calendar of Events

2017 Upcoming Industry Meetings

Send your 2017 meeting dates and locations to Debbie at Debbie@nwppa.org.

August 2017

2 – PPC Members Forums, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR – 3-5 p.m.

3 – PPC Executive Committee Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR – 8 a.m.-Noon

14-16 – EnergySec Security and Compliance Summit, Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, CA

September 2017

6 – PPC Members Forums, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR – 3-5 p.m.

7 – PPC Executive Committee Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR – 8 a.m.-Noon

12 – WRECA Directors Meeting, Bellingham, WA

12-15 – Alaska Power Association (APA) Annual Meeting, Kodiak Convention Center, Kodiak, AK

13-15 – NWPPA Board of Trustees Meeting, Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT

17-20 – Northwest Communications & Energy Innovations Conference (NIC), Embassy Suites

Sacramento Riverfront Promenade, Sacramento, CA

27-29 – NCPA Annual Conference, Silverado Hotel, Napa Valley, CA

28 – Nevada Rural Electric Association (NREA) Annual Meeting, Sunset Station, Henderson, NV

October 2017

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2-5 – MECA Annual Meeting, The Best Western Heritage Inn, Great Falls, MT

4 – PPC Members Forums, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR – 3-5 p.m.

5 – PPC Executive Committee Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR – 8 a.m.-Noon

11 – Golden State Power Cooperative Annual Meeting, Reno, NV

16-18 – NRECA Region IX & VII Annual Meeting, Sheraton Denver Downtown, Denver, CO

19-20 – OMEU Annual Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR

November 2017

1 – PPC Members Forums, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR – 3-5 p.m.

2 – PPC Executive Committee Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR – 8 a.m.-Noon

3 – PNUCC Annual Meeting, Airport Sheraton Hotel, Portland, Ore.

15-16 – NWPPA/APA Alaska Electric Utility Conference, Egan Civic & Convention Center/Hilton Hotel,

Anchorage, AK

29-30 – ORECA Annual Meeting, Salem Conference Center, Salem, OR

29-Dec. 1 – WPUDA Annual Meeting, Davenport Grand Hotel, Spokane, WA

December 2017

7 – PPC Annual Meeting & Lunch, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR – 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

12 – WRECA Directors Meeting, Spokane, WA

 

 

 

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Jobs

Recent job openings within the industry in the last week:

0057 – Regional Design Leader – Idaho Power

Assistant V- Permit Coordinator (R17-347) – Portland General Electric

Customer Service Supervisor – Meter Reading and C&D – Eugene Water & Electric Board

Engineering Manager/Project Manager – City of Tacoma

Financial Analyst II or III – Benton PUD

Journeyman Electrician – City of Ketchikan

Journeyman Lineman – Peninsula Light Company

Journeyman Tree Trimmer – City of Forest Grove

Meter Relay Technician/Apprentice – Central Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Personnel O�cer – City of Seward

Power Generation Technician – Terror Lake Hydroelectric Facility – Kodiak Electric Association, Inc.

Power Plant Shift Operator – U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers

Safety Coordinator – Consumers Power, Inc.

Spec II/III, Materials (R17-345) – Portland General Electric

Specialist II/III SDC – Portland General Electric

Workforce Management Specialist – Focus on Construction Operations – NW Natural

 

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This Day In History

 

Bonneville Leads First Wagon Crossing of South Pass

July 24, 1832

Benjamin Bonneville, an inept fur trader who some speculate may have actually been a spy, leads the �rst

wagon train to cross the Rocky Mountains at Wyoming’s South Pass.

The motivations for Bonneville’s western expeditions have always remained somewhat mysterious. A native

of France, Bonneville came to the United States in 1803 at the age of seven. He later graduated from West

Point, and he served at frontier posts in Arkansas, Texas, and Indian Territory. According to one view,

Bonneville simply observed the rapid growth of the western fur trade at these posts and conceived a bold

plan to mount his own fur trading expedition. However, others suggest Bonneville’s true goal for the

expedition may have been to serve as a Far Western spy for the U.S. government.

The circumstances of Bonneville’s entry into the fur business were indeed somewhat odd. Despite his

complete lack of experience as a mountain man, a group of Manhattan businessmen agreed to back his

expedition with ample funds. It was also strange that a career military man should ask for, and quickly

receive, a two-year leave of absence from the army to pursue a strictly commercial adventure.

Bonneville began his expedition in May 1832, and that summer he and his men built an imposing trading

post along Wyoming’s Green River. Bonneville proved to be an incompetent fur trader, yet he seemed

unconcerned about making a pro�t. By contrast, he seemed very interested in exploring the vast territory.

Shortly after arriving in Wyoming, he mounted an expedition to the Columbia River country of Oregon,

although he was well aware that the powerful British-owned Hudson’s Bay Company dominated the region.

On this day in 1832, Bonneville led 110 men and 20 wagons across South Pass, the �rst-ever wagon crossing

of that critical route connecting the existing United States to the northwest region of the continent. During

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the next two decades, thousands of American settlers would take their wagons across South Pass as they

followed the Oregon Trail.

In 1835, Bonneville returned to Washington, where President Andrew Jackson personally oversaw his

reinstatement as a captain in the army. Some historians speculate that Bonneville might have actually been a

spy for a U.S. government, which was eager to collect information on the British strength in the Northwest.

No historical records have ever been found to substantiate this speculation, though, and it is possible that

Bonneville was simply an inept fur trader whose dreams exceeded his grasp. 

Machu Picchu Discovered

July 24, 1911

On July 24, 1911, American archeologist Hiram Bingham gets his �rst look at Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca

settlement in Peru that is now one of the world’s top tourist destinations.

Tucked away in the rocky countryside northwest of Cuzco, Machu Picchu is believed to have been a summer

retreat for Inca leaders, whose civilization was virtually wiped out by Spanish invaders in the 16th century.

For hundreds of years afterwards, its existence was a secret known only to the peasants living in the region.

That all changed in the summer of 1911, when Bingham arrived with a small team of explorers to search for

the famous “lost” cities of the Incas.

Traveling on foot and by mule, Bingham and his team made their way from Cuzco into the Urubamba Valley,

where a local farmer told them of some ruins located at the top of a nearby mountain. The farmer called the

mountain Machu Picchu, which meant “Old Peak” in the native Quechua language. The next day–July 24–after

a tough climb to the mountain’s ridge in cold and drizzly weather, Bingham met a small group of peasants

who showed him the rest of the way. Led by an 11-year-old boy, Bingham got his �rst glimpse of the intricate

network of stone terraces marking the entrance to Machu Picchu.

The excited Bingham spread the word about his discovery in a best-selling book, sending hordes of eager

tourists �ocking to Peru to follow in his footsteps up the Inca trail. The site itself stretches an impressive �ve

miles, with over 3,000 stone steps linking its many di�erent levels. Today, more than 300,000 people tramp

through Machu Picchu every year, braving crowds and landslides to see the sun set over the towering stone

monuments of the “Sacred City” and marvel at the mysterious splendor of one of the world’s most famous

man-made wonders.

Saving Private Ryan Opens in Theaters

July 24, 1998

On this day in 1998, the director Steven Spielberg’s World War II epic, Saving Private Ryan, is released in

theaters across the United States. The �lm, which starred Tom Hanks and Matt Damon, was praised for its

authentic portrayal of war and was nominated for 11 Academy Awards. It took home �ve Oscars, for Best

Director, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Film Editing and Best Sound E�ects Editing.

The �lm’s lengthy opening scene was a bloody re-enactment of American troops landing at Omaha Beach in

Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. Following this violent D-Day scene, Saving Private Ryan centered around

the �ctional story of Captain John Miller (Hanks), and his band of seven rangers, who are sent on a mission to

rescue Private James Francis Ryan (Damon), a paratrooper missing somewhere behind enemy lines. Ryan’s

three older brothers have recently been killed in action, so military o�cials order Miller to �nd the young

soldier and prevent a public-relations disaster. As the men make their way across the battle-scarred French

countryside they su�er several casualties before eventually locating Ryan in a bombed-out village, where he

is helping to defend a strategically important bridge from the Germans. Ryan refuses to leave his comrades,

even after Miller gave him the news of his siblings’ deaths. Miller reluctantly agrees that he and his squad will

stay to defend the area. When the Nazis attacked, the captain and many of his men are killed, but Ryan

survives.

Private Ryan was a �ctional character, but there was a historical basis to his story. Following the deaths of the

�ve Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, on the USS Juneau in November 1942, the U.S. War Department

established the Sole Survivor Policy to protect remaining family members from combat duty. Saving Private

Ryan was partially inspired by the real-life story of the Niland brothers. During World War II, Sergeant

Frederick “Fritz” Niland, a member of the 101st Airborne, was accidentally dropped behind enemy lines. He

eventually made it back to his unit, where he was informed that two of his brothers had died at Normandy

and the third had gone missing in Burma. Niland was sent home to Tonawanda, New York. His family’s

tragedy had a somewhat happier ending, however, when the brother who was believed to have died in the

Far East was liberated from a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp.

Lance Armstrong Wins Seventh Tour de France

July 24, 2005

On this day in 2005, American cyclist Lance Armstrong wins a record-setting seventh consecutive Tour de

France and retires from the sport. After Armstrong survived testicular cancer, his rise to cycling greatness

inspired cancer patients and fans around the world and signi�cantly boosted his sport’s popularity in the

United States. However, in 2012, in a dramatic fall from grace, the onetime global cycling icon was stripped of

his seven Tour titles after being charged with the systematic use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Born on September 18, 1971, in Plano, Texas, Armstrong started his sports career as a triathlete, competing

professionally by the time he was 16. Biking proved to be his strongest event, and at age 17 he was invited to

train with the U.S. Olympic cycling developmental team in Colorado. He won the U.S. amateur cycling

championship two years later, in 1991, then �nished 14th in the road race competition at the 1992 Olympics

in Barcelona, Spain. He turned pro later that year but �nished last in the Classico San Sebastian, his �rst race

as a professional. In 1993 he bounced back to win 10 titles, including his �rst major race, the World Road

Championships. That same year, he also competed in his �rst Tour de France, the grueling three-week race

that attracts the world’s top cyclists, and won the eighth stage. In 1995 he again won a stage of the Tour de

France, as well as the Tour DuPont, a major U.S. cycling event.

Armstrong began 1996 as the number-one-ranked cyclist in the world, but he chose not to race the Tour de

France and performed poorly at that year’s Olympics. After experiencing intense pain during a training ride,

he was diagnosed in October 1996 with Stage 3 testicular cancer, which had spread to his lungs and brain. He

underwent surgery and chemotherapy, then began training again in early 1997. Later that year, he signed

with the U.S. Postal Service team. After he quit in the middle of one of his �rst races back, many thought his

career was over. However, after taking some time o� from competition, Armstrong came back to �nish in the

top �ve at both the Tour of Spain and the World Championships in 1998.

In 1999, to the amazement of the cycling community, Armstrong won his �rst-ever Tour de France and went

on to win the race for the next six consecutive years. In addition to his seven overall wins (a record for both

total and consecutive wins), he won 22 individual stages and 11 individual time trials, and led his team to

victories in three team time trials between 1999 and 2005. After retiring in 2005, Armstrong made a

comeback to pro cycling in 2009, �nishing third in that year’s Tour and 23rd in the 2010 Tour. He retired for

good from the sport in 2011 at age 39.

Over the years, Armstrong’s intense training regimen and his famed dominance in the di�cult and

treacherous mountain stages of the Tour de France inspired awe among both fans and opponents. His

cycling cadence, which averaged 95 to 100 rotations per minute (rpm) but reached as high as 120 rpm, was

considered remarkable, particularly during climbs. In addition to being an exceptionally talented climber,

Armstrong performed extremely well in time trials.

Throughout his career, Armstrong, like many other top cyclists of his era, was dogged by accusations of

performance-boosting drug use, but he repeatedly and vigorously denied all allegations against him and

claimed to have passed hundreds of drug tests. In June 2012 the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), following

a two-year investigation, charged the cycling superstar with engaging in doping violations from at least

August 1998, and with participating in a conspiracy to cover up his misconduct. After losing a federal appeal

to have the USADA charges against him dropped, Armstrong, while continuing to maintain he had done

nothing wrong, announced on August 23 that he would stop �ghting the charges. The next day, USADA

banned Armstrong for life from competitive cycling and disquali�ed all his competitive results from August 1,

1998, through the present.

On October 10, 2012, USADA released hundreds of pages of evidence, including sworn testimony from 11 of

Armstrong’s former teammates, that the agency said demonstrated Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service

team had been involved in the most sophisticated and successful doping program in the history of cycling. A

week after the USADA report was made public, Armstrong stepped down as chairman of his Livestrong

cancer awareness foundation, and also was �red from many of his endorsement deals. On October 22,

Union Cycliste Internationale, the cycling’s world governing body, announced that it accepted the �ndings of

the USADA investigation and o�cially was erasing Armstrong’s name from the Tour de France record books

and upholding his lifetime ban from the sport.

After years of denials, Armstrong �nally admitted publicly, in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey that

aired on January 17, 2013, he had doped for much of his cycling career, beginning in the mid-1990s through

his �nal Tour de France victory in 2005. He admitted to using a performance-enhancing drug regimen that

included testosterone, human growth hormone, the blood booster EPO and cortisone.

 

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