An article form the Economist: The new waterway is part of the biggest water-diversion scheme in the world: the second arm of what is known as the South-North Water Diversion Project. This is designed to solve an age-old imbalance. The north of China has only a fifth of the country’s naturally available fresh water but two-thirds of the farmland. The article goes into detail about the gross mismanagement of China’s water supply for industrial and agricultural uses, and how this canal is not really going to do much for the country as a whole, especially long-term. All you care about is that it won’t be skateable after October 31st, because that’s when the water starts flowing. – Thanks to Gene Sato for the tip.

You’re looking at a new Evergreen Skateparks skate spot that is included the brand new Khunamokwst Park being built in the Cully neighborhood of NE Portland. What is a Khunamokwst? It’s a Chniook wawa word that means “together.” It’s actually the first park in Portland’s system that has an indigenous name, and has a fairly routine pronunciation. The larger park is scheduled to open in Spring of 2015, and although the skate spot should be completed much sooner, it seems unlikely that the fences will come down to allow skating before the whole park is finished.

When this came up for auction I made myself stop following it because I was trying to save money and my basement is already filled with all kinds of bullshit. Now I’m kicking myself because it sold for only $40, although I think shipping was something like $20 if I recall correctly. Still, for the money, this is the kind of bulshit I should have added to my collection. On the surface, the board is nothing special, but on closer inspection the truck and wheel combination is pretty interesting. It’s got 60’s style Chicago Trucks with the sheet metal baseplate, and yet it has 70’s era urethane wheels. Then there’s that awesome color sticker with a hotdog skateboard that says “Frankly the Best.” The icing on the cake is the 2 color screen printed graphic on the box. They were really giving this thing the hard sell. – Thanks to David Maes for the tip.

I’ve been remiss in posting this on S&A, as it is about a week old by now, but it has been reported that Mike Weed passed away. I’ve read it was after a battle with lymphoma. There appears to be no official announcement online, and Weed’s official web site has not been updated at this time. You can read a 2009 interview with Mike in Juice Magazine #66.

I completely spaced on posting the release party for Pure Fun #11 that featured none other than the Johnny Rad. So you’ve all missed the release party but you can still grab a copy of Pure Fun. The latest issue is 36 professionally printed and saddle stitched pages of photos, interviews, reviews and articles, including Awake Zine, Tod Swank, Johnny Rad, and Mike Vallely. 3 lucky people out of the first 100 orders will receive a free bonus copy of Bonus Brigade from Powell Peralta. I don’t even know what Bonus Brigade is… (Now I do. It’s a 175 minutes of footage and extras not used in the Bones Brigade documentary. Interesting…) Get yours here. P.S. Publishing your own zine? Don’t forget to get yours listed on SkateZines.com.

Craig Snyder has been working on this book for 7 years, and it seems to be growing. As of now it clocks in at around 850 pages and more than 1000 images. If funded successfully (by Kickstarter) it should be published in November of 2014. Incredibly, this is only volume one, focussing on the 70’s. If successful, volume 20 will cover the 80’s and beyond. In case you’re wondering about the authenticity, there are some big names behind the incentives, including face to face time with Paul Schmitt, Mike McGill, and some guy named Alan “Ollie” Gelfand that you might have heard of… Check out olliebook.com for more info, or you can watch the Kickstarter video (features skateboarding but ironically no ollies) after the jump.

Evergreen Skateparks is working on a park in Browning, Montana on the Blackfeet reservation. The project is being sponsored by Jeff Ament. The park (Big o capsule replica included) is on track to be finished in mid to late October. Meanwhile, Evergreen is breaking ground on a skatespot near the Cully neighborhood in NE Portland on September 15th.

Moms Demand Action is not really upset that you can;t bring a skateboard into Krogers, they’re upset that Krogers has a pro open carry stance. This is just one of several ads featuring a gun toting shopper standing next to someone doing something that Krogers won’t allow. You can sign the petition here. – Via John Grigley on Facebook

Eli Reed dealing with the age old problem that every street skater encounters at least once a session: Random girls in bikinis laying in the middle of your run up. [Source: High Snobiety]

Amid property damage and serious injuries in today’s earthquake in Napa Valley, leave it to skateboarders to find some joy. From Twitter user Dudley Storey.