The Seattle Times is reporting that Gino Turrella, a Des Moines man, has been convicted of 19 felony counts for threats he made against Boeing, Shell Oil and Chevron Oil.

Turrella was convicted Friday (Nov. 6th) in US District Court in Seattle after a jury deliberated about five hours following a four-day trial.

According to the Times, Turrella was convicted of:

• 2 counts of making interstate communications with threat to injure persons
• 7 counts of making threats by instrument of interstate commerce
• 1 count of possessing a firearm during threats of violence
• 9 counts of identity theft

He faces between 5-10 years in prison. His sentencing date is scheduled for Feb. 19th.

According to documents, Turrella made eight threats via email in May of 2008, posing as other people by using accounts he’d created himself. The threats included one to Boeing in which he claimed that he was going to bring a gun and go on a shooting rampage, as well as detonate himself as a suicide bomb.

When Turrella’s home was searched, police discovered over 100 firearms.

When you do a Google Search for Turrella, you’ll see that he was also quite active Commenting on various websites, oftentimes with fiery language.

Read the full story here.

Four students from Des Moines’ Aviation High School graduated from the 2009 Washington Aerospace Scholars Summer Residency program this summer, and we here at The Waterland Blog would like to give a big shout out to them:

• Thomas Malchodi
• Andrew May
• Andrew Reece
• Michael Thompson

They were among the 150 students who qualified for the Washington Aerospace Scholars (WAS) Summer Residency program from 260 students who applied last November. To qualify for the residency program, they spent six months studying a NASA-designed, distance-learning curriculum via the Internet. Based on their academic performance on these lessons, they were selected to attend one of the four residencies hosted at The Museum of Flight in Seattle this summer. During the residency, the students collaborated with the other participants on the design of a human mission to Mars. WAS scholars are guided by professional engineers, scientists, university students and certified educators as they plan these missions. The WAS program is designed to inspire students to pursue degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) but the students are divided into teams which also require them to learn about mission management, budgets, the legal aspects of space exploration, and medicine.

In addition to the design of the human mission to Mars, they and the other WAS scholars participated in a number of hands-on engineering challenges. These challenges included: design, construction and deployment of robotic rovers, model rockets, lander devices, and payload lofting systems. Summer residency participants also received briefings from experts in the fields of engineering, science, physics, medicine, project management, risk management, and space exploration, such as Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar, astronaut and CEO of the Museum of Flight. They also visited the Boeing plant in Everett for a behind-the-scenes tour of Boeing’s Commercial Airplane assembly (including the new 787), and toured engineering laboratories at the University of Washington.

As graduates of WAS, Thomas Malchodi, Andrew May, Andrew Reece, and Michael Thompson join over 380 alumni representing 170 different Washington high schools.

All expenses (including travel, meals and lodging) are provided to students free of charge by the Washington Aerospace Scholars Foundation. The program has been supported through generous grants from The Apex Foundation, The Aldarra Foundation, The Boeing Company, Microsoft, Battelle and individual donors. The Museum of Flight hosts both the program administration and the summer residency sessions. Additional partners include NASA Johnson Space Center for curriculum development, the Washington State Governor’s Office, Washington State Legislators, and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Washington Aerospace Scholars began accepting applications in early September for the 2009-2010 program cycle to download an application, please visit www.museumofflight.org/washingtonaerospacescholars. WAS participants must be high school juniors with 3.0 minimum grade-point-averages, United States citizens and Washington State residents.

The deadline for student applications is November 6th, so you’d better get ready for take-off now.

On Monday (June 15th), students from Des Moines’ Aviation High School’s senior class, along with members of the school’s Airline Career Experience (ACE) Club hitched a ride on the delivery flight of a brand new Boeing 737-800 thanks to Alaska Airlines.

The flight took students from Boeing Field north to circle the peak of Mount Baker before heading south for a landing at Sea-Tac International Airport.

Alaska Airlines is a primary sponsor of Aviation High School. About 50 Alaska employees serve as mentors to AHS students. Dennis Hamel, Alaska’s Vice President for Human Resources and Labor Relations, serves on the AHS board of directors.

Aviation High School’s slogan is “Where the sky is not the limit,” and is administered by Highline Public Schools. It is open to students across the Puget Sound region, and serves as a model science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) school. The curriculum is college preparatory, and all subjects are taught in the context of aviation and aerospace.

As we reported on March 26th, Aviation High recently received a $4 million grant from James Raisbeck. It will be re-named Raisbeck Aviation High School, and will move to the Museum of Flight in Seattle; construction is expected to begin in March of 2010.

Aside from making airplanes and being blasted by Sir Richard Branson, Boeing has a collection of talented musicians who make up the Boeing Orchestra of Flight.

They’re seeking more musicians, and here’s some info from their press release:

The Boeing Orchestra of flight is a volunteer ,community orchestra open to all adult instrumentalists, including musicians not affiliated with Boeing. We have been performing in the Puget Sound area since 1983.

We strive to provide a fun, non-competitive and improvement-oriented experience for our members. Our music includes works from the Baroque and classical to contemporary Broadway and Hollywood film scores.

We would particularly like to invite string players, double reed players, and percussionists to join us.

There are no auditions required. Musicians who perhaps have not played for some time are definitely encouraged to return to their instrument and lend their talents to the group. We strive to provide a fun, non-competitive and improvement oriented organization.

Musicians young and old are welcome with the following qualifications:

You should be able to:

• Read music for your instrument
• Play at a high school level or better
• Be willing to commit to the rehearsal and concert schedules
• Be able to get to and from rehearsals and concerts

Dues are $70 for the season (September to June), or $35 for the combined Fall and Christmas series or $35 for the combined Winter and Spring series of concerts. You are welcome to come play with us for a rehearsal, or just listen, before you join the orchestra.

Rehearsals are Mondays from 7:30 to 9:30 P.M. and are held in Boeing’s South Park Cafeteria, the 15-35 Bldg. The first rehearsal of the Fall Series is in September on the first Monday after Labor Day. Rehearsals continue weekly (except during the Christmas break) through the end of the season, usually in June.

The South Park facility can be seen from the air in Google Maps.

For more information, e-mail Paul at pandmo@msn.com.

You can learn more about us at http://www/flightorchestra.org