Collision dumps diesel into Paradise Creek

A two-vehicle collision closed one lane of State Highway 270 early Sunday morning and dumped an estimated 110 gallons of diesel fuel into Paradise Creek.

A 17-year-old Colfax girl suffered a broken arm in the accident, and both vehicles were destroyed, the Washington State Patrol said in a news release.

Allison Lynch of Colfax apparently lost control of her 1999 Grand Am on a stretch of icy road east of Pullman, crossed the centerline and collided with a van driven by Grady Burnam of Asotin, the patrol said. Both vehicles went off the roadway and into the creek.

Staff from the Washington Department of Ecology was called to the site to investigate the diesel spill, and the highway was open before noon Sunday.

– Richard Miller

Olympia

Large crowd gathers to protest neo-Nazis

A small group of neo-Nazis that gathered at the Capitol on Sunday afternoon was outnumbered nearly tenfold by counterdemonstrators.

Fewer than 10 members of the National Socialist Movement stood on the Capitol steps waving swastika flags. They had been scheduled to demonstrate at Sylvester Park downtown.

The group was met by more than 100 protesters who had moved a planned rally at Heritage Park to counter the demonstration. Counterprotesters chanted “out of Olympia” over the neo-Nazi group’s loudspeaker.

The two groups exchanged some angry banter for about half an hour, then the neo-Nazi group was escorted off the Capitol Campus, said Sgt. John Sager of the Washington State Patrol. There were no direct physical confrontations reported.

There were no injuries or arrests.

– Associated Press

Gillette, Wyo.

Wyoming hopes to gain from plant halt

Energy officials in Wyoming hope the state will benefit from a decision by the Idaho Legislature to place a two-year moratorium on new coal-fired power plants.

Faced with growing opposition because of health and environmental concerns, Sempra Generation announced this week it was abandoning plans for a proposed $1 billion, 600-megawatt power plant in Idaho and a $2 billion, 1,200-megawatt power plant in Nevada.

Wyoming has been moving in the other direction, recently passing legislation expanding the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority’s $1 billion bonding capacity to include coal-fired power plants.

Steve Waddington, executive director of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, said his organization wanted Wyoming to host the next generation of electrical power sources, including cleaner coal-fired power plants.

“Areas all along the West Coast are going to demand generation from the new, cleaner technology, and I think we will meet that demand. We’ll see the day come,” he said.

He also predicted growing demand for wind power and other renewable energy sources.

– Associated Press