Holiday weekend promises sunny skies
Labor Day weekend is shaping up to be a warm one, according to the National Weather Service.
Highs in the mid- to upper 80s are being forecast for the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas on Saturday and Sunday under mostly sunny skies. A strong high pressure area is expected to settle over the region starting today with a warm-up into the 90s on Wednesday and Thursday before the heat mellows over the weekend.
A computer forecast model used by the Weather Service calls for a low pressure area to move into the region about midday today, with an increased risk of rain or showers.
An unusually warm night was reported on Mullan Pass in North Idaho over the weekend. A low of 53 degrees before dawn Saturday was the warmest overnight temperature recorded on Aug. 25 in nearly 70 years of record keeping. The previous record was 52 degrees in 1940.
– Mike Prager
THE DALLES, Ore.
Wind tower topples, killing one worker
A giant turbine tower at a wind farm snapped in half and toppled, killing a worker atop the structure and injuring another who was inside, a company spokeswoman said.
The workers were doing a routine inspection of the turbine when it collapsed on Saturday, said Melanie Forbrick, a spokeswoman for Siemens, the turbine’s German manufacturer.
Deputy Geremy Shull of Sherman County declined to release the names of the workers but said the man who died was from Goldendale, Wash. He said the injured worker was in serious condition at a hospital in The Dalles.
– Associated Press
KENNEWICK
Swimmer gets tangled in milfoil, drowns
A 22-year-old man died when he apparently became entangled in thick milfoil in the Columbia River in southeast Washington.
Police say the man was visiting the Tri-Cities area with three friends when they went for a late-night swim Friday in the river near the Kennewick boat launch.
The man apparently was not a strong swimmer and got caught in milfoil – an invasive weed that grows in rivers and lakes.
Scott Pattison, a spokesman for the Columbia Basin Dive Rescue team, says milfoil can act like quicksand and pull you under if you get tangled and struggle. The man’s identity was unavailable, but the Benton County coroner’s office said he died from drowning.
– Associated Press
Bonners Ferry
Suspect recaptured after escaping police
A handcuffed drunken driving suspect escaped through the rear window of a police SUV in Bonners Ferry early Sunday but was captured a short time later after federal, state and local authorities began combing the region for him.
Jason C. Peterson, 31, forced his way out of the police sport utility vehicle while being transported to the county jail, police said. He ran through a residential neighborhood after the 12:25 a.m. arrest. Officers called in help from Boundary County, Idaho State Police, the U.S. Border Patrol, and Boundary County Search and Dive Rescue. A tracking dog was enlisted in the search, which ended when Peterson was captured near the city limits about 9:30 a.m.
– Mike Prager