Chlamydia cases on the rise
Chlamydia rates are rising in Spokane County, prompting health officials to urge more sexually transmitted disease screening.
Women may develop pelvic inflammatory disease from chlamydia. The disease is often undiagnosed, said Stacy Wenzl, communicable disease prevention program manager at the Spokane Regional Health District. Antibiotics are available.
Wenzl said the 422 cases reported in the first three months of 2008 are worrisome when compared to the 274 reported during the same span last year.
Physicians are screening more women and tests are more accurate.
Prevention of chlamydia can be achieved through limiting sex or having a mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected sex partner.
Women are encouraged to be tested during annual exams. Men can now be tested by urine screenings.
Spokane
Car hits toddler in parking lot
An 18-month-old girl was struck by a car in the parking lot of an apartment complex near Elucid Avenue and Altamont Street and was transported to a hospital, according to fire dispatch.
The extent of the girl’s injuries was unknown, but early dispatch reports said she was awake and crying.
The 911 call was received about 7 p.m.
Tieton, Wash.
Fruit warehouse fire ruled arson
Federal investigators say the fire that destroyed a fruit packing warehouse near Yakima was arson.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives hopes a $15,000 reward will bring information about Thursday’s fire at the Evans Fruit packing plant in Tieton.
Damage is estimated at $5 million.
The blaze was fed by stacks of cardboard boxes used to pack apples. Thousands of full boxes of apples were also destroyed as well as 10 forklifts.
Lewiston
Potlatch will not burn fuels in mill
Potlatch Corp. won’t pursue a controversial plan to burn alternative fuels at its mill in Lewiston, company officials announced late Tuesday.
Potlatch wanted to burn municipal waste and demolition materials in a boiler to generate electricity. Company officials, who spent two years on the project, said they viewed it as a creative way to address rising energy costs.
But the plan sparked opposition from the Idaho Conservation League, which feared that smoke from the boiler would contain mercury. Exposure to the metal poses a risk to children and fetuses, potentially affecting memory, attention span, language, and cognitive skills.
Potlatch officials said they didn’t plan to burn mercury-emitting materials. But community concerns about the project, as well as the lack of a third-party to supply the alternative fuels, caused the firm to drop the project, a Potlatch press release said.
Latah County
Camp counselor turns himself in
A camp counselor and teacher surrendered Monday to Idaho authorities, to face allegations of sexual misconduct with children.
Timothy Andrew Kellis, 38, was booked into Latah County Jail on $50,000 bond. The most recent warrant charges him with five counts of lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16.
Kellis also faces two counts of lewd conduct with a minor and one count of sexual abuse of a child, stemming from an April 12 arrest.
“Following the April 12 arrest, numerous calls were received by the Idaho State Police,” leading to the new charges, Lt. Charlie Spencer said in a press release.
Kellis – a teacher since 2006 in Tumwater, Wash., and previously in Craigmont, Idaho – worked in summer 2007 as a counselor at Camp Grizzly, in Latah County.
Authorities allege he “fondled and engaged in lewd and lascivious conduct with two minors under the age of 16” at the camp.
Glacier, Wash.
Man missing at Mount Baker
A Lynden man has been missing since Saturday after telling friends he intended to climb to the top Mount Baker by himself.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office says a friend reported 31-year-old Kevin Lafleur missing after he didn’t show up to one of his jobs on Monday.
Lafleur’s vehicle was found at the snowline on Glacier Creek Road, indicating that he intended to climb Baker by the standard route.
Bellingham Mountain Rescue volunteers, along with snowmobile volunteers and friends of Lafleur, searched the area of the lower Coleman Glacier this week. Members of Skagit Mountain Rescue will search the east side.
Winthrop, Wash.
N. Cascades route reopens Thursday
The Transportation Department says the North Cascades Highway will reopen at 8 a.m. Thursday.
The department says crews working from the east and west met Monday near Rainy Pass. They’re widening and cutting pullout areas in the snow before opening the highway to traffic.
The North Cascades Highway typically opens between March 10 and May 7.
From staff and wire reports