Woman arrested; 111 dogs seized

A 71-year-old Lind, Wash., woman was arrested Saturday on suspicion of first-degree animal cruelty when authorities seized 111 dogs from her.

Adams County Undersheriff John Hunt said Sharon Provost was booked into the county jail and later released.

Deputies raided Provost’s home on East Third Street with a warrant based on complaints that she was mistreating and neglecting a large number of Australian shepherds.

Hunt said a dog that apparently had strangled itself with its collar was left in a kennel with several other dogs for “an extended period.”

Four dog carcasses found inside Provost’s home “had been there for a very extended period,” Hunt said.

He said two dogs were in such poor health they had to be euthanized, and the rest generally were in poor condition.

Deputies were accompanied by a veterinarian and volunteers from an Othello and Ritzville pet rescue group. The group will take care of the dogs until a court decides what to do with them, Hunt said.

Spokane Valley

Mobile home destroyed by fire

Fire destroyed an abandoned Spokane Valley mobile home Sunday morning.

Heavy smoke and flames were reported coming from the trailer at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Carnahan, just south of Interstate 90, when crews arrived about 11:17 a.m.

Spokane Valley Fire District Battalion Chief Warren Kennett said the home appeared abandoned and that the power was shut off. It’s unknown how the fire started.

Blaine, Wash.

Search of truck yields $1 million

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than $1 million in U.S. currency from a Canadian man attempting to enter the U.S. at the Pacific Highway border crossing. The man was arrested.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesman, Thomas Schreiber, said Thursday’s seizure was the largest on record for Blaine-area border crossings.

Charging documents say 31-year-old Navraj Bal, of Surrey, B.C., was arrested on suspicion of making false statements to officers.

Failing to declare more than $10,000 cash when entering the United States can result in arrest and fines. Bal was booked into Whatcom County Jail in Bellingham, then transferred to federal prison in Seattle.

The money was hidden in compartments inside a semitruck that Bal told officers he was driving to Los Angeles. Schreiber said a drug-sniffing dog discovered the money.

Bal made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court on Friday and remained in custody.

Tacoma

Guide’s round trip a mountain record

There’s a new unofficial Mount Rainier speed king.

Twenty-nine-year-old Justin Merle took 4 hours, 49 minutes, 35 seconds this week to go from Paradise to the 14,411-foot summit and back down again.

Merle on Wednesday beat the previous record of 4 hours, 59 minutes, 1 second set in 2004 by Chad Kellogg, which also was not officially timed.

Merle is a 29-year-old climbing guide from Ashford who has been guiding on Mount Rainier since 1999, first for Rainier Mountaineering Inc. and now for International Mountain Guides.

A client on a guided ascent typically takes 17 to 18 hours to complete the climb, not including a sleep break at Camp Muir.

Miss Washington a student at WWU

Janet Harding, a student at Western Washington University in Bellingham, is the new Miss Washington.

Harding, 21, of Yelm, was crowned Saturday night before an audience of more than 600 at the Pantages Theater in Tacoma.

Harding competed in the pageant as Miss Tahoma, a title she earned in a Puyallup pageant.

First runner-up was Kristin Cox, Miss Tri-Cities; second runner-up was Elizabeth Lamb-Ferro, Miss Pierce County; and third runner-up was Cara Rudd, Miss Auburn.

From staff and wire reports