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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Region in brief: Power outage hits downtown, north

From Staff And Wire Reports

Power was restored about 11:10 a.m. Tuesday after an outage darkened parts of downtown and the North Side.

About 400 customers lost power in the downtown and north central areas starting at 10:44 a.m. The cause of that outage was related to upgrade work at the Post Street substation, an Avista Utilities spokeswoman said.

It reportedly affected parts of the downtown area, including Riverfront Park and Spokane Falls Boulevard and areas northward to about Maxwell Avenue. The area spanned from Normandie to about Jefferson streets.

In addition, another 400 customers were without power in the West Plains area both north and south of Interstate 90. The cause of that outage about 10:15 a.m. is under investigation, but may have been related to a construction problem, the utility reported.

Dead squid on Oregon coast

PORTLAND – Dozens of large squid are reportedly washing up dead on the central Oregon coast near Heceta Head.

Oregon State Parks and Recreation spokesman Chris Havel told the Oregonian his office is hearing reports of dozens of what are probably Humboldt squid. He said they’re typically more common in warmer waters around Santa Cruz, Calif.

Humboldt squid have also showed up recently in waters off the Washington coast and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Washington state and British Columbia’s Vancouver Island. Commercial fishermen in the strait complained the giant squid were grabbing the salmon right off their hooks. The Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife has allowed the fishermen to sell the squid they accidentally catch as they troll for salmon.

NOAA oceanographer Kent Baltz, of Santa Cruz, said earlier that a “strong hypothesis” for why the squid have moved north is that the ocean water is warmer than usual.