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

NW today: 4 die in crash after police chase

Compiled from wire reports
What’s news in the Northwest today:

Four die in crash during police chase
WARM SPRINGS, Ore. — Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs members say their reservation is grieving the deaths of a child and three young adults in a crash following a police chase. All four died when their car crashed into an oncoming police car during a short chase on U.S. Highway 26 that also left a police officer and a 2-year-old boy seriously injured.

Legislative candidate running as Bull Moose
YAKIMA, Wash. — A candidate for the Washington state House in a Yakima-area district is running under the Bull Moose Party. It was created by Teddy Roosevelt in 1912 after the Republican Party denied him a nomination for a second run at the presidency. The party dissolved in 1916. Anthony Novack of Roslyn describes himself as an independent. He told the Yakima Herald-Republic “Teddy Roosevelt is about the most esteemed president I could think of.”

Portland police mull wardrobe change
PORTLAND, Ore. — For nearly five decades Portland police have been wearing uniforms with blue shirts and darker blue trousers. That may soon change. The Oregonian reports the department is considering going to a single-tone, dark navy blue uniform, commonly called LAPD blue. Police say the common uniforms would be easier to obtain.

Senator supports sale of old war rifles
HELENA, Mont. — U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is pushing the State Department to bring back thousands of old WWII-vintage rifles from South Korea so citizens can buy them through a government program. The State Department previously rejected South Korea’s proposal to sell its surplus of American-made M1 Carbines and M1 Garand rifles to U.S. buyers. Tester says that agency is wrong to declare the firearms could “be exploited by individuals seeking firearms for illicit purposes.”

Driving instructor bails out of truck
POCATELLO, Idaho — When a driving instructor leaps from a moving vehicle, that’s probably a sign the student driver isn’t doing so well. But that’s what authorities in eastern Idaho say happened Thursday and that the man learning to handle the tractor-trailer rig then drove alone for miles, forcing motorists to flee at high speeds before police used spike strips to blow out the big rig’s tires. Police took John Stroud into custody after the truck came to a halt on Interstate 15 south of Pocatello.

Skull mascot returned to tribes
ALBANY, Ore. — A human skull that once served as a college mascot in Albany has been turned over to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. KGW-TV reports the tribes received the skull Tuesday and planned a ceremony to bury it. Linn County sheriff’s detectives re-examined a cold case last year, contacting a man who had taken the skull to his Sweet Home grade school when he was a boy in 1984 for show-and-tell. The investigation traced the skull back to Albany College, which used a skull and crossbones for its Pirate mascot. Anthropologists at the University of Oregon who examined the skull last year said it was from a woman, possibly Native American.

Apple tree still giving after 184 years
VANCOUVER, Wash. — As it recovers from recent damage, the Northwest’s oldest apple tree will share some of its future growth Saturday during the Old Apple Tree Festival. There will be a limited quantity of cuttings from the 184-year-old tree, one per household while the supply lasts, at the annual event at Old Apple Tree Park, at the south end of the Vancouver Land Bridge. The tree is still recovering from the damage it suffered in June 2009, when two of its three main branches snapped.

Hanford nuclear reservation inspires 3-line poems
TRI-CITIES, Wash. — A Hanford watchdog group got more than 150 entries to its call for haikus about the nuclear reservation. The winning three-line poem selected by Hanford Challenge was written by Elizabeth Heffron of Seattle. The Tri-City Herald reports she wins a T-shirt for writing: “birds skim the river — isotopes settle in silt a bed of half-lives”