In brief: Man missing after jumping into river
BOISE – Authorities are searching the Snake River for a 76-year-old eastern Idaho man after his wife reported that he had jumped from a bridge into the water.
The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office said Gerald Wilkinson’s wife called dispatch shortly after 9 a.m. on Thursday to report her husband had stopped their vehicle on the Pancheri Bridge in Idaho Falls, got out of the car, and stepped over the rail into the river below.
Officers who responded say they almost immediately spotted a male in the river but about five minutes later, there was no sign of him.
The Sheriff’s Office said authorities from several agencies are searching the river for Wilkinson, who was last seen wearing blue jeans, a light blue shirt and tennis shoes.
Oregon biologists on wolverine search
GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Oregon wildlife biologists are heading into the Cascades next month to set out dozens of automatic trail cameras in hopes of capturing a photo of a wolverine.
Tim Hiller of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said Thursday they hope to develop information that will help federal authorities decide whether to list wolverines under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Oregon has listed them as threatened since 1987.
The last known wolverine in the high Cascades in Oregon was shot by a hunter in 1963 on Three-Fingered Jack. But three were photographed last year in the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the northeastern corner of the state.
Cameras baited with road-killed deer will be set out in the Mount Jefferson, Mount Washington and Three Sisters wilderness areas.
Tacoma zoo’s python euthanized
TACOMA – Veterinarians at Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma have euthanized a 12-foot-long Burmese python because of a spinal fracture.
The 27-year-old Odie suffered from severe spinal disease and it’s not known how the fracture occurred, zoo officials said.
The 102-pound snake appeared healthy two weeks ago when he was brought outside to enjoy the sun – it took four people to safely handle him. However, head veterinarian Karen Wolf said the snake wasn’t eating recently and was clearly in pain. He was euthanized Tuesday.
Zoo officials said a necropsy found major abnormalities in the snake’s bone structure.
Odie had been at the zoo since 1990. A Burmese python’s lifespan is 25-30 years.
Montana town’s auction called off
GARRYOWEN, Mont. – The auction of a Custer-themed Montana town near the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn has been called off.
Williams and Williams auction house spokeswoman Amy Bates said none of the 15 people who attended the live auction in Garryowen on Wednesday was in a position to register and commit to a purchase.
Instead, Bates said in a statement, the auctioneer will work with owner Christopher Kortlander to negotiate options with potential buyers.
Garryowen is an eight-acre site a few miles from where Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and more than 200 U.S. Cavalry troopers and scouts from the Crow Tribe were killed in June 1876, by up to 1,800 Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne warriors.
Also up for auction were manuscripts from Custer’s wife.