In brief: Meetings set on pike menace

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Kalispel Tribe of Indians will host two public meetings this month about efforts to reduce the number of non-native northern pike in Box Canyon Reservoir on the Pend Oreille River in northeast Washington.

The meetings, which run from 6 to 8 p.m., are scheduled for Wednesday at CenterPlace, 2426 N. Discovery Place, Spokane Valley; and Thursday at the Usk Community Hall, 2442 Black Road, Usk.

John Whalen, WDFW eastern regional fish manager, said the department and the tribe are encouraging anglers to fish for northern pike.

“Non-native northern pike are high-impact predators,” he said. “We’re concerned about impacts to native trout and other species within the reservoir, as well as the potential for downstream impacts to salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River.”

Biological surveys conducted since 2004 have shown a rapid increase in northern pike abundance in the Box Canyon Reservoir. Dramatic declines were also noted in mountain whitefish, native minnows, largemouth bass, yellow perch and other fish species.

SEATTLE – Police who searched a storage unit rented by Josh Powell found a stained comforter that tested positive for blood in initial exams, according to documents filed in court Friday.

Pierce County detectives reported finding a gray-blue-pink comforter with a stain. The search warrant documents say the comforter tested positive for blood. Investigators planned to perform further tests.

Powell killed himself and his two young sons in a gas-fueled inferno Sunday, and Pierce County authorities consider the murder-suicide an admission that he killed his wife.

Investigators had considered Josh Powell a person of interest since his wife, Susan Powell, disappeared in Utah in 2009.