Catch confirms another wolf pack in E. Washington

Government trappers caught a male adult wolf and a pup on Monday in northwestern Stevens County.

The catch confirms that another wolf pack roams the forests of Eastern Washington near the Canadian border.

The adult wolf is believed to be the pack’s alpha male.

A tracking collar was placed on the adult and an ear tag was pinned on the pup, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The “Wedge” pack was named for the wedge-shaped part of Stevens County between the Kettle River to the west and the Columbia River to the east.  The pack is Washington’s eighth.

A wolf pack had long been suspected in the area. Past trapping efforts, however, failed. When wolf attacks on livestock were reported and investigated in Stevens County last week, trapping in that area became the department’s top priority.

Council rejects red-light proposal

In a lopsided vote Monday night, the Spokane City Council rejected a plan to use fines collected from its red-light camera program to start neighborhood policing offices.

Councilman Steve Salvatori proposed allowing neighborhood councils to spend up to $8,000 in red-light fines for costs related to starting Community Oriented Policing stations.

When the city first approved the red-light program in 2007, the council declared that fines could only be spent to cover costs of the program, or on other traffic safety projects. Critics of Salvatori’s proposal argued that diverting fees would cause the program to drift into a “money grab” to plug budget holes rather than bolster traffic safety.

Salvatori said the COPS program is important to public safety and that he wanted to give neighborhood leaders more options.

Council members said about $600,000 could be allocated for traffic safety projects this year from money collected from red-light camera fines.

Salvatori’s plan failed 6-1, though some council members said the idea is worth revisiting during budget negotiations later this year.