In brief: Forecast calls for winds, cooler weather
Yard work might best be done today: A blustery cold front is headed to the Inland Northwest by Sunday morning.
Forecasters are calling for winds out of the northwest Sunday afternoon, veering to the northeast and getting stronger Sunday night.
Gusts in some locations, including the Palouse, could exceed 35 mph. In Spokane, gusts up to 29 mph are possible. There is also a 20 percent chance of showers in Spokane.
The high on Monday may reach 44 degrees, with the low by Tuesday morning falling to about 26 degrees. The cool weather will remain through Friday.
Similar conditions are forecast in Coeur d’Alene, where rain chances are as high as 40 percent.
Toxic algae found on Fernan Lake
A health advisory was issued Friday for Fernan Lake, where toxic blue-green algae was found in the water.
People should avoid direct contact with water containing visible algae, according to a news release from the Panhandle Health District. Swallowing water is particularly dangerous to children and pets, and the toxins cannot be removed by boiling or filtering water, the district said.
In animals, a toxin that may be produced by the Anabaena alga can cause a rapid progression of neurological symptoms such as muscle spasms, decreased movement, labored breathing, convulsions and death. Though symptoms have not been documented in people, health officials advised the public to avoid any activity that could lead to ingesting the lake water.
Company cancels megaload transport
LEWISTON – A General Electric Co. subsidiary has given up its legal fight to haul the second of two huge loads of water purification equipment through the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests and will find another way to get the equipment to the Canadian oil fields.
Resources Conservation Company International filed documents Thursday saying it was dropping its emergency motion to stay an injunction that prevented it from using the U.S. Highway 12 route, the Lewiston Tribune reported.
GE issued a statement saying the equipment is important to its customers and it will focus on finding alternative shipment options.
Last month, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill issued an injunction that effectively blocked the GE unit from hauling large loads along the winding, two-lane road that passes through tribal lands and a federally designated Wild and Scenic River corridor.
Parole granted for killer in 1983 massacre
ABERDEEN, Wash. – One of three men convicted in the 1983 massacre of 13 people at a Seattle gambling club is being paroled.
The Washington Department of Corrections parole board has decided to release Wai Chiu “Tony” Ng after serving 30 years in prison. He was convicted of robbery and assault for his role in the shooting at the Wah Mee club.
KING-TV reported that Ng will be released 35-40 days from Friday to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and will be deported to Hong Kong.
Ng appeared before the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board in August. He said if he’s released, he wouldn’t fight deportation back to Hong Kong, where his father is sick.
Two other men convicted of aggravated murder in the shooting are serving life sentences without parole.
New lawsuit claims Remington defective
BOISE – Remington Arms Co. is in court again over one of one its most-popular hunting rifles, this time with an Idaho lawsuit filed by a man who says he was shot through the foot by a defective weapon.
Oregon resident Loren Korpi said in U.S. District Court in Boise that he was hunting a year ago in Idaho when a Remington 700 bolt action rifle fired into his foot – without the trigger being pulled.
Korpi’s case joins dozens of similar claims filed against Remington over the past three decades. They contend its Model 700 bolt-action rifle, with more than 5 million sold, has a flawed trigger mechanism that the company has known about for years.
The company couldn’t be reached Friday, but has said its Model 700 is safe.