In brief: Motorcyclist dies in crash with pickup
A motorcyclist died Tuesday afternoon after colliding with a pickup truck.
The drivers of both vehicles were taken to the hospital after the collision.
The accident occurred around 1:30 p.m. at the intersection of Trent and Mission avenues. It is unclear what caused the collision. Spokane police did not identify the victim Tuesday night.
Hoppy reunion for wallaroo, owner
Hopkins, the mysteriously missing wallaroo, returned home early Tuesday after a neighbor spotted him in their yard.
Hopkins’ owner, Andie Davis, first reported the 2 ½-year-old wallaroo missing Aug. 18 when he apparently scampered away from her Deer Park home. Davis has three wallaroos.
She’d lost hope, telling The Spokesman-Review shortly after he’d vanished that he’d likely been eaten by coyotes. But early Tuesday morning, she said a neighbor spotted him in her yard, nibbling on some tasty treats he’d found.
“He liked a farm about a mile away to the west, so he stayed pretty close to home,” Davis said by email Tuesday. “He really likes the blueberry patch.”
Davis and her neighbor helped trap Hopkins with what she described as a “very large fishing net,” then brought him home, where he was reunited with his mother, Bouncy. Davis said he seemed happy and healthy, with no obvious injuries or signs of malnourishment.
“I had given up and here he is,” she said. “Happy day!”
Heritage barn workshop planned
Barn preservation will be the topic of a free workshop on Thursday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Spokane City Hall.
Barn owners can stop by the session in Council Chambers to learn more about a state Heritage Barn Register for structures at least 50 years old.
Chris Moore, field director for the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, will be on hand to answer questions and help with applications to the register.
Nominations for barn register listings are due by Oct. 1, and the deadline for rehabilitation grant applications is Oct. 28.
Moore can be reached at (206) 624-9449 or by email at cmoore@preservewa.org.
State and local preservation agencies are hosting the workshop.
Boy, 12, charged in bikini barista heist
EVERETT – A 12-year-old boy accused of pointing a revolver at a bikini barista in Everett, threatening to shoot her and then riding off on his bike with the contents of her tip jar has been charged with first-degree robbery.
The Daily Herald said the boy has also been charged with robbery in an Aug. 28 holdup at a south Everett market.
The robbery at the Hillbilly Hotties coffee stand took place Sept. 2.
Police believe the boy borrowed the gun from a 16-year-old boy who’s being investigated in a July 23 robbery at a sandwich shop. In that case, the Arlington teen and another young man wore white surgical masks and one of them pointed a gun at an employee. The 16-year-old has been arrested.
The 12-year-old was arrested Sept. 6.
Wildlife officials approve owl killing
GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Federal wildlife officials are moving ahead with an experiment to see if killing a rival owl will help save the northern spotted owl from extinction.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday it gave final approval to a plan to send trained hunters into the woods to shoot barred owls.
Barred owls migrated from the East and arrived in spotted owl territory in 1959. The agency said they have since become the biggest threat to spotted owl survival.
Plans are to kill or capture barred owls in four study areas in Washington, Oregon and Northern California over the next four years.
The spotted owl forced big changes in management of national forests when environmentalists won lawsuits to protect the old-growth forests where the owls live from logging.
Woman overboard rescued in Sound
SEATTLE – The U.S. Coast Guard said a woman was rescued from Puget Sound waters Tuesday afternoon after reportedly jumping off a Seattle-bound ferry.
Petty officer Katelyn Tyson said the report of the woman jumping into the water from the ferry Wenatchee came in around 1:45 p.m. She was found 40 minutes later by a Coast Guard response boat. A ferry small boat and Seattle and Kitsap County authorities also looked for her.
The Seattle Fire Department said the woman was in her 40s and transported to Harborview Medical center after being taken to the Coast Guard station.
The ferry she was in was traveling from Bainbridge Island to Seattle.
Worker shortage stalls ferry runs
SEATTLE – Washington State Ferries ran out of workers Saturday.
The Kitsap Sun reported dozens of runs on three routes – Point Defiance-Tahlequah, the north end of Vashon Island, and Port Townsend-Coupeville – were canceled for lack of crew.
Dispatchers ran out of relief and on-call workers who were needed to fill in for regular employees on vacation or medical leave.
Ferry director David Moseley said the crew shortages are frustrating. He said the ferry system will do everything it can to reduce the chance of customer inconvenience.