In brief: Girl, 5, dies in Tacoma from H3N2 flu
TACOMA – A 5-year-old Tacoma girl who was sent home from school with a fever was dead a couple of days later from the flu.
The mother, Rebecca Taylor, told KOMO she treated her daughter Scarlet at home for two days last month for cold symptoms.
When the girl had breathing trouble, her mother took her to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. She died four hours later.
The girl did not have a flu shot. The medical examiner’s office said she died of the H3N2 strain, the mutation for which the current vaccine is least effective.
The state Health Department said Monday there have been 22 flu deaths so far this season in Washington. Spokesman Donn Moyer said the Pierce County girl is the only child to have died from the flu.
Teen driver charged in triple fatality
PORT ORCHARD, Wash. – Kitsap County prosecutors have charged a 17-year-old driver with three counts of vehicular homicide in a weekend rollover crash that killed three Olympic High School students.
The Kitsap Sun reported that Deputy Prosecutor Julie Gaffney said the Bremerton boy told sheriff’s deputies that he was driving 75 mph in a 45-mph zone and had smoked marijuana about an hour before the 3 a.m. Sunday crash.
The newspaper said the teen has an intermediate driver’s license, which prohibits him from driving between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. He suffered minor injuries.
Killed were 14-year-old Jenna Farley, 16-year-old Kassidy Clark and 18-year-old Luther Stoudermire.
The driver appeared Monday in juvenile court and was released to his mother’s custody.
He will appear Jan. 26 in Superior Court for a hearing on whether he should be tried as an adult.
About 400 people gathered Monday night for a candlelight vigil in front of the high school.
WSU Tri-Cities receives $18 million gift
RICHLAND – Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland is donating $18 million to the nursing program at Washington State University Tri-Cities.
The money will be used to hire faculty and possibly expand the school.
The Tri-City Herald reported it’s the largest single gift to WSU Tri-Cities. It’s being formally awarded at an event Monday at the Kadlec Healthplex, next to space the hospital provides for the nursing school.
Driver killed in car-train collision
KELSO, Wash. – A Cowlitz County sheriff’s officer said a woman died after an Amtrak passenger train hit her car at a crossing south of Kelso.
The Daily News of Longview reported that Chief Deputy Charlie Rosenzweig said it appears the woman was trying to get to the crossing before the train on Monday afternoon.
The deputy said the crossing does not have flashing lights or arm bars. It does have railroad crossing signs.
Black Lab rides bus, gets off at park
SEATTLE – A black Labrador named Eclipse just wants to get to the dog park. So if her owner takes too long finishing his cigarette and their bus arrives, she climbs aboard solo and rides to her stop – to the delight of fellow Seattle bus passengers.
KOMO-TV reported local radio host Miles Montgomery was amazed to see the pooch get off the bus, without an owner, at a dog park last week.
The dog and her owner, Jeff Young, live right near a bus stop.
In Young’s words, “She’s a bus-riding, sidewalk-walking dog.” Young said his dog sometimes gets on the bus without him and he catches up with her at the dog park three or four stops away.
Bus riders report she hops onto seats next to strangers and watches out the window for her stop. Said commuter Tiona Rainwater, “All the bus drivers know her … she makes everybody happy.”
A Metro Transit spokesman said the agency loves that a dog appreciates public transit.