In brief: Four injured in car-trailer crash near Rosalia

Four people were injured Saturday near Rosalia, Washington, when a car being towed on a trailer broke loose and smashed into an oncoming vehicle, which then was struck by another car.

The collisions happened about 5:30 p.m. on U.S. Highway 195 a mile north of Rosalia, the Washington State Patrol said.

The Chevrolet pickup truck hauling the trailer and car was driven by Timofey S. Zhelez, 23, of Spokane. Zhelez was not injured.

The car that came off the trailer hit a Subaru Outback driven by John A. Richter, 66, of Dayton, Washington. He and a passenger, Kirsten Dorene Sinkbeil, 29, of Kennewick, both were injured and taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

Richter’s car then was struck by a Subaru Tribeca driven by Suzanne Wayman, 45, of Pullman. Wayman and a passenger, 11-year-old Amelia Wayman, were both injured and taken to Sacred Heart.

The southbound lanes of the highway were blocked until about 10 p.m.

Idaho jobless rate hits 7-year low

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Idaho fell to a seven-year low of 3.9 percent in February, but it’s a bit higher in Kootenai County and higher still in other Panhandle communities.

The jobless rate last month was 4.9 percent in Kootenai County and 4.8 percent in Coeur d’Alene – about the same as the month before.

The rate in February was 5.6 percent in Bonner County, 5.9 percent in Boundary County, 7.4 percent in Benewah County and 7.7 percent in Shoshone County.

Statewide, goods production jobs slipped slightly from the normal February level – mainly in construction – while service-sector employers added more than 7,000 jobs, the Idaho Department of Labor reported.

Air passenger cited for bear paws

EUGENE – Authorities said they have issued a citation to an Oregon man who tried to board an airplane with bear paws in his luggage.

The Eugene Register-Guard reported Transportation Security Administration agents discovered the bear paws earlier this month in Hong-Shiou Chiou’s luggage at the Eugene Airport. He was cited for unlawful possession of game parts.

Chiou, who lives in Florence and was going to Taiwan, was also carrying a bottle containing bear gall, herbs and whiskey.

He told detectives the bear paws would be made into a necklace. He said the whiskey drink was medicinal.

A search warrant issued for his barn and home led police to find bear heads and bear hides. Bear hunting in Oregon requires a hunting tag, which the man could not produce.