Orofino man, 20, dies after driving off road

The driver of a Dodge pickup died Sunday morning after he drove off Grangemont Road just east of Orofino, Idaho.

Jeremiah Pete Hollibaugh, 20, was exceeding the 55 mph speed limit when he lost control of the truck, overcorrected, went off the road and hit a tree, according to an Idaho State Police release. The truck spun around, ejecting Hollibaugh through the passenger window, and stopped on top of him.

Hollibaugh, of Orofino, was not wearing a seat belt.

The incident, which is under investigation, occurred about 7:20 a.m. Alcohol wasn’t believed to be a factor.

Boys in critical condition after gasoline-fueled blaze

Brian Ashmore, one of two 4-year-old boys badly burned while playing Saturday, remained in critical condition at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center Sunday evening.

The condition of the other boy, who was also taken to Harborview Saturday, is unknown because his name hasn’t been released.

Ashmore and his family will “be there a long while,” said Shannon Ward, the boy’s grandmother.

The children were burned in a neighbor’s back yard at 7515 N. Napa Court after playing on or near a plastic slide, Spokane Fire Battalion Chief Mike Inman told The Spokesman-Review on Saturday. Gasoline, possibly from a lawn mower’s gas can sitting near the play equipment, fueled the fire, but it was unknown how the gas got on the boys or how it was ignited.

Ward said fire officials told her static from the slide likely ignited the flames, but that couldn’t be confirmed Sunday.

“At least one of the boys had nylon or polyester on,” which could have caused static electricity when rubbed on the slide, Ward said.

One boy had burns on about 75 percent of his body and the other was burned on more than half of his body. Ward declined to provide further details of the boys’ conditions.

She planned to set up accounts today at Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank for community members who wish to donate money to the families. Ward said both sets of parents will be out of work while they’re in Seattle with their sons.

Pickup kills Republic teen at night on State Route 21

A 15-year-old Republic boy was killed at 3:45 a.m. Sunday after leaving a vehicle on State Route 21 near Art Creek Road.

Bryce Taylor was struck by a northbound Ford Ranger pickup driven by Jeanette Thompson, 21, also of Republic. Neither Taylor nor her passenger, 23-year-old Joseph Meyer, was injured.

The Washington State Patrol said that alcohol wasn’t a factor. The crash is under investigation.

WSP pulls over sports cars during Seattle-to-Vegas run

Vancouver, Wash. Washington State Patrol troopers pulled over Porsches, Ferraris and a Lamborghini on Interstate 5 this weekend to cite drivers in the first leg of the 2005 Seattle-to-Las Vegas Players Run.

More than 50 cars that included $200,000, 200-mph exotics left Seattle on Saturday, with some clocked going 120 mph.

Racers veered between lanes, followed too close and otherwise drove aggressively, forcing troopers to stop all traffic on the freeway with a rolling roadblock necessary to pull over the vehicles.

Reckless driving citations – with fines up to $1,000 – were issued to 12 drivers, including residents from Bellevue, Salem and Lake Oswego, Ore., Finksburg, Md., Plantation, Fla., and San Antonio.

One driver cited in Lewis County drove a Porsche outfitted with a police scanner and video equipment.

“We are just a bunch of wealthy guys that have money to spend on gadgets. We are enthusiasts,” a driver told authorities.