Accident on Highway 95 injures two
Traffic had to be rerouted off U.S. Highway 95 in Hayden for more than two hours Monday evening, according to the Idaho State Police.
Two people were injured in an accident that occurred at 5:12 p.m. when a transport van pulled onto the highway from Lancaster Road. The driver of the van, 35-year-old Thomas J. Hamilton of Hayden, told ISP he couldn’t see other traffic when he pulled out in front of Harold S. Nelson, 77, of Moscow, Idaho.
Nelson’s pickup struck the van and crossed the centerline, coming to rest on the southbound lanes of the highway, the ISP reported. Injured were Nelson’s passenger, Gerry M. Nelson, 73, and a van passenger, Susan Rosenau, 58.
Rosenau was listed in fair condition at Kootenai Medical Center. The hospital had no information on Nelson Tuesday evening.
Rush hour traffic was backed up for 45 minutes and had to be rerouted in both directions. The southbound lanes were blocked for another hour and a half, according to ISP.
Hamilton was cited for failing to yield.
Deputies say they busted big meth lab
A civil protection violation investigation led Bonner County Sheriff’s deputies to one of the largest methamphetamine labs found in the state this year, the county’s drug task force reported in a written statement Tuesday. Deputies said they took Gilbert A. Gulich, 64, into custody at 814 Pup Paw Road. in Priest River on Monday after they discovered the meth lab.
The lab contained such a large volume of toxic chemicals, authorities said, that it took the Sundance Drug Task Force, a state hazmat unit and McGillvray Environmental several hours to clean up the area.
Man gets life sentence for driving into wife
Mountain Home, Idaho A former airman at Mountain Home Air Force Base who was convicted in January of killing his pregnant wife received a life sentence Tuesday in 4th District Court.
Albert Ciccone, 27, won’t be eligible for parole.
He was convicted of first-degree murder for driving his car into his wife, Kathleen Terry, on Oct. 16, 2003.
Ciccone and his wife allegedly fought near her mother’s home on Ditto Creek Road in Elmore County on the night of the killing, prosecutors said.
Following the altercation, police said Ciccone intentionally drove his car into his wife at about 50 mph while she was walking along the road. She died instantly.
Defense lawyers said it was an accident.
Ciccone was also convicted of second-degree murder in the death of the fetus. Judge Michael Wetherell sentenced Ciccone to 15 years in prison for that crime.
Idaho National Laboratory gains security funds
Idaho Falls, Idaho The Idaho National Laboratory has received $16.7 million from the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Energy to continue research into boosting security for computer systems that run critical infrastructure such as electrical power grids and telecommunication networks.
The INL, located in the eastern Idaho desert, is developing software to analyze these complex networks for vulnerability to viruses or hackers, including terrorists.
“Industry is doing this to some extent on its own, but the federal government is doing this because it’s a large-scale task, and the federal government has an obligation to do whatever it can to protect its citizens,” said Ethan Huffman, an INL spokesman.
EPA sued over potential pesticide hazards
San Francisco The government has failed to protect the children of farmworkers from the harmful effects of pesticides, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by farmworkers, environmentalists and public health advocates.
The suit alleges that the Environmental Protection Agency has ignored scientific evidence that children who grow up near farms face increased health risks from exposure to hazardous pesticides from air, soil, water, food and clothing.
In the United States, more than 1 million children of farmworkers live near farms, including more than 300,000 children younger than 6 years old who are especially vulnerable to pesticide exposure, the suit says. Plaintiffs included the Pesticide Action Network, United Farm Workers of America and Natural Resources Defense Council.
The plaintiffs filed suit because the EPA allegedly failed to respond to their 1998 petition to recognize the special needs of farmworkers’ children when setting pesticide tolerance levels, as required by the 1996 federal Food Quality Protection Act.
In a statement, the EPA said it believed its “decisions are protective of children’s health and fully meet the toughest scientific and legal standards under the Food Quality Protection Act.”