UW will dismantle long-idle reactor

The University of Washington plans to begin dismantling a nuclear reactor on campus that has sat idle for nearly 20 years.

The project, to begin Monday, will cost $4 million and take six months to remove all the dangerous materials, said Elizabeth Peterson, the UW project manager. Testing and final approval from federal regulators to demolish the building will take another six months, she said.

The reactor was built for training and educational purposes in 1959 and became operational two years later. The reactor stopped operating in 1988, and the fuel rods were removed in the following years. After the dismantling, the radioactive waste will be shipped to facilities at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Eastern Washington and in Utah, Peterson said.

Pacific, Wash.

Man fatally wounded by sheriff’s deputies

A man accused of confronting Pierce County sheriff’s deputies with a bow and arrow during a domestic violence call Thursday was shot and fatally wounded by a deputy, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Deputies encountered a 53-year-old man armed with a knife and a baseball bat when they arrived at a home about 3 p.m., spokesman Ed Troyer said. When deputies told him to put down the weapons, he did so, but came back up with the bow and pointed it at them, the spokesman said.

One officer fired three rounds, striking the man at least once, Troyer said.

The wounded man was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Tacoma. Troyer confirmed late Thursday night that the man died. He was not immediately identified. The deputy was placed on administrative leave; he was not immediately identified either.

Vancouver, Wash.

Disease breaks out at retirement home

Two elderly people have died in a norovirus outbreak that has sickened more than 40 residents and workers at the Cascade Inn retirement center, authorities said Thursday.

Clark County health officials have asked the center’s 180 residents to stay in their rooms and urged friends and family not to visit until the outbreak runs its course. The voluntary quarantine will remain in effect until four days after the last new diagnosis – perhaps another week, said Marni Storey, manager of the county health department’s infectious disease program.

One of the patients died late Wednesday and the other Thursday morning, officials said.

The norovirus is common and often takes the form of a mild stomach disorder. Symptoms can include nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. The virus strikes the elderly particularly hard if they suffer from other medical conditions, Storey said.

Tacoma

Woman sentenced for killing cats

A Spanaway woman was sentenced Thursday to 30 days in jail and 30 days of community service for killing her neighbor’s three cats with a meal of antifreeze-soaked chicken.

Pierce County prosecutors said Donna Clark, 42, placed the deadly mix in her backyard last May. Joe Ashbaugh’s cats Billy, Topper and Kiki ate the poisonous meal and died.

Prosecutors originally charged Clark with felony first-degree animal cruelty. That charge was eventually reduced to a misdemeanor – poisoning animals – and Clark pleaded guilty to that. Prosecutors said they couldn’t prove Clark intended to cause suffering or knew the cats would be fatally poisoned.