EWU student drowns during rafting trip

An Eastern Washington University freshman on a whitewater rafting trip drowned in the Clark Fork River’s Alberton Gorge west of Missoula after she was pinned under a log.

The victim was Sara Varnum, of Lake Stevens, Wash., Eastern Washington University Police Chief Tim Walters said Monday. She was on a trip sponsored by EPIC Adventures, which offers rafting and other outdoors trips for EWU students.

Missoula County Sheriff Mike McMeekin said Varnum, 18, was in a group of students in several rafts Saturday.

“They were doing everything right,” McMeekin said Sunday. “They were wearing helmets, had good PFDs (life jackets) and good wet suits.”

But a log had lodged in the Clark Fork River overnight Friday, creating a dangerous underwater trap rafters refer to as a “strainer.” Commercial rafters spotted the log early Saturday and canceled some trips. But the group from EWU did not know of the hazard, McMeekin said.

“She was immediately pulled under the log and pinned,” he said.

– From staff and wire reports

spokane

Surveyors count 2,200 homeless

A one-day survey found more than 2,200 homeless people in Spokane, the city’s Human Services Department said Monday.

In a 24-hour period, the surveyors found about 1,592 people living on the streets, in shelters or in transitional housing. Another 642 homeless people were living with friends or family.

“If anything, it’s a little low,” said Amy Jones, the city’s acting human services director.

Jones said the count was “very important … We have to know the population we’re serving in order to effectively help them.”

The city worked with Spokane County, state agencies and nonprofit organizations. The Legislature required the first-time count for the city to access new state funding, according to a city press release.

In 2003, the city reported that 9,148 different people had sought homeless services at some point during the previous year.

More information on the count is available by calling the Human Services Department at (509) 625-6130.

– Benjamin Shors

Pullman

Truck crash spills beer on Highway 195

Kegs, bottles and cans of Miller beer spilled near Pullman on Monday morning after a truck crashed on U.S. Highway 195.

The driver apparently blamed the bright sunlight.

Mark E. Harris, 45, of Spokane, was headed south on Highway 195 when he reached over to grab his sunglasses and jerked the wheel toward the shoulder, WSP Sgt. Brad Hudson said. “It’s a mess,” said Hudson, shortly after the crash.

The refrigerated truck, headed to Lewiston on a regular delivery route, lost much of its load about 7 a.m., Hudson said. But the kegs were still intact, and the road wasn’t blocked.

Harris will likely get a ticket, Hudson said.

– Jody Lawrence-Turner