Roundup: Woman undresses on sidewalk

A woman in her 30s caused a minor scene Thursday evening when she began to disrobe on the sidewalk in front of a popular downtown Spokane bar, leaving a trail of clothes in her wake.

The woman, who was not named, was likely very intoxicated and required medical attention from fire crews, said a Spokane police officer on the scene.

A group of young men standing in front of Trick Shot Dixie near the intersection of Sprague Avenue and Washington Street reported the woman to police.

“She took off her shirt, then her pants, then went into the parking garage and started talking to the door,” one of the men said.

The woman received medical care and would likely not face charges for the incident, as medical needs were a greater concern, the officer said.

Methow Valley

North Cascades Highway reopens

The North Cascades Highway reopened for spring and summer travel on Thursday, more than two weeks ahead of the state Transportation Department’s schedule.

Cooperative weather stabilized snow conditions, allowing snow-clearing crews to work much faster than originally anticipated, said Don Becker, Twisp maintenance supervisor for the Transportation Department.

Crews started the clearing effort on State Route 20 on March 26.

The highway was closed for the winter last Nov. 13 because of avalanches.

Over the previous eight years, the pass has reopened for traffic between March 10 and May 7.

Tacoma

Bridge users get electronic option

The state Department of Transportation has begun giving out decal transponders so drivers can cross the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge when it opens in July without having to stop to pay a toll.

Decal owners will also need to set up accounts to have their bridge tolls automatically deducted from their debit account when a scanner detects their vehicle crossing.

State officials hope at least 25,000 people will sign up before the bridge opens so traffic will flow smoothly across the new $849 million suspension bridge, being built next to the existing 1950 span.

Blackfoot, Idaho

No need to fret, giant spud is back

Some fretted that the giant plastic foam potato that has celebrated Bingham County’s spud-growing prowess for more than 20 years had been snatched by vandals – but it was just taking time out for a makeover.

Four weeks after it vanished, the giant potato is back on its perch in front of the Potato Expo museum.

Merlin Wright, the Potato Expo’s financial officer, said he received at least 30 telephone calls from people wondering about the tuber, which is roughly 20 feet wide and 8 feet high.

“People from Canada would come in asking about the potato,” Wright said. “They wanted to take their pictures in front of it.”

But the potato was beginning to show the effects of age, weather and pranks, prompting museum board members to spend $2,500 on restoration and preservation.

The potato symbolizes the industry in Bingham County, which produces about 2 billion pounds of taters annually.

From staff and wire reports