In brief: Span drops into river during construction
A crane removing a closed Stevens County bridge malfunctioned Tuesday, sending the span crashing into the Kettle River.
Nobody was injured when the steel truss fell on a construction barge, said Jim Whitbread, public works director for Stevens County. The county was in the early stages of a yearlong project to replace the Hedlund Bridge, which crosses the Kettle River where it hits the Columbia.
The contractor, Harcon Construction, had removed the paved bridge deck and was lifting away the truss when the crane’s arm snapped, Whitbread said Wednesday. Harcon and the county Department of Public Works will meet Monday to decide how to remove the mangled bridge from the river.
The Northport-Flat Creek Road bridge, just off U.S. Highway 395, was closed last month. A detour over the Napoleon Bridge north of Boyds will let travelers reach a campground near the Hedlund Bridge.
“We’re replacing the bridge because it’s a steel structure and we don’t want what happened in other parts of the country to happen to this bridge,” Whitbread said, referring to the Aug. 1 collapse of an interstate highway bridge in Minneapolis.
A new Hedlund Bridge is scheduled to open next summer, Whitbread said.
– Nick Eaton
Spokane County
Writers needed for pamphlet statements
Spokane County commissioners are looking for a few good tax pundits. Fast ones.
They’re looking for a half-dozen people to write voter pamphlet statements for and against a proposed 0.1 percent sales tax to restore Crime Check and upgrade emergency communications equipment.
Commissioners ask anyone who wants to serve on pro and con committees of up to three people each to contact them by noon Friday. The committees must complete their work by the following Friday.
To volunteer, send an e-mail to kcondon@spokanecounty.org or deliver a letter to: Board of County Commissioners, 1116 W. Broadway Ave., Spokane, WA 99260.
For more information, call Kristin Condon at (509) 477-2265.
– John Craig
Motorcyclist hits pickup, flips into bed
A motorcyclist crashed into a U-turning pickup and flipped into its bed Wednesday, only to be driven for a block before the truck stopped.
The 47-year-old male motorcyclist, whose name was not available late Wednesday, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, said Cpl. Tom Lee of the Spokane Police Department. Jim M. Wilson, 62, who did the illegal U-turn in his pickup at Francis Avenue and Cedar Street, was arrested for vehicular assault after being processed for DUI. He was not injured.
Wilson stopped at Francis and Adams Street, where citizens reportedly detained him until police arrived shortly after 6 p.m., Lee said. Paramedics attended to the motorcyclist, who was still in the truck bed even though his motorcycle was a block west.
A city bus had almost smashed into the pickup at Cedar but was able to stop in time, Lee said. Early 911 calls reported that the motorcyclist hit the bus.
Assistant Chief Brian Schaeffer, of the Spokane Fire Department, said the crash was “possibly one of the oddest I have been to.”
– Nick Eaton