Region in brief: Teens’ parent to get notice of violations
Parents of teens who get cited for traffic violations in Bonner County will receive a letter from the sheriff.
“If my kid was out speeding or running a stop sign, I’d want to know,” Undersheriff Charlie Dennis said.
While a misdemeanor charge such as reckless driving requires a teen to appear in court with a parent or guardian, a citation for speeding can be paid at the clerk’s office without mom or dad’s knowledge, Dennis said. Eventually, he’d like to see the program expanded so parents are notified when teen drivers receive warnings.
Teens are at greatest risk of being in a motor vehicle crash in the first two years after they get their license, according to national statistics. An estimated 44 percent of all teen fatalities involve car wrecks.
The letters will be sent to parents of drivers under 18, in cooperation with the Idaho Transportation Department and the National Safety Council.
Kootenai County
12 hopefuls apply to replace Burton
A dozen local attorneys have applied to replace retiring Kootenai County Magistrate Judge Robert Burton.
The Magistrate Commission hopes to hire the new judge by March 1, a job that pays $103,780 per year plus state benefits, said Trial Court Administrator Karlene Behringer.
The candidates include former Kootenai County Attorney Erika Ellingsen Grubbs, who is in private practice in Wallace; County Attorney John Cafferty; Deputy County Prosecutor Barry Black; and county defense attorney Dennis Reuter.
The other applicants are Jennifer Brumley-Moore, Robert Caldwell, Anna Eckhart, Saviraj Grewal, Scot Nass, James Stow, Jay Sturgell and former county Deputy Prosecutor Rudy Verschoor.
Pullman
UPS driver saves horses from stable fire
Three horses escaped a fire at a Pullman stable early Friday thanks to a passer-by who opened their stalls before they were harmed, said Lester Erwin, chief of Whitman County Fire District Station 12.
A UPS worker saved the horses from the barn fire at Wonder Stables near the Moscow-Pullman Highway about 5:30 a.m., Erwin said.
The fire was caused by a water tank heater, Erwin said. The fire was contained in five minutes, he said.
hanford
Pact-ordered waste treatment finished
The Department of Energy and its contractor Fluor Hanford have finished treating enough low-level radioactive waste mixed with hazardous chemicals to fill 31,346 drums.
The legally binding Tri-Party Agreement required that the waste be treated by the end of December. Work was finished Thursday.
The waste included a backlog of old waste stored in buildings until it could be treated, items contaminated during ongoing cleanup of Hanford and waste dug up from burial grounds.
OLYMPIA
Help available for more flood victims
Flood victims in King and Snohomish counties have been added to the list of people getting individual assistance after this month’s storm and floods.
Gov. Chris Gregoire announced Friday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has added the two counties to the individual disaster declaration.
Residents and businesses in nine counties are now eligible for individual assistance: King, Snohomish, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Thurston, Clallam and Kitsap. They can get housing grants, financial aid loans and other help.
Governments in 12 counties are getting help from the federal government to repair public facilities. Those counties are Grays Harbor, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Thurston, Clallam, Jefferson, King, Skagit, Snohomish and Wahkiakum.
SEATTLE
Operator fined for mishandling waste
The company that operates the Idaho National Laboratory has agreed to pay $61,000 in fines for mishandling chemical waste at the eastern Idaho facility.
The agreement to pay the fine was announced Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA officials say Battelle Energy Alliance and its project contractor, Wheeler Electric, mishandled waste containing Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.
The problems stem from a July 2006 spill of PCBs when a Wheeler employee removed oily cable from a conduit near a power plant on the INL facility. EPA officials say the cable oil had levels of PCBs well above allowable levels.
Contamination occurred when workers later dragged the oily cable through the building, then left the job site with contaminated boots and clothing.
HELENA
Montana pushes for grizzly delisting
The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission is pushing the federal government to finish an analysis that could lead to removal of all the grizzly bears in the state from the endangered species list.
The commission adopted a new resolution Thursday that asks the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finish its analysis and status review of grizzly bears in Montana by the end of 2008.
The panel wants all grizzlies in the state removed from the endangered species list, not just those in the greater Yellowstone area. The FWP resolution also calls for complete funding for management of grizzly bears. The agency estimates it will cost $1.6 million this year to manage the grizzly population.
“The commission is just interested in making sure that the Fish and Wildlife Service understands how important it is to Montana that they complete this process in a timely fashion,” said Chris Smith, chief of staff for Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
HOOD RIVER, Ore.
Cancer patients enjoy lost gourmet fruit
A vanished batch of packages from a Hood River fruit company turned into a holiday delight for some cancer patients in Maine.
The Fruit Company, which sells gourmet fruit, typically sends out more than 6,000 gifts a day with little problem.
But sometimes mistakes happen.
At the height of the busy season this week, 80 packages disappeared and couldn’t be found. Eventually the recipient called. A technical glitch had sent all 80 boxes to the Maine Center for Cancer Medicine.
The center got to play Santa for the patients – many of whom were struggling through snowstorms to get to their chemotherapy treatment.
The company says they are thrilled the glitch ended in such an amazing way. The Fruit Company created new packages for the 80 intended recipients and sent them overnight to arrive Friday.