In brief: Roads shut down after cars strike poles
Two busy Spokane arterials were blocked for about an hour Friday after cars struck power poles.
North Monroe Street was blocked near West Cora after a 25-year-old Spokane man lost control of his vehicle, broke a wooden power pole and crossed several lanes of traffic. Brian W. Selby was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs.
About an hour later, West Wellesley Avenue was blocked between Wall and Division streets. A driver hit a power pole around 4:10 pm., sending the pole and power lines across the road, Spokane police Cpl. Jon Strickland said.
Another vehicle had swerved to avoid a pedestrian in a crosswalk and entered the path of the car, sending it into the pole. The driver of the vehicle that swerved will be charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian, Strickland said.
Boise
Boise State may expand Greek system
Officials at Boise State University are looking for ways to encourage fraternities and sororities at the school.
“Boise State is ripe to have a fraternity and sorority system,” said Alan Derr, a local lawyer who attended the University of Idaho and the University of Illinois. “It’s a growing university.”
Derr is a member of a committee looking at whether it is feasible at Boise State to expand the Greek system past the current four fraternities and four sororities.
Derr’s own fraternity, Tau Kappa Epsilon, had a chapter at Boise State until it disbanded in 1989, unable to gain support among the school’s mostly commuter population.
“The membership faded away, and the house was sold,” he said.
During his state of the university address, BSU President Bob Kustra said strengthening the Greek system is a priority as the student population grows and the school works to enhance research programs and graduate departments.
John McGuire, associate vice president for student affairs, said studies show fraternities and sororities help universities attract and retain good students.
McGuire, a member of Chi Phi at Oregon State University, said Boise State had Greeks on campus for at least 30 years. But he said many students at the school are older, married or attending part-time, making them unlikely to be interested in joining.
Still, he said: “A number of our students are expressing interest in fraternities and sororities. A number of national organizations are expressing interest in coming back or establishing themselves on campus. It’s kind of a Greek renaissance here on campus.”
Kustra’s wife, Kathy Kustra, is on the Greek committee and was herself a Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Illinois.
“It was a steadying influence for me,” she said. “It helped me to have an immediate network of juniors and seniors who were there to help in my major, communications. It helped me academically a lot.”
SNOQUALMIE PASS, Wash.
Chain installer cited for smoking pot
A chain installer was cited by the State Patrol after he was found smoking pot to pass the time as he waited to assist drivers with their snow chains near Snoqualmie Pass in the Washington Cascades.
Trooper Jeff Merrill said the 27-year-old man from Bellevue was cited and released on Thursday for possession of marijuana and smoking a controlled substance.
Merrill said the man was parked off Interstate 90 in a truck with a 26-year-old Issaquah man, waiting to install tire chains for drivers for a fee.
He said the man who was allegedly smoking marijuana turned over what he called a “substantial amount” of pot in a bag.
The other installer, who was asleep behind the wheel, was not found to be impaired and was released.
Merrill said both men are no longer permitted to install chains along the freeway.
OLYMPIA
Pet birds could be sick, officials say
A warning has been issued to the public that some recently purchased cockatiels or other pet birds may pose a health risk to people who are exposed to them.
The Washington State Department of Health said Friday that some birds shipped by a national wholesale distributor tested positive for avian chlamydiosis. Health officials say about 20 PetSmart stores in 11 counties in the state have received birds from the vendor.
Officials say the pet store chain has voluntarily removed all birds supplied by the vendor and is treating its sick and exposed birds with antibiotics.
The department said there have been no reports so far of people in the state contracting the human form of the disease, called psittacosis.
The bacterium can be passed from birds to people when dust from dried bird droppings or respiratory secretions is inhaled. Symptoms of infection – usually about five to 19 days after exposure – may include fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and cough.
BREMERTON
Shower argument leads to assault arrest
A 25-year-old woman was arrested for investigation of second-degree assault for getting into an argument with her boyfriend over whether his dog should be in the bathroom while the couple was taking a shower together.
A police report said the 26-year-old man wanted his dog to join them in the bathroom, but the woman objected on Thursday night.
She told him if the dog wouldn’t stay out, she didn’t want to be his girlfriend anymore. He replied that maybe his next girlfriend would appreciate the dog more and called her a name.
The police report said the woman punched him in the face several times and the man dislocated his shoulder when the naked couple grappled. He told police his girlfriend threw a picture frame, which broke and cut him.
The woman was taken to the Kitsap County Jail in Port Orchard. Bail has been set at $50,000.