Snowmobiler injured in backcountry crash
An 18-year-old Waverly, Idaho, man remained hospitalized in fair condition Sunday after a snowmobile accident sent him plunging 30 feet down an embankment and into a tree on a remote road in northeast Kootenai County.
Jacob L. Giem had to be hauled out of the backcountry by ambulance sled and then taken to Kootenai Medical Center after the accident, which occurred at about 9 p.m. Saturday. Rescue crews from the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department and the Northern Lakes Fire Department were sent to Forest Service Road 1532, about two miles from Walker Saddle in the Panhandle National Forest.
There, they discovered that Giem had missed a curve in the road, slid down the embankment and into a large tree. The force of the impact apparently knocked off his helmet, and Giem suffered head and abdominal injuries, officials said in a press release. He was riding with a group of people at the time of the accident.
– JoNel Aleccia
Yakima
Fire leaves one dead, many homeless
An explosive fire in an apartment house killed one man and displaced about 50 other residents.
The cause of the fire about 8 p.m. Saturday was not immediately known, but there was an explosion in the unit where the man died, Deputy Fire Chief Charlie Hines said.
“We don’t know the cause yet and we’re not going to speculate,” Hines told the Yakima Herald Republic. “The key is, there was an explosion prior to the fire.”
The victim was not immediately identified. An autopsy was planned today, Yakima County Coroner Maury Rice said.
Several tenants had to be rescued by firefighters who used ladders to reach occupants on the second and third floors of the complex.
The old building was home to more than 50 tenants, most of them living on some form of disability or welfare, the Herald Republic reported.
– Associated Press
Mount Rainier National Park
Skier killed in avalanche identified
A skier killed in an avalanche in an out-of-bounds area at the Crystal Mountain ski resort has been identified as a 54-year-old Burien man.
Stanley Lowell Quande died in a backcountry area of Mount Rainier National Park adjacent to the ski area, the park said in a news release Sunday.
The avalanche occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday when Quande and a male companion, identified only as D. Currie, were in an area that was roped off and marked as permanently closed to skiing, officials said. Currie was not hurt.
While descending, Quande was caught in the avalanche, and was carried along on top of it for several seconds before he disappeared, the release said.
– Associated Press
Spokane
Governor appoints two to state boards
Two Spokane-area residents have been appointed by Gov. Chris Gregoire to serve on state boards.
Greer Gibson Bacon, who owns Asset Planning and Management Inc. in Spokane, will serve on the state Securities Advisory Committee, the governor’s office announced. The committee examines and licenses securities brokers, dealers, salespeople and investment advisers, and advises state officials on securities-related issues.
Holly Michaels, a computer programmer and Spokane Valley Community Center volunteer, will serve on the Eastern State Hospital Advisory Board, the governor’s office said. The board is responsible for monitoring hospital operations, making recommendations to the governor and Legislature, and consulting with the state Department of Social and Health Services on the selection of superintendents.
– From staff reports