Woman hit by car in stable condition
A 39-year-old woman remained in stable condition Monday after being hit by a car on U.S. Highway 2 near Airway Heights.
Angela M. Thompson was crossing the highway just east of Hayford Road about 10 p.m. Sunday when she was struck by a Volkswagen Jetta.
She was taken to Deaconess Medical Center.
Thompson was not in a crosswalk, and the driver, Jamie N. Whitman, 22, was not cited.
Spokane
Top Bloomsday performer named
Country singer Breanna Abell won the race for best performer along the Bloomsday race route.
Winners in the fourth annual contest were announced Monday.
Abell, who performed on Broadway Avenue at Maple Street, won the $500 first prize last year as well.
Bucket drummers Rhythm Envy placed second for $300, with the pop/punk band If You’re Lucky coming in third, for $200.
More than 700 people voted in the contest, with 147 of those votes going to Abell.
Twenty-five performers entertained runners and walkers during the May 6 race.
OLYMPIA
Law gives tuition to dead soldiers’ kids
The state’s public universities and colleges will waive tuition and fees for spouses and children of fallen soldiers under a measure signed into law Monday.
“Helping these children and spouses succeed in education is the least we could do,” Gov. Chris Gregoire said before signing the bill.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, takes effect in July.
It will cover spouses and children of active-duty and National Guard members killed, disabled, captured or missing in action.
After losing so much, “this will ensure they can move forward and get an education,” Hewitt said.
The bill unanimously passed the House and Senate during the legislative session that ended last month.
Currently, Washington’s colleges and universities have the option of waiving all or part of tuition and fees for the survivors of eligible veterans or National Guard members.
STEVENSON, Wash.
Homeowners burn down sliding house
A plume of smoke and the sound of breaking glass signaled the destruction of Bill and Annette LaCombe’s dream home, one that teetered on the edge of ruin for more than a year.
The house sat on a bluff overlooking Rock Creek, but in the past year had been threatened by a slow-moving landslide that was eating away at the home’s 2-acre site.
Already having moved the house back once, Bill LaCombe decided to use his skills as a volunteer firefighter and burn the home to the ground.
“I couldn’t let it all slide into the creek, where my kids swim,” said LaCombe, a Stevenson High School teacher in the community about 25 miles up the Columbia River from Portland.
On Saturday, LaCombe took a final walk through the home where he and his family had lived for more than eight years, before starting a series of fires throughout the house.
Burning the house seemed the best option; the ground around the area was no longer stable.
To prepare for the burn, LaCombe needed a fire permit and approval from the mortgage holder, GMAC Mortgage. Hazardous building materials, like asbestos, also had to be removed.
Fire crews were onsite, using the burn as practice and to make sure the flames didn’t spread to neighboring buildings.
GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore.
Rescued climbers not fully prepared
Volunteers who helped rescue five men from Mount Hood over the weekend said the climbers were well-equipped but ill-prepared to tackle whiteout conditions.
“These guys had the correct equipment – maps, compass, altimeter, cell phone, mountain locator unit,” said rescuer Steve Rollins.
But not all of them knew how to use the equipment, and the climbers were also unfamiliar with the mountain’s geographic features, he said.
The climbers, who used a cell phone to call for help Saturday night, were identified as Brian Anderson, 24, of Portland; Ben Elkind, 22, of Lake Oswego; Bryce Benge, 29, of Lake Oswego; Jeremiah West, 28, of Portland; and Brian Weihs, 39, of Hillsboro. All were in good condition when they reached Timberline Lodge just before midnight, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said.