In brief: Public meeting set on lynx habitat

A public meeting to discuss critical habitat for Canada lynx is scheduled for Wednesday at the Oxford Suites, 1501 E. Indiana Ave.

It runs from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The secretive forest cat, which lives mainly on a diet of snowshoe hares, was listed as an endangered species in 2000. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to designate 42,753 square miles nationwide as critical lynx habitat, including 2,000 acres in Chelan and Okanogan counties. All of the proposed areas have recent records of lynx occupation and reproduction, the agency said.

Washington’s Kettle Range was not included in the critical habitat proposal. Although the area appears to be high quality lynx habitat, officials said they don’t have evidence of a reproducing lynx population in the range.

PORTLAND

Passengers to be reimbursed

Majestic America Line says it will reimburse the passengers aboard a cruise ship where a small fire in the engine room cut short a trip up the Columbia River.

And, it says, the 124 passengers will get a half-off deal the next time they take a cruise, within the next 12 months.

After the fire was put out Tuesday, the 230-foot Queen of the West was towed to a Washington state park, where the passengers got off and were taken away on buses.

The Coast Guard said Wednesday it was being towed to the Port of Camas-Washougal to wait until it goes to a shipyard for repairs.

Officers say they haven’t yet pinpointed the cause of the fire.

WASHINGTON

Murray decries Hanford cuts

Sen. Patty Murray says it is “disgraceful” that the Bush administration wants to cut funding for cleanup of the Hanford nuclear site in Washington state.

Murray told an Energy Department official Wednesday that she almost can’t believe the president’s budget request, which would cut spending for cleaning the former weapons plant by about $36.5million. Murray calls cleanup of Hanford a moral and legal obligation.

Assistant Energy Secretary James Rispoli acknowledged the administration will likely miss required milestones for the cleanup, but said the $1.9 billion request was the best officials could do in a tight budget year.

He said the administration is continuing talks with Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire to meet new cleanup deadlines.

GREAT FALLS

Woman helped son make bombs

A woman accused of helping her 16-year-old son make pipe bombs in her home pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony possession of explosives.

Rae Lynn Funston, 43, entered her plea in District Court. Under the terms of a plea agreement, prosecutors recommended the sentence be deferred for two years. If Funston follows certain conditions and doesn’t break any laws for two years, the charge will be dismissed.

Funston, of Great Falls, was arrested in October after a juvenile probation officer conducting a routine search found two pipe bombs in her son’s room. The search was a condition of the teenager’s probation. Funston told officers that she helped make the bombs, but it wasn’t clear what they were for.