In brief: DOE says incident wasn’t sabotage
A U.S. Department of Energy investigation into the removal and discarding of filters from eight drums containing radioactive waste at an eastern Idaho nuclear facility has determined that the incident was not an act of sabotage.
However, officials offered no explanation as to why an employee removed the filters, creating the potential for contaminating other workers.
The company responsible for processing the nuclear waste, Bechtel BWXT Idaho, said an employee confessed to removing the filters, according to Bechtel spokesman Rick Dale.
Officials have refused to identify the individual, who no longer works at the facility.
No one was contaminated, the company said.
Bechtel immediately increased security after the April 9 incident was discovered.
Ashford, Wash.
Cayuse Pass reopens today
The Transportation Department says crews will reopen Cayuse Pass at noon today, clearing a section of Highway 123 through Mount Rainier National Park in time for the Memorial Day weekend.
Cayuse Pass at an elevation of 4,675 feet is normally closed every winter by snow. The past two years the reopening was delayed for washout repairs.
Monroe, Wash.
Prison struggles to fill jobs
The state is having difficulty hiring dozens of correctional and medical workers for its largest prison, Monroe Correctional Complex.
Interim superintendent Dan Pacholke says the prison needs up to 55 new guards and about 30 health workers. Pacholke says new staff is needed for a 200-bed maximum security unit added this winter, and to replace employees going on military deployments abroad.
The Monroe prison has about 2,500 inmates and 1,100 employees.
Seattle
Suspected groper is in custody
Police say they have arrested a man suspected of groping nearly two dozen women in the past two years in south Seattle.
The man was taken into custody Thursday for investigation of robbery and assault allegations.
The break in the case came Saturday when a witness took down the license plate number of a man driving away after grabbing a woman from behind while she walked with a child.
Bremerton
Thieves cut down, remove old maples
Two old maple trees – one nearly 4 feet across – were cut down at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds and more than 20 other large maples were removed from the Bremerton watershed.
Officials suspect thieves take the aged hardwood for use in making furniture or musical instruments.
One man arrested Monday at the fairgrounds and a second man arrested Tuesday in the watershed are facing felony charges. Officials estimate the value of the fairgrounds trees at $25,000 and the watershed trees at more than $10,000.
Olympia
New highway map has larger type
The state Transportation Department says the latest update of the Washington highway map features bigger print for squinting baby boomers.
The map also lists the population for 281 cities.
The department says researchers and mapmakers drove every inch of Washington highways to ensure accuracy. It has produced the map every two years since 1931.
The map is free by calling (360) 705-7279 or online at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ publications/highwaymap
From wire reports