Region in brief: Motorcyclist injured in collision
A 40-year-old Elk man was hospitalized Thursday after colliding with a pickup while riding his motorcycle in the Spokane Valley.
James Carry Grant was listed in serious condition at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center on Thursday night.
Grant was driving his 1982 Honda motorcycle west on East Trent Avenue about 4 p.m. when a 1993 Mazda pickup pulled out in front of him at the intersection with North Progress Road, according to the Washington State Patrol. Grant struck the pickup, driven by Frank Martin Daniels, 56, of Spokane Valley. Daniels was cited for failure to yield the right of way, WSP said.
He was wearing a seatbelt, and Grant was wearing a helmet. The motorcycle was totaled, and the pickup suffered around $700 in damage, WSP said.
Detectives probe boy’s death
Spokane County sheriff’s detectives are investigating the death of a 4-year-old who may have fallen from the back of a truck near Mount Spokane on Wednesday.
The boy and his family, whose names were not released, were gathering firewood near North Wallis Road and East Elliot Road, said Sgt. Dave Reagan.
The boy “reportedly fell from a truck onto a pile of wood” and died of internal injuries, but detectives are sifting through conflicting witness accounts, Reagan said.
The boy’s father called 911 en route to a fire station at North Market Street and East Farwell Road about 6 p.m.
Detectives continue to interview witnesses, Reagan said.
Nickels losing in re-election bid
SEATTLE – Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is losing ground in his bid for a third term.
King County elections officials released more results Thursday, showing Nickels with 25.6 percent of the vote. That’s a little better than the 25.2 percent he had Wednesday, but he’s still trailing T-Mobile executive Joe Mallahan and Sierra Club activist Mike McGinn.
Mallahan had 27.2 percent to McGinn’s 26.7 percent. The top two advance to the general election in November.
An estimated 81 percent of the projected vote has been counted. Nickels is 1,170 votes out of second place.
Falling tree kills forest worker
BAKER CITY, Ore. – A U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman says an employee of her agency died Thursday when he was struck by a falling tree as he helped to clean up a marijuana-growing operation southwest of Unity in eastern Oregon.
The Baker County Narcotics Team was removing a marijuana garden in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest when the dead tree fell.
Efforts to revive the man were unsuccessful. He was not immediately identified.
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest spokeswoman Judy Wing says the pot was found about three miles past the end of a forest road near the west fork of Bull Run Creek.
Wing says Forest Service crews often assist in marijuana eradication, pulling out plants, gathering up garbage and assessing the environmental damage caused by the operations.