In brief: Burn ban extended in North Idaho
The National Weather Service has extended an air stagnation advisory for the five Idaho Panhandle counties, prompting a Stage One burn ban.
All open burning is prohibited in Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai, Shoshone and Benewah counties through Monday, according to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
Air stagnation is expected to continue through much of this week, a DEQ news release said.
Man missing at chemical plant
LONGVIEW, Wash. – Emergency workers using a front-end loader and a vacuum truck searched a large pile of salt at a chemical plant in Longview for a missing worker.
Authorities said Saturday the employee at the Equa-Chlor plant apparently was making rounds on Christmas Day and didn’t return.
They say there were no witnesses to an accident; attention turned to the salt pile only after the rest of the plant had been searched. Search and rescue dogs were brought in but had turned up nothing by nightfall Saturday.
The man’s vehicle was still at the plant. Authorities have not released his name. They say foul play is not suspected.
Street sign thefts irk city officials
MISSOULA – Mary Jane Boulevard has had its street sign swiped numerous times, according to a Missoula official who says he’s seen more signs stolen in 2009 than any other year.
Wayne Gravatt, who became Missoula’s traffic services coordinator 15 years ago, said 79 signs went missing in one neighborhood this year and recent thefts ate up 20 percent of his annual budget.
To help reduce thefts, the markers for the boulevard named Mary Jane, slang for marijuana, were changed to “MJ BLVD.”
Gravatt said missing signs can delay emergency responders heading for fires or to people with medical problems.
“It’s saving a house or saving a life,” Gravatt said. “There’s just a lot more to it than the innocent act. It’s a dumb thing to do, but it could be absolutely catastrophic.”
The signs cost up to $32.50, and stealing one is a misdemeanor.
Soldier’s family gets donations
ST. ANTHONY, Idaho – The wife and two children of an Idaho soldier serving 10 years in prison following his 2008 conviction of unpremeditated murder in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi have received $1,000 cash and presents from an anonymous donor.
The family of Evan Vela has expressed gratitude for the Christmas donation.
Curtis Carnahan, Vela’s father, said Vela’s wife and children are living in the Kansas City area to be near Vela, who is being held at a military prison at Fort Leavenworth.
Carnahan said a group called United American Patriots is paying Vela’s legal fees to appeal his conviction, as well as helping support the family financially.