Center will get pre-Olympics test

Mon., July 27, 2009

From Staff And Wire Reports

SEATTLE – When the 2010 Winter Olympics open in Vancouver, B.C., next February, a new $4 million communications center at Bellingham International Airport 45 miles south will be a key site for counterterrorism and security operations.

Officials say a key goal of the center is to make sure travelers move through the border safely and quickly.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano arrives today to tour the Olympic Coordination Center, which this week begins a pre-Olympics trial run tied to the World Police and Fire Games in Vancouver from Friday through Aug. 9.

The center will then shut down until the Olympics, when it is expected to operate at closer to capacity, with seating for 54 representatives of up to 40 state, federal, local, tribal and Canadian agencies, said Washington State Patrol Capt. Greg Miller, lead planner for the center.

The center would not direct any emergency responses into Canada unless the Canadian government first asked the Obama administration, he said.

Driver killed in crash near Wallace, Idaho

A Federal Way, Wash., man died in a car crash Sunday morning on Interstate 90 near Wallace, Idaho.

Bart Simon, 68, was driving west on I-90 and, for unknown reasons, he went off the roadway at milepost 58. The car, a 2006 Subaru Tribeca, hit a tree, overturned and came to rest in an upright position, according to Idaho State Police.

Simon was pronounced dead at Shoshone Medical Center. A passenger in the car, Judy Simon, suffered minor injuries. Both were wearing seat belts. An investigation is continuing.

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