In brief: SUV driver strikes officer, leads chase on interstate
VANCOUVER, Wash. – Police are looking for two people accused of hitting an officer with a vehicle in Battle Ground, Wash., before leading police in a high-speed chase.
Battle Ground police say an officer responded to a report Saturday morning of a man hitting a woman inside a vehicle. When the couple saw the officer, police say, the female driver intentionally struck the officer in the hip and thigh area. He was not seriously injured and didn’t require medical attention. Police did not identify the officer.
Authorities pursued the vehicle on Interstate 5 as the driver allegedly tried to ram police cars and other vehicles on the road. It was last seen exiting the freeway near Interstate 205.
The vehicle was described as a newer, silver Volkswagen sport-utility vehicle with an Oregon temporary registration.
Arson suspected in fire that killed boys, 4 and 6
WENATCHEE – Investigators say a fire that killed two young boys in Wenatchee earlier this week was probably arson.
Detective Sgt. John Kruse said a final decision about the cause of the fire will be made in a few weeks after samples are examined by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab.
The bodies of two boys, ages 4 and 6, were found on the ground floor of the duplex that burned Thursday night.
KPQ radio reported that Kruse said the incident may have been gang related. There were gang members living in the house, and it has been a target of gang violence in the past.
The 28-year-old father burned during the fire remains at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle in serious but stable condition.
Man found injured near railroad tracks
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – Police in Springfield are trying to figure out how a man was injured before he was found lying on the ground near railroad tracks.
Police Sgt. John Umenhofer told the Register-Guard newspaper that officers still have no idea if the man fell, jumped or was hit by a train. Police have not identified the man but say he is in his 30s.
He was in a hospital’s intensive care unit on Friday.
Police say they believe the man has been ticketed before for riding a train illegally.
He was discovered Wednesday evening with injuries to his head and arms.
4-H member burned trying to save animals
MISSOULA – Authorities say a teenage girl from Florence was severely burned after trying to rescue her 4-H sheep from a garage that caught fire.
Florence Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brian Lambson told the Missoulian newspaper that the fire started about 3 p.m. Friday from a barbecue that spread to a haystack and then to the garage.
Lambson said the girl suffered burns to her back, arms, legs and feet and was taken by ambulance to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. Her condition was unavailable.
Lambson said two sheep and about 10 chickens died in the fire.
He said the fire was an accident, but having the barbecue next to the haystack and garage was a bad combination.
Plane lands on gravel bar after propeller hits bird
BLACKFOOT, Idaho – The pilot of a small plane landed on a gravel bar in the middle of the Snake River in eastern Idaho after a bird struck the aircraft’s propeller.
Pilot Joel Milloway said he felt a bad vibration after the collision on Friday so he shut off the power, then spotted a gravel bar right in front of him and made an emergency landing in the aircraft he built himself.
KIFI-TV reported that law enforcement officials picked up Milloway in a boat and he obtained a different propeller and returned and made repairs and took off again.
Electronic waste recycling increases
EUGENE, Ore. – State environmental officials say a 3-year-old program to encourage electronic waste recycling is picking up steam.
The Department of Environmental Quality told the Register-Guard that the Oregon E-Cycles program collected 12.2 million pounds of televisions, computers and monitors known as “e-waste” during the first six months of 2011.
That’s up from the 11.9 million pounds of e-waste collected in the first half of last year. Officials say the program collected an additional 18,000 devices.
The recycling program was launched in January 2009 and is financed by electronics manufacturers. State officials say a television, computer and monitor disposal ban that went into effect in 2010 probably has boosted collections of e-waste this year.
Nine zoo-raised turtles to be released into wild
VANCOUVER, Wash. – A group of western pond turtles raised at the Oregon Zoo will be released into the Columbia River Gorge next week.
The Columbian newspaper reported the release is part a recovery plan started in 1991 by Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The Oregon Zoo joined in 2000.
Nine turtles will return to the wild next week, 11 months after they were brought to the Oregon Zoo to be raised in safety.
Wildlife officials say allowing them to grow before putting them back into the wild improves their chances of survival.
Keeping the turtles in simulated summer conditions helps them put on three years of growth in less than a year. Zoo officials believe that improves their survival rate to 95 percent.
No turkey salmonella cases in Washington
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Health said there have been no cases of salmonella in Washington state associated with the recent recall of ground turkey from Cargill Value Added Meats Retail.
Some of the recalled turkey was distributed in the state, but no illnesses related to that product have been reported. Consumers are advised to return any unused portion of the recalled meat to the stores where they bought it. Cargill products were distributed in Washington at Walmart and WinCo stores.
Health officials note that thorough cooking and safe handling and preparation of meat and poultry will kill bacteria like salmonella.
ATM ‘skimmer’ found at Portland market
PORTLAND – Police in Portland are trying to figure out who attached a device to steal bank account information from an ATM at the city’s popular Saturday Market.
Authorities said the device was discovered Saturday by an alert visitor. They were unsure how long the device known as a “skimmer” had been attached the automatic teller.
The device scans cars to capture bank account and passcode information from unsuspecting users.
Police urge people who have used an ATM at the Saturday Market to check with their bank for suspicious activity and file a police report if they discover fraudulent charges.