In brief: Oso slide response earns deputy honor

EVERETT – A Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy has been named the state’s law enforcement officer of the year for his quick decision-making after the devastating Oso landslide.

The Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs said Deputy Glen Bergstrom’s performance was “above and beyond.”

Bergstrom, who lives in the Oso area, knew the sheriff’s rescue helicopter was on the flight pad for a scheduled training at the time of the March 22 slide, which killed 43 people. He quickly ordered it to respond, lined up a jet fuel delivery and selected a safe refueling area.

The Sheriff’s Office said Bergstrom worked on search and recovery operations for months, and he was there when the last victim was found in July.

Bergstrom is a 28-year veteran and has spent 15 years assigned to search-and-rescue. He has also worked patrol, narcotics, burglary, and as a helicopter crew chief and cadaver dog handler.

New baby orca spotted off Canada

SEATTLE – The Center for Whale Research said a baby orca has been born to the endangered population of killer whales that frequent Puget Sound.

Research center scientist Ken Balcomb said he and another scientist spotted the new baby Tuesday in J pod. That’s one of three families of whales that spend time in the inland waters of Washington and Canada.

He said the mother whale is J-16, a 43-year-old female that has had three surviving calves and two nonsurviving calves.

The new baby is estimated to be a day or two old and appeared healthy.

The baby orca was seen swimming with its mother and 8-year-old sister off the Canadian Gulf Islands of British Columbia.

The news is being celebrated after the death of a 19-year-old pregnant orca earlier this month.

The birth brings the Puget Sound orca population to 78.

Dead snowshoer’s identity confirmed

TACOMA – The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office said it has confirmed the identity of a snowshoer killed in a severe storm on Mount Rainier over the weekend.

The man was identified Tuesday as 37-year-old Louis Landry, of Puyallup.

Park officials said Landry was heading up to spend Saturday night at Camp Muir, a stone shelter more than 10,000 feet up the 14,410-foot volcano, when the snowstorm forced him to turn back.

Two other people took him into their tent and snow cave at Panorama Point, at 6,800 feet, but the three of them abandoned the camp when one of the walls collapsed. They descended together toward the visitor center at Paradise, but Landry became separated from the others.

Search teams found his body Monday.

Deceased officer in line-of-duty list

YAKIMA – A report released Tuesday by the nonprofit National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund lists 126 officers killed in the line of duty in 2014, including one in Washington.

That was Wapato Police Officer Derek Hansen. The 43-year-old collapsed at his home in Zillah and died in March of blood clots in his lungs.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reported the death was ruled a homicide because the clots were linked to a shoulder injury Hansen suffered in 2011 while struggling with a suspect who resisted arrest.

County Prosecutor Jim Hagarty decided not to file a charge in the death because it would be difficult to prove it was caused by the suspect.

Hansen was put on light duty after the incident and retired in 2013 with problems with his shoulder.