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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Panel calls for details on timber harvest plans

From Wire Reports

OLYMPIA – The Forest Practice Board voted Wednesday that the Washington state Department of Natural Resources should require landowners to provide more technical information when planning timber harvests near potentially unstable slopes.

Timber harvests are already prohibited where they might affect an unstable slope.

A mudslide struck about 55 miles north of Seattle on March 22 when a hillside gave way in the Washington town of Oso, burying 43 people and blocking a state highway.

The new procedures would apply in areas where surface water is absorbed through the ground into below-ground aquifers, which have the potential to cause landslides of glacial soils, like the Oso landslide.

Powell won’t comply with court orders, officer says

TACOMA – A state corrections officer has recommended that the father-in-law of missing Utah woman Susan Powell serve 60 days in jail for failing to get court-ordered sexual deviancy treatment.

The officer said Steven Powell continues to put the community at risk by failing to comply with court orders. A hearing has been set for Nov. 21.

Steven Powell was convicted of voyeurism in 2012 and served 30 months in prison. Last month, Pierce County prosecutors reinstated a child pornography charge against Powell that had been dismissed during a 2012 trial.

He is the father of Josh Powell, who killed his two sons and himself in February 2012 while under investigation for the disappearance of his wife, Susan Powell, in Utah.

Yellowstone bison due to arrive on tribal land

BILLINGS – A group of Yellowstone National Park bison is due to arrive at a permanent home on a northeastern Montana American Indian reservation on Thursday, almost a decade after they were captured and spared from slaughter.

The 138 animals were to be loaded onto trucks late Wednesday to travel overnight to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, home to the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes.

The small herd will help tribal members regain a connection to an animal that helped shaped their ancestors’ nomadic existence, tribal officials said.

The bison for the tribes were culled from Yellowstone’s wild herds in 2005 and 2006 under an experimental program designed to start new populations elsewhere.