NW today: Wolf kill effort produces few results
What’s news in the Northwest today:
Efforts to reduce wolf numbers around Elk City, Idaho, which is southeast of Lewiston, and in the Lolo Elk Hunting Zone have been largely fruitless more than a month after being implemented. Idaho County deputies have not shot any wolves in the Elk City area, and hunting outfitters have been unable to kill wolves in the Lolo country. An Idaho Department of Fish and Game conservation officer shot one wolf near Powell last Saturday. “I would have thought we would have had more, but that is it,” said Dave Cadwallader, supervisor of the department’s Clearwater Region. In May, shortly after wolves were removed from federal protection, Cadwallader authorized deputies in the Elk City area to shoot wolves. He made the move after months of complaints by Elk City residents about wolves that had frequented the remote hamlet for much of the winter and spring. Cadwallader said wolves are still seen there but not as frequently. “I think it’s the time of year,” he said. “The elk have moved out and are calving and the wolves have moved on.”
Bremerton man used Taser on relatives
BREMERTON, Wash. — Police say a man used a Taser on two visiting relatives in a family argument in Bremerton. A police report says he shot a 58-year-old woman Sunday and then stuck the Taser on her 56-year-old sister. The 42-year-old man who lives with his mother was reportedly angry they put a suitcase on his pool table. He said he stunned one woman in self-defense after she hit him on the head with a wooden bellows. The Kitsap Sun reports he was arrested on suspicion of assault and reckless endangerment.
Seattle street crowd breaks windows
SEATTLE — Seattle police say two patrol cars had their windows broken and an officer suffered a minor shoulder injury in a clash with a crowd that broke windows at two businesses early Sunday in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. One man who helped throw a barricade in the street was arrested for pedestrian interference. Spokesman Sean Whitcomb said Monday that detectives are following up. The crowd showed up after midnight following a gay pride celebration in the neighborhood. Someone broke windows at a clothing store and luxury car dealership and damaged an ATM machine. Police arrived and dispersed the crowd.
Battle over biomass heats up in Longview
LONGVIEW, Wash. — A Longview, Wash., pulp mill is moving ahead with a 54-megawatt expansion that would burn wood waste to provide power for 2,400 homes. The Longview Daily News says the biomass energy project by Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging Inc. would be the largest in Washington state. The state Department of Ecology earlier this month approved the company’s permit application. Opponents including the coordinator of Seattle-based No Biomass Burn say they plan to appeal the decision to the state’s hearings board. They say burning wood waste sends harmful pollution into the air. Company officials say the project is crucial to boosting the mill’s renewable energy portfolio.
Oregon police seek public help in cat mutilations
OREGON CITY, Ore. — Oregon City police are asking the public for help finding who is responsible for two cases of cat mutilations reported this month. Police say the first case involves the remains of a cat found June 11 in the St. Johns Cemetery in Oregon City. Only half the body was found, and the head and front legs were missing. The skin had been peeled down toward the tail. Last Thursday, another cat was found mutilated in the same way at Hillendale Park in Oregon City. Police believe the cases are connected. Both cats appear to have been adults, dark gray with white socks. Police called the mutilations alarming and say the potential charge for a suspect would be felony aggravated animal abuse.
Oregon pilot crash lands, escapes injury
PRINEVILLE, Ore. — An Oregon pilot walked away without injury after his single-engine plane unexpectedly crash-landed at Prineville Airport when its landing gear failed to deploy. KTVZ-TV in Bend reports that Vern Goodsell of Sisters has spent years building or fixing up planes, from vintage aircraft to old war birds and even one-of-a-kind experimental planes. So when he flipped the switch to lower the landing gear on one of those unique planes on Sunday afternoon, he figured it had extended and was ready to go. Instead, Goodsell’s plane made what he later called a “gear-up landing” when he went skidding down the runway because the landing gear failed to extend. He said his small plane sustained minor damage. The Federal Aviation Administration was contacted to investigate.
Doctor makes house calls on bicycle
PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon doctor is making house calls on his bicycle. Dr. Anthony Ohotto says the exercise helps keep him healthy and also helps him connect better with the chronically ill and disabled people who are his patients. Ohotto is a geriatric specialist and staff physician at Providence ElderPlace, a program that provides health care, housing and other services for older adults. He told The Oregonian he got started on biking to house calls when he decided to commute to work by bicycle — leaving him without a car to visit patients.
Police still riding horses in Seattle
SEATTLE — Some police officers in Seattle are still riding horses. Donations have saved the police department’s mounted patrol from budget cuts. The city wanted to eliminate it last year, but the non-profit Seattle Police Foundation stepped in and promised to finance it until 2014 with support from the Seattle Hotel Association. The fund-raising campaign was boosted last month with a $135,000 contribution from Expeditors International, the freight logistics company. The Seattle Times reports the unit has seven horses that are kept as stables in a West Seattle park. It cost about $165,000 a year for the housing, veterinary care and horse feed. The unit’s sergeant, five officers and a civilian worker are city employees. Sgt. Grant Ballingham says horses are especially helpful in crowd control.
2 shot at Spanaway-area mobile home park
SPANAWAY, Wash. — Two people have been wounded in a shooting at a mobile home park in the Spanaway area. Deputies sheriff’s deputies responding to the mobile home park just before 10 a.m. Monday found the injured people. The News Tribune reports they have been taken to hospitals. Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer says detectives have identified a suspect.
Couple survives plane crash near West Glacier
WEST GLACIER, Mont. — Flathead County officials say two people escaped serious injury when a small airplane crashed shortly after takeoff from an airstrip at West Glacier. Deputies responded to the crash report at about 10 a.m. Sunday. The sheriff’s department reports the plane was having engine trouble right after liftoff and the pilot was not able to turn around and land at the airstrip. A deputy tells KCFW-TV the plane’s engine sputtered and powered off as the plane came down. The two people on board were taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center by ambulance. The pilot was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon while his female passenger was held overnight for observation. Their names have not been released. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation and Safety Board are investigating.