In brief: Salvation Army sets backpack giveaway
The Salvation Army will do its annual distribution of backpacks and school supplies from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday at the Salvation Army Community Center, 222 E. Indiana Ave.
All kids in grades K-12 are eligible to receive the backpacks, which are filled with the school supplies recommended for each grade level.
The distribution is first-come, first-served. Parents are asked to bring photo identification, proof of address and identification for each child.
This year, local Cenex Zip Trip locations raised more than $42,000 to purchase the backpacks and supplies, according to a news release.
SeaTac records passenger mark
SEATAC, Wash. – A record 4 million passengers passed through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in June, surpassing the previous record set in August 2014.
Airport spokesman Perry Cooper said that when the numbers are counted for July, they’ll likely top June, and August is always a busy month of the year.
Cooper said passenger traffic is up 13 percent so far this year.
In response, the Transportation Security Administration added officers to screen departing travelers and U.S. Customs & Border Protection has 10 new people to welcome arriving international passengers.
But travelers say it’s not enough. On a recent morning, hundreds of travelers spent almost an hour shuffling through the security screening rope maze to reach the machines that would search their luggage.
The previous monthly record was 3.9 million.
Officials identify plane crash victims
OROVILLE, Wash. – Authorities on Friday recovered the remains of two people killed in a plane crash east of Oroville on Thursday, and released their names Saturday.
Albert Losvar, 88, of Loomis, owned the Cessna T-182 that went down on Rise Road east of Oroville. It’s presumed he was piloting the plane, although the other person in the plane, Brian Downing, 62, of Surrey, British Columbia, was also a pilot, Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez said.
The plane burst into flames when it crashed, igniting a brush fire that was confined to that area, Sheriff Frank Rogers said.
Rodriguez said they have no question about the identity of the two people killed, although he will need to take steps to positively confirm it was them.
The two men flew out of the Oroville Airport on Thursday and never returned, and the plane was positively identified as the aircraft belonging to Losvar, he said. Family members also identified personal items found in the wreckage.
Rodriguez said the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.
Woman reports stranger in her bed
A Pullman woman reportedly found an unknown man beside her in bed when she awoke about 5 p.m. Thursday at a residence on the 600 block of Northeast Monroe Street.
According to police, the woman said she had fallen asleep in her bedroom, felt someone get into bed with her, but didn’t think much of it because her boyfriend had been in the living room when she fell asleep.
When she realized the man was not her boyfriend, she began screaming, police said.
The man jumped out her bedroom window and ran away as the boyfriend came into the bedroom and called 911, police said. The screen on the woman’s window appeared to have been removed, police said.
The man was described as a white, college-age man with brown hair and approximately 6 feet tall.
Neighbors sue over bird-feeding damage
SEATTLE – A couple in Seattle whose 8-year-old daughter feeds crows and pigeons is being sued by neighbors who say the birds have damaged their property.
The lawsuit filed Monday in King County Superior Court seeks more than $200,000 for damages as well as a court order preventing Lisa and Gary Mann and their daughter from setting out more than a quarter-pound of animal food each day, seattlepi.com reported.
Anna Johnsen, the attorney representing two neighbors who are suing the Manns, said the residential neighborhood is “not designed to host a large-scale wildlife feeding operation.”
The lawsuit says waste from the birds has fouled homes, cars and sidewalks, and the birds have also attracted rats.
Medical examiner receiving high honor
SEATTLE – The former medical examiner of King County will receive the Milton Helpern Laureate Award, the nation’s most prestigious award for medical examiners.
Dr. Donald Reay, now 78, retired in 1999, the Seattle Times reported. He mentored colleagues around Washington and once turned down a chance to be the medical examiner of New York City.
During his time in the position, he presided over more than 5,000 autopsies. Some of those were victims of the nation’s most notorious killers, including Ted Bundy and Green River killer Gary Ridgway.
Former president of the National Association of Medical Examiners Dr. Gregory Schmunk trained under Reay and called his recognition “long overdue.”
Reay will receive the award in October during the association’s annual conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Cat’s bat prompts rabies advisory
GRANGEVILLE, Idaho – Public health officials in north-central Idaho are warning residents to be wary after a rabid bat was discovered in Idaho County.
Ed Marugg with the Public Health district in Lewiston told the Lewiston Tribune newspaper that a pet cat recently came in contact with a rabid bat and carried the bat onto someone’s porch.
Rabid bats are not uncommon. Last month a rabid bat was found in Boise, and a few days later a woman in Bonner County underwent post-rabies exposure treatment after she came into contact with an infected dead bat on the shore of Priest Lake.
In humans, rabies is rare but fatal if left untreated. The disease is transmitted through an infected animal’s saliva.
Health officials say people should never handle bats, and pet owners should make sure their animals are up to date on their rabies vaccine.