In brief: Dozens possibly sick with norovirus

SEATTLE – A spokeswoman for a south Seattle school district said dozens of students at one elementary school were out sick Friday and the culprit is believed to be norovirus.

KING-TV reported that Highline School District spokeswoman Catherine Carbone Rogers said about 69 students were absent from Southern Heights Elementary. A normal day’s absence would be about 15-20 students.

Rogers said she didn’t know if all 69 students had norovirus, but estimates about 50 children did.

Norovirus is a common, contagious virus that causes stomach pain, nausea and diarrhea.

Beachgoers warned of smoke flares

SEQUIM, Wash. – Authorities are warning Northwest beachcombers to watch out for smoke flares left over from military exercises.

A unit from Joint Base Lewis-McChord was called Thursday to blow up devices that washed ashore in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuge on Dungeness Spit, near Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula.

Wildlife refuge officer Dave Falzetti said the 18-inch incendiary devices are not explosive but can be dangerous if they are duds or still contain phosphorus.

Governor wants pipeline rules strengthened

BILLINGS – Montana’s governor is calling on the Obama administration to strengthen rules that require oil pipelines to be buried just 4 feet beneath major waterways.

Steve Bullock said Friday in a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Fox that he wants existing lines surveyed to determine how deeply they’re buried. Bullock also wants more federal inspectors in Montana, which currently has only one overseeing 3,800 miles of pipelines.