In brief: E-cigarette use rises among youth

Fewer Spokane County teens are drinking, but more are inhaling electronic cigarettes while use of marijuana is remaining relatively stable, according to results from a recent survey.

About 26 percent of high school sophomores in Spokane County reported using e-cigarettes and 19 percent had used marijuana, according to the state’s Healthy Youth Survey. One in four seniors reported using marijuana in the past 30 days.

Rates of alcohol use among eighth-graders, sophomores and seniors continued to decline. For example, in 2006, 46 percent of seniors reported drinking within 30 days of taking the survey. Last year, that number fell to 36 percent. Binge drinking among seniors fell by 6 percentage points compared to 2006.

The Healthy Youth Survey is taken every two years by students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 in nearly 1,000 public schools in Washington. In Spokane County, nearly 10,000 students took part in the survey last fall.

The survey shows a spike since voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2012 in the percentage of students in Spokane County reporting that there is no or only low risks associated with using pot regularly. In 2012, 36 percent of seniors felt that way. In the latest survey, 44 percent did. Even so, a slightly lower percentage of seniors reported smoking pot within the past 30 days, from 26 percent in 2012 to 25 percent last year.

Among high school seniors, cigarette smoking in the past 30 days of the survey plunged from 25 percent in 2008 to 15 percent last year. But 30 percent of seniors reported using e-cigarettes.

“We’ve got to ring the alarm bell because teens are indicating they don’t consider electronic cigarette and marijuana use to be risky,” Dr. Joel McCullough, the Spokane Regional Health District’s health officer, said in a news release last week.

Police investigating shooting of 10-year-old

UNION GAP, Wash. – Police in Union Gap said their investigation into the fatal shooting of a 10-year-old boy last weekend is their top priority.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reported that detectives are following leads, but they say it’s too early to name a suspect.

Nathaniel Reedy-McCoy was struck in the chest by a .22-caliber bullet as he stood outside a trailer with his grandfather early on March 7. He died a short time later at a local hospital. The boy was a student at Tieton Intermediate School, and police say he had been living in an RV on the property on West Ahtanum Road with his grandfather, sister and aunt.

Police received an anonymous tip that two vehicles had been seen in the property’s driveway, but no one has come forward with more information.

Land transfer bill dies in Montana

HELENA – A House committee has rejected a proposed bill that would have studied the idea of the state taking over management of federal lands.

House Bill 496, which would have created a “Transfer of Public Land Feasibility Task Force,” failed to pass out of the House Natural Resources Committee on a 9-9 vote Friday.

The panel then decided on a 10-8 vote to “table” or kill the measure. It’s dead unless the committee revives it or a supermajority of the House votes to bring it to the floor.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman, would have spent $35,000 over the biennium to study the feasibility of transferring federal land to the state.

If you run a day camp, a church camp, an overnight camp or other kind of camp, The Spokesman-Review wants to help you spread the word.

List your summer camp in S-R directory

The Spokesman-Review plans to publish its annual summer camp directory May 6. This year, in addition to the camp directory, we will include fun activities for families.

Looking for a fun road trip once the weather – and the water – starts warming up? Need ideas for a fun staycation? Or want some info on cool, lesser-known destinations? We’ll include all of these and then some.

To accommodate the new content, we are limiting camp information to camp name, location, dates, cost, age range and a short description (50 words or less). Please include contact information for the public to use, such as a phone number, email or website. Camp information can be submitted by email to summercamps@spokesman.com or online at www.spokesman.com/summercamps-form. Submissions received after Monday, April 6, will be included in the online directory but can’t be guaranteed for the print edition. The online list will be available at spokesman.com all spring and summer.