In brief: Airliner makes emergency landing

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – A U.S. passenger flight made an emergency landing Sunday at Vancouver International Airport.

Alaska Airlines Flight 76 was en route from Juneau, Alaska, to Seattle when problems arose with one of the plane’s two electrical systems. The Boeing 737-400 touched down in Vancouver shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday.

A spokeswoman for Alaska Airlines said there were 120 passengers and five crew members on board, none of whom were injured. She said the pilots remained in control of the aircraft at all times but that company policy required that the plane land at the closest airport.

The spokeswoman said a replacement aircraft would take the Seattle-bound passengers on the final leg of their journey.

E. coli sickens 36 at Milk Makers Fest

LYNDEN, Wash. – The Whatcom County Health Department said an E. coli outbreak at the Milk Makers Fest left 36 people sick and sent five to the hospital.

The Bellingham Herald reported that about 1,325 first-graders, plus teachers and parents, from all Whatcom County school districts went to the late-April event. It was held at the Northwest Washington Fair & Event Center.

The health department is still looking for the source of the outbreak. The number of people sickened has continued to rise since reports started to surface last week.

Most of those reported ill were first-graders, although some adults and older children also became sick. The main sources for E. coli are contaminated food, water and surfaces, along with contact with livestock.

The Washington state Department of Health’s Communicable Disease Epidemiology is helping county officials investigate the outbreak.

Hikers located after texting for help

PORTLAND – Two lost hikers were found Saturday night near Multnomah Falls after texting searchers a photo of their location.

The Oregonian reported the pair was found just before midnight. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said they were not hurt.

The hikers had set out from Oneonta Falls about 2:30 p.m., hiking what they believed to be the Larch Mountain Trail. On their way back, they became lost, and when the sun went down, they called for help.

About 9:30 p.m., deputies received a 911 call from the father of one of the hikers. The father instructed the hikers to also call 911 and to stay where they were. They had water, a cellphone, a whistle and a lighter.

Deputies spoke to the hikers on the phone and were able to determine their location because of the picture they texted of a sign along the trail.

Lake Washington being raised early

SEATTLE – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it’s boosting the level of Lake Washington in Seattle early this year due to extremely low snowpack in the Cascade Mountains.

The corps said the lake only needs to be raised by just over an inch to get it to the target summer elevation of 22 feet, but there’s so little snow in the mountains that officials are worried that if they don’t do it within the next week or two, they won’t be able to raise the water level by June 1, when they usually do it.

Ken Brettmann, a senior water manager with the corps’ Seattle District, said every inch of water counts when it comes to operating the Ballard Locks for fish passage, vessels and water quality concerns.