Mortar shell unearthed at Riverside State Park

A Fairchild Air Force Base explosives team removed a buried and rusted mortar round from Riverside State Park on Sunday after a Spokane man reported finding it with a metal detector.

The 60-mm illumination round, which Fairchild officials guessed was about 40 years old, was likely dead because moisture had seeped inside the cracked casing, said Joe Wiles, a Fairchild spokesman. However, the fuse was still active, he said.

“They brought it back to the base where they will safely store it until they get permission to destroy it,” Wiles said.

Jeff Swennumson found the round about a half-mile down Inland Road from Riverside State Park’s off-road vehicle park on Saturday, he said.

“I only uncovered it enough to get a good look at it. I didn’t want to deal with the business end of the thing,” he said.

On Sunday, he showed Spokane County sheriff’s Deputy Jack Rosenthal where to find it. Rosenthal said the Sheriff’s Office refers all such calls to Fairchild’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, which handles military munitions.

– Alison Boggs

Portland

Witnesses stop possible kidnapping

Bystanders tackled a man who swiped a toddler from a stroller Sunday in downtown Portland, authorities said.

Randy Koon, 41, a transient, was arrested and taken to a hospital after complaining about a medical problem. He was to be booked on a kidnapping charge, said Catherine Kent, spokeswoman for the Portland Police Bureau.

Kent said Koon and the toddler’s family were all riding a MAX light-rail train just before 3 p.m.

When the family exited the train, Koon took the 2-year-old girl and ran less than 10 steps before he was tackled by a few bystanders, Kent said.

The girl was not injured.

– Associated Press

Washougal, Wash.

Grounded Columbia cruise ship back afloat

A grounded cruise ship was headed to Portland under its own power Sunday after crews were able to pull it from a sandbar.

Coast Guard Ensign Nick Barrow said the tides and two tug boats combined to get the Empress of the North moving in the Columbia River shipping channel.

“It was a very quick process, a matter of minutes,” he said.

The 360-foot sternwheeler hit a sandbar about 350 yards from shore Friday morning. There were no injuries and the estimated 260 occupants were taken off without incident.

– Associated Press