Crash injures five, closes highway
A three-car collision Sunday on Highway 26 east of Dusty, Wash., sent five people to the hospital – including a 3-year-old girl – and closed the highway for several hours.
Scott Blaze, 22, of Ephrata, was eastbound in a 1996 Ford Thunderbird about 2:20 p.m. when his car spun out of control and into the westbound lane, according to the Washington State Patrol. His car struck a 2005 Honda Odyssey driven by James Crabbe, 37, of Tacoma. The Odyssey was pushed into the eastbound lane, where it hit a 2004 Hyundai Elantra driven by John Feuerstein, 21, of Pullman. All three vehicles came to rest in the ditch, according to the incident report.
Blaze, his passenger, Jessica Striffler, 23, of Rexburg, Idaho, and Lilly Crabbe, 3, a passenger in the Odyssey, all were transported by MedStar to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, where a nursing supervisor listed them in satisfactory condition. James Crabbe and a third passenger, Carrie Crabbe, 35, were transported to Whitman Hospital in Colfax, where their status was unavailable.
Feuerstein and his passenger, Johanna Petersen, 21, of Moscow, were not injured.
The highway was closed until shortly before 9 p.m., according to a WSP dispatcher.
Coeur d’Alene
Women’s center receives grant
The Coeur d’Alene Women’s Center will receive a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The money will be used to develop the North Idaho Regional Coordinated Community Response Network to help prevent and respond to rural domestic violence.
The network will work with existing programs in four North Idaho counties to help with education and training programs concerning domestic violence.
Executive Director Anne Chatfield said the center will be placing one rural advocate in each of the four northern counties over the next several weeks.
Legislators plan immigration law
Two North Idaho lawmakers say they will introduce legislation that would penalize employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, and Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, said they will try to pass the proposed law, which has been rejected the last two years.
Lawmakers in the last session rejected a bill that would have required employers to verify workers’ immigration status.
Hart said some lawmakers who voted against the bill have either been voted out of office or have changed their minds.
If the proposed law passes, companies that violate it could have their business licenses suspended or revoked.
EUGENE, Ore.
Park warns against feeding birds
Some people are mangling the waterfowl at Eugene’s Alton Baker Park.
The weapon?
Bread.
Bird experts say they’re seeing cases “angel wing” at the park, a condition marked by deformed wings and spindly feathers that poke out at right angles. It’s a result of a poor diet, such as calorie-rich breads, that causes feathers to develop faster than the bones.
“Bread is bad, bad, bad,” said Michele Goodman of the Webbed Foot Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic in Connecticut. “Bread is bird junk food.”
A sign at the park explains the prevalence of the condition, and plans call for placards to warn against feeding the birds.
Feeding them might entail a misdemeanor citation or a month ban from the park.
“I don’t know if that would ever happen or not,” said Rob Hallett, turf and grounds supervisor for the city of Eugene’s Parks and Open Space Division. “What we’re really trying to do is educate the public.”
Olympia
Salmon efforts get $19.8 million
The state Salmon Recovery Funding Board has awarded $19.8 million in grants to protect and restore salmon populations throughout the state, including more than $2 million for a dozen projects in south Sound.
Since 2000, more than $345 million in state and federal money has been awarded to 1,115 projects to acquire and restore salmon habitat and replace road culverts that block fish passage.
The funding board appointed by the governor includes five citizens and five state agency representatives, supported by a science team that helps them review and prioritize projects.