Region in brief: Sacagawea statue found at scrap yard

A statue of Sacagawea and her baby that was stolen earlier this month has been found at a scrap metal dealer in Bend, the Oregonian reports.

The 5 1/2-foot statue of Sacagawea and Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was taken from the Fort Clatsop National Memorial Park near Astoria last weekend.

On Tuesday, a Bend scrap metal dealer notified police about suspicious metal his business had just received. Police identified the metal as the missing statue.

The following day, police found someone had tried to sell the statue at a scrap metal yard in the Portland area as well.

Three people were arrested for the theft: James P. Storms, 44; John A. Kristiansen, 45; and Shawna D. Roberson, 42.

Each faces a charge of aggravated first-degree theft by receiving. Kristiansen also is charged with possession of a controlled substance.

PRESCOTT, Wash.

Several injured when bus crashes

A fuel truck with an empty tank and a bus chartered for a Special Olympics event crashed and overturned on an icy highway in southeastern Washington on Saturday, injuring several people, and the roads were so slick that emergency workers had to hike to the wreck.

“We’re having to walk to the scene and carry them out by hand,” said Brian Williams, a State Patrol dispatcher. He said he wasn’t sure how far that was but “it might be a couple of miles.”

It wasn’t clear if the fuel truck and the bus collided or simply crashed at about the same time, Williams said. Initial reports indicated 10 of the approximately three dozen passengers were hurt; Williams said he could not confirm that figure but none of the injuries was life-threatening.

The crash occurred about 6:15 p.m. on State Route 124 near Prescott, north of Walla Walla.

Earlier, a police dispatcher for Walla Walla County said at least two cars had skidded into the wreck. A television crew reported seeing an aid vehicle slide off the road.

Freezing rain also forced the State Patrol and Department of Transportation to close Interstate 82 from Kennewick to the Oregon border.