In brief: Measles outbreak prompts advisory

Eight members of a Grant County family have the measles, according to a health advisory issued Wednesday by the Spokane Regional Health District.

Though most Americans have been inoculated against the highly contagious disease, the spread of the measles virus can be especially dangerous for the elderly and infants who have not been immunized.

Health investigators are trying to reconstruct the exposure risk of the infected family. They attended a large religious event in Kirkland called Generation Church Conference that drew about 2,000 participants last month.

The health district is asking those with measles symptoms to call a medical professional rather than going in for care because the virus is so contagious.

CHEYENNE, Wyo.

Callers ask governor to revise wolf policy

Hundreds of people outraged by a surge in wolf shootings have flooded Gov. Dave Freudenthal’s office with calls over the past couple of days.

Callers have been reading from prepared comments posted on the Web site of an environmental group, Defenders of Wildlife, asking the governor to end the “shoot-on-sight” policy of wolf management in most of Wyoming outside of Yellowstone.

Governor’s officials say they’ve received so many calls – more than 600 on Tuesday alone – that they might have difficulty responding to constituents.

“Folks will have to be patient,” Freudenthal’s chief of staff, Chris Boswell, said in a release. “Constituent calls will go into the same queue with those from the Defenders of Wildlife, and we’ll answer them all.”

Boswell said staffers took down the callers’ names and states from which they were calling. He said Wednesday that only two callers had identified themselves as being from Wyoming.

Defenders of Wildlife is one of 12 groups that filed suit in Montana federal court on Monday to try to restore endangered species status for wolves in the Northern Rockies.