In brief: Bill making Palouse Falls state waterfall heads to Inslee

OLYMPIA – A plan to name Palouse Falls the official state waterfall passed the Senate and was sent to Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday.

On a 46-3 vote, a plan devised by grade school students in Washtucna cleared its last legislative hurdle and seems likely to become law.

The falls is one of the nation’s tallest, and the park around it is one of the few state parks that operate in the black, said Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville. Nearby Lyons Ferry State Park, among those closed because of budget constraints, will be one of the first to reopen and a hiking trail will link the two parks, he said.

“Let’s show the kids in the Palouse area the process does work if it’s a good idea,” said Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn.

Police: ‘Lord’s work’ lands felon in jail

A registered sex offender who told police he was doing “the Lord’s work” when touching himself in public after his arrest in September is back in jail after allegedly exposing himself to a teenager downtown Monday.

William “Billy” Ogan, 31, was booked into Spokane County Jail late Monday, hours after police say he approached a 16-year-old girl in the smoking section of the downtown Spokane Transit Authority Plaza and exposed himself. Ogan, a 23-time convicted felon, faces a felony charge of indecent exposure and his behavior was caught on camera, according to police.

In January, Ogan pleaded guilty in District Court to charges stemming from a Sept. 8 incident in the Moran Prairie area. A witness, who had several children in her car, said Ogan was standing on the side of the road and masturbating.

When police arrested Ogan, who was already a registered sex offender with the state after a voyeurism conviction, he told them he was “doing the Lord’s work” by showing women his genitalia, according to court documents.

Ogan was sentenced in January to 90 days in jail for the crime. His bond on the new charge was set Tuesday at $30,000.

Lower water eases pressure on dam

BEVERLY, Wash. – Lowering the reservoir behind Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River in Central Washington has taken the pressure off a crack in the spillway.

The Grant County Public Utility District said the 2-inch-wide crack had closed by nearly an inch Monday and a spillway pier that had bowed has moved back upstream by about an inch.

The measurements confirm the dam is more stable, the utility district said. The dam is still generating electricity.

The horizontal crack across a 65-foot-wide spillway pillar was discovered underwater Feb. 26 and led the utility to drop the reservoir by about 25 feet.

With the reservoir at historic lows, boat launches are closed and people along the shoreline are reminded not to dig for archaeological objects in the newly exposed areas.

Justice misses court due to health issue

OLYMPIA – A Washington Supreme Court spokeswoman said “unexpected health concerns” will likely keep Justice James Johnson off the bench for the remainder of the court’s winter term.

Johnson has been missing from oral arguments for the past several weeks, according to the News Tribune of Tacoma.

In an email, court spokeswoman Wendy Ferrell said Johnson continues to work on cases “as possible” but is scheduled to be out for the remainder of the court’s current term.

Ferrell said temporary justices filled in during oral arguments on Feb. 13, 25 and Thursday, and Johnson is expected to miss oral arguments on March 13, 18 and 20.

Johnson was first elected to the court in 2004. He was re-elected in 2010.