Published: Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Northwest Briefly: Vancouver election could lead to a new name for city
VANCOUVER, Wash. — A campaign to change the name of Vancouver to Fort Vancouver is gaining support.
The Vancouver Columbian reports Tuesday’s election could put a majority on the city council in favor of sending the proposal to voters.
Supporters of the name change said it would avoid the long- running confusion with Vancouver, B.C.
Opponents include Mayor Royce Pollard, who says there are no other Vancouvers in the United States.
A customer relations coordinator for the Post Office in Portland, Ronald Anderson, said changing the name to Fort Vancouver would cause minimal problems because mail is distributed by ZIP codes.
Seattle: Green River evacuation signs go up
King County has started installing evacuation signs if flooding this winter forces people to flee the Green River Valley.
Seepage from an earthen bank next to the Howard Hanson Dam has reduced capacity to hold back water during periods of prolonged heavy rain. That’s increased the risk of serious flooding from the river in the valley south of Seattle.
The county is putting up 27 blue and white signs with directional arrows along 11 roads in the valley. The county, state and local governments have been working for months to identify the best evacuation routes. Metro Transit also has made plans to alter 30 bus routes if roads are closed by high water.
Bremerton: Another bear captured in town
Fish and Wildlife agents have captured a bear that was found early Monday up a tree in Bremerton neighborhood not far from the shipyard.
KIRO-TV reports agents apparently tranquilized the bear so it could be loaded into a trailer and moved away. The bear may be the mother of two cubs captured Thursday.
Fatal Bremerton fire classified as homicide
The Kitsap County sheriff’s office said the death of a woman found in a burning mobile home in Bremerton was a homicide.
The Kitsap Sun reports an autopsy Sunday gave officials information that the death was not an accident.
The fire early Saturday destroyed the home at the Illahee Shores Mobile Home Park.
The woman’s name has not been officially released. Friends and relatives told The Kitsap Sun they are mourning the loss of Paymela Faye Long.
South Bend: Body found on Long Beach
The Pacific County sheriff’s office says a body washed ashore on the Long Beach Peninsula near Ocean Park.
Grays Harbor Undersheriff Rick Scott told KXRO the body found Monday morning may be from the missing sailboat “Connie B.”
The 25-foot Coronado sailboat and its owner John Phillip Stapp of Seattle disappeared in mid-October and may have had an accident off the southwest coast of Washington.
Longview: Mount St. Helens tourism ‘steady’
Some Cowlitz County officials hoped that people staying close to home during the recession for “staycations” would boost tourism this summer at Mount St. Helens.
That didn’t happen.
The Daily News of Longview reports officials believe volcano tourism has held steady. And Cowlitz County Tourism Bureau Director Mark Plotkin says any “staycation” benefit helped offset an overall decline, at best.
Olympia: State planning I-90 pass construction
The state Transportation Department is requesting bids for a second major contract to improve I-90 on the east side of Snoqualmie Pass.
The work to start next spring would follow this summer’s work at the pass. It would add a new lane in each direction, stabilize slopes and improve pavement, bridges and signs between Hyak and Keechelus Dam.
The project is estimated to cost more than $100 million and take three years.
Tacoma: Convicted Pierce judge resigns
The Pierce County Superior Court judge convicted of patronizing prostitutes and threatening one man has resigned.
The court said Judge Michael Hecht submitted his resignation Monday, effect Nov. 16.
Presiding Judge Bryan Chushcoff says the resignation will help restore public confidence and allow the governor to appoint a new judge.
Associated Press
The Vancouver Columbian reports Tuesday’s election could put a majority on the city council in favor of sending the proposal to voters.
Supporters of the name change said it would avoid the long- running confusion with Vancouver, B.C.
Opponents include Mayor Royce Pollard, who says there are no other Vancouvers in the United States.
A customer relations coordinator for the Post Office in Portland, Ronald Anderson, said changing the name to Fort Vancouver would cause minimal problems because mail is distributed by ZIP codes.
Seattle: Green River evacuation signs go up
King County has started installing evacuation signs if flooding this winter forces people to flee the Green River Valley.
Seepage from an earthen bank next to the Howard Hanson Dam has reduced capacity to hold back water during periods of prolonged heavy rain. That’s increased the risk of serious flooding from the river in the valley south of Seattle.
The county is putting up 27 blue and white signs with directional arrows along 11 roads in the valley. The county, state and local governments have been working for months to identify the best evacuation routes. Metro Transit also has made plans to alter 30 bus routes if roads are closed by high water.
Bremerton: Another bear captured in town
Fish and Wildlife agents have captured a bear that was found early Monday up a tree in Bremerton neighborhood not far from the shipyard.
KIRO-TV reports agents apparently tranquilized the bear so it could be loaded into a trailer and moved away. The bear may be the mother of two cubs captured Thursday.
Fatal Bremerton fire classified as homicide
The Kitsap County sheriff’s office said the death of a woman found in a burning mobile home in Bremerton was a homicide.
The Kitsap Sun reports an autopsy Sunday gave officials information that the death was not an accident.
The fire early Saturday destroyed the home at the Illahee Shores Mobile Home Park.
The woman’s name has not been officially released. Friends and relatives told The Kitsap Sun they are mourning the loss of Paymela Faye Long.
South Bend: Body found on Long Beach
The Pacific County sheriff’s office says a body washed ashore on the Long Beach Peninsula near Ocean Park.
Grays Harbor Undersheriff Rick Scott told KXRO the body found Monday morning may be from the missing sailboat “Connie B.”
The 25-foot Coronado sailboat and its owner John Phillip Stapp of Seattle disappeared in mid-October and may have had an accident off the southwest coast of Washington.
Longview: Mount St. Helens tourism ‘steady’
Some Cowlitz County officials hoped that people staying close to home during the recession for “staycations” would boost tourism this summer at Mount St. Helens.
That didn’t happen.
The Daily News of Longview reports officials believe volcano tourism has held steady. And Cowlitz County Tourism Bureau Director Mark Plotkin says any “staycation” benefit helped offset an overall decline, at best.
Olympia: State planning I-90 pass construction
The state Transportation Department is requesting bids for a second major contract to improve I-90 on the east side of Snoqualmie Pass.
The work to start next spring would follow this summer’s work at the pass. It would add a new lane in each direction, stabilize slopes and improve pavement, bridges and signs between Hyak and Keechelus Dam.
The project is estimated to cost more than $100 million and take three years.
Tacoma: Convicted Pierce judge resigns
The Pierce County Superior Court judge convicted of patronizing prostitutes and threatening one man has resigned.
The court said Judge Michael Hecht submitted his resignation Monday, effect Nov. 16.
Presiding Judge Bryan Chushcoff says the resignation will help restore public confidence and allow the governor to appoint a new judge.
Associated Press
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