PUYALLUP — The pilot of a small airplane was able to walk away after its crash landing was cushioned by a bunch of portable toilets near Tacoma.
Gary Mayor of the Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna 182 crashed shortly after 3 p.m. Friday as it was taking off from Thun Field, an airfield owned by Pierce County southeast of Tacoma.
Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer says the plane was about 150 feet in the air when the engine quit. He tells The News Tribune that the pilot, the only person on board, tried to turn around to land, but didn’t quite make it.
The plane hit a fence, flipped over and landed upside down on top of the portable toilets, which were in a storage yard just northwest of the runway.
Several of the toilets were toppled, but a damage estimate and the pilot’s identity weren’t immediately available.
Yakima: Sentence for fatal crash
A man accused of causing a fatal Thanksgiving Day car crash near Toppenish, Wash., and then fleeing the scene has pleaded guilty to felony charges and will possibly serve a 10-year prison sentence.
Kelly Leroy York, of Buena, Wash., faced multiple charges in connection with the crash, which claimed the life of a 37-year-old Arizona woman and injured five other people.
On Friday, the 24-year-old York entered guilty pleas in Yakima County Superior Court to all the charges against him, including fatality hit-and-run, vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of 10 years. The recommendation is not binding on the judge. A sentencing date was set for May 13.
Killed in the crash was 37-year-old Rose H. Magana, of El Mirage, Ariz.
Vancouver, Wash.: Newspaper files for bankruptcy
The company that publishes The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver, Wash., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to resolve credit issues involving a building project.
The Columbian Publishing Co. made the filing Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Tacoma.
The Columbian reports the case involves credit issues with Bank of America, the primary lender on a $40 million building project Columbian Publishing completed last year in downtown Vancouver.
Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell said operations will not be affected and he predicted the company will emerge in a few months “with renewed vigor.”
Campbell said the economy’s recent severe downtown contributed to the need to make the bankruptcy filing. It shows The Columbian owes approximately $17 million to the Bank of America and a variety of unsecured creditors.
Columbian Publishing is a family-owned company with 259 employees that operates The Columbian newspaper and the Web site www. columbian.com. The newspaper serves Clark County and other parts of southwest Washington.
Oregon: Severe storm slams Portland
A sudden, severe thunderstorm hit Portland, cutting power to thousands, killing one person and capsizing two sailboats.
One person died Saturday afternoon when a tree or branch fell on a car on Southwest Barbur Boulevard. He was not immediately identified.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Washington, Columbia, Clackamas, Multnomah and Clark counties.
Power went out to about 30,000 customers of Portland General Electric, mostly in Beaverton, Lake Oswego and Tigard.
The Oregonian said four boaters were rescued from the Columbia and Willamette rivers around 4 p.m. after two sailboats capsized in the strong winds. They were not injured.
2 officers killed in blast to be honored
An Oregon State Police bomb technician and a Woodburn police captain killed in bomb blast will be honored by family, friends and fellow officers at two special events in Salem and in Washington, D.C.
The names of Senior Trooper William Hakim and Woodburn police Capt. Tom Tennant will be added to the national memorial wall in Washington D.C.
In Oregon, their names and those of two other officers who died in 1908 and 1958 will be added to Oregon’s memorial wall.
Hakim and Tennant were killed Dec. 12, 2008, when an explosive device detonated at a Woodburn area bank.
Woodburn’s police chief was also critically injured in the blast. A Marion County father and son are charged with murder.
Idaho: Makeover for Sacajawea statue
A statue of Sacajawea in the northern Idaho city of Lewiston is getting a makeover to restore its original luster.
The 5-foot-2 statue created in 1990 has its hands outstretched and is part of a fountain being rebuilt with interpretive signs and an underground water supply system.
Sculptor Sharon Taylor-Hall is treating the statue with heat and car wax.
The fountain is scheduled to be rededicated on May 17.
Sacajawea was an American Indian woman who guided explorers Lewis and Clark on their trip to the Pacific Northwest.
Alaska: 2 share pot for ice breakup
The ice on the Tanana River in Alaska has broken, and two lucky winners will split a jackpot of nearly $284,000.
“My reaction was disbelief,” Claudia Russell said Saturday about learning she was a winner of the Nenana Ice Classic. “When I realized it was real, I was ecstatic.”
Cherrie Forness, manager of the annual betting game, said the ice “went out” at 8:41 p.m. local time on Friday.
Russell, a longtime Juneau resident, and Stephen Gregory of Galena were the only ones to pick the exact time of the breakup.
Russell has placed bets on the classic since 1966 and once came within a minute of the correct time, she said in a phone interview. She got the news about winning late Friday night when organizers called her.
She hasn’t had time to figure out what she’ll do with all that money.
The Ice Classic was launched in 1917 by Alaska Railroad workers trying to pass the time in winter while waiting for spring breakup.
Now thousands of Alaskans — and even some outside the state — participate in the classic.
Associated Press
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