SEATTLE – Cayuse and Chinook passes east of Mount Rainier have been closed for the season, one week after the winter closure of the North Cascades Highway.
State transportation officials made the decision Monday as the National Weather Service predicted another storm would dump more snow on the passes, which were closed over the weekend.
Highway 123 is now closed over Cayuse pass between Highway 12 and Highway 410, and Highway 410 is closed west of the Morse Creek gate.
Highway 20, the northernmost cross-state highway through the Cascades, was closed for the season Nov. 19 from seven miles east of Diablo Dam to 14 miles west of Mazama.
Hoquiam
Teachers still out: No talks have been scheduled in a teacher strike that began in this coastal town after contract talks collapsed over a $47,000 difference in health insurance premiums. The strike halted classes for all 2,200 students in the town’s six public schools Monday. School officials hope to resume negotiations with aid from a state mediator as soon as possible, said Joye de Carteret, curriculum director for the Hoquiam School District.
Wenatchee
Vandalism blamed for outage: A gunshot may have damaged a Chelan County Public Utility District transmission line, causing an electrical power surge and outage that affected more than 20,000 customers. The 115-kilovolt line that connects the Rock Island Hydro Project to the regional power grid failed just after noon Monday, but it may have been damaged some time ago, the PUD said. The resulting electrical surge caused computers to crash, telephones to go dead and traffic lights to blink. At 4 p.m., the PUD cut power to all customers between Malaga and Stevens Pass to make the necessary repairs. The resulting outage lasted from six to 15 minutes, said PUD spokeswoman Susan Gillin.
North Carolina
State woman arrested at airport: Police at Raleigh-Durham International Airport arrested an 18-year-old Washington woman when she allegedly assaulted officers after objecting to a bag search. The woman, Laurie Henwood of Kennewick has been charged with two counts of assault on a law enforcement officer and one count each of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, airport spokeswoman Mirinda Kossoff said Tuesday.
Oregon
Firefighters disciplined: Five Portland firefighters have been disciplined for racially harassing a black colleague or allowing the conduct to occur on their watch. Two of the firefighters – including a battalion chief – are being demoted, two others are being temporarily suspended without pay and the fifth received a letter of reprimand. The five firefighters worked with Rick Fizer, who joined the Portland Fire Bureau in June 1999 and is out of work on a stress-related disability because of the harassment. Chief investigator Rich Stenhouse interviewed 35 firefighters and corroborated allegations that Fizer was subjected to racist comments and demeaning, lewd remarks. The bureau also found that supervisors were present but took no action when some of the harassment occurred at Engine companies 21 and 24.
Boys in cave-in released from hospital: Three boys who were buried alive Sunday while digging a fort in a sandy hillside in Newport have been released from the hospital in good health. Christopher Johansen, 15, Victor Bruner, 7, and Brendan Johansen, 10, were digging about 20 feet up the bank. They had carved out a 5-foot tunnel when the hill collapsed on them. Christopher Johansen was able to get free and go for help. When police and fire crews arrived, they could not tell where the two other boys were trapped. Officer B.J. Olafson scrambled up the hillside and frantically began digging by hand in the area of the loose soil, Sawyer said. When both boys were finally pulled from the dirt, neither was breathing but were soon resuscitated and taken to a hospital.
From Herald news services
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