SNOQUALMIE PASS – All four lanes of I-90 have been reopened after crews lifted restrictions near Snoqualmie Pass for the first time since a rockslide Nov. 6.
State Transportation Department crews removed a one-lane restriction for eastbound traffic at 7 a.m. Tuesday and a similar restriction for westbound travel Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.
Following renewed lane restrictions and reduced speed limits during the daytime Wednesday for replacement of concrete barriers, transportation officials said they hoped to resume normal traffic with the speed limit back to 65 mph by today.
The slide was the second major rockfall in as many months in the Snoqualmie Pass area, where average weekday traffic amounts to about 28,000 cars and trucks. Three women died in September when a boulder crushed their car west of the summit.
Associated Press
Woodland: E. coli cases traced to natural dairy
Six confirmed cases of E. coli have been linked to drinking unpasteurized milk from an unlicensed Cowlitz County dairy.
All the victims were children between the ages of 5 and 14. Three are in area hospitals, including two in critical condition, said Dr. Justin Denny, Clark County health officer. The other hospitalized child is improving.
The bacteria can cause life-threatening illnesses, but no information has been released about the children.
Clark County health investigators have identified one common link, Denny said. All six drank unpasteurized milk produced by Dee Creek Farm, a family-run dairy in Cowlitz County.
State and Cowlitz County officials were at the farm Tuesday to stop further milk sales and to get a list of people who had bought unpasteurized milk there, Denny said.
It is legal to sell milk in Washington, but the operation must be licensed by the state Department of Agriculture. Dee Creek Farm was not licensed.
The Columbian
Kirkland: Driver charged in ramming
A man seen on TV using his Chevrolet Suburban to help police stop a fleeing car theft suspect has been charged with four misdemeanor counts, including hit-and-run and lying to police.
Anthony James Brammer, 37, also faces charges of reckless endangerment and reckless driving when he is arraigned Jan. 3.
Three days before the Oct. 4 incident, Brammer appeared in court to plead not guilty to a drunken driving charge he received in August. Court records show he has several other previous driving violations.
Shortly after the police chase, which TV news cameras followed from Bellevue to Bothell and into Kirkland, Brammer said he was watching it on live television, and then decided to go to the store.
He said he found the chase in progress and rammed his truck into a stolen Subaru SVX driven by the fleeing man.
Police caught and arrested the suspect minutes after his encounter with Brammer.
King County Journal
Olympia: Former state senator, regulator dies
Richard Hemstad, a former state senator, gubernatorial adviser and 12-year member of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, died at an Olympia hospice Monday after battling cancer, his family said Tuesday.
Hemstad, 72, a Republican, was legal counsel and cabinet official for Republican Gov. Dan Evans and was a law professor and one-term state senator. Two Democratic governors, Mike Lowry and Gary Locke, later appointed him to the three-member commission that regulates private investor-owned utilities. He retired in February.
“Dick was one of the most dedicated public servants this state has ever known,” Evans said Tuesday. “He was a longtime valued colleague and friend. He exemplified the very best in his devotion to public service.”
Hemstad’s son Anthony said a memorial service was planned for 1 p.m. Jan. 7 in the State Reception Room of the Capitol, a few steps from where he served in the Senate and the governor’s office.
Associated Press
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