HOOD CANAL – A jellylike coating of bacterial gunk that covered the bottom of a 4-mile stretch of Hood Canal this summer has dissipated into small splotchy areas in the canal’s so-called dead zone.
That was the observation of a four-member dive team from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They dove between Belfair and Twanoh state parks Wednesday to grab samples for testing at EPA’s Manchester Laboratory at Port Orchard.
While results of the tests aren’t expected for weeks, the Hood Canal invader is believed to be the marine bacteria Beggiatoa, which tends to thrive in polluted waters low in oxygen.
The Olympian
Cheney: MS patient faces marijuana charge
A man who uses marijuana to relieve symptoms of multiple sclerosis has been charged a second time with illegal pot production.
According to documents filed in Spokane County Superior Court, sheriff’s deputies went to the home of Samuel Dean Diana, 57, in search of a fugitive in July. They didn’t find the fugitive but did discover 79 marijuana plants outside Diana’s home and in his garage, prosecutors wrote.
Also charged was Gene Arthur Midkiff Jr., 43, who helps Diana and lives in a trailer next to the house.
Associated Press
Port Townsend: Film star returns to town
Once again, “An Officer and a Gentleman” is drawing a movie crew to this picturesque town at the northeast tip of the Olympic Peninsula.
In 1982, Port Townsend served as the backdrop for the popular film, and today actor Louis Gossett Jr. is returning to Fort Worden State Park to record interviews for a 25th anniversary special edition DVD to be released next year, said Tim King, owner of King Media Services in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
King said the DVD, including a series of documentaries produced by his company, would likely be released by Paramount Home Entertainment in the first quarter of 2007.
Associated Press
Vancouver, Wash: Dog sets its second fire
A Doberman pinscher named Victoria has set two fires this year, officials say, in the same apartment and in the same way – by jumping up on an electric stove and turning on a burner.
“I would say Victoria is a habitual offender,” said Jim Flaherty, firefighter-spokesman with the Vancouver Fire Department.
The first time it happened, in March, the fire didn’t cause much damage to the duplex apartment.
Wednesday night, however, damage was estimated at $100,000. No one was injured in Wednesday’s blaze.
Victoria started both fires by jumping up and pushing a button on the front of the old stove, which turned on a burner.
The Columbian
Seattle: Prosecutor arrested in restroom
A Thurston County senior deputy prosecuting attorney was arrested and ejected from Qwest Field during Sunday’s Seahawks game when King County sheriff’s deputies found him in a stall in a women’s bathroom.
Sheriff’s deputies went to the women’s bathroom after getting a report from Qwest employees that two people were having sex in a stall, King County sheriff’s Sgt. John Urquhart said. When the deputies approached the stall, they found a man and a woman, but they were not having sex at that time.
The man, who identified himself as a prosecuting attorney, did not cooperate with the deputies, Urquhart said.
William J. Halstead was arrested on suspicion of trespassing and obstructing a law enforcement officer. He was not taken into custody but was ejected from the stadium. It’s illegal for a man to be in a women’s public restroom, Urquhart said.
The woman he was with, an administrative assistant at the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, was not arrested.
The Olympian
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