SEATTLE – As the holiday travel season gets under way, the State Patrol is reminding ferry riders that the pooch you have in your vehicle might not mix well with the working dogs on the docks.
The patrol is in charge of security aboard boats in the Washington State Ferries system, because they and their docks are considered part of the state highway system.
As a result, the patrol uses specially trained dogs to routinely sniff for explosives in the vehicles waiting to board.
The system normally works well. But there was an incident at the Mukilteo ferry dock north of Seattle last month in which one of the bomb-sniffing dogs lunged at and bit a dog in a waiting car.
That has led the patrol to issue a warning: Don’t interfere with working law-enforcement canines.
Associated Press
Mount Baker: Artist Point opening nears
The U.S. Forest Service expects state Department of Transportation crews to complete clearing the road to Artist Point by the first weekend in July. The Forest Service also plans to open the Heather Meadows Visitor Center that weekend.
Artist Point, which sits on the end of Highway 542, past Mount Baker Ski Area, is a popular viewpoint and the starting point for several hiking trails.
Bellingham Herald
Airway Heights: Inmate escapes, quickly caught
An inmate from the Airway Heights Corrections Center escaped while on a work detail on Monday, the latest in a series of escapes from the prison west of Spokane.
Donald Christean, who was serving a forgery sentence, walked away from a work crew at the Spokane Food Bank on Monday morning, but was apprehended without incident a short time later.
In the past 10 months, eight inmates have either escaped from the prison, been improperly released or ran away during transport.
On Sunday, a female inmate climbed over a razor-wire fence but was apprehended about 200 yards from the prison. Two other women climbed a fence and escaped last Thursday. One, Jaymie C. Fowler, is still at large. She was serving a sentence for assault.
Associated Press
Alaska: Sick boy draws bone marrow donors
A bone-marrow drive for a 6-year-old Juneau boy who has leukemia drew more than 1,000 potential donors, including scores of strangers, the family said Monday.
“I’ve gotten e-mail from people who don’t know me or my son and they want to donate,” said Rachel Dugaqua, the mother of Alex Cesar. “It’s hard to fathom.”
The boy is being treated at Children’s Hospital &Regional Medical Center in Seattle and completed his first round of chemotherapy in May. Dugaqua said her son will start another round as soon as his white blood cell count is high enough.
The recent effort throughout Southeast Alaska was organized by the boy’s family and started before it was even known whether he would need a transplant.
Associated Press
Oregon: Teacher resigns after accusations
An Oregon man accused of spanking and fondling a boy at his home has resigned from his job as a special education teacher in Oregon’s Rainier School District.
Boyce Williams Jr., 51, has been charged in Columbia County with misdemeanor harassment for an alleged incident with a 15-year-old boy. Police are continuing their investigation and additional charges could follow, District Attorney Steve Atchison said.
Under Williams’ agreement with the Rainier School District, information regarding the allegations is to remain confidential; neither Williams nor his attorney would comment to the Longview Daily News.
But an investigation by the newspaper found that Williams had previously been released from school districts in Oregon and Alaska under similar circumstances, during his 26-year career.
Associated Press
Crater Lake National park will get a facelift
Oregon’s only national park is getting a facelift during the busy summer tourist season, with changes planned to buildings, roads and parking lots at Crater Lake.
The existing visitors’ center will be renovated, to include a gift shop, deli and meeting room, an $8.5 million project that’s being funded by the National Park Service.
Also, construction is underway on a new 10,000-square-foot restaurant and gift shop at Mazama Village that is scheduled to open to the public in summer 2006.
Also in 2006, a new, $1.7 million science learning center will open at the park, aimed at educators and researchers.
And Federal Highway Administration project will also revamp eight miles of Highway 62 inside the park this summer.
Associated Press
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