BELLINGHAM — A second rock slide on Chuckanut Drive just south of Bellingham left residents of about 200 homes stuck in the area for several hours early Friday.
State Department of Transportation maintenance supervisor Ric Willand said crews were able to open the area to local and emergency traffic later Friday morning.
Earlier this week, another slide blocked the scenic drive near the Whatcom-Skagit county line. The two slides have left a 7-mile stretch of the road limited to residents and repair and emergency vehicles.
Crews are working to clear debris and to stabilize both areas.
Midland: Crash kills one, injures two
Police say a 19-year-old man died and two others suffered injuries when a sport utility vehicle sped through a stop light and hit a car Wednesday night.
The driver and other passengers in the SUV ran off after the crash. Police arrested one, and are looking for the others, including the driver.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man killed as 19-year-old Heracleo Rodriguez.
A passenger in the SUV and the driver of the car were also injured.
Yakima: Apartment building evacuated
Yakima authorities say fire forced evacuation of an estimated 25 to 30 people from an apartment building after children playing with matches or a lighter started a blaze in a second-floor unit.
No injuries have been reported in Friday’s fire at the 13-unit building. Yakima Fire Department Battalion Chief Abel Castilleja estimates damage at $70,000. The chief said two of the units are no longer habitable.
The American Red Cross is helping those displaced.
Oregon: Paving set at deadly church van crash site
The Oregon Department of Transportation plans to repave the rutted section of Interstate 84 where a van crashed earlier this month, killing three people and injuring 13.
Tom Strandberg, an agency spokesman in La Grande, said some sections of the freeway had already been patched in preparation for the work that could begin next year.
The department’s interstate maintenance plan includes $30 million to resurface the freeway between milepost 297.1 and 306.5.
The van carrying a church group was headed west in icy conditions when it left the freeway near Baker City and rolled several times. The patching was done before the Nov. 12 crash.
Springfield jail opening delayed by sprinkler system discussion
The opening of the new Springfield jail will be delayed six weeks because of a longer-than-expected discussion regarding the ideal indoor sprinkler system.
The system is only now being installed, so opening day has been pushed from Dec. 1 to mid-January.
Springfield’s $30 million, 100-bed jail will be the largest city-run facility of its kind in Oregon.
It will be staffed to hold inmates accused or convicted of misdemeanors such as drunken driving, breaking into a vehicle and criminal mischief.
City voters in 2004 approved a bond measure to design and build a downtown public safety complex that includes the jail.
From Herald news services
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