SPOKANE – A bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Chris Gregoire makes Washington the first state to adopt restrictions on the amount of phosphorus in dishwashing detergents.
The law, intended to complement an existing law banning phosphates in laundry detergent, takes effect in Spokane, Whatcom and Clark counties in July 2008, and will be effective statewide in July 2010.
It is the first of its kind to target a key ingredient in dishwashing detergents, its sponsor, Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane, said Monday.
Phosphorus in detergents and fertilizers that get into rivers and lakes through wastewater and runoff promote algae blooms, which reduce the amount of oxygen available for other aquatic plants and fish, the state Department of Ecology said.
Associated Press
Kennewick: RV bursts into flames on I-82
The Ruby Suns’ American tour took a little detour while headed to its next gig in Seattle.
The Indie Pop band’s RV burst into flames on Interstate 82 just outside of Kennewick on Sunday. Benton County fire responded to the call, but by the time they arrived, the 26-foot RV was engulfed in flames and filling the sky with black smoke.
All five New Zealand band members made it out of the motorhome safely. One westbound lane of I-82 was shut down for a few hours and traffic backed up for a couple of miles, fire officials said.
After the fire was extinguished, the band was invited to the home of Richland Fire Chief Grant Baynes, a native of New Zealand.
Associated Press
Okanogan: Canadians arrested with marijuana
A man and a woman from Vancouver, B.C., have been arrested in the latest of at least four apparent marijuana deliveries by float plane, but the pilot and plane got away, authorities said.
Both Canadians were booked into the Okanogan County jail Thursday for investigation of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, Sheriff Frank Rogers said.
“We’re running ourselves ragged,” Rogers said. “It’s like an epidemic up here. We’re running from call to call.”
Investigators seized 325 pounds of pot valued at $1.5 million after seeing a float plane land on Soap Lake, a small lake on the Colville Indian Reservation, said Sgt. Brad Wilson, commander of the North Central Washington Narcotics Task Force.
The plane’s registration numbers were covered and it took off and flew north before agents could get to the lake.
Associated Press
Oregon: Mount Hood glaciers melting
The seven largest of Mount Hood’s 11 glaciers have shrunk by an average of more than 30 percent since the beginning of the last century, according to calculations by a Portland State University graduate student.
Keith Jackson, who is part of a glacier research team financed by the National Science Foundation and NASA, estimates that Sandy Glacier, on Mount Hood’s west slopes facing Portland, covers about 60 percent less ground than it did a century ago and Eliot Glacier has lost at least half of its ice in the last 100 years.
Scientists in the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group predict the Northwest will warm nearly as much in the next 20 years as it has in the last 100, about a degree Fahrenheit.
Associated Press
New Hampshire: Phone jamming alleged
The former co-owner of a telemarketing firm pleaded not guilty Monday to participating in a Republican scheme to jam New Hampshire Democrats’ get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002.
Shaun Hansen, 34, of Spokane, was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 8, but the charges were not made public until his arraignment Monday.
Three others have been convicted for their roles in the scheme.
Associated Press
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