Dog dies after saving family from house fire
PULLMAN — A 6-year-old border collie died in a house fire after waking up his owner out of a deep sleep to warn her of the blaze.
Marilyn Harvey and her son, Brent, rushed out the basement door, but the dog, Sandler, turned back. Marilyn’s husband, John Harvey, who was in Seattle at the time of the fire, thinks it was because Sandler wanted to save the family’s 17-year-old Australian shepherd, who was still inside the house.
Both dogs died in last Friday’s fire, along with a bird named Kellogg. A cat named Raja escaped unharmed.
Investigators believe a candle left burning in the family room of the two-story house started the fire, which destroyed the house. The only salvageable items were found in the garage under the Christmas tree.
John Harvey said his family will always be grateful to Sandler. “We’re a little devastated now, but I think tomorrow will be better,” he said. “It makes the holidays a little more valuable.”
Leavenworth: Town to get Amtrak stop
This Bavarian-themed village in central Washington will be a new Amtrak stop next year.
The project to add a passenger train stop on the Empire Builder, which runs between Chicago and Seattle, now has enough money to move forward after a nearly $300,000 congressional appropriation last week.
Leavenworth has raised more than $700,000 in local, state and federal funds to build the Icicle Station train stop, said City Councilman and Mayor-elect Rob Eaton, who has championed the project for at least five years.
The train stop could increase tourism to the town and increase local job opportunities, as well as give visitors from Western Washington the option of riding the train rather than driving.
Puyallup: Catalytic converters stolen
Police in Puyallup are warning about a new theft target of drug addicts: pollution-fighting catalytic converters.
In as little as a minute, a thief can slip under a motor vehicle and use a power tool to remove the converter to sell as scrap. Precious metals used in the device, including platinum, palladium and rhodium, make each one worth $40 to $100 as scrap.
Tacoma police and Pierce County sheriff’s deputies say catalytic converter theft has not been much of a problem for them.
However, Puyallup police Sgt. Bob Thompson said his agency has seen a handful of cases in the past two months, and he wants to nip it in the bud.
Vancouver, Wash.: Inmate seizes hostage
A Clark County jail inmate awaiting trial in the shooting of a Vancouver police officer has been accused of holding another inmate hostage.
Jail officials say 28-year-old Matthew Ryan Hastings held a homemade knife on the other inmate for nearly an hour and a half. A special weapons and tactics team talked Hastings into surrendering Saturday evening.
Hastings is being held in the behavioral segregation unit. Sheriff’s Sgt. Timothy Bieber says he grabbed the other inmate in a 10- by 20-foot day room, wrapping himself in a mattress to avoid being jolted by stun guns.
Port Orchard: Bullet narrowly misses family
Kitsap County sheriff’s deputies say a rifle shot narrowly missed a family of eight in a house south of Port Orchard.
Deputy Scott Wilson says a shot fired from a neighboring home narrowly missed a 48-year-old man who was watching the Seattle Seahawks game Sunday. His 24-year-old daughter escaped injury despite being hit with pieces of glass from a shattered window. The bullet caromed off the ceiling and hit a computer keyboard.
Associated Press
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