OLYMPIA — The Washington Department of Transportation says Kiewit-General Joint Venture has submitted a bid for construction of new pontoons for the State Route 520 floating bridge that is $180 million less than the state’s estimate.
The state says Kiewit-General’s bid price of $367.3 million is far less than what the state expected. While not awarding the contract to Kiewit-General, the state says the company has the best combination of bid price and technical score, which included proposed plans for construction facility, speed of construction and environmental protections.
Two other groups submitted bids.
The winning team will be asked to design and build a new pontoon construction facility in Grays Harbor County, design and construct 33 new floating bridge pontoons and store the pontoons until they are needed for the new bridge across Lake Washington
Olympia: Bear organ trafficking
Wildlife detectives say investigations into the illegal trafficking of bear gall bladders have led to prison time for one man and a hefty fine for another.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says Wednesday that William A. Page, a meat cutter from Curlew, was sentenced to a year in jail in Ferry County Superior Court after being convicted on six counts of unlawful trafficking in wildlife.
Page, 63, was sentenced Dec. 18 and was also fined $3,000.
Investigators say Page admitted buying 35 gall bladders in 2007 and 2008, including 17 from undercover officers. Investigators say some believe gall bladders have healing powers and can draw thousands of dollars on the black market.
In a separate case, Jason Yon, 51, owner of JAX Market in Spokane, was fined $1,000 in Spokane County Superior Court on Dec. 22 for two felony convictions of illegally trafficking in wildlife. He was found guilty of purchasing four gall bladders during an undercover investigation.
Spokane: Fire burns landmark mansion
A fire has burned parts of the landmark Riblet Mansion on the grounds of a Spokane winery.
Firefighters were called at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and found the building burning on all three floors. Eventually, two trucks and 24 firefighters fought the blaze. By 7:30 a.m., it was mostly out.
Fire officials say the blaze apparently started on the ground floor. It caused extensive damage inside, but the building’s structural integrity appears to be intact.
The mansion is the architectural focal point of the Arbor Crest winery grounds on a bluff overlooking the Spokane River Valley.
Idaho: $75 million to fix pollution
Companies, state agencies and cities in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington agreed to spend nearly $75 million to clean up or control pollution during fiscal year 2009, an increase of nearly $20 million from 2008.
Lauris Davies, the Environmental Protection Agency’s deputy director of compliance and enforcement in Seattle, released figures Wednesday for the four states.
Companies and state agencies in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska paid just over $3 million in penalties.
The totals went down slightly when compared to the past two years. Total penalties were $3.1 million last year and $4.1 million in 2007.
The EPA said nationwide, companies violating environmental laws will spend more than $5 billion to reduce pollution, down from a record $11 billion last year. The companies paid $90.1 million in penalties.
Associated Press
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