Northwest Briefly: Water forecast heightens drought fears

YAKIMA — Water managers in the Yakima Valley are anticipating a low water year for some irrigators thanks to warm temperatures and below-normal precipitation.

The Bureau of Reclamation says irrigators who have newer, junior water rights are expected to receive 77 percent of a full water supply. Given current weather conditions and prospects for continued dry weather, the figure could drop to half of normal.

Bureau engineer Chris Lynch said the figure is expected to go down.

The owners of junior water rights typically have their water use curtailed during drought years to ensure a full supply for owners of older, more senior water rights.

Junior water users make up more than half of the irrigated acreage in the Yakima River basin.

Mistrial in rape trial over utterance of word ‘victims’

A mistrial has been declared in the rape trial of a man accused of kidnapping a woman from a Yakima street and raping her in a hops field near Moxee.

The Yakima County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that a detective’s testimony unfairly prejudiced the jury because he referred to “one of the victims.”

Before his trial began, Judge James Garvin ruled that witnesses were not to refer to the woman as a victim.

And, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported, the 21-year-old defendant, Edwin Ordonez-Nava, is charged in only one of three similar abductions and an attempted luring that took place last May in the Yakima area.

Yakima police arrest suspect in fatal drive-by shooting

Yakima police arrested a 24-year-old man suspected of killing another man Saturday while riding in his nephew’s car.

The suspect was taken into custody Tuesday by SWAT officers after a half-hour standoff at a duplex.

Authorities believe the 16-year-old nephew is a gang member but they do not believe the shooting victim, 40-year-old David Duarte, was involved in gangs.

Conway: School bus tips over; kids OK

The Washington State Patrol says a school bus carrying 36 children left the road and rolled over on its side in the Skagit County community of Conway.

Trooper Keith Leary said no one was seriously hurt in the accident late Wednesday afternoon.

Conway School Principal Deenie Berry said parents went to the accident scene to collect their children. They ranged in age from 5 to 14.

According to Leary, the Conway school superintendent said the bus was driven by a 41-year-old woman who was a substitute driver. The trooper said she reportedly had been on the job for two days.

The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office will investigate the crash.

Port Townsend: Some fear ferry would make city a Seattle suburb

Jefferson County commissioners were talking about asking the congressional delegation to support a $1 million appropriation for a passenger ferry to run between Port Townsend and Seattle.

But Commissioner Phil Johnson opposed the idea.

The Peninsula Daily News reported Johnson said Monday he does not want Port Townsend to become a bedroom community of Seattle.

Another commissioner, John Austin, says a passenger ferry would take drivers off highways and increase tourism in Port Townsend.

Ethel: Owners recover two prized dogs

Two Eugene, Ore., dog owners who earlier this week used the assistance of two volunteer pilots to search part of Lewis County for two missing pharaoh hounds have recovered both animals.

Owners Cynthia Guinn and Bill Martin were staying with friends in Ethel last weekend while they attended a lure coursing event in Auburn. Martin said he let his four dogs out in the yard to run around Sunday morning before the dog event. When he looked up, the gate was open and two of the dogs were gone.

Martin said 6-year-old Luna was found Tuesday night. Her 2-year-old daughter Io turned up safe Wednesday afternoon, about a half-mile from where she vanished.

The owners and volunteers had papered the area with fliers. Martin said a man called him up Wednesday and said one dog was sitting in his front yard. Martin drove over and Io hopped into his car.

Vancouver, Wash.: Horse rider dies in apparent fall

A Clark County sheriff’s officer said a 57-year-old Battle Ground woman died of injuries suffered in an apparent fall from a horse.

Sgt. Kevin Allais said deputies were called Wednesday evening to a boarding stable in Hockinson after a horse returned without its rider. A fellow rider went looking for the missing woman and found the body of Candace Morrison about a mile up a gravel road owned by a timber company. Allais says Morrison had not been wearing a riding helmet and suffered head trauma.

An autopsy is pending.

Morrison was a music teacher at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver.

Puyallup: Deputy fires at stolen vehicle suspect

Pierce County deputies chased a stolen pickup truck into a dead-end early Wednesday near Puyallup.

Sgt. Jerry Bates told KOMO-AM two deputies were outside their car when it was rammed by the suspect driver. He knocked down one deputy. The other deputy fired a shot at the pickup.

The driver was not injured and tried to run away. He was caught by a police dog.

The 22-year-old is now in custody and being treated for dog bites.

No deputies were injured.

Kennewick: Woman appealing arson conviction is free on bail

A 23-year-old woman was sentenced to more than a year in prison for setting fire to her family’s mobile home in Kennewick.

The Tri-City Herald reported Leah Sweany was released on bail after Tuesday’s sentencing to appeal the arson conviction.

Her mother also was convicted of arson and given a two-year term and is free on appeal.

Prosecutors say the women started a kitchen fire in January 2009 to collect insurance money.

The women were being evicted and had been ordered to move their trailer home from the park. A $47,000 insurance policy had been taken out on the home shortly before the fire.

Oregon: Crater Lake gets 12 inches of snow

Crater Lake National Park received a foot of snow Tuesday night, but it’s still lagging behind normal levels.

The Herald and News reports there are 102 inches of snow on the ground, 88 percent of average for this time of year.

The park has measured 267.3 inches of snow since Oct. 1, only about two-thirds of what it typically gets by now.

Snow showers were expected to resume Wednesday afternoon and evening, but the storm is only expected to add another inch to the total.

Ore plant is finally approved in Coos County

A Portland firm finally has the go-ahead to build an ore processing plant in Coos County.

It took two decades and 14 permits before Oregon Resources Corp. got the OK to mine chromite, zircon, high-iron and garnet between Charleston and Bandon.

Chief operating officer Dan Smith told The World newspaper that construction of the $45 million plant should be completed in late 2011 or early 2012.

The company plans to start hiring more than 50 plant operators later this year and contract with another 25 truck drivers and miners.

Oregon Resources discovered chromite mining potential in Coos County in 1990. Its ambitions have been slowed by permit delays, road agreements and local concern over environmental factors.

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