Northwest Briefly: Wildfire burning large area in Eastern Washington

DAVENPORT — A new wildfire has scorched a long swath of land in Eastern Washington’s Lincoln County.

It wasn’t immediately clear Monday night whether any structures had been lost, but Sheriff Wade Magers said no injuries have been reported.

Magers said the fire has been estimated at about 12 miles long and a mile or two wide, burning in varied terrain, including pasture and sagebrush.

The fire began southeast of Creston, about 5 p.m. Monday and was moving to the northeast. U.S. 2 and Highway 25 have been temporarily closed near the fire.

Magers said an unspecified number of people are being advised to be ready to evacuate.

Seattle: Recent Seattle smog may lead to more expensive gas

Cool, rainy weather has come too late to prevent the Seattle area from violating the Clean Air Act for the first time since 1992.

As a result, central Puget Sound officials must devise a plan to improve air quality. One possibility is a requirement for more expensive but less polluting gasoline.

The final smog violation that pushed the area into violation occurred Saturday afternoon, when a monitoring device in Enumclaw registered slightly over the ozone limit.

Officially, though, the region probably won’t become a federal “non-attainment area” until 2010. That’s how long it’s expected to take for the violation to be reported to the Environmental Protection Agency and for EPA to react.

Montesano: Charges await in man’s death

MONTESANO — Investigators believe a 57-year-old Grayland woman is responsible for the death of her 62-year-old boyfriend, whose partially dismembered remains were found under the couple’s trailer.

Even so, Grays Harbor County Undersheriff Rick Scott said Monday no charges will be filed immediately against Sherry G. Hamm. Scott said a decision on that will be made after she is sentenced in neighboring Pacific County for assaulting James Hutchinson of Chehalis.

The remains of Hutchinson’s brother, Kenneth Hutchinson, were found in a plastic-wrapped bundle on Aug. 11 after fellow trailer park residents reported him missing. Scott said investigators are still trying to find Kenneth Hutchinson’s arms and legs.

Hamm turned herself in Thursday in Vancouver, Wash.

Tumwater: Worker dies at glassworks

A worker at Cardinal Glass is dead in what police are calling an industrial accident.

Medics were called Monday morning when employees found a co-worker on the ground with a laceration to his neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said it appears the worker fell, causing the laceration.

Lakewood: Swimmer dies at American Lake

A 43-year-old woman who went for a swim in American Lake in Pierce County has died.

The woman was swimming with friends when something happened Sunday evening. Lakewood police Lt. Heidi Hoffman said the woman was underwater for 10 minutes before friends pulled her up.

The Pierce County medical examiner’s office has not released the woman’s name or any other information.

Ephrata: 2 fatal blasts called homicides

Two fatal explosions within hours in Grant County have been found to be from pipe bombs, and sheriff’s deputies said both are being investigated as homicides.

In the first blast, 69-year-old William Arleigh Walker of Moses Lake died in his workshop east of Moses Lake. Initially investigators said a vehicle battery might be involved, but Undersheriff John Turley confirmed that the explosion was from a pipe bomb.

Early on Aug. 3, 53-year-old Javier Martinez Adame of Moses Lake died in an explosion that apparently came from a pipe bomb in his kitchen north of Moses Lake.

Turley said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is helping investigators try to determine whether there was any similarity in the blasts.

Spokane: Man dies in accident on U.S. 2

A 65-year-old man has died in a crash on U.S. 2 west of Spokane, and the State Patrol said the other driver may be charged with vehicular homicide.

Dennis L. McGaffee of Spokane Valley died at the scene shortly before noon Sunday. A passenger in the Chevrolet Tahoe he was driving westbound, 57-year-old Melinda C. McGaffee, was rushed to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Also taken to the hospital was 22-year-old Scott P. Adams, 22, of Spokane, driver of an eastbound 2001 Ford sport utility vehicle. The two SUVs collided in the westbound lane.

Troopers believe alcohol or other drugs were involved, and Adams may be charged with vehicular homicide, according to a State Patrol report.

Port Orchard: Victim in crash named

The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office said a pilot killed Sunday in a private helicopter crash is believed to be 68-year-old Myron Aadland.

Deputy Scott Wilson said Monday that Aadland’s family had been notified of the crash, but authorities were still searching for Aadland’s identification in the helicopter’s wreckage.

The body of the pilot was recovered after Sunday afternoon’s crash in the Olalla area, he said. There was no fire. Aadland owned the helicopter.

The Kitsap County coroner’s office will conduct an autopsy and make the official identification, Wilson said.

Aadland took off from the Bremerton National Airport on Sunday afternoon in a Robinson R-22 helicopter. Authorities believe Aadland was flying to his house in Olalla where he had built a helicopter landing pad, Wilson said.

Aberdeen: Unsoeld to be honored

Former Washington Democratic congresswoman Jolene Unsoeld will receive the 2008 James Madison Award for her dedication to the First Amendment and the cause of open government.

The award is given annually by the Washington Coalition for Open Government.

Coalition president Toby Nixon said the selection committee picked Unsoeld for her “consistent commitment to the cause of the public’s right to know what its government is doing, as she has demonstrated throughout her career in words and actions.”

Unsoeld, 76, represented District 3 in Washington state from 1989-1995.

Unsoeld will be honored at a breakfast at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle on Sept. 19.

Deer Park: Contact with power line kills 1

Authorities have identified a 51-year-old man killed when a metal grain auger he and another man were moving touched a live power line near Deer Park, north of Spokane.

The victim in Saturday’s fatal electrocution was identified Monday as Gregg Burchett of the West Plains area.

A Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman said the second man was holding a rubber tire on the auger and received only a minor shock.

The two men were moving the auger by hand when the accident happened. Burchett was pronounced dead at the scene.

Oregon: Confusion over voter forms

Oregon elections officials say some out-of-state voter registration forms arriving in the mail are causing confusion.

Political activists often use the forms — authorized by the federal Help America Vote Act — to encourage voters who support their cause to register.

But some mailings have gone to people ineligible to vote, including children and people who have died. Some recipients worry they have to complete the forms to be eligible to vote in November.

The Oregon Elections Division said voters can use the cards mailed from out of state to register.

But anybody who was registered to vote in the Oregon primary is already qualified to vote in the November election.

Elections officials also remind voters the state sends out registration cards only on request and never in mass mailings.

Associated Press