Parents criticize Israel’s probe of daughter’s death

DEARBORN, Mich. — The parents of an American activist crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in a Palestinian refugee camp criticized the Israeli government for not releasing the investigation report and renewed calls for an independent examination of their daughter’s death.

Rachel Corrie, 23, a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, was killed March 16 while trying to prevent the bulldozer from razing the home of a Palestinian pharmacist in Rafah, along the border with Egypt. An Israeli army investigation concluded Corrie’s death was accidental, with officials saying the driver of the machine could not see the woman.

But Corrie’s parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, say Israeli officials are stonewalling efforts to release the report to U.S. representatives.

"What we want is what Prime Minister (Ariel) Sharon promised President Bush, an open and transparent investigation into Rachel’s death. We haven’t gotten that," said Craig Corrie.

Yakima

Cow from suspect Canadian herd traced to Moxee: One cow from a Canadian herd that entered this country in 2001 and included a mad cow disease-infected Holstein has been traced to a farm in Moxee, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday. The finding means the mad cow investigation, which is in its fifth week, has stretched to a sixth Washington state farm, as well as one in Idaho and one in Oregon. Investigators have been working to trace the whereabouts of 81 Canadian cattle following the announcement Dec. 23 that a cow at a Mabton dairy farm had tested positive for mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The mad cow was traced to a herd of 81 cattle that entered this country from Alberta, Canada, in 2001.

Spokane

Conservation groups say Snake River dams can go: It would cost between $44 million and $420 million to increase railroad capacity to carry crops now moved by barges if four dams on the Snake River are breached to help endangered salmon, according to a new study by conservation groups. But dam proponents said the study is flawed and intended primarily to increase support for removing the dams, an issue so hot that President Bush has vowed repeatedly to protect the dams. The study was commissioned by American Rivers, Idaho Rivers United and the National Wildlife Federation, which contend the dams are a major barrier to the recovery of salmon runs, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Long Beach

Woman’s body found, man still missing: Searchers Friday recovered the body of a Cowlitz County woman who vanished with a friend while clamming off the northern tip of Long Beach Peninsula earlier this week. Relatives identified the body found near Tokeland as that of Janette Caron, 54, of Castle Rock, Pacific County authorities said. Her friend, Gene LaFever, 57, of Longview, was still missing. Caron and LaFever were last seen Monday afternoon as they headed out to the coast to dig for razor clams. Their car was found Tuesday afternoon, stuck in the sand near Leadbetter Point, where it had already sat through one tide, the sheriff’s office said. A search has been under way ever since by Coast Guard and search-and-rescue volunteers from Pacific, Grays Harbor, Lewis and Thurston counties.

Olympia