SNOQUALMIE PASS – A 16-year-old snowboarder who went over a 30-foot cliff and apparently landed headfirst was killed Monday at Alpental ski area, a ski area spokesman said.
The boy was snowboarding with friends about 3 p.m. in an out-of-bounds area when the accident happened, Alpental spokesman Guy Lawrence said.
The boy’s friends dug him out of the snow and fetched snow patrol assistance quickly but he could not be revived, Lawrence said.
The teen’s name, hometown and other details were not immediately available.
Alpental is one of several ski areas at this Cascade Mountains pass east of Seattle.
Anacortes
Tug rolls after struck by tanker: A tug escorting an oil tanker collided with the tanker in heavy winds and seas in Rosario Strait over the weekend, significantly damaging the tug but causing no oil spill, the Coast Guard said. The Sea King, a tug owned by Crowley Marine Inc. of Seattle, and the Allegiance, a 250,000-barrel tanker, collided Saturday night. Two of the tug’s five crew members suffered minor injuries. The tug, which capsized and then righted itself, suffered significant damage, he said. The tanker also was damaged and took on water, but was not in danger of sinking. After the collision, the tanker went to the Tesoro refining facility here.
Kennewick
Hop farmer sues state over clean-up fee: A Bainbridge Island man is suing the state, contending he is not responsible for the $1 million cost of cleaning up and monitoring a toxic herbicide at his Grandview Ranch. The work was ordered by the state Department of Ecology in 1998. Dan Alexander, 70, is seeking to recover the $67,515 he spent through June 30, 1998, but ultimately hopes to recover all his costs. The case is scheduled to be heard in Benton County Superior Court today. The state will try to show that Alexander and his wife, Harriet, were irresponsible in their handling of chemicals – and in their response to cleanup orders when the Ecology Department initially raised concerns that the herbicide was poisoning nearby wells.
Wenatchee
Damage from winds: High winds tore through the Wenatchee Valley and across the Waterville Plateau over the weekend, forcing two ski areas to shut down chairlifts, knocking out power and blowing down trees and fences. Bob Yetter was watching television in his living room Sunday afternoon when a 60-foot-tall fir tree landed on his house. The Yetters estimated the damage to their house at about $15,000. “I have a different view out my window now,” he said. “I can see Twin Peaks.” The Mission Ridge ski area recorded winds of up to 85 mph at the top of Chair 2, which was one of two shut down. Stevens Pass also shut down a chairlift with winds of about 40 mph. Customers of the Chelan County Public Utility District experienced scattered power outages, spokeswoman Susan Gillin said. About 700 customers in Wenatchee lost electrical service for 2 1/2hours when a tree fell on a power line. Several thousand customers north of Wenatchee and into Entiat lost electricity for about two hours later in the afternoon. The exact cause had not been determined, but it was believed to be wind-related, Gillin said.
Undelivered mail stash found: About 2,000 pieces of mail – almost all of it junk mail – were found stashed at a rental house in Wenatchee. The mail came from a rural route in Wenatchee, and the case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Service, said Postmaster Mel Miller. He said 99 percent of the mail was bulk business advertising. The mail stash was discovered by tenants moving into the house. Letters have been sent to people living along the rural route, notifying them of the problem.
Oregon
Request granted: An ex-convict gave a teller at a US Bank branch in Salem a note Thursday telling her this was a stickup, then asked her to call the police. He said he didn’t want any trouble, he just wanted to go back to prison. Douglas Lloyd Harrison, 48, was released on parole 16 months ago after spending eight years behind bars for strangling his girlfriend. Sgt. Mel Witenberger of the Marion County sheriff’s department said the teller thought the robber was kidding. He wasn’t. She called 9-1-1. Harrison was standing outside the front door when police drove up. On the way to jail, Witenberger said, the man told officers that he couldn’t get a job and was running out of money. Harrison was working as a garbage hauler in 1992 when he murdered his girlfriend. He was released on parole in September 2000.
From Herald news services
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