YAKIMA — A U.S. Navy jet made an unscheduled landing at the Yakima Air Terminal after an engine warning light forced the EA-6B Prowler to abandon a training mission.
The electronic warfare plane landed safely, using one of its two engines Wednesday, the Yakima Fire Department said. No one was hurt, and there was no damage to the plane.
The Prowler is based at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.
"It was conducting routine high-altitude training," said spokeswoman Kim Martin.
A warning light came on in the cockpit, so the pilot headed for the nearest airstrip, she said.
The jet, which carries a crew of four, is part of Electronic Attack Squadron 141, known as the Shadowhawks. It was one of the first squadrons to be sent to Afghanistan.
Rainier
Plane crashes: A small plane with only the pilot aboard crashed Thursday near here in south Thurston County, a sheriff’s officer said. The pilot, who was not identified, suffered minor injuries when the 1959 Cessna 170 went down near Highway 507 at about 2 p.m., sheriff’s Lt. Brad Whatkins said. The cause of the crash was under investigation.
Spokane
Deputies find human ashes among meth equipment in car: Detectives searching the car of a drug suspect were surprised Thursday to find the ashes of the woman’s dead son in the vehicle. Penny E. Fehlhaber was arrested at the Skyline Motel west of Spokane on Tuesday evening, and Spokane County sheriff’s deputies discovered her Jeep was a rolling methamphetamine lab. Meth cooking equipment was found in two coolers on the Jeep’s roof, and other meth-production materials were found throughout the vehicle, deputies said. Fehlhaber was arrested for investigation of possession of methamphetamine, and because her driver’s license was suspended, the Jeep was seized and impounded.
Port Angeles
Jefferson County administrator fired: Jefferson County administrator Charles Saddler has been fired, partly in an effort by commissioners to cut costs. Saddler, hired two years ago as the county’s first administrator, has been criticized by elected officials. The county board of commissioners decided to terminate him during a closed annual job evaluation. "This move will allow the county to address immediate budgetary concerns while providing time to assess the administrative needs of the county," said commissioner Richard Wojt, D-Port Townsend.
Kennewick
State, defense will examine evidence together: Expert witnesses for the defense and prosecution in a first-degree murder trial will examine DNA evidence together because the blood samples are insufficient to conduct two tests. The spattered blood comes from the apartment of Robert Siwicki, who is accused of fatally beating Marvin Tate Sr., chopping off his hands and dumping the body near the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers in September 2000. Last month, a Benton County Superior Court jury was unable to reach a decision in the case, splitting 7-5 in favor of a guilty verdict. A mistrial was declared, and a second trial scheduled for April 29.
Olympia
No second area code in Eastern Washington: The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission has killed a telephone industry plan to impose a second area code on Eastern Washington. The commission Wednesday concluded one-third of the available prefixes — more than 2.5 million — are still unused in the area east of the Cascades. Commission chairwoman Marilyn Showalter called the vote a victory for Eastern Washington, which has had the 509 area code since 1957.
From Herald news services
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