eugene, ore.
Piglet found running along Interstate 5
Police are searching for the owner of a piglet found running alongside Interstate 5 south of Eugene.
Oregon State Police troopers responded Tuesday night after someone reported that a dog was in the northbound median of the freeway.
Troopers discovered it was a female piglet estimated to be about a month old. She had no identifying tags and nobody had called to report her missing.
The animal was taken to a Eugene shelter.
The owner is asked to call Oregon State Police at 541-726-2536 or the animal shelter at 541-844-1606.
yakima
$300K in federal funds to help house homeless
Yakima officials have approved the use of nearly $300,000 in federal funds to provide housing for dozens of homeless people living in an encampment in the city’s downtown.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reported the Yakima Valley Conference of Governments approved the funds Monday to provide housing vouchers for more than 30 homeless people. The residents of the encampment began living at the site last spring.
Officials say the one-year vouchers can be renewed next year.
A recently released survey shows that more than 80 percent of Yakima County’s homeless population resides in the city of Yakima. The county’s annual survey also says the number of people living in the county has dropped below 600 for the first time in the survey’s 10-year history.
soap lake
Residents can return home after wildfire
Authorities say they’ve lifted evacuation orders for residents of about a dozen homes after a vehicle fire ignited a wildfire near Soap Lake in Washington.
Grant County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kyle Foreman said a vehicle crashed and rolled on state Route 17 Wednesday afternoon, starting a wildfire that quickly grew to about 200 acres.
Foreman said about seven miles of Route 17 was closed in the area. He said the fire was also near BNSF Railway tracks that were shut down.
The sheriff’s office said just before 4 p.m. that the fire was contained.
Foreman said the people involved had minor injuries.
port townsend
Unexploded WWII shell discovered near park
The U.S. Navy was called in to investigate after a beachcomber found an unexploded World War II artillery shell near a Washington park.
Port Townsend police officials said the shell was found about 1.5 miles west of North Beach County Park and Fort Warden State Park.
Navy officials concluded the shell was an unfired 70-pound artillery shell likely from World War II. It did not have a fuse so it was not likely to explode. They also checked to make sure it wasn’t a chemical weapon.
Navy officials believe the shell probably came from the bunker that was part of the Fort Worden military base complex.
