As a state official says residents of the area struck by a massive landslide on Saturday knew of the “high risk” of being killed in that way, rescue workers recovered 2 bodies and found the locations of 8 more victims.
The total of the missing is now listed at 150.
The Washington Army National Guard and FEMA arrived Tuesday to join the recovery efforts using specially trained dogs and sonar to search the area. The additional searchers came as local government officials did a flip-flop on their public stance regarding the disaster.
Initially, officials had said the slide was unforeseen and “came out of nowhere.” The same officials changed their story Wednesday.
“This entire year we have pushed message after message that there’s a high risk of landslides,” John Pennington, director of Snohomish County Emergency Management told reporters. “The dangers and the risks are known.”
Rescuers on site have told reporters that the work is going very slowly because the ground is “like quicksand.” Local fire chief Travis Hots said some of his crew could only go 50 feet in a five minute time frame because of the soft ground.
Washington state officials confirmed the death toll in Saturday’s massive landslide has risen to 14. The number of people reported missing has risen from 108 to 174.
“The 176 I believe very strongly is not going to be a number that we’re going to see in fatalities, I think it’s going to drop dramatically,” Snohomish County emergency management director John Pennington said. Pennington added he believes there are duplicate names on the list that have yet to be weeded out.
Officials also announced a suspension of search-and-rescue efforts after fears were raised that there could be another shifting of the earth at the site. However, several search teams using hovercraft, air support and sonar devices are continuing to search the site.
A closer examination of the site showed that 47 home sites were destroyed in the slide. Officials say at least 25 of the homes were occupied full time.
Family members of the missing were gathering at a Red Cross shelter. Reed Miller, whose son Joseph was inside a mobile home that was caught in the landslide, says he’s been calling his son’s cell phone for days without a response.
An anti-Christian group is seeking to have a memorial to men killed during World War I removed because it is in the shape of a cross in a public area.
The American Humanist Association sent a letter threatening a lawsuit if the 40-foot tall Bladensburg Cross is not immediately turn down. The anti-Christianists say that the location of the cross violates the First Amendment of the Constitution.
The 40-foot concrete memorial to 49 Prince George’s County men who were killed in combat during World War I was built by the American Legion in 1925. The monument was initially owned by the state but then deeded to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1960.
Steven Lowe, a man from Washington, claims in the complaint that he was “shocked” when he first saw the cross and gets “upset” every time he has to pass it because he is exposed to something that could possibly be Christian. Lowe is trying to perpetuate the myth that the existence of the cross in itself is the state promoting Christianity over other religions.
The town administrator said that the cross has historic and patriotic value and they will not remove it because of the anti-Christian group’s efforts.
Police in Seattle are claiming to have deactivated a “mesh network” that was installed in the city to allow officers to send large amounts of data between each other while in the field.
The reason? The system also contacts every wireless device in its radius like a cellphone or wireless internet modem allowing police to track civilians without their knowledge.
The network could also collect a series of data from the devices of citizens.
The SPD said they had “no bad intentions” when they installed the network and that they were going to disable the system until a policy was adopted by the city for what they consider proper use for the network.
However, residents told an alternative newspaper that their phones were still showing the internet boxes as connecting to their devices when they were within range of one of the system’s white boxes. Police later admitted the system was still on but not being used by police personnel.
The USDA has issued a public health alert for raw chicken packed at three California based Foster Farms locations after 278 people have been sickened with salmonella. Continue reading →
The first American in eastern Washington to be convicted of assisting terrorists has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Joseph Brice, 22, was arrested after a home made bomb exploded unexpectedly and nearly killed him. He was convicted on charges of attempting to provide material assistance to terrorists and manufacturing an explosive device. Continue reading →
Whidbey Island near Seattle, Washington is in need of new maps after a massive landslide.
The landslide pushed at least 200,000 cubic yards of ground down the west side of the island in the Puget Sound 50 miles north of Seattle. The slide struck around 4 a.m. Wednesday and has destroyed one home and will likely require four others to be demolished. Continue reading →
Politicians in the Washington state are moving to force all insurance providers to make abortion coverage part of every plan.
The “Reproductive Parity Act” would require all insurers who provide maternity care to pay for abortions. All insurers in the state are required to provide maternity care so they would have no choice but to pay for the ending of a baby’s life. Continue reading →
Thousands of acres of land have been destroyed due to wildfires raging across the western US according to wildlife officials. The US Forest Service reported 62 large and uncontained fires in Idaho, Nevada, Utah and California.
In Washington, a fire has burned 60 houses and 24,000 acres since it started on Monday. The town of Cle Elum in central Washington has been evacuated although civilians and firefighters have reported no injuries. Continue reading →
Washington state health officials have declared an epidemic and are fearful of higher spikes in occurrences of whooping cough.
Washington has already had 10 times the cases reported in 2011 as has Wisconsin who has yet to declare an epidemic.
The state is providing free vaccinations against the disease and Governor Chris Gregoire announced $90,000 for a public awareness campaign about the disease. State health Secretary, Mary Selecky, said it’s the first declaration of an epidemic she’s made in 13 years on the job.
Continue reading →
