Fire season is here and as temperatures rise, many counties and fire agencies have instituted burn bans.  These bans can prohibit everything from burning yard waste to a campfire.  In Washington, a burn ban violation is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000.  "Outdoor fires that get out of control can cause large wildfires that put citizens, firefighters and property at risk," says State Fire Marshal Mike Matlick.  You may also be responsible for the cost of putting out the fire as well as any damaged property.

Last week PACNET received an unexpected financial boost from the Columbia Enforcement Narcotics Team, a drug task force in St. Helens Oregon. The task force, known as CENT, forwarded PACNET checks totaling $12,386.80. The money was the result of a civil seizure in July of 2008 and associated with a narcotics arrest in Pacific County.

On July 17th of 2008, deputies arrested local resident, Jentry Milhiser in the Chinook area. The arrest was the result of a lengthy PACNET investigation in to the sales of Marijuana. During the arrest, deputies found Milhiser to be in possession of a large amount of processed marijuana valued at $11,500.00. Milhiser was booked in to Pacific County Jail for three counts of delivery of marijuana and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

The Washington State Patrol is seeking additional information on a suspect that was involved in a road rage incident that occurred; Saturday, August 01, on eastbound I-90 at Altamont just before 4:30 p.m.

The incident started on eastbound I-90 near the Altamont exit where the driver of a passenger car and the rider of a motorcycle exchanged obscene hand gestures in an apparent driving disagreement. The driver of the passenger car then changed lanes striking the motorcycle, causing him to lay his motorcycle down; the rider was later treated and released from a local hospital. The driver of the passenger car the fled the scene eastbound on I-90 and was last seen southbound on Thor from 3rd avenue.

WENATCHEE, Wash. - Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) dollars have trickled all the way into the national forests of Washington, where the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is using them to catch up on a huge backlog of deferred maintenance projects.

Ten projects will soon be underway in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Gretchen Barkmann, a USFS engineer in Okanogan-Wenatchee, says some of the priorities there are making public campgrounds more accessible and improving water quality for salmon and steelhead.

"We're doing some very good work with this funding. We're definitely happy to have it, because it allows us to get some pretty important work done on the ground."

BPA completed the EA and FONSI and decided to proceed with the project. Activities include removing most of its existing Olympia Shelton No. 1 115-kV transmission line (structures and conductor) from Olympia Substation to Shelton Substation and replacing the last 14.5 miles of this line into Shelton Substation with a double-circuit 230-kV line on lattice steel towers. This will improve voltage stability during winter-peak load conditions on the Olympic Peninsula. The project is expected to be complete in fall 2009. For more information, go to www.efw.bpa.gov/environmental_ ... Document_Library/Olympic/