(Tacoma, Wash.)- In a move that stands to create jobs, boost local economies, reduce diesel emissions and protect human health and the environment for the people of Washington, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded nearly $1.5 million to reduce diesel and greenhouse gas emissions by retrofitting ocean-going vessels and adding alternative maritime power at the Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE) Terminal at the Port of Tacoma.  This clean diesel project will create jobs while protecting Tacoma's air quality.

"Investing in projects to reduce diesel pollution is essential to air quality and our quality of life in the Northwest," said Michelle Pirzadeh, Acting Regional Administrator for EPA's Region 10.  "This investment will pay off now and in the future by reducing health care costs, putting people to work in green jobs and making the air healthier for future generations."

HOQUIAM – Construction zone signs are set and work is ready to begin on a project that improves safety and gives motorists a smoother ride on a 43-mile stretch of US 101 in Grays Harbor County. This project, awarded to Doolittle Construction, LLC out of Bellevue back in April, chip-seals and adds centerline rumble strips to US 101 from Hoquiam to Amanda Park. Work is set for completion by the end of September. 

For the next two and a half months, motorists can expect delays and one-way, alternating traffic on US 101 from South of the West Hoquiam River Bridge to just north of the Boulder Creek Bridge. Work hours are 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

On Friday July 17, 2009 at 5:50 a.m. Hoquiam police responded to the report of a burglary at the Hoquiam Middle School, 200 Spencer Street.  The break-in was discovered by a janitor who was going into the building to go to work.  The burglary apparently occurred between 3:30 p.m. on Thursday July 16^th and the time it was discovered Friday morning.  The unknown suspect(s) broke out a window in the door at the main entrance to the building and reached inside to open the door to gain entry.

While inside the build the suspect(s) entered approximately 12 other rooms by breaking out small glass panels in the doors and then reaching in to open the doors.  Among the rooms that were entered were the office area, the computer room and a number of classrooms.

The bodies of two U.S. troops who died Afghanistan have been returned to their families in Portland, Ore., and Hoquiam, Wash.

In Hoquiam, a sudden gust of wind brought dozens of flags to attention Saturday at a ceremony for the entombment of 20-year-old Army Pfc. Aaron Fairbairn.

He died in a suicide truck bombing on the Fourth of July at Combat Outpost Zerok in Afghanistan.

Flags snapped in the wind at the Hillsboro Airport outside Portland as the remains of 22-year-old Marine Cpl. Matthew Lembke arrived on a small charter jet at sunset Thursday.

Lembke lost both his legs and his heart and breathing stopped when an improvised explosive device was detonated on June 22. He clung to life at a hospital in Germany until July 10.

Shelton, Mason County - A man and woman who tried to flee from a traffic stop were arrested and booked into the Mason County Jail, and troopers later served a search warrant on the vehicle resulting in several additional charges for the couple.

K9 Trooper Matt Wood stopped a 1992 Honda Accord, driven by 36 year-old transient Bryson E. Braget, on July 14 at approximately 2:30 pm after he observed the vehicle make a lane change and turn without signaling. Tonya L. League, a 20 year-old from Shelton was a passenger in the vehicle.

As Trooper Wood initiated a traffic stop, the vehicle turned onto Fairmount Avenue from Olympic Highway, and accelerated to a speed well in excess of the posted 25 MPH limit. As the vehicle passed Edgewood Street it swerved into the oncoming lane and came to a sliding stop off the roadway.