OLYMPIA...Under a grant from Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed, counties in Washington have teamed with local colleges to launch a new 21st century voter information tool.  

Beginning July 20, voters in Kitsap County and four other counties will have the ability to access a video version of their local Voters' Pamphlet.  Grant, Pacific, Pend Oreille and Walla Walla counties also are participating.     

Voters in the participating counties can go to their County Elections Web site to access an interactive version of their sample ballot. A voter can then click on any of the candidates appearing on his or her ballot to watch, listen and read a statement directly from the participating candidates.  To assist candidates in filming their video statement, each participating county has teamed with its local college's media department.   

Olympia, WA., For four weeks this summer, Washington State Patrol, along with county and local law enforcement agencies, will be out making sure car and truck drivers are behaving themselves around each other.  During the months of July and September, Washington State Patrol, and other law enforcement agencies, will participate in the 2009 Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Truck (TACT) project that will focus on how drivers can share the road safely with commercial motor vehicles on rural routes instead of the interstate.

In Washington, between 2005 and 2007, commercial vehicles were involved in nearly 5000 collisions.  On rural roads, the driver of the car was at fault two-thirds of the time, causing the deaths of 175 people, and another 450 people were injured. 

"Motorists who drive recklessly, or are unsafe around these big rigs, are asking for trouble," said Chief John R. Batiste, Washington State Patrol.  "When a car and a commercial vehicle are involved in a collision, the car will lose."

The Washington State Patrol staffed an extra 8 Troopers in King County on the Fourth of July specifically targeting D.U.I and aggressive driving. This weekend’s emphasis was successful as
there were no serious injury or fatality collisions on King County highways, and a 45 percent decrease in the number of reportable collisions compared to the 2008 Fourth of July weekend.

King County Troopers apprehended 51 impaired drivers and responded to 26 collisions, 8 of them involving injuries. “I am very proud of our troopers and the motoring public for their
dedication in making our roadways safe. I am ecstatic to report that this is the second holiday weekend in a row that we have not had a serious injury or fatality collision on King County
highways,” stated Lieutenant Jeffrey Sass of the Washington State Patrol.

On the night of July 4th, the Washington State Patrol’s impaired driving section set up their Mobile Impaired Driving Unit (MIDU) at the WSP Roanoke Office. The MIDU was staffed with
Drug Recognition Experts and BAC technicians that assisted King County Troopers in processing impaired drivers. Between the hours of 11:00pm and 2:30am the MIDU assisted in
processing 10 impaired drivers and completed 1 drug evaluation.

OLYMPIA - The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently completed an upgrade to the walking trail at the Chehalis River Surge Plain Natural Area Preserve (NAP). When this interpretive walking trail was established in 2001, the final compacted gravel cap for a large section of the trail was not completed. The project just completed provides a 6 foot wide compacted gravel trail surface for the entire 3.5 mile length of the trail. The informal parking and fishing access area at the end of Preacher's Slough Road was also improved, and no longer has a large puddle.

Simroe Contracting1, Inc., a local contractor, completed the work on the trail.  This project helps to implement public access goals outlined in the recently completed management plan for the site, available by request from DNR's Pacific Cascade Region, at  360-577-2025.

SEATTLE - The Coast Guard responded to a sinking fishing vessel in the Quileute Marina in La Push, Wash., Thursday.

At approximately 4:30 a.m., while underway for a bar patrol, a 47-motor lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Quillayute River, Wash., discovered the 48-foot fishing vessel Miss Clarissa sinking at its pier.  The motor lifeboat crew took the vessel in tow and relocated it away from the harbor entrance. 

In this photo released by the Coast Guard, the fishing vessel Miss Clarissa sits below the surface after it sunk dockside at the Quileute Marina in La Push, Wash., July 2, 2009. (Coast Guard photo/Air Station Port Angeles)

In this photo released by the Coast Guard, the fishing vessel Miss Clarissa sits below the surface after it sunk dockside at the Quileute Marina in La Push, Wash., July 2, 2009. (Coast Guard photo/Air Station Port Angeles)