On Wednesday 8/5/09 at about 1:20 pm Hoquiam police responded to the Hoquiam Transit Station, 406 7^th Street, to the report of a man exposing his genitals.  When officers arrived on the scene an employee of transit told the officers that she saw a white male sitting on a concrete wall with his legs spread open and his genitals hanging out of his trousers.  At the time she saw the man there were a number of preschool children getting off a bus so she directed them away from the man.

As officers spoke to the complainant the man remained seated on the edge of concrete embankment.  When the officers approached the man his genitals were still exposed.  An officer asked the man about exposing himself and he told the officer that he did not realize that his genitals were outside his pants.  As he responded to the officer's questions the man tucked his genitals back into his trousers.

Washington State Patrol troopers are urging motorists to make better choices and hopefully stem a recent spike in highway fatalities.  Last weekend troopers responded to six major collisions in which a total of ten people died. It was the deadliest weekend of 2009. 

"This loss of life is of great concern to me," stated Chief John R. Batiste, Washington State Patrol, "and we do not want it repeated this weekend." 

Three of the ten people killed were not wearing their seatbelts. Alcohol was involved in three of the collisions. Additional contributing factors to the collisions were speed, aggressive driving, and driver inattention.  

"All of the contributing factors were choices made by the vehicle drivers," Batiste added. "We hope others will learn from these tragedies, and make better choices."

Contractor crews in Pacific County completed the second state highway project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) and four additional paving projects are nearing completion. Washington State Ferries has completed both ferry vessel preservation projects as crews finished painting the 188-vehicle Spokane ferry and 87-auto Evergreen State in July. Local governments continue to advance projects for construction with 16 new projects awarded this past week.

OLYMPIA- State officials are celebrating a court victory that walls off millions of acres of public lands from new development. On Wednesday the 9^th Circuit Court ruled in favor of a lower court's decision to turn back a 2005 effort to open up some federal lands to new road construction and the harvest of timber.

"This is a great victory for Washingtonians, who have long stood for the protection of our roadless areas," said Gov. Chris Gregoire. "These special places provide clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, and priceless recreational opportunities for Washington families.

Gregoire added that the decision underscores the need for federal agencies to comply with federal laws, like the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act, when proposing significant changes in regulations or management actions.