NEWS BRIEFS: Free smoke detector aid for community … and other items

Free smoke detector aid for community

GARDINER — Clallam County Fire District 3 volunteers of the Diamond Point and Gardiner area are offering assistance changing smoke detector batteries.

This free service is available to anyone who is not physically able to change their batteries, with an emphasis on elderly and low-income residents, in owned or rented properties.

This service will be available in the Diamond Point, Gardiner and

West Miller Peninsula communities throughout October.

Volunteers will check the age of detectors, which should be replaced after

10 years; replace batteries as needed and test each detector.

Residents are requested to provide fresh, quality batteries to be installed.

Most detectors use either AA or 9 volt batteries; newer detectors have a permanent 10-year battery.

If you need assistance changing your batteries or have a qualified need for smoke detectors, call 360-565-5515 and provide your name, address, telephone number and best time to call.

Flight operations

COUPEVILLE — Outlying Landing Field Coupeville will be closed to jet aircraft traffic until the end of October

due to runway maintenance.

There will be field carrier landing practice operations for aircraft stationed at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island

Complex at Ault Field for early to late evening Monday.

Practice also is slated for mid-morning then evening to night Tuesday.

Practice also is slated for mid-morning to late afternoon then evening to night Wednesday.

Practice also is scheduled for evening to night Thursday.

Operations will continue during the afternoon Friday.

Comments, including noise complaints, can be directed to the station’s comment line at 360-257-6665 or via email at

comments.NASWI@navy.mil.

All other questions can be directed to the public affairs office at 360-257-2286.

Seed banking

PORT TOWNSEND — The Olympic Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society will sponsor a lecture from 6 p.m. to

7 p.m. Tuesday.

Wendy Gibble will present “Seed Banking: An Age-Old Art Used for a New Purpose” at Port Townsend Community Center, 620 Tyler St.

Gibble is the rare care program manager for University of Washington’s Botanic Gardens.

In this talk, Gibble will explore the biology of seeds, the science of seed banking and some of the ways to break seed dormancy to initiate germination.

For more information, call Dixie at 360-385-6432 or email dixie@cablespeed.com.

Clallam chain gang busy in local area

PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) Chain Gang cleaned their Adopt-A-Highway and along Edgewood Drive during the week of

Sept. 24-28.

Crew members found one illegal dumpsite on O’Brien Road with

160 pounds of garbage.

Crew members also moved exercise equipment and desks around

within the Elwha Justice Center.

Crew members assembled shelves and placed emergency management supplies on the shelves for Glen Roggenbuck.

Crew members also limbed trees and hauled away debris along Thompson Road for the Onella trail project.

Crew members also cleaned up around the county shop, organized road signs and hauled away junk wood and pallets.

Crew members removed construction signs from Deer Park Road and Black Diamond Road and cleaned the ditch along Black Diamond Road.

Crew members also built a road apron on Mount Angeles Road.

Crew members brushed six miles along Fire Service Road 2878 for the U.S. Forest Service.

Notable items found along roadways were two needles, two tires, a semiautomatic handgun, a couch, a mattress, a box spring and a 5-gallon bucket of concrete.

The chain gang has so far this year cleaned 118.75 miles of roadway, picked up 6,540 pounds of roadside litter, picked up 66,370 pounds of dumpsite litter, recycled 743 pounds of aluminum, trimmed 19,104 feet of guardrail, removed or sprayed 33,810 Scotch broom plants, and brushed

9.85 miles of county rights-of-way.

For the forest service, the chain gang has so far this year cleaned

10.5 miles of forest roads or trails; removed

12,610 pounds of dumpsite litter; and removed

23 hazard trees.

During the week of Oct. 1-5, the Chain Gang cleaned along Little River Road, Deer Park Road and Elwha River Road.

Crew members found an illegal dump site on Lilly Road with 260 pounds of garbage; Deer Park Road with 160 pounds of garbage; Elwha river Road with 180 pounds of garbage and four illegal dump-sites on Little River Road with 900 pounds of garbage.

Crew members looked at a job on the Elwha

levee for the Lower Elwha Tribe.

Crew members dug ditches, cleaned out ditches and disposed of debris.

Crew members also pulled Scotch broom plants from Liljedahl Road, 450 plants; Grauel-Ramapo Road, 200 plants and Quillayute Airport Road, 600 plants.

Crew members also pulled 1,650 Scotch broom plants and 50 Tansy ragwort plants at the Forks Pit.

Crew members cleaned and sorted signs at the county shop.

Notable items found along roadways were

32 needles, two toilets, a kitchen sink, a computer monitor, a car bench seat, a 55-gallon trash can and a 28-foot travel trailer.

The chain gang has so far this year cleaned

127.5 miles of roadway, picked up 6,840 pounds of roadside litter, picked up 71,870 pounds of dump-site litter, recycled

743 pounds of aluminum, trimmed 19,104 feet of guardrail, removed or sprayed 36,710 Scotch broom plants, and brushed 9.85 miles of county rights-of-way.

For the Forest Service, the chain gang has so far this year cleaned

10.5 miles of forest roads or trails; removed

12,610 pounds of dump-site litter; and removed

23 hazard trees.

Stopps Award

PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) announced co-recipients of the 2018 Eleanor Stopps Environmental Leadership Award on Friday, Sept. 28.

Eloise Kailin, Olympic Environmental Council co-founder, and Sarah Doyle, the stewardship coordinator for the North Olympic Salmon Coalition received their awards at the annual PTMSC Stewardship Breakfast at Fort Worden.

The Eleanor Stopps Environmental Leadership Award recognizes significant contributions in the protection and stewardship of the natural environment of the North Olympic Peninsula.

“We are so pleased to honor these two outstanding advocates for the people and the environment of the North Olympic Peninsula,” said PTMSC Executive Director Janine Boire.

Free clinic for breast health awareness

SEQUIM — Operation Uplift will host a free breast health clinic Saturday, Oct. 20.

The clinic, for women without health insurance or whose health coverage does not cover breast exams or needed mammograms, will be conducted at Olympic Medical Imaging Center, 840 N. Fifth Ave.

Call Operation Uplift at 360-457-5141 to schedule an appointment.

The clinic is sponsored by Operation Uplift and Soroptomist International of Port Angeles.

Harvest Carnival

PORT ANGELES — Peninsula Pre-3 Cooperative Preschool will hold its annual Harvest Carnival & Silent

Auction from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20.

The carnival will be held in the gymnasium, Jefferson Elementary School, 218 E. 12th St.

The carnival will include games, prizes, crafts, a cake walk, gift basket raffle,

face painting, bake sale and the silent auction.

Games and crafts are designed for children 8 years and younger, but it will be fun for the whole family.

The first 100 children will receive a free book from Clallam County Literacy Council.

Admission is $3 per person and includes unlimited crafts, free admission for children younger than 12 months old.

Pro bono week

PORT ANGELES — Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers celebrate Pro Bono Week from Oct. 21-27.

Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers is a volunteer lawyer program serving low-income residents of

Clallam and Jefferson counties since 1991.

Pro Bono Lawyers will staff a free legal clinic, Law at the Landing, from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at

The Landing mall, 115 E. Railroad Ave.

For more information about Pro Bono Week or how to access legal aid services, call Shauna Rogers McClain, at 360-504-2422 or email probonolawyers@gmail.com.

Boating Lecture

PORT TOWNSEND — The Point Wilson Sail and Power Squadron will host a free presentation from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The presentation, “On the Water Responses of Jefferson County Sheriffs” will be held at Port Townsend Yacht Club, 2503 Washington St.

A representative of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office will discuss its responsibilities which include

patrolling 300 nautical miles of coastline, guarding the Indian Island shipping

port and facilitating on the water

rescues.

For more information, call Linda Newland 360-437-9350

Road 25 reopened after fire

OLYMPIA — Forest Road 25, the Hamma Hamma Road and trails accessed by the Hamma Hamma Road are once again open to thepublic, the Olympic National Forest Service has announced.

After having received more than 7 inches of rain in the area, the Maple Fire, which burned about 3,500 acres and which promptedclosure of the road, is deemed contained, said Susan Garner, public affairs officer.

The historic Hamma Hamma cabin is also available for rent by going to https://www.recreation.gov/.

Campgrounds in the area, however, are now closed for the season.

Due to such post-fire hazards as falling trees and rolling rocks, the area south of the Hamma Hamma River remains closed, Garnersaid Friday.

That area includes Forest Roads 2401, 2480 and 2421 and associated trails.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation although it is known to be human-caused.

Lolita’s case won’t reopen

MIAMI — Activist groups have lost the latest battle in a decades-long fight to free an orca named Lolita from the Miami Seaquarium.

The Miami Herald reports a federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a petition to reopen a lawsuit over Seaquarium’s treatment ofLolita.

Lolita lives in the country’s smallest orca aquarium, and has been Seaquarium’s star attraction since she was captured off the PugetSound in 1970.

The decision says that, at around 51, Lolita’s age makes the case “unique,” but there’s no threat of serious harm that could trigger afederal animal welfare law violation.

The court also couldn’t identify a “realistic means” to return her to the wild without being harmed.

PETA General Counsel Jared Goodman says the ruling sentences Lolita, a Southern Resident orca, to “alifetime of physical and psychological harm.”

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