SEQUIM — A 23-year-old Port Angeles man was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol after driving a van into a ravine along U.S. Highway 101 near Louella Road east of Sequim, the State Patrol said.
Troopers said Derick A. Tollefson was eastbound in a 1994 Chevrolet Astro van when it left the road, went up an embankment and vaulted into the ravine at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
The van, which was destroyed, came to rest on its passenger side.
There were no other occupants in the vehicle. Tollefson was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.
He was taken to Olympic Medical Center before being booked into the Clallam County jail at
10:47 p.m.
The state Department of Transportation said alternating traffic was getting through before the highway was cleared at
6:51 p.m.
Tollefson was being held Monday in lieu of $1,000 bail.
Bingo at grange
SEQUIM — A family-friendly bingo game night is planned for the Sequim Prairie Grange, 290 Macleay Road, at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
The event is open to the public.
Prizes and light refreshments will be provided.
For more information, phone 360-683-7021.
Carnivore lecture
PORT TOWNSEND — A presentation on “Coexisting With Large Carnivores on the Olympic Peninsula and Across Washington,” sponsored by the Jefferson Land Trust’s Natural History Society, is set for Thursday.
The event will be held at the Cotton Building, 607 Water St., at 7 p.m.
The event is free, but a $5 donation will help cover costs.
Lorna Smith, executive director of Western Wildlife Outreach, or WWO, and Darrell Smith, WWO wildlife biologist, will be the featured speakers.
The talk will be illustrated with the couple’s photos of the state’s four top carnivores — grizzly bear, black bear, cougar and gray wolf — in their natural habitats.
“These mammals were all but eliminated from the Lower 48 by the late 1930s and early ’40s,” Lorna Smith said.
“Their absence has caused overpopulations of prey animals such as elk and deer, the spread of disease among these animals and radically altered landscapes in many, many places.”
The Smiths will share historical perspectives on changes in large carnivore populations around the North Olympic Peninsula.
As the number of black bears and cougars has slowly increased to more natural levels during recent decades, human encounters with them have become more frequent, so the presenters also will address how to live, recreate and work safely in cougar and bear country.
In addition, they will discuss the status of Washington’s gray wolf population, newly established in the state after an absence of almost 70 years.
The nonprofit WWO is dedicated to providing accurate, science-based information on bears, wolves and cougars, the organization said.
Pine needle artist
SEQUIM — Jodie Morris, a weaver of pine needle baskets, will present her work at the Sequim Arts’ January meeting Thursday.
The group will meet at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hall, 525 N. Fifth Ave., at :30 a.m., and the presentation is at 10:45 a.m.
The meeting is open to the public.
Applications open
PORT ANGELES —Applications are being accepted for Head Start and Early Head Start, a provider of home-based and center-based early learning for families with children from birth to age 5 and expectant mothers.
The program is administered by Olympic Community Action Programs/Early Childhood Services department.
For more information, phone Vickie Becker at 360-452-4726, ext. 6261.
