Tagged: Pierce County

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is considering a ban on battery-powered electronic cigarettes that deliver nicotine without smoking.

Making headlines this morning around the Northwest:

• Where's Spring? Snow Falls in Lowlands, Mountains
• Farewell to State's Last Polling Places
• Seattle Settlement Over Domestic Violence Cases

Hey, it's April 6th!

Brrr. It's chilly at sea level, and if you live in the Cascade or Olympic foothills there's a good chance you've seen some snow flakes fall, as Snohomish County has this morning. Mountain passes are getting a new dumping of snow, as April marches on.

A Pierce County dog trainer is fielding heaps of praise for saving the life of Sugar, a 4-year old boxer.  The animal collapsed during a training class Saturday.  Ron Pace said when he saw the animal fall, his instincts took over, according to the News Tribune's Sara Schilling:

Pace, 54, who owns Canyon Crest K9 Training Center in the Summit/Waller Road area, used a version of CPR to get Sugar breathing again...

It took about two minutes of steady massage to the dogs chest, and a couple of breaths into the animal's mouth, to help bring Sugar around, to the delight and relief of the dog's owner, Tiffany Kauth of Bremerton.

Heavy rains brought mudslides that covered roads in Pierce County early this morning, including a slide over East Jovita Boulevard in Edgewood. More rain is expected today, along with gusting winds that could topple trees in already soaked earth, according to KOMO News:

Forecasting models put this storm about on par with the one that blew through on March 2 -- enough to perhaps cause a few power outages and knock over a few trees, but we are not expecting a major windstorm.

In Tacoma, a slide brought a tree down over one lane of Schuster Parkway. There were no injuries or cars involved with that slide, and traffic is getting by the area, according to KIRO-TV.

The peak winds are expected this afternoon in the Puget Sound lowlands, with gusts as high as 50 miles per hour in the late afternoon and early evening hours, according to the National Weather Service. 

A Pierce County sheriff's spokesman says a 29-year-old deputy has died less than 24 hours after undergoing
surgery for an injury he suffered in an on-duty assault last year.

Spokesman Ed Troyer called Shandon Wright's death Thursday night "a duty-related death" and said fellow officers were shocked.

Updated 9:07 p.m.

Several explosions rocked a Pierce Transit facility in Lakewood late this afternoon, and officials say they suspect natural gas ignited at a compressor, burning tanks that fuel buses. There were no reports of injuries, and the fire has been extinguished.