Local briefing - April 6

The Olympian | • Published April 06, 2009

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Olympia

Report: Fewer jobs in 2008 had benefits

The percentage of employers offering medical, dental, vacation and retirement benefits fell in 2008 because of the slower economy, according to a new state Employment Security Department survey.

The survey was sent last summer to about 16,000 Washington employers with two or more employees; 10,000 businesses responded.

The results show:

• The number of employers offering medical insurance to full-time employees fell to 56.5 percent in 2008 from 66.3 percent in 2007.

• The number of employers offering dental coverage to full-time employees fell to 37.4 percent in 2008 from 46.5 percent in 2007.

• The number of employers offering paid vacation leave fell to 63 percent in 2008 from 73 percent in 2007.

• The number of employers offering some form of retirement plan fell to 37.7 percent in 2008 from 44 percent in 2007.

Ocean Shores

Alcohol a factor in crash, state patrol says

A Tahola man is dead and two others hospitalized after a Sunday morning crash 15 miles north of Ocean Shores that Washington State Patrol troopers said was caused by alcohol.

Tommy G. Underwood, 43, of Taholah was one of the passengers in a 1993 Subaru Legacy driven by Joseph Hudson, 38, of Forks around 1 a.m. Sunday morning when the northbound car veered into the southbound lanes of state Route 109 near Otis Avenue, near milepost 31, according to a State Patrol memo.

The car was pulled back into the northbound lanes and off of the roadway to the right, going over an embankment and rolling, troopers said. The car came to rest in a yard, troopers said.

Underwood died. Passenger Leon T. Butler, 33, of Hoquiam suffered a back injury, and passenger Paula S. Charles, 28, of Forks had a broken jaw, head trauma and cuts, according to State Patrol. Both were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The cause of the crash was alcohol, the State Patrol reported. The three passengers were not wearing seatbelts, and it was unknown whether Hudson wore a seatbelt, state patrol reported. Hudson, who was not injured, faces a charge of vehicular homicide, according to the State Patrol.

Bucoda

Attend meeting on railroad safety today

Skookumchuck Odd Fellows Lodge 129 and the town of Bucoda will offer an information and educational presentation about railroad safety at 7 p.m. today at Bucoda Gym, 403 N. Nenant St., Bucoda.

Attendees will learn about a nonprofit education program, Operation Lifesaver, that's aimed at ending collisions, deaths and injuries at highway rail grade crossings and on railroad rights-of-way. The presentation will be 45 minutes and is open to the public.

For more information, call Lou Ann Hoffman at 360-736-6717.

The Olympian