State Worker briefs — May 5

Six sea lions found shot, dead in traps

PORTLAND — State and federal authorities say they are investigating the deaths of six sea lions found dead at Columbia River traps. They appear to have been shot.

The bodies of four California sea lions and two Steller sea lions were found at the traps early Sunday afternoon.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and federal investigators are treating the area as a crime scene.

Both species of sea lion are federally protected. But Oregon and Washington state are trapping some California sea lions to keep them from eating salmon at the dam.

Washington

HOV opening to solo drivers a bumpy one

Construction backups, a police chase, rainy weather and fender benders combined to mar Saturday's opening of HOT lanes on state Route 167 in south King County.

State Department of Transportation officials called it a "perfect storm" of events that led to the closure of carpool lanes to solo drivers because their presence helped slow travel times for buses and carpoolers to unacceptably low levels.

The high-occupancy toll lane project allows solo drivers to buy their way into the carpool lanes. The first day of operations illustrated the need to better educate drivers — carpoolers as well as solo drivers — that no vehicle can cross the double white lines that separate the HOV-HOT lanes from the general purpose lanes, DOT spokesman Greg Phipps said.

Alaska

Hundreds of quakes shake Aleutian islands

The Andreanof Islands near the end of the Aleutian Chain are experiencing frequent, near-continual aftershocks after a strong earthquake Thursday evening.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Thursday shaker in the Andreanofs had a magnitude of 6.6 and a depth of 8.7 miles. It occurred about 5:30 p.m.

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center says there were no reports of damage. Since then, the center has reported hundreds of smaller earthquakes occurring every few minutes.

Patrol starts recruitment campaign

The Washington State Patrol plans a recruitment blitz to find new troopers.

A one-year campaign ending last summer boosted applications by more than 100 percent, but applications since have dropped by 20 percent, the agency said.

The patrol began the campaign with an open house at its academy in Shelton, and plans to use the same advertising techniques it did last time.

The agency has 1,052 commissioned officers and wants to hire 54 troopers every nine months to keep up with retirements and departing employees.

For more information, call the State Patrol at 800-888-8384.

Feds back DSHS move to cancel sponsorship

The federal government has upheld a decision by the Department of Social and Health Services to withdraw the Human Services Council's designation as the Area Agency on Aging sponsor in southwest Washington.

The council has been the sponsor of the Area Agency on Aging for Clark, Klickitat, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum and Skamania counties since the mid-1970s.

The decision to uphold the DSHS action was made by the Federal Administration on Aging, which said that DSHS was appropriate in its efforts to withdraw the Human Services Council sponsorship, the state agency reported.

DSHS will temporarily operate the Southwest Washington Area Agency on Aging until a new sponsor is designated. The Older Americans Act requires that local governments have the first right to become the sponsor of an Area Agency on Aging.

The department plans to transfer the operational responsibility to a new Area Agency on Aging sponsor within the next six months.

Corrections assistant secretary to retire

Melanie Roberts, the Department of Corrections' assistant secretary for administrative services, will retire at the end of June.

She is the second department assistant secretary to announce retirement plans. Earlier, Ruben Cedeno, assistant secretary for prisons, said he wanted to retire in mid-June.

In her 30-year state career, Roberts also worked for the departments of Social and Health Services; Fish and Wildlife; Community, Trade and Economic Development; and Labor and Industries, and the Office of Financial Management. She has served with Corrections the past three years of her career.

Department Secretary Eldon Vail also noted Roberts' oversight over capital programs as the agency added more prison beds in a shorter period of time than ever in the history of the agency.

She also made important improvements in the agency's human resources operation and was instrumental in ensuring the department's new computerized offender tracking system, OMNI, will be operational June 30, he added.