LONGVIEW
Medical malpractice lawsuit tossed out
A judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by a Washington state woman against a hospital alleging doctors wrongly diagnosed her with a mental illness and failed to treat her brain injury.
The Daily News reported Wednesday that Michelle Dalen’s malpractice lawsuit was filed against PeaceHealth and St. John Medical Center.
The 49-year-old woman had been scraping ice off her car in 2011 when she slipped and hit her head on the pavement.
While hospitalized at St. John, Dalen claims she was wrongly admitted for a mental illness and that the hospital didn’t get consent from her for treatment.
But a judge dismissed the case Wednesday.
The reason was for the dismissal wasn’t clear, but Dalen said the judge found she didn’t have enough evidence to support her claims.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska
Alaska volcano erupts
A volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands has erupted again, sending a cloud of ash and ice particles 30,000 feet in the air.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory said the cloud was seen by satellite shortly after Bogoslof Volcano erupted Thursday.
Ash above 20,000 feet is a threat to airliners flying between Asia and North America. The Aviation Color Code remains at red, the highest warning level.
The volcano 850 miles southwest of Anchorage has erupted more than 25 times since mid-December and could keep up its periodic eruptions for months.
The cloud Thursday drifted southeast at lower altitudes. No ash was expected to fall on nearby Unalaska Island. Seismic activity returned to low levels after the eruption.
LYNNWOOD
Two injured as crews battle apartment fire
Authorities said two firefighters were injured as crews battled a blaze at an apartment complex under construction north of Seattle in the suburb of Lynnwood.
Lynwood Fire Department officials said in a news release that the fire started Wednesday night at the Reserve at Scriber Creek Senior Apartment Complex.
The fire officials said that two neighboring apartment complexes have been evacuated and the Red Cross is sheltering about 150 people.
They said two firefighters were hurt and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The department said the cause of the fire is unknown.
BREMERTON
Tribe says they’ll sue Navy over ship cleaning
The Suquamish Tribe and two environmental groups have filed notice they intend to sue the Navy, alleging the Navy is cleaning a decommissioned aircraft carrier in Sinclair Inlet in violation of federal clean-water laws.
The tribe, Washington Environmental Council and Puget Soundkeeper allege that divers are scraping the hull of the USS Independence outside Bremerton and sending harmful copper-based paint into the water. They said the Navy should have permits under the Clean Water Act.
Navy spokeswoman Colleen O’Rourke said in a statement that skilled divers are gently scrubbing marine growth on the hull of the ship to prevent the possible transfer of invasive species. The ship is being cleaned before it is towed to Texas, where it will be dismantled. She declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
The Kitsap Sun reports that state and federal regulators have also expressed concerns that the Navy’s actions might harm the fragile waterway.
