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In Our View: Cheers & Jeers

State does well in medical emergency preparedness; happy retirement, Enzo

The Columbian
Published: April 28, 2018, 6:03am

Cheers: To being prepared. States across the country are growing increasingly ready for the next big disaster. On a recently released federal index of state emergency preparedness, the national average stands at 7.1 on a 10-point scale — up from 6.4 in 2013; Washington’s score of 7.2 is just above the national average.

When the big one hits, nobody is going to ask about Washington’s score on the preparedness index, but it is comforting to know the state is fairly well prepared to deliver medical supplies, keep hospitals operating, quickly repair the power grid, and coordinate a response. Whether it is an earthquake, a tsunami, a mass shooting or, say, a volcanic eruption, proper planning can help limit the toll of a disaster. Washington and other states still have much work to do in this regard, but attention to the issue now can reduce the costs later.

Jeers: To a federal crackdown on legal marijuana. Washington State University researchers are halting development of a marijuana breath test for fear of backlash from the federal government. With more and more states legalizing marijuana use for adults, one of the drawbacks is that law enforcement officers have difficulty assessing whether drivers are under the influence. WSU researchers have been working on a test to assist officers and help protect the public from impaired drivers.

Now, with the federal government threatening to crack down on states that have legalized the drug — which remains illegal under federal law — the university is closing its research. That represents just one of the drawbacks to the administration’s antiquated approach to marijuana.

Cheers: To Enzo the K-9. Enzo, a German shepherd, has retired after 5 1/2 years of service with the Vancouver Police Department. Over his career, according to department officials, Enzo tallied 662 deployments to find suspects, with 149 captures; 159 drug searches; 35 evidence searches; and 79 SWAT deployments.

K-9 officers have become an essential part of police work, performing duties that often are dangerous and often could not be handled by human officers. Cheers and wishes for a happy retirement go to Enzo as he moves into life as a family pet with his handler, Officer Brian Viles.

Jeers: To failures at Hanford. A new report from the federal Government Accountability Office points out lingering problems with a $17 billion vitrification plant being constructed at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. From the Tri-City Herald: “The Department of Energy and its contractor have not shown that the plant has the quality needed to operate safely when it starts treating some of the nation’s deadliest nuclear waste.”

The plant, under construction since 2002, is designed to turn 56 million gallons of radioactive waste into a more stable glasslike substance. But construction has been plagued by delays and by persistent failures on the part of the U.S. government. A lack of progress at the nation’s most contaminated site continues to threaten the nearby Columbia River and the residents of both Washington and Oregon.

Cheers: To a safe landing. Flight instructor David M. Alexander of Portland managed to bring a small propeller airplane in for landing Saturday at an unusual spot — on Highway 14. A student was at the controls when the plane experienced a mechanical or power failure near Pearson Field. Alexander took over and brought the plane down safely.

According to the Washington State Patrol, one of the wings clipped a highway sign, but the result could have been much worse for the pilots, the plane, and drivers along Highway 14. If nothing else, the incident provided a memorable sight for motorists passing by.

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