Interstate 90 Opens Three-Mile Stretch Over Snoqualmie Pass and More Briefs

Washington State Department of Transportation crews are working toward finishing a stretch of six-lane freeway on Snoqualmie Pass one mile at a time.

Crews removed 1 million cubic yards of material, blasted 400,000 tons of explosives over 177 hours of closures and poured 68,000 cubic yards of concrete in 520 days.

Three completed miles of the freeway opened to traffic Thursday morning.

The Yakima City Council voted in favor a six-month moratorium on the retail sales of marijuana during a study session at city hall Tuesday. It will not go into effect until after a public hearing is held November 12.

City council members must look at zoning and other issues to allow the opening of retail marijuana stores.

The council also talked about the problem of homelessness in Yakima. It heard from several social service agencies and others about the growing problem of homelessness and what is attracting homeless from other areas to live in Yakima.

The council took no action on the homelessness issue.

The Washington State Patrol says despite reports to the contrary, the AMBER Alert system is in full operation despite the shutdown of the federal government.

Although there is some federal coordination of the overall AMBER Alert program each state has its own distribution system for alerts.

Washington’s alerts are distributed by a private contractor that is in no way affected by the federal government shutdown.

Panhandlers have a new law to obey in the City of Yakima.

A new city law passed by the city council bans panhandlers from receiving items from vehicles and aggressive panhandling is now a criminal offense.

The new laws are expected to be coupled with a citywide education campaign to tell panhandlers they cannot grab cash, food or anything else from drivers at 15 of the cities busiest intersections.

Those intersections include South 40th and Summitview, First Avenue and Nob Hill and South 16th and Nob Hill.

Deputies say 30-years-old Estella Rios-Gonzalez was last seen Wednesday Oct. 2 leaving Legends Casino with her ex-boyfriend 40-year-old German Garcia from Wapato.

Family and friends say they are worried that she has not been found.

Investigators say they believe Garcia has left the Yakima area. They are looking for Rios-Gonzalez's car, a gray 2002 Chevy Venture with Washington license plate ABR4784.

Anyone who can help can contact the sheriff at 574-2500.

Yakima County Search and Rescue crews were successful in finding a 23-year-old woman who was missing while hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail for the past week.

Alejandra Wilson was last seen on September 27 as she left on a hike from Trout Lake. Her fellow hikers were a day behind her and had to be rescued after a big snowstorm hit the area three days after Wilson left.

Rescuers could not find Wilson at the same time as the others. Early Saturday afternoon a search team found Wilson as she was walking near the Killen Creek Drainage just off the Pacific Crest Trail.

Wilson was tired and cold but didn't suffer any injuries. She says she waited out the snowstorm before walking out on Saturday.

Filed Under: Crime, marijuana, yakima

Categories: Northwest News