The unit that controls the odor of sewage at the Lake City regulator station failed, causing a strong unpleasant smell to seep through the city's manholes and into the air.

The station, on Northeast 40th Street between the University Bridge and the University of Washington, carries sewage from North Seattle near Matthews Beach through pipes that eventually end up at the county's wastewater-treatment plant in Magnolia.

Gary Larson, spokesman for King County's wastewater-treatment division, said the odor-control unit at the station cleans the air while the sewage is passing through.

Portland suit targets move by Idaho senator

Conservation and sport-fishing groups have filed a lawsuit challenging a legislative move by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, directing the Bonneville Power Administration to eliminate funding for an agency that counts young salmon crossing dams.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. "We must not allow one man's political maneuvering to trump science and the law," Mark Riskedahl, executive director of Northwest Environmental Defense Center, said in a statement.

U.S. District Judge James Redden took control of dam operations last year after finding that the Bush administration offered an inadequate plan for protecting salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act.

After data from the Fish Passage Center figured in Redden's order to spill more water over the dams to help young salmon reach the ocean, rather than running the water through turbines to generate electricity, Craig inserted a provision in a spending bill directing BPA to find another organization to count fish.

A spokesman said Craig "is confident that the court will rule in favor of Congress' ability to direct taxpayer dollars."

Created in 1984, the Fish Passage Center has 11 employees and gets $1.1 million a year from BPA.
Corvallis, Ore.
Banks issuing new cards after breach

Banks and credit unions in the Corvallis area are issuing hundreds of new debit cards to customers as a result of a security breach.

Carlyn Roy, chief operating officer of the OSU Federal credit union, said it appeared customers at most financial institutions in the area had been affected.

She said it appeared that debit-card numbers had been compromised at the retail level. "We know it was an outside party, most likely generated from a merchant or a series of merchants," she said.

The breach was detected last week by Fair Isaac Corp., a data security company.

Officers at four institutions said the size of the fraud was small-scale.

Roy said her credit union stayed open Saturday and late Monday to issue new cards. By Tuesday, she said, the credit union had issued new cards to about 70 percent of 1,200 members whose cards were flagged.

Times staff and news services

More local news headlines...