Much of oil spilled in estuary recovered

About two-thirds of an estimated 7,700 gallons of oil that spilled from a cargo ship into an ecologically sensitive estuary have been recovered, officials said Sunday.

A small number of oil-soaked birds have been found, said Dave Smith of the Canadian Wildlife Service. He noted there aren't many birds nesting in the marshy area this time of year.

Officials predicted the estuary would be cleaned and restored by fall.

The spill occurred Friday afternoon after the cargo ship Westwood Arnette hit a pier while leaving a terminal, puncturing two holes in a fuel tank.

Thick bunker fuel spilled into the water and was quickly pushed by the wind about 1,640 feet into Howe Sound, a stretch of water along the highway between Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler.

The heavy oil also seeped into the Squamish estuary, a marshy area that is home to many species of birds and wildlife.

Port Angeles logger killed by loose log

A logger from Port Angeles was killed when a loose log came tumbling down an Olympic Peninsula mountainside and struck him in the neck.

Joshua Patterson, 36, died instantly Friday when the accident occurred on Spencer Creek Road on Mount Walker off Highway 101 between Quilcene and Brinnon, Jefferson County Undersheriff Tim Perry said.

"He probably didn't know what hit him," Perry said.

One logger was at the top where the logs were being transported, and Patterson and the other logger were at the bottom setting the cable choker around the logs.

A cable system started to carry one bundle up the mountainside when Patterson and his partner noticed a log come loose, then break free and careen down the mountain, Perry said.

Man shot to death after stabbings

A Klamath Falls man was fatally shot after stabbing his uncle, great-uncle and another man, authorities said.

Edward Benny Valdez Jr., 36, died Saturday after his uncle, Ricky Hargrove, shot him twice in the chest, said Ed Caleb, the Klamath County district attorney.

Sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call and found Valdez dead in a driveway, Caleb said. Ricky Hargrove, 51, William Hargrove, 80, and William Sorahan, age unknown, already had been taken to Merle West Medical Center with stab wounds. A nursing supervisor would not say whether the men remained there Sunday.

Caleb said investigators think Valdez stabbed his uncle's father and Sorahan at one home and then went next door and stabbed Ricky Hargrove. Valdez was returning to the other home but, authorities believe, the uncle followed Valdez and shot him.

Investigators had not determined a motive, Caleb said.

Times staff and news services