3 food products recalled sold in state

Olympia

Three products involved in a national food recall are known to have been sold in Washington, the state Department of Health said Wednesday, suggesting state residents check their shelves for the items.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned this week that people should immediately throw away more than 90 different products, from chili sauce to corned beef hash to dog food, produced at a Castleberry's Food plant linked to a botulism outbreak. The plant, in Georgia, has been temporarily closed.

So far, four cases of botulism have been reported — two in Indiana and two in Texas. All four people consumed Hot Dog Chili Sauce Original, a product made by Castleberry's.

The state Health Department identified the three recalled foods known to have been sold in Washington as: 15-ounce cans of Cattle Drive Chili, 15-ounce cans of Castleberry's Corned Beef Hash and 15-ounce cans of Castleberry's Beef Stew.

As of Wednesday, there had been no reported cases of illness in Washington related to the recall.

Seattle

New chief hires high-school director

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson's first hire is a new high-school director from the district she headed in Charleston County, S.C.

Goodloe-Johnson hired Michael Tolly to oversee the district's 10 comprehensive high schools. Tolly was principal of Academic Magnet High School in Charleston County, one of Goodloe-Johnson's highest-performing high schools. The district and Tolly are still negotiating a start date, a spokesman said.

Goodloe-Johnson took over the 45,800-student district 2-½ weeks ago. Tolly will replace Phil Brockman, who has been serving as interim high-school director since February. Brockman will return to his job as principal of Ballard High School.

Anchorage

2 sisters among 5 killed in plane crash

A sightseeing plane that crashed in the mountains of Misty Fiords National Monument killed the pilot, two sisters and their husbands on a side trip from a Seattle-based Alaska cruise, state troopers said Wednesday.

Authorities were at the heavily forested site Wednesday to remove the five bodies, Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

The single-engine floatplane, a de Havilland Beaver, had left Ketchikan shortly before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday for a tour over Misty Fiords.

Pilot Joseph H. Campbell, 56, of Ketchikan, was flying the plane with cruise passengers Paul J. McManus, 60, and Marianne M. McManus, 56, of Leicester, Mass.; and William F. Eddy and Jeanne J. Eddy, both 59, who had homes in Jacksonville, Fla., and Baltimore, troopers said.

Marianne McManus and Jeanne Eddy were sisters, Leicester Police Chief James Hurley said.

The four passengers had been traveling on the Sun Princess, a Princess Cruise Lines ship that was on the second day of a seven-day trip from Seattle.

The cruise-ship company, a division of Carnival, has cut off tours by Taquan Air, the Ketchikan-based flight operator, at this time, Princess spokeswoman Julie Benson said in a statement.

Vancouver, B.C.

Crews clean up after oil geyser

Experts assessed Wednesday the environmental damage from a ruptured pipeline that showered a residential area near Vancouver with crude oil, some of which seeped into a Pacific Ocean inlet.

Crews attempted to mop up pools of thick, black oil left by Tuesday's accident in Burnaby, B.C., when a road-construction crew struck the line used to load crude from Alberta onto ships in Vancouver's port.

Pipeline owner Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP has not said how much oil leaked in the accident. Witnesses said a geyser spewed up to 40 feet in the air for more than 20 minutes before the line was shut down.

Some of the oil reached Burrard Inlet, where containment booms have been put in place.

The oil geyser left trees, yards and construction equipment coated in goo. There were no injuries, but Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said officials were concerned about the long-term environmental impact.

Bellingham

I-5 repairs shelved over high costs

Repairs to Interstate 5 through Bellingham, scheduled for this summer, are on hold indefinitely after the state Department of Transportation received only one bid on the project that came in nearly $1 million more than estimates.

The DOT planned to repair more than 200 broken freeway panels from Samish Way to Sunset Drive and pave several ramps — a project estimated to cost $3 million.

Without the repairs, the DOT said, there will be potholes and widening cracks on the freeway, causing vehicles to kick up loose chunks of pavement and making it even more expensive to repair.

The DOT said it will use some of the project money to fix the worst of the concrete panels; the others will have to wait. The state said it may re-advertise the job in the fall.

Seattle Times staff and news services