Idaho Briefs August 27, 2011
Wildfire burns around Idaho National Lab
IDAHO FALLS - Fire crews have contained about half of a 56-square-mile wildfire burning near the Idaho National Laboratory.
The INL said in a press release Friday that the roughly 36,000-acre blaze is still more than three miles from the nearest INL facility, and there is no known radiological hazard to the public.
Some employees were temporarily evacuated late Thursday, but they had all been cleared to return to their normal work stations by Friday afternoon.
The complex is about 28 miles west of Idaho Falls. More than 70 firefighters from the Idaho National Laboratory and the Bureau of Land Management are on the scene. They're supported by seven bulldozers, two water tenders and a fuel truck. The BLM has also been using aircraft to fight the flames.
Twin Falls man indicted on murder charge
TWIN FALLS - Twin Falls County officials say a grand jury has indicted a 19-year-old man on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of a 3-year-old boy who was in his care.
The boy died on Aug. 7 at a Boise hospital. Lane Buddenhagen was arrested the next day on suspicion of felony injury to a child and held on $1 million bail.
Doctors told police the boy suffered severe head trauma when he was alone with Buddenhagen, who was engaged to marry the boy's mother.
High-risk fugitive surrenders to Idaho authorities
BOISE - The state Department of Correction says a high-risk fugitive on the run for nearly a month has turned himself over to authorities in southwestern Idaho.
The agency says 41-year-old Jesse L. Walker surrendered at 3 a.m. on Friday at the Ada County Jail in Boise.
He was declared a fugitive on July 28 after absconding from parole.
His criminal record includes aggravated robbery, possession of a firearm and possession and delivery of a controlled substance. The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole will now decide if Walker will be sent back to prison.
Prison officials say he could also face new charges.
Megaload protest leads to at least four arrests
MOSCOW - Officials in Latah County say at least four people were arrested as they protested the movement of a so-called megaload through the city of Moscow.
Several of the protesters passively resisted arrest early Friday as they sat cross-legged in the street in the path of a 413,600-pound load of oil field equipment bound for an Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil oil sands project in Canada. The load was 24 feet wide, 14 feet tall and 208 feet long.
Wild Idaho Rising Tide organized the protest, but community organizer Helen Yost said she was amazed and surprised with how many people showed up. Counter protesters also attended, holding signs supporting the megaloads and the oil sands project in northern Alberta.
Police: Teen in traffic stop was faking pregnancy
POCATELLO - Idaho State Police say a teen was arrested after she apparently tried to get out of a speeding ticket by pretending to be pregnant and in labor.
Sgt. Mike Winans pulled the juvenile over for speeding and swerving on Interstate 15 near Inkom Thursday morning.
Winans said the driver told him she was 34 weeks along and believed she was going into labor.
But Winans said the more he talked to the teen, the more it became apparent that she had just stuffed something under her shirt.
He says the girl was charged with obstruction of an officer and inattentive driving, along with possession of tobacco by a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia.
- The Associated Press