Rochester News

A Fourth of July celebration gone bad has left Rochester area resident Emily Johnson in intensive care and clinging to life.

Metal shrapnel from an exploding cannon injured three people, including an 11-year-old boy, during a Fourth of July gathering in South Thurston County.

The Rochester High School Alumni Association will hold its 78th Annual All-School Reunion and Potluck on Saturday, July 19, in the Bill Belcher Commons at Rochester High School, 19800 Carper Road.

The father of an Olympia teen who was injured in a racing-car crash Friday night said he hopes his son can be released from Harborview Medical Center today.

For the second consecutive year, metal shrapnel from an exploding cannon struck a Thurston County child during a Fourth of July celebration.

This time of year, low-income families in South Sound turn to free lunch programs and area food banks to help feed their children.

For the first time this decade, fewer people are expected to travel during the July 4 weekend compared with the previous year's holiday, according to AAA data.

Mike Buchanan was working on his day off in November 2006 at TransAlta -- the day employees were told the coal mine was closing.

SALEM, OR - As the Union Pacific train approached the Salem Amtrak station Wednesday afternoon, 3-year-old Makena Big John-Miller let out a cheer.

Daily campers and drop-ins gave the "Italian dunkers" and green beans a thumbs-up at Tumwater Parks and Recreation's first free lunch for the summer.

Thurston County has applied for more than $800,000 of the $1 million in state grants available to raise homes above flood stage.

In April, more than 150 flowering cherry and other street trees were pruned improperly - some would say butchered.

Swede Day festivities, which begin Saturday morning, celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Grand Mound-Rochester Citizens Group's purchase of Swede Hall.

Saturday's Swede Day festival will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Grand Mound Rochester Citizens' Group purchase of what is today known as Swede Hall.

City officials want a landscaping company to pay an estimated $163,000 to repair damage after it topped more than 450 street trees in the Horizon Pointe neighborhood without permission.

Ryon Connery said he'll never forget how his mom handled the Dec. 3 floods. How to get a copy "This Flood Happened" costs $24.95 and is available at www.adnaschools.org. Proceeds will help rebuild Adna ...

Thumbs up: Boys & Girls Clubs Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston County held its sixth annual "Foundation for the Future" fundraising breakfast at Saint Martin's University recently.

Three-term Republican state Sen. Dan Swecker is expected to undergo open-heart surgery to replace a defective heart valve as soon as today.

State Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, remains hospitalized this morning in Olympia as he awaits open-heart surgery for a "congenital valve abnormality," according to a press release Tuesday from Senate ...

The vice chairman of the state Senate minority caucus, Republican Dan Swecker of Rochester, is in the hospital with a heart problem.