Home sales continued to drag in Washington during the second quarter, but researchers at Washington State University say the sluggish market translated to better affordability.

Homes sold during the second quarter at an annual rate of 89,380 units statewide, sliding 8.5 percent below the sales rate in the first quarter and 31.7 percent below the same time last year. The sales rate during the quarter was the lowest in over 10 years.

While sales declined compared to a year ago in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties, the market was stronger in the second quarter than in the first in eight counties, and unchanged in several others.

The median price of homes that sold from April to June was just under $292,000, down 7.8 percent from 2007 levels, and the sharpest decline since WSU began producing the statistics in 1994.  Average home prices ranged from $111,000 in Adams County to $570,000 in San Juan County.

The University of Idaho and Washington State University are merging their respective food science departments to create a new school.

The partnership, which has been approved by both universities’ governing bodies, will focus on food safety, processing and chemistry, with an emphasis on dairy. It’s hoped that the merger will benefit the Northwest’s $17 billion food processing industry, students and consumers through expanded cooperation.

The two universities are searching for a new director for the School of Food Science, whose combined faculty will number about 25 and with an enrollment of about 75 undergraduate and 35 graduate students. Students will take required food science courses at each institution and their diplomas will be awarded by their home universities.

The Charlotte Bobcats have traded second-round pick and former Washington State Cougar Kyle Weaver to Oklahoma City for a second-round choice in next year’s NBA draft.

The guard was the 38th overall pick in June after averaging 12.2 points as a senior at WAZZU.

Weaver averaged 6.2 points in five games for Charlotte in the Las Vegas summer league, but faced stiff competition to make Charlotte’s regular-season roster.

Washington State University and Fox Sports Net Northwest have added another Cougar football game to be televised this fall by the regional sports channel.
Wazzu’s Homecoming game in Pullman against Oregon September 27th has been added to the television schedule. The Cougars will play at least their first five contests of the 2008 campaign on TV, and seven total for the season.
Washington State opens the season August 30 in Seattle at Qwest Field in the annual Cougar Gridiron Classic against Oklahoma State.

A Palouse man motorcyclist died from injuries suffered early Friday morning when he attempted to flee a traffic stop by Washington State University Police and lost control of his motorcycle on Terre View Drive in north Pullman.

WSU police say Logan McReynolds, 20, was seen speeding at just after 12:30 AM. When the officer attempted to make a traffic stop, McReynolds, who is suspected of having been driving with a suspended license, accelerated, lost control and left the roadway.

He was taken to Pullman Memorial Hospital with critical injuries and later transported by helicopter to Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane where he died early Friday afternoon.

McReynolds, who was not a WSU student, was wearing a helmet.

Washington State University, which once appeared on lists of top party schools, is moving to allow hard liquor sales at its student union building, golf course and before football games.

In March, school administrators changed a long-standing alcohol and drug policy to allow on-campus hard liquor sales at some new restaurants on campus. A section regulating alcohol sales on football game days was altered to allow liquor to be sold in the Hollingberry Fieldhouse adjacent to Martin Stadium, where only beer and wine sales previously were allowed.

Wazzu officials say a quiet, well-controlled bar in the Compton Union Building would offer an alternative for students, staff and faculty who don’t want to go to a louder college bar. (AP)

The Whitman County Health Department has confirmed that an 18-year-old Washington State University student from China has been diagnosed with rubella.

The student attended intensive language classes at WSU from July 7-21, and the health department is contacting people who have had close contact.

Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is a viral illness that begins with a red rash on the face, spreading to the trunk and limbs. Other symptoms may include a low-grade fever, aching joints and swollen lymph glands. The rash lasts for one to three days before resolving spontaneously. Some cases have no apparent symptoms. However, rubella is highly contagious and there is no treatment.

Close contacts who have had rubella or who have had two doses of mumps, measles, rubella vaccine are already immune and should not be concerned. Contacts who are not immunized, pregnant or who have received only one dose of MMR should contact their health care provider or the local public health office.

Routine immunization of children with two doses of MMR vaccine has virtually eliminated transmission of rubella in the United States, but the disease still occurs naturally in other parts of the world.

The source of the student’s infection is unknown at this time.

The State Court of Appeals has ruled that Washington State University’s police officers have no legal authority to conduct random patrols of dormitory hallways.

The decision, handed down late last month, argues that, constitutionally, dorm hallways are the equivalent of a private home.

In February 2006, a campus police officer investigating a burglary in the Stephenson complex stopped at a sixth-floor door when he heard music and voices. He identified himself as an officer, and a student opened the door. The stolen property was found in the room and the student was charged with burglary.

However, Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier dismissed the charges, ruling that the student had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the hallways of his residence hall.

The case was one of two that were thrown out by Frazier on the basis that the officer had overstepped the students’ privacy rights.

WAZZU halted its random dorm patrols after those rulings, at least long enough to rewrite its regulations. Officials said that access to the dorm hallways by police officers was important for student safety and criminal investigations, and the patrols have continued.

WSU will be reviewing the appellate court’s ruling and its policies in the months before fall classes begin.

It’s not clear whether WSU or the prosecutor’s office would seek a review by the state Supreme Court, or how the ruling might play out specifically at the state’s colleges. (Spokesman Review)