Imagination is one of the qualities differentiating humans from other forms of life on this planet.

In a sleepy, slow August, with nothing much happening and nothing to write about but health care reform and other obscurities, my mind tends to wander toward the what-ifs. For instance, what if the earnest people caring for our infrastructure did something close to catastrophic, like close the Pipeline Bridge and the George Sellar Bridge simultaneously?

PESHASTIN — A motorist on Highway 97 says another driver yelled at him, flipped him off and then flashed a handgun Tuesday.

CHELAN — An 11-year-old girl told authorities that she was approached by an man in downtown Chelan Tuesday afternoon and asked to return to his room with him.

MANSON — The Manson Community Council will host a public open house and hearing to review the community's comprehensive plan, new urban growth area and implementing development regulations to guide future development. Community Council President Chris Willoughby said the council, after hearing public testimony, will adopt and then forward the zoning ordinances to the Chelan County Planning Commission and Chelan County Commission.

CASHMERE — Calling all conscientious Wenatchee River users: The first Wenatchee River Clean-Up will be held this Saturday to pick up trash and debris along the shore and in the water between Leavenworth and Monitor.

CASHMERE — The Chelan County Sheriff's Office lifted all evacuation notices from the Nahahum Canyon Fire at 6 a.m. today.

LEAVENWORTH — The Bonneville Power Administration wants to know what the public thinks of a Yakama Nation plan to restore coho salmon runs in North Central Washington waters before it agrees to finance the project over the next two decades.

WENATCHEE — Employment in Chelan and Douglas counties increased for the third straight month in July, but the jobless rate for the month was 1.7 percentage points higher than a year ago, a state report says.

MANSON — David Gellatly has resigned as chairman of the Manson Parks Board, citing an upcoming move and a tumultuous term.

PORTLAND — PacifiCorp, a Portland-based utility with 1.7 million customers in six states, has sued Grant County PUD for the right to terminate an agreement to buy electricity.

EAST WENATCHEE — Local experts will explain the do's and don'ts of digging in Douglas County during a free panel discussion Thursday in the Eastmont Junior High auditorium from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

QUINCY — Ongoing vandalism is prompting the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to close the south entrance to the Quincy Lakes unit of the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area.

WATERVILLE — An 18-year-old Bridgeport man has been charged with first-degree assault after a bullet was fired into the back of an occupied pickup.

WATERVILLE — A 38-year-old Wenatchee man was sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a female relative in 2006 and 2007.

WENATCHEE — Lighten up! That's the gist of what art teacher Terry Valdez helped a group of 14 teachers of kindergarten through second-grade do during a workshop Monday.

WENATCHEE — Workers at the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society knew the little puppy they picked up as a stray Thursday would find a good home fast.

EAST WENATCHEE — An Eastside woman heard a loud noise but didn't realize it was a bullet ripping though her home until hours later when she found holes in the house.