Low vote stops hospital levy

Pullman Regional Hospital's $29 million levy proposal was derailed by a low voter response. After a second count of ballots, the levy vote was 680 votes short of the number needed to validate the election.

The district was required to have 3,744 votes, 40 percent of the last general election turnout in Pullman, to validate the election. The latest count totaled 3,064 votes, or about 81 percent of the required turnout.

Ballots cast met the requirement of 60 percent approval rate with 63.87 percent in favor. The tally was 1,957 yes and 1,107 no.

The levy, which was intended to finance a bond iss...