Published: Friday, October 23, 2009
Northwest briefly
Group wants to hide donors in R-71 campaign
OLYMPIA — A political action committee opposed to Washington state's expanded partnerships for gay couples has sued in federal court, arguing it should be exempt from the state's campaign finance laws.
The Family PAC filed a lawsuit late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. The group registered this week with the state's Public Disclosure Commission. It wants the court to allow it to accept contributions of more than $5,000, and to be exempt from having to report donor's names. Referendum 71 asks voters to approve or reject the “everything but marriage” law.
State told to not sell ferry naming rights
A consultant told the state Transportation Commission there's little interest in buying the naming rights to a ferry. But the consultant's report delivered Tuesday says advertising on boats and at terminals should be expanded to generate millions of dollars a year.
The naming rights study was requested by the Legislature and conducted by the TB-Rogstad Consulting company. The Kitsap Sun reported the ferry system collected $370,000 from advertising from late 2007 through June 2009. Ferry Director David Moseley says the system will work with a company called Trans4media to look into expanding advertising to places such as the ferry Web site and ferry schedules.
Seattle: 14-month term for dog attack
A 16-year-old girl who used a pit bull dog to attack two women in SeaTac has been sentenced to 14 months in juvenile detention.
King County Juvenile Court Judge Philip G. Hubbard went beyond the standard sentence for assault Thursday because of the cruelty of the violence.
The girl apologized to the victims who were in court for the sentencing.
In the June 21 attack, the girl and a group of boys were kicking the dog in a street when a woman driving by stopped because she thought they needed help. Police said the girl opened the door and beat the woman who was bitten by the dog. Another woman who stopped to help also was bitten.
The dog, named Snaps, was sent to an animal sanctuary because it was too violent to be adopted.
Arson fire burns 4 police vehicles
Three Seattle police cars and a mobile precinct truck were damaged in the arson at the city's downtown maintenance yard.
Police say employees noticed a suspicious man in the fenced yard just before the vehicles erupted in flames just before 5 a.m. Thursday. The man ran off.
People in the area reported hearing explosions and seeing flames 20-to-30 feet in the air.
Firefighters quickly controlled the fire. Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said there were no injuries.
Arson detectives are looking for the suspect.
Police spokesman Mark Jamieson said in 2007 several vehicles were set afire in the same lot.
Fort Lewis: Soldier killed in Afghanistan
The Defense Department said a soldier from Fort Lewis was killed Wednesday in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb in Kandahar Province. Specialist Kyle Coumas, 22, of Lockeford, Calif., was a member of the 5th Stryker brigade.
Bellingham: Cell users are oblivious
A researcher at Western Washington University says he has proof that people talking on cell phones are twice as oblivious as people who aren't.
Psychology professor Ira Hyman employed a clown riding on a unicycle to prove his point. As the clown rode through campus, just 25 percent of the people talking on cell phones saw him. More than half the people walking alone, or listening to portable music devices or walking with another person noticed the clown.
Hyman said the study also found that a person's familiarity with his or her environment does not eliminate the effects of cell phone use on navigation. His research is being published in an upcoming issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Spokane: Man charged with rape at survival school
A Spokane man has been charged with raping a woman at Fairchild Air Force Base's survival school.
Michael Fassbender, 32, was charged Wednesday with first degree rape and bond was set at $20,000. The rape allegedly occurred Tuesday inside an interrogation room at the Survival Training Center at Fairchild.
Court documents allege Fassbender squeezed the victim's throat until she was unconscious.
Yakima: 39-year sentence in murder case
A Toppenish man was sentenced to 39 years in prison for shooting a man as he left work at a convenience store.
Twenty-five-year-old Eriberto Gonzales was convicted earlier this month of murder and sentenced Wednesday for the March 2007 ambush killing of 25-year-old Ezequiel Reyes in Toppenish.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports Gonzales believed Reyes had had an affair with his girlfriend.
During the trial Gonzalez headbutted his lawyer, causing a cut over the attorney's eye, in a disagreement over defense strategy.
Walla Walla: 1,000 doses of flu vaccine lost
The Walla Walla County Health Department had to throw out 1,000 doses of seasonal flu vaccine because of a refrigeration failure.
The department's Susann Bassham told KONA it has no more seasonal flu vaccine. A flu shot roundup on Thursday had to be canceled.
During the previous two days the department had given 4,700 flu shots.
From Herald news services
OLYMPIA — A political action committee opposed to Washington state's expanded partnerships for gay couples has sued in federal court, arguing it should be exempt from the state's campaign finance laws.
The Family PAC filed a lawsuit late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. The group registered this week with the state's Public Disclosure Commission. It wants the court to allow it to accept contributions of more than $5,000, and to be exempt from having to report donor's names. Referendum 71 asks voters to approve or reject the “everything but marriage” law.
State told to not sell ferry naming rights
A consultant told the state Transportation Commission there's little interest in buying the naming rights to a ferry. But the consultant's report delivered Tuesday says advertising on boats and at terminals should be expanded to generate millions of dollars a year.
The naming rights study was requested by the Legislature and conducted by the TB-Rogstad Consulting company. The Kitsap Sun reported the ferry system collected $370,000 from advertising from late 2007 through June 2009. Ferry Director David Moseley says the system will work with a company called Trans4media to look into expanding advertising to places such as the ferry Web site and ferry schedules.
Seattle: 14-month term for dog attack
A 16-year-old girl who used a pit bull dog to attack two women in SeaTac has been sentenced to 14 months in juvenile detention.
King County Juvenile Court Judge Philip G. Hubbard went beyond the standard sentence for assault Thursday because of the cruelty of the violence.
The girl apologized to the victims who were in court for the sentencing.
In the June 21 attack, the girl and a group of boys were kicking the dog in a street when a woman driving by stopped because she thought they needed help. Police said the girl opened the door and beat the woman who was bitten by the dog. Another woman who stopped to help also was bitten.
The dog, named Snaps, was sent to an animal sanctuary because it was too violent to be adopted.
Arson fire burns 4 police vehicles
Three Seattle police cars and a mobile precinct truck were damaged in the arson at the city's downtown maintenance yard.
Police say employees noticed a suspicious man in the fenced yard just before the vehicles erupted in flames just before 5 a.m. Thursday. The man ran off.
People in the area reported hearing explosions and seeing flames 20-to-30 feet in the air.
Firefighters quickly controlled the fire. Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said there were no injuries.
Arson detectives are looking for the suspect.
Police spokesman Mark Jamieson said in 2007 several vehicles were set afire in the same lot.
Fort Lewis: Soldier killed in Afghanistan
The Defense Department said a soldier from Fort Lewis was killed Wednesday in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb in Kandahar Province. Specialist Kyle Coumas, 22, of Lockeford, Calif., was a member of the 5th Stryker brigade.
Bellingham: Cell users are oblivious
A researcher at Western Washington University says he has proof that people talking on cell phones are twice as oblivious as people who aren't.
Psychology professor Ira Hyman employed a clown riding on a unicycle to prove his point. As the clown rode through campus, just 25 percent of the people talking on cell phones saw him. More than half the people walking alone, or listening to portable music devices or walking with another person noticed the clown.
Hyman said the study also found that a person's familiarity with his or her environment does not eliminate the effects of cell phone use on navigation. His research is being published in an upcoming issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Spokane: Man charged with rape at survival school
A Spokane man has been charged with raping a woman at Fairchild Air Force Base's survival school.
Michael Fassbender, 32, was charged Wednesday with first degree rape and bond was set at $20,000. The rape allegedly occurred Tuesday inside an interrogation room at the Survival Training Center at Fairchild.
Court documents allege Fassbender squeezed the victim's throat until she was unconscious.
Yakima: 39-year sentence in murder case
A Toppenish man was sentenced to 39 years in prison for shooting a man as he left work at a convenience store.
Twenty-five-year-old Eriberto Gonzales was convicted earlier this month of murder and sentenced Wednesday for the March 2007 ambush killing of 25-year-old Ezequiel Reyes in Toppenish.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports Gonzales believed Reyes had had an affair with his girlfriend.
During the trial Gonzalez headbutted his lawyer, causing a cut over the attorney's eye, in a disagreement over defense strategy.
Walla Walla: 1,000 doses of flu vaccine lost
The Walla Walla County Health Department had to throw out 1,000 doses of seasonal flu vaccine because of a refrigeration failure.
The department's Susann Bassham told KONA it has no more seasonal flu vaccine. A flu shot roundup on Thursday had to be canceled.
During the previous two days the department had given 4,700 flu shots.
From Herald news services
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