Northwest Briefly: Strippers must stay 4 feet back
Published 8:49 pm Monday, April 27, 2009
SEATTLE — Strippers in Shoreline had better keep their distance from their customers.
A Seattle federal judge on Monday upheld the enforcement of a city law that requires dancers to stay four feet away from patrons.
Lawyers for Sugars night club had challenged the way Shoreline enforced the law by making mass arrests of dancers while briefly shutting down the establishment. They said police officers could just issue citations to the dancers, and the arrests were meant to disrupt business — and thus they violated the club’s free-speech rights.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman disagreed.
Ellensburg: I-90 stimulus work
The Transportation Department says a paving project that started Monday on I-90 at Ellensburg is the first in the state funded by federal stimulus money.
The four-mile $1.7 million project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, creating 25 jobs.
The department says it has started asking contractors to bid on other stimulus funding projects. They include a $9 million project to repair and smooth six miles of southbound I-5 near Stanwood, which is expected to employ 60 workers.
Also, a $3.8 million project to repave 12 miles of Highway 97 over Satus Pass, which is expected to employ 35 workers.
Suquamish:New tribal museum
Work is expected to begin this week on a new tribal museum in Suquamish.
Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman told The Kitsap Sun the Suquamish Museum and Arts Center will replace the museum that opened in 1983. The new 9,000-square-foot museum will have more room for artifacts from the ancestral home of Chief Seattle.
Plans are still in the works to renovate Chief Seattle’s grave site at Saint Peter’s church in Suquamish.
Tacoma: Scratch ticket displays
Five Puget Sound mini-marts have been outfitted with special displays to push Washington Lottery scratch tickets.
If ticket sales increase by 20 percent over the next three months, the program could be expanded to 50 stores.
The News Tribune of Tacoma reports the test stores include the JC Mart in Renton and the West Hills 76 in Bremerton.
The lottery’s main ticket vendor, New York-based Scientific Games, is paying for the “enhanced lottery retailer” program at the five stores.
Alaska: Cruise ship moving away
A second cruise ship line has said it will shift a vessel destined for Alaska waters in 2010 to another location.
Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line announced Monday its Norwegian Sun will operate in more profitable European waters in summer 2010. Company officials blamed Alaska’s $50 passenger fee for the decision.
Norwegian Cruise Line joins Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in shifting a ship from Alaska waters for summer 2010.
Associated Press
