Northwest Briefly: Shooting suspects from Camano Island arrested in California
Published 11:47 pm Friday, September 18, 2009
MOUNT VERNON — The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office said two people accused of a drive-by shooting have been arrested in Santa Clarita, Calif.
Agents from the U.S. Marshal Service and California Highway Patrol officers arrested 27-year-old Patrick Vaughn and 25-year-old Kabrina Lunsford of Camano Island on Thursday on attempted murder warrants.
The shooting took place on Sept. 9 on a Skagit County road and I-5 near Conway where a pickup was rammed and had its windows shot out. Two men inside were not hit.
Seattle: Mayor proposes gun ban in city parks
Mayor Greg Nickels has proposed a ban on guns in parks, playgrounds and community centers.
The city will take public comment on the proposal over the next two weeks.
Signs would be posted prohibiting firearms. Anyone carrying a firearm who refuses to leave could be cited or arrested for trespassing.
Nickels asked city departments to review gun policies after three people were wounded at the 2008 Folklife Festival at the Seattle Center.
The Second Amendment Foundation renewed its pledge to sue Nickels if he pushes through a proposed rule that would ban legally-carried firearms in city parks and recreation facilities.
State Patrol troopers cleared in gull clubbings
Two Washington State Patrol troopers who killed three nuisance seagulls at the downtown Seattle ferry terminal will not be charged.
The King County prosecutor’s office said the July 15 killings were neither animal cruelty nor illegal hunting.
The troopers hit the young seagulls in the heads with their batons because adult birds had been swooping at ferry employees and passengers.
The prosecutor’s office said Thursday the troopers mistakenly believed they were acting under their authority to kill animals to prevent harm to people.
All four suspects in Seattle muggings in custody
Police say they now have all four suspects wanted in a string of street muggings this month in and around Seattle.
Two were arrested Tuesday. One man turned himself Thursday night to Seattle police and the fourth turned himself in Thursday night to Kent police.
Father of starved girl sentenced to prison
A King County Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced a Carnation-area man to three years and five months in prison for failing to intervene while his wife spent years starving his stepdaughter.
Judge William Downing imposed the top end of the sentencing range on 43-year-old John Pomeroy, who pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal mistreatment last month. Pomeroy’s wife, Rebecca Long, has entered a modified guilty plea to first-degree criminal mistreatment. She awaits sentencing.
Prosecutors say Pomeroy and Long isolated and starved the girl, now 15. When she was found in August 2008 at the home east of Seattle, authorities say she was just 4 feet 7 inches tall, weighed just 48 pounds and was severely dehydrated. Her foster father says she has since doubled her weight and grown 6 inches.
Kapowsin: Cockfighting alleged; cops raid house
Sheriff’s officers raided an east Pierce County home they said was the site of a cockfighting and drug operation.
Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said the Friday raid on the home near Kapowsin found 51 roosters in cages and another 20 who were running free. He said investigators also found a suspected marijuana grow operation, automatic weapons and a trailer used to manufacture drugs, including methamphetamine.
One man was booked into the county jail, and Troyer said others are being sought.
Yakima: Emergency landing for Canadian military jet
An FA-18 Hornet made an emergency landing at the Yakima airport after a cockpit warning light activated. Fire crews were standing by about 9:30 p.m. Thursday as the plane landed safely.
A fire official told The Yakima Herald-Republic the plane was flying out of Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, but a spokeswoman at the base said Friday it was a Canadian plane.
Redmond: Cougar reportedly seen on Microsoft campus
Wildlife officials say there has been a report of a cougar wandering Microsoft’s campus.
Capt. Bill Hebner of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said employees of the software company contacted his agency to report the sighting. Hebner said agents have not been able to talk to the reporting party and have not confirmed the report.
Redmond police say Microsoft security personnel also reported on Thursday that a cougar had been seen, but later said it was a coyote.
Kelso: Former coach sentenced on child porn
A federal judge has sentenced a former Kelso Little League coach to 32 months in prison after he was found to have 1,300 CDs filled with images of child pornography.
U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton on Friday also ordered 60-year-old Benny L. Hill to have 15 years of supervised release.
Agents were led to Hill after they found his e-mail address while investigating another child pornography case. They raided his home in March 2008. Hill pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in August.
Auburn: Work starting on Green River levees
Emergency managers plan to start work next week on a Green River levee in Auburn.
They want to add to the height of an 800-foot section of the levee that is one of the low spots along the river. A county flood plain manager, Brian Murray, said apartment complexes are right against the levee near 22nd Way in Auburn.
Officials have been saying flooding is likely through Kent, Renton, Auburn and Tukwila this winter because the weakened Howard Hanson Dam will be unable to hold back a heavy rain.
Oregon: Two dozen motorcycles crash on I-5
Oregon State Police said more than two dozen motorcycles, most of them belonging to the Brother Speed motorcycle club, crashed on I-5 Friday afternoon, blocking freeway traffic for hours.
Police said the bikers were behind a car when traffic slowed in the northbound lanes near Wilsonville, south of Portland. They said the bikers and car tried to slow but collided, scattering bikes across the pavement.
The Oregonian reported that two bikers with critical injuries were flown to Portland hospitals by helicopter. Rescue personnel said seven others were treated for shoulder and hip injuries and broken bones.
I-5 Columbia River bridge project faltering
The $4 billion effort to replace the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River is faltering because of political squabbles and lack of money.
Metro Council President David Bragdon told The Oregonian newspaper the project is too big after years of planning at a cost of $1 million a month. As now conceived, the existing six-lane span would be replaced by a 12-lane bridge equipped for a light rail extension. Also included are overhauls of six interchanges along four miles of the freeway on both sides of the river.
For two years, planners and local officials have been talking about financing the new bridge with tolls, but that is strongly opposed in Vancouver, Wash., across the river from Portland. That opposition has loomed large in the mayoral election in Vancouver.
From Herald news services
