Northwest briefly: Soldier dies in Afghanistan
Published 9:46 pm Thursday, May 6, 2010
YAKIMA — The Army has told a Goldendale family that a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier died Sunday in Afghanistan.
The family of Mark Coleman told the Yakima Herald-Republic they were informed he was killed while leading a foot patrol in a rugged, rural area of Kandahar Province. The 40-year-old was a 22-year veteran of the military and a master sergeant with a Special Forces group based at Lewis-McChord. He was on his third tour in Afghanistan.
Coleman grew up on a farm near Goldendale where his parents, Jim Coleman and Alice Eschelman, and other family members still live. He joined the Army in 1988 after graduating from Goldendale High School.
Seattle: Sea-Tac flights delayed
A bomb squad checked a suspicious bag at Sea-Tac Airport and hundreds of people were evacuated from Concourse A, where four flights were delayed.
Spokeswoman Terri-Ann Betancourt said the Port of Seattle bomb squad was called to check out suspicious luggage about 5:30 a.m. Thursday in the “bag well” under the concourse where bags are screened. She could not confirm broadcast reports the bag was smoking.
Betancourt said the incident has delayed two American and two Delta flights. Those passengers and other people from Concourse A were evacuated to other parts of the airport.
Tuition to increase at state colleges
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges has voted to increase tuition by 7 percent, adding about $200 to the cost of going to school full-time next school year.
The board also voted in Walla Walla on Thursday to increase tuition for classes leading to applied bachelor’s degrees by 14 percent. Tuition for nonresidents will go up by the same dollar amount, but not as high a percentage because the board wants to keep out-of-state tuition competitive with nearby Western States.
Both increases are the maximum authorized by the Legislature earlier this year and mirror the tuition increases approved for this academic year.
The tuition increases will make up for some, but not all, of the legislative cuts to the state community and technical college budget.
Transient’s cooking started bridge fire
The fire that burned a storage yard and scorched the Ballard Bridge in Seattle was caused by a transient’s campfire.
Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen said a cooking fire spread accidentally Wednesday night and caused an estimated $100,000 damage.
The fire burned four small boats, a truck and wooden pallets. The charred bridge was closed until 2 a.m. Thursday, and Seattle Transportation Department inspectors returned with daylight for a closer look.
City bridge maintenance supervisor Greg Funk said the heat melted phone wires to the bridge tower, caused a little damage to the power lines for the drawspan and melted paint. But he says there is no structural damage and the bridge is operating normally.
Seattle community college names new president
The new president of North Seattle Community College helped secure a designation for South Seattle Community College as one of a select group of Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander serving institutions across the country.
Mark Mitsui, who is moving to North Seattle from South Seattle, helped secure a $2.4 million Department of Education Grant along with the designation.
Mitsui has experience at community college throughout Western Washington. He will begin his new job in July.
Mayor threatens to veto waterfront tunnel
Plans to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle with a tunnel may have hit a roadblock.
Mayor Mike McGinn said Wednesday he’ll veto the $2 billion plan unless the city council agrees the city will not foot the bill for any cost overruns.
Pullman: Driver accused of hitting 2 acquitted
A Whitman County judge has acquitted a Moscow, Idaho, man accused of injuring two Washington State University students in a December hit-and-run.
Superior Court Judge David Frazier on Wednesday ruled that 31-year-old Daniel Noble was temporarily insane during the Dec. 7 incident and acquitted him of two felony counts of vehicular assault, two felony counts of hit-and-run and misdemeanor resisting arrest.
The Lewiston Tribune reports that Frazier granted a defense motion to acquit Noble based on Noble’s attorney’s intent to use an insanity defense at trial.
The two pedestrians who were struck, 19-year-old Neil Waldbjorn of Malaga and 23-year-old Hogun Hahm of Pullman, each suffered a broken leg.
Tacoma: Sumatran tiger at Tacoma zoo pregnant
A Sumatran tiger at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma is pregnant and expected to give birth to at least two cubs later this month.
Curator Karen Goodrowe Beck said the zoo is preparing for a 24-hour watch several days before the May 22 due date. She said staffers will be ready to step in if Jaya, a first-time mother, does not care for her cubs.
The father is Bali, who came to Tacoma from the San Francisco Zoo in September. Since then he has been diagnosed with cancer and started chemotherapy in April. Goodrowe Beck says keepers don’t know how long he has left to live.
Sumatran tigers are an endangered species.
Spokane: Homeless man arrested in transient death
Spokane sheriff’s deputies arrested a 34-year-old transient in the beating death of another homeless man whose body was found in the Dishman Hills area near Spokane Valley.
Roland Benton was jailed Wednesday for investigation of murder in the death of 46-year-old Douglas Klages. The Spokane man had lost his job as a chef and battled with alcohol. His body was found by hikers Friday in a small cave.
The Spokesman-Review reported detectives found grocery store video of the two men together earlier Friday.
Benton has had two other arrests in the past month — in a domestic violence case and failing to comply with a court order in a hit-and-run case.
Salon donates hair for oil spill cleanup
A Spokane hair salon has been donating clippings to an organization that uses them in mats to soak up oil spills.
The Green Salon and Day Spa told The Spokesman-Review it ships about 35 pounds of clippings every few months to a San Francisco nonprofit called Matter of Trust. It uses donated hair and used nylons to make absorbent mats and booms.
Idaho: Missing woman’s husband arrested
The husband of a missing Clarkston, Wash., woman was arrested Thursday at his business in Moscow.
The Lewiston Tribune reported Charles Capone was arrested on a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives warrant accusing him of violating federal firearms laws.
Rachael Anderson, 40, is a mother of four who was in the process of divorcing Capone. She was reported missing April 16 after she failed to show up for work at her job in Lewiston.
From Herald news services
