Northwest briefly: Marine killed returning from war
Published 10:24 pm Thursday, May 27, 2010
WAPATO — A vigil was held Thursday at a Wapato funeral home for a Marine from who was killed by a hit-and-run driver at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Evan Sanchey was returning home on leave from Afghanistan May 19 when he was struck while crossing a highway at the airport.
KNDO-TV reported police, firefighters and a military honor guard escorted his body Wednesday night from Seattle. The 23-year-old was a member of the Yakama Nation and had also worked as a firefighter.
Olympia: Chinook Pass to open today
The Washington Transportation Department plans to reopen Chinook Pass at noon today, clearing Highway 410 for drivers on the east side of Mount Rainier.
The 5,430 foot pass was closed for the winter Nov. 8 because of the avalanche risk.
Crews began work April 12 removing snow more than 10 feet deep. On Tuesday, crews from the east and west sides met at the summit.
Toppenish: Toddler found dead
Police are investigating the death of a 14-month-old boy in Toppenish.
KNDO-TV reported officers were called to an address about noon Wednesday and found the boy. They arrested a 45-year-old woman who had been caring for him for investigation of manslaughter.
Medical examiners will determine how the boy died.
Seattle: Residents ask for nude beach
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn asked residents for their ideas about what the city needs, and apparently a lot of people have been thinking about a nude beach. A clothing-optional beach for sunbathing and skinny dipping is in third place Thursday on the website where people can express their preferences.
First is expanding light rail and second is legalizing marijuana.
Man formally sentenced to die
A King County judge has formally sentenced 28-year-old Conner Schierman to death for killing four members of a Kirkland family.
Superior Court Judge Gregory Canova on Thursday imposed the sentence that a jury earlier recommended for Schierman.
He was convicted last month of both aggravated murder and arson for setting fire to the house where his neighbors Olga Milkin, her two young sons and sister were killed in July 2006.
Relatives of the victims demanded an apology and an explanation before the formal sentencing. But Schierman told the court Thursday he woke up in a house with four dead strangers, panicked and set the house on fire. His lawyers contend he suffered an alcohol-induced blackout. They plan to appeal.
Otter who survived ’89 Valdez spill dies
A 21-year-old northern sea otter who survived the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska died Thursday at the Seattle Aquarium. Nuka had lived at the aquarium since 2001 after spending the earlier part of her life at a Chicago aquarium.
Aquarium officials said Nuka was considered geriatric and her health had been declining over the past several months. Aquarium staff and mammal biologists and her veterinarian decided the time had come to euthanize her. Nuka was the oldest of the aquarium’s sea otters.
State seeks proposals for bored Alaskan Way tunnel
The state Department of Transportation said Thursday that building a deep-bored tunnel to replace Seattle’s aging Alaskan Way Viaduct could take a year longer than earlier expected. The department has now set November 2016 as its deadline.
That word came as the department said it’s asking three contractor teams to say how much it would cost to bore a tunnel. Prospective contractors reportedly had expressed concern that a December 2015 timeline was too aggressive.
The tunnel is one of three options being considered to replace the viaduct carrying State Route 99. Others are an elevated structure and a cut-and-cover tunnel.
Bids for the bored tunnel are due in October, but a contract won’t be issued until it’s decided which alternative to build.
Search committee for new UW president announced
The committee that will search for the next president of the University of Washington includes both academic and business leaders.
UW President Mark Emmert announced last month he had accepted a job as the president of the NCAA. He is scheduled to start his new job in November.
On Thursday, the university Board of Regents approved the committee including a Microsoft executive, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the student body president and the CEO of Recreational Equipment Incorporated.
The regents told the committee to bring back a list of three to five finalists by Jan. 31, 2011.
They want the finalists to have leadership and communication skills, be successful fundraisers, and appreciate the culture and mission of a public research university.
Police find 970 marijuana plants at house
Police say they found 970 marijuana plants at house in South Seattle.
Officers went to the home following a disturbance call on Wednesday afternoon. They saw someone in the yard who took off when told to stop, and then heard what they thought were screams coming from inside.
Police say they entered the home and found four people inside, along with a handgun and the marijuana. One person had been beaten and was treated by Seattle Fire Department personnel.
Four men were arrested. The grow included starter as well as mature plants.
Investigators estimated the value of the grow at about $986,000.
State seeks proposal for bored Alaskan Way tunnel
The Washington Department of Transportation is asking three contractor teams to say how much it would cost to bore a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct in downtown Seattle.
The agency said Thursday that it’s made a request for proposals from the design-build teams that could lead to a contract for between $1 billion and $1.2 billion. The bored tunnel is one of three options being considered to replace the dilapidated viaduct carrying State Route 99. Others are an elevated structure and a cut-and-cover tunnel.
Bids for the bored tunnel are due in October, but a contract won’t be issued until it’s decided which alternative to build. Work to replace the southern mile of the viaduct with an aboveground highway starts this summer.
6-year term for attacking Tukwila police and K9
A man convicted of fighting with Tukwila officers and stabbing a police dog was sentenced Wednesday in Seattle to six years in prison.
The 40-year-old Renton man, Kevin Pegues, was convicted last month in King County Superior Court of assault and harming a police dog.
He fought with officers who arrested him last June after he allegedly shoplifted a ball from a supermarket.
The dog named Gino needed nearly a dozen stitches for a neck wound and recovered.
Easton: No road I-90 construction over pass this weekend
The state Department of Transportation says crews have finished a paving job on Interstate 90 east of Snoqualmie Pass and all four lanes of the freeway will be open for the Memorial Day weekend.
Starting last September, workers have replaced eight miles of westbound roadway west of Cle Elum. Crews still have some finishing work to do, such as removing safety barriers painting road stripes, but that should not affect traffic.
No construction work will be done on I-90 across the Cascades through Monday.
Tacoma: Officer charged with child molestation
Pierce County prosecutors charged Tacoma police Officer John Parkes on Wednesday with child molestation.
The News Tribune reported the 45-year-old is accused of molesting a relative over a six-year period that began in 1996 when the girl was 5 or 6.
The 16-year veteran has been on paid leave since earlier this year, after the girl’s mother contacted police.
2-alarm fire burne abandoned feed mill
Firefighters have controlled a 2-alarm fire that burned the old Midland Feed Mill near Tacoma.
Central Pierce Fire and Rescue reports the fire was reported about 9:30 a.m. Thursday by a bystander. Crews found heavy smoke when they arrived.
Spokesman Matt Holm told The News Tribune of Tacoma fire hoses had trouble reaching flames in the interior of the four-story corrugated metal structure, so firefighters let it burn until flames were exposed.
Neighbors told KIRO-TV the building had been used recently by transients who may have started fires for heat or cooking.
Auburn: 2 killed when truck boom hits power line
AUBURN, Wash. — Police in Auburn say two operators of a boom truck were killed late Wednesday afternoon when the boom hit a power line.
Police Sgt. Scott Near says the two men were moving propane tanks at the Farrellgas Propane Store. The contact also sparked a fire in the truck.
KOMO-TV says the men were pronounced dead at the scene. They were not immediately identified.
Near says several tanks were charred during the fire, but the blaze was quickly contained. No other injuries were reported.
Greenbank: Transient killer whales hunting in Puget Sound
As many as a dozen transient killer whales have been reported in Puget Sound this week, hunting for seals and sea lions.
Howard Garrett of the Orca Network in Greenbank said four or five orcas that had been cruising Sinclair and Dyes inlets at Bremerton Wednesday left Thursday morning and headed toward Port Orchard.
Garrett says orcas also were spotted Tuesday off West Seattle, including a large male that’s identified by a ragged dorsal fin.
The Kitsap Sun reports the transients from southeast Alaska and British Columbia frequently show up in Puget Sound in the spring, often when the resident fish-eating orcas aren’t around.
Aberdeen: State DOT looking for another pontoon site
The Washington Transportation Department is looking for another site to build more pontoons for the new Highway 520 floating bridge on Lake Washington at Seattle.
DOT engineer Mike Cotton told The Aberdeen Daily World the second facility would build 44 supplemental pontoons at the same time 33 major pontoons are built at a site at Grays Harbor.
The pontoons will float a new six-lane bridge that will replace the four-lane bridge between Seattle and Bellevue.
New wind monitor at Ocean Shores
The National Weather Service has installed a wind speed reporting station on the Grays Harbor PUD microwave tower in Ocean Shores.
KXRO reported it updates wind speed reports every 10 minutes.
PUD spokeswoman Liz Anderson said the station has already provided information on spring storms.
Tri-Cities: 27 arrested in gang roundup
Police, state and federal officers in the Tri-Cities rounded up 27 fugitives with gang ties in a two-day sweep called Operation Gang Siphon.
The Tri-City Herald reported more than 70 officers from 16 agencies participate in the operation that began Tuesday in Pasco, Kennewick and Benton County.
Of the 27, 10 were juveniles and four were held for possible immigration violations.
From Herald news services
