Northwest Briefly: Man’s stolen wheelchair recovered
Published 11:21 pm Thursday, November 6, 2008
LAKEWOOD — Police have found a motorized wheelchair that was stolen Sunday from a 72-year-old man in Lakewood, Pierce County, when he was pushed to the ground.
A detective spotted a woman riding a wheelchair Wednesday and it turned out to be the stolen one. The woman says she got it from someone else.
While detectives continue their investigation, the Tacoma News Tribune reported the chair is being returned to the owner.
Kent: Biker convicted in murder trial
A Ghost Riders motorcycle gang member faces more than 30 years in prison when he is sentenced later this year in King County Superior Court for murder.
John Price, 37, was convicted Wednesday for killing Don Jessup in December 2004 in Ravensdale in an argument over a stolen motorcycle.
Jessup was a past president of a rival motorcycle gang, the Gypsy Jokers. His body has not been found.
A Seattle newspaper reported a witness said Price beat Jessup with an ax handle and shot him in the face then wrapped the body in a rug and buried it “up north.”
Seattle: Terrorist wants to represent self in court
Millennium bomber Ahmed Ressam has told a judge he wants to fire his public defenders and represent himself when he is resentenced Dec. 3 in federal court in Seattle.
A Seattle newspaper said he sent a letter Tuesday to the judge, which has been sealed. Ressam previously said he doesn’t trust his lawyers.
The Algerian was arrested in Port Angeles in 1999 with explosives and convicted of plotting to bomb the Los Angeles Airport around Jan. 1, 2000.
Judge John Coughenour sentenced Ressam to 22 years in prison in 2005.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the conviction and sent the case back to the judge to recalculate the sentence.
New UW police chief comes from Michigan
The University of Washington has hired John N. Vinson as the campus police chief.
He’s the Isabella County undersheriff in Mount Pleasant, Mich., and previously worked at the Central Michigan University Police Department.
In Seattle, Vinson will take over for Ray Wittmier, who has been interim chief since Vicky Stormo retired in January.
The UW says Vinson will be in charge of an agency with 50 officers and 50 staff members. He’ll earn $160,000 a year.
Suspect in Des Moines 2001 killings ruled incompetent
A King County Superior Court judge says Leemah Carneh is incompetent to stand trial in the 2001 slayings of four people in Des Moines.
The judge Wednesday ordered the 27-year-old to return to Western State Hospital where he has been treated as a paranoid schizophrenic.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says the court will reconsider his competency in six months.
Prosecutors said he was obsessed with a high school cheerleader and stabbed the 17-year-old, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s parents.
Court documents filed by his lawyers say Carneh has extensive, bizarre delusions about a religion he created called “Biblica Anglica.”
Tacoma: Longview man pleads guilty to arson charge
A Longview man who hired two men to help him burn down the duplex where he was living pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson.
Ryan Mason Burge, 27, faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 23 in federal court in Tacoma.
The Longview Daily News reported Burge hoped to collect renter’s insurance. The two other men pleaded guilty to their part in the conspiracy in Cowlitz County Superior Court.
The fire in June 2007 caused $223,000 damage. A family living in the other side of the home escaped but lost their belongings.
Lake Tapps pilot’s sex trial postponed
The trial of a Lake Tapps pilot accused of molesting dozens of boys has been postponed by the discovery of more videotapes and DVDs hidden in his basement.
Weldon Marc Gilbert was to go on trial Monday in federal court in Tacoma.
A Seattle newspaper reported a witness led investigators to the video collection in a secret compartment of a basement closet. Prosecutors say they need more time to review the evidence and possibly add new charges.
The indictment says Gilbert recorded what prosecutors call a “sadistic spanking fetish.”
The former pilot for UPS is accused of grooming boys by offering them exotic trips. Gilbert was arrested last year and has pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges.
Olympia: Rochester man convicted of killing wife
A Rochester man has been convicted of first-degree murder for strangling his estranged wife, whose body was found stuffed in a refrigerator.
A Thurston County Superior Court jury convicted Steven Mullins on Thursday in the death of Amy Mullins, 38.
Amy Mullins reportedly moved out of their home on July 11, 2007. Steven Mullins was accused of beating and strangling her 10 days later when she went to their property to tend to a horse.
Her battered body was found in a refrigerator on the property.
KIRO-TV reported that according to court documents, Steven Mullins told detectives the killing seemed to him “like a dream,” and that he was “out of his body … watching everything happen.”
No date has been set for Mullins’ sentencing.
Faculty at The Evergreen State College approve contract
Faculty members at The Evergreen State College have ratified their first collective bargaining agreement with the school in Olympia.
Laurie Meeker, chairwoman of the United Faculty of Evergreen, says the contract was ratified by a 99 percent “yes” vote. The union represents about 275 faculty members, who voted to establish it two years ago.
Meeker told The Olympian the three-year agreement improves job security for adjunct faculty, expands employee leave and offers an immediate 10.5 percent salary increase, plus bonuses and additional raises in the second and third years.
The Evergreen board of trustees is scheduled to vote on the agreement Wednesday.
State OKs part of Puget Sound for geoduck harvest
State health officials have approved a two-mile stretch of Puget Sound in south King County for commercial geoduck harvesting.
Water tests found no health concerns in the harvest area, about 138 acres of waters offshore between Des Moines and Federal Way. It’s the first time an area on the east side of Puget Sound has been approved since health officials began monitoring shellfish areas in the 1960s.
The Puyallup Tribe had asked the state to check the waters.
Bremerton: TV recycling program starts in 2009
The director of a free statewide computer and TV recycling program says people won’t have to rush to drop-off points when it takes effect next year.
The director of the Washington Materials Management and Financing Authority, John Friedrick, told the Kitsap Sun he’s concerned about a deluge of TVs and monitors in January. Don’t worry. He says there will be 200 permanent drop-off sites.
In the first three months, he expects the agency will handle 6,000 tons of components.
The agency was established in 2006 by lawmakers to reduce waste and make sure the electronics are properly handled. It is funded by manufacturers.
The Sun said Goodwill Industries will be a major partner and could resell usable computers.
Oregon: Clackamas County goes to 4-day work week
In a move to reduce energy costs and commuter traffic, Clackamas County is closing many offices on Fridays and going to a four-day work week.
About 60 percent of the county’s 2,000 employees started working four 10-hour days this week. Emergency services providers will stick to the old schedule. Results will be studied after a year to decide whether to make the change permanent.
Most departments in the public services and development buildings will operate from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The county is the largest government agency in Oregon so far to make such a move.
Associated Press
