HONOLULU — The Army is allowing the first commissioned officer to be court-martialed for refusing to go to Iraq to resign from the service.
First Lt. Ehren Watada is to be discharged during the first week of October.
Watada’s attorney said in a statement Friday that the Army plans to grant the Honolulu-born soldier a discharge “under other than honorable conditions.”
Watada told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin that he was “glad to finally bring this chapter to a close and to move on.”
Watada refused to deploy to Iraq with his Fort Lewis-based unit in 2006, arguing the war is illegal and that he would be a party to war crimes if he served in Iraq.
His court-martial ended in mistrial.
Seattle: Guilty plea for I-5 stabbing
A man who stabbed his girlfriend to death as they rode in a car on I-5 in Seattle has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
With Friday’s plea from 43-year-old Christel Murphy of Kent, prosecutors are recommending a 32-year prison term when he is sentenced Nov. 13 in King County Superior Court.
Forty-two-year-old Jane Kariuki was killed Oct. 16 when Murphy, who was sitting behind her in an SUV, put her in a neck hold and stabbed her 31 times in the neck, face and chest.
The driver told police he pulled over, tried to stop the attack and called 911. He said Murphy got out of the vehicle, threw the knife on the ground and lit a cigarette.
King County to end animal control
King County plans to end animal control services and close shelters in Kent and Bellevue to save money.
County Executive Kurt Triplett said Thursday that animal care is not a core business of the county. He proposes a six-month transition to help 32 cities find a new contractor for animal services.
The cities pay $5.6 million a year in fees, but the county says that’s $1.5 million short of paying the costs.
Triplett says the county would spend $3 million on the transition. If the county council agrees it would shut down the agency in June.
Smuggler sentenced for arrest on boat
A Canadian man who was arrested in a smuggling case when his boat broke down faces 2½ years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Richard Jones sentenced 42-year-old Robert James Peterson of Victoria, B.C., on Friday. Peterson pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy to import marijuana.
Peterson had been sought in the smuggling of more than 450 pounds of marijuana by boat from Sydney, B.C., to San Juan Island in 2006. A second man, Marc Georg, was sentenced to a year and three months in prison. Two others remain fugitives in Canada.
Peterson was arrested May 22 after he and two others reportedly brought a smaller quantity of pot into the U.S. by boat. He was caught after the vessel broke down in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Woman to repay $2.4 million in taxes
A Bellevue woman has admitted failing to pay more than $2.4 million in income taxes and says she’ll make full restitution.
To resolve a case in U.S. District Court, 48-year-old Michelle Bielaski pleaded guilty Friday to failing to forward $140,489.48 in withholding tax in the third quarter of 2004.
In a plea agreement, however, she admitted the total tax loss to the government exceeded $2.4 million and promised to repay it in full.
The taxes were owed on salaries she and her husband received from Falcon Construction Inc. of Bellevue. Bielaski was secretary and treasurer.
Bielaski faces up to five years in prison when she is sentenced on Dec. 18.
Sound Transit tries to quiet light rail
Sound Transit has issued an emergency order to speed up work to reduce noise on the new light rail line in Seattle.
Various spots on the 14-mile line between downtown Seattle and Tukwila exceed federal transit standards for noise.
The Seattle Times reports neighbors are complaining about one trouble spot near the Mount Baker Station where trains screech as they round a curve.
Mayor proposes $41 million in cuts
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has proposed cutting $41 million in spending, or about 4.4 percent, from city’s already endorsed 2010 budget.
In his plan presented to the City Council on Friday, Nickels would eliminate about 310 jobs and reduce the number of city vehicles. Last month, members of 14 Seattle unions also agreed to take 10-day unpaid furloughs in 2010.
The city faces a $72 million revenue shortfall. Nickels says his budget won’t raise taxes, but it does assume City Light rates will go up 8.8 percent next year. The city also would tap its rainy day fund for $25.4 million.
Nickels is proposing a general fund budget of $905.5 million. The City Council is expected to adopt a 2010 spending plan by the end of November.
Renton: Neighbors rescue man in fire
Neighbors heard cries for help, broke a window and helped a firefighter rescue a man from a burning home near Renton in the Lake Desire area.
The man reportedly suffered burns on his back Friday and was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle in critical condition.
Neighbor Nick Vacca is a former firefighter and had turned a garden hose on the fire with his son Nick Vacca Jr. after they discovered it about 4 a.m. When they saw their neighbor at a window they broke it and pulled out the man, who is in his 60s.
Spokane: Indian artifacts returned
More than 1,400 artifacts taken from Native American sites were returned to tribal members at the federal courthouse in Spokane.
The Spokesman-Review reports the items turned over Thursday — recovered from the collection of Kenneth Milette of Newport — included arrowheads, necklaces and part of a jawbone. They were given to members of the Spokane, Colville, Coeur d’Alene and Nez Perce tribes.
Milette was indicted in September 2008 on charges of illegally possessing and selling Native American artifacts and human remains. He pleaded guilty to four counts and was sentenced in January to three years of probation. He was ordered to forfeit the artifacts and to pay $7,000 in restitution and a $10,000 fine.
Hanford: Helicopter looks for hot spots
A Hanford contractor is using a helicopter to look for hot spots where animals have spread radioactive contamination in the sagebrush.
CHWM Hill Plateau Remediation Co. is conducting the aerial radiological survey in a 14-square-mile area near trenches where radioactive salts were discharged during the Cold War. Project manager Bo Wier says animals loved the salt and spread the waste across the Hanford desert.
The Tri-City Herald reports the helicopter will fly just 50 feet off the ground at 80 miles per hour, covering the area by air in 10 days compared with the six-to-eight months it would take crews on the ground.
The survey will identify dirt that needs to be excavated.
Vancouver, Wash.: Man killed in crash
One person was killed and two injured when a car crashed into cemetery in Vancouver.
Police told The Vancouver Columbian the speeding car left the roadway about 2 a.m. Friday, went airborne and rolled into the Vancouver Barracks Post Cemetery.
One man died at the scene and two were rushed to a hospital. Police believe a fourth person who was in the car left the scene.
B.C.: Passenger presumed dead
Police believe an elderly U.S. woman who disappeared from an Alaskan cruise off the coast of British Columbia jumped from the ship and drowned.
Bella Bella Royal Canadain Mounted Police Sgt. Nelson Salter said Friday that Edelgard Carney, 67, of Sutter Creek, California, was suffering from an undisclosed medical condition and had wrapped up some of her personal affairs back home before going on the cruise.
He says video surveillance from the Princess Cruise ship Sapphire Princess shows Carney jumping from the ship Tuesday and it appears to be a suicide.
Her initial disappearance prompted a search by the Canadian and U.S. coast guards from Vancouver, B.C., to Alaska, but that search has been called off.
Associated Press
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