SEATTLE — Traces of three illegal drugs were found in the blood of a man who was shot to death by police in a case that has upset many black activists in the city’s Central District, a lawyer says.
Lisa Marchese, a lawyer for the two police officers involved in the traffic stop, said Tuesday that prosecutors told her that cocaine, morphine and a substance found in Ecstasy were identified in toxicology tests on the body of Aaron Roberts.
Police and prosecutors would not comment on the tests Tuesday.
Roberts, 37, a convicted felon being sought on an arrest warrant, was stopped for erratic driving May 3. According to police accounts, he showed his identification, then grabbed the arm of Officer Greg Neubert and drove away with the officer hanging from the car door.
Neubert’s partner, Officer Craig Price, leaped into the passenger side of the car as Roberts backed up beside some concrete planters. Police said Roberts was shot as he tried to grab Price’s gun. Roberts was black. Both officers are white.
Roach to run for King County Council: State Sen. Pam Roach plans a campaign to unseat King County Councilman Les Thomas, a fellow Republican she pledged to support when both were angling for appointment to the council earlier this year. In March, Roach, R-Auburn, said, "If I’m not the one selected on the 19th (District), I’ll be strongly behind either Les Thomas or Jeanette Burrage in their race, because I believe that we need to have balance in county government." On Tuesday, Roach expressed doubt she’d made any such statement. But when a reporter for a Tacoma newspaper played a tape of the remarks, she said she’d been the top choice of local Republican officials who pick finalists for any vacant post. The former holder of the seat — state GOP chairman Chris Vance — isn’t taking sides between Roach and Thomas.
Yakama reservation brush fire contained: Firefighters on Wednesday contained a 2,300-acre brush and grass fire on the Yakama Nation Reservation, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs said. The fire burned rangeland and wildlife habitat, but there were no reports of injuries or buildings damaged, BIA fire management officer Max Corpuz said. The fire started Tuesday afternoon with sparks from a tribal road crew’s brush cutter. It burned south and west of Toppenish, just off U.S. 97. About 50 firefighters remained on the scene to monitor hot spots.
Judge expresses concern about bones: The judge deciding the fate of a 9,300-year-old skeleton known as "Kennewick Man" said Wednesday he had "very serious concerns" over the secretary of interior’s decision last year to award the remains to Indian tribes. U.S. Magistrate John Jelderks also expressed frustration at not having a story in the oral traditions of the tribes that would specifically identify the remains of what they call "the Ancient One" as an ancestor. Jelderks’ remarks came during oral arguments on a lawsuit brought by eight scientists who want to overturn last year’s decision by then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to award the remains to five Columbia Basin Indian tribes for burial based on their oral traditions that they have always lived on their homelands, and the proximity of tribal lands to the place the skeleton was found. At the conclusion of the hearing, Jelderks said he would issue a ruling in several weeks.
Hanford gets funding boost: A House subcommittee has agreed to increase funding to clean up Hanford and other Department of Energy nuclear sites by almost $700 million in the next fiscal year, Rep. Richard "Doc" Hastings, R-Wash., said Wednesday. The additional funding, coupled with $180 million included in a supplemental spending bill the House was considering late Wednesday, will almost make up the $1 billion shortfall in cleanup funding included in the Bush administration’s budget proposal. Hastings and others had been critical of the administration for proposing a $56 million cut in Hanford cleanup funding at a time when an extra $400 million was needed to meet the deadlines in the Energy Department’s cleanup agreement with Washington state and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Hastings’ office was unsure exactly how much of the $700 million would be spent at Hanford.
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