Hunting accident kills Puyallup man

EPHRATA – A Puyallup man died after accidentally shooting himself while hunting ducks, Grant County sheriff’s officials said.

Seth E. Johnson, 26, apparently was climbing out of a boat when a shotgun accidentally discharged Tuesday in the Winchester Wasteway southwest of Ephrata, Undersheriff Mike Shay said Wednesday.

Deputies said Johnson was in a three-person hunting party when he left the group to retrieve the boat. A few minutes later, the other hunters heard a gunshot, then found Johnson near the boat, deputies said.

They took him to a nearby road, where emergency crews treated him, deputies said. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene.

That’ll do, pig: The colorful pigs that adorned Seattle streets for months have brought home the bacon. About 170 fiberglass pigs were sold for nearly $500,000 at a public auction Saturday on the Internet auction site eBay. The money went to the 15-year-old Pike Place Market Foundation, which runs a medical clinic, food bank, senior center and preschool. The money kicks off a $10 million, six-year campaign to establish an endowment. The priciest pig was Penny the Inside Out Pig, a specimen covered snout to tail with pennies, which brought $21,000. Ellsworth Alvord, a Windermere resident, paid the second-highest price for a pig, $17,000 for Ruby, the sparkling red pig made by glass artist Dale Chihuly and students from T.T. Minor Elementary School.

Man charged in explosion: King County prosecutors have charged a 20-year-old man with assault after a woman lost part of her right hand when an explosive device exploded on her porch. Kelly R. Vomenici was charged Wednesday with one count each of first-degree assault and possession of an explosive device. Vomenici has denied any involvement in the explosion. The 19-year-old Auburn woman injured in the Saturday explosion also suffered injuries to her chest, face, arms and legs. She was released Wednesday evening from Harborview Medical Center. In court documents, detectives said the woman saw Vomenici walk up her driveway, then walk away. The woman’s boyfriend told detectives he got in a fight with Vomenici’s girlfriend earlier this month, then received threatening phone calls from her. Vomenici said he knew the man and was angry about the fight.

Smoking gun: Washington State Patrol detectives notifying a Kennewick man of his estranged wife’s death arrested his girlfriend after a neighbor brought them a handgun that had been thrown into his yard. Detectives on Tuesday arrested the Kennewick woman in the fatal shooting of the man’s estranged wife at a Davenport apartment this week, authorities said. Amanda L. Shockey, 32, was being held Wednesday in the Lincoln County Jail for investigation of first-degree murder. Her bond was set at $850,000 during an initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon.

Crab boat death: A rogue wave struck a Bering Sea crab boat Wednesday, sweeping a Kodiak man overboard and injuring three crew members, Alaska state troopers said. Scott Powell, 36, was swept off the 125-foot crab vessel Exito about 5 a.m. His body was recovered about an hour later by the crew of the 81-foot Elizabeth F. The Exito was in 30- to 35-foot seas with southwest winds of 75 to 90 mph about 100 miles north of Cold Bay. One crew member on the Exito suffered possible broken ribs and one had a gash on his forehead. Troopers did not know the injury to the third. The three declined to be airlifted from the boat. The Exito operates out of Dutch Harbor and is owned by Q and S Enterprises of Seattle. Higgins Industries built the vessel in 1956, according to the Coast Guard.

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