Mayor’s son to plead guilty to cheating casino
SEATTLE Jacob Dyson Nickels, the son of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, has agreed to plead guilty to his involvement in a casino-cheating ring accused of stealing millions of dollars by bribing dealers in seven states.
Nickels, 25, was a pit boss at the Nooksack Indian Tribe’s Nooksack River Casino in Whatcom County in the summer of 2005 when he accepted $5,000 to introduce one of the ring’s alleged conspirators to crooked dealers, according to an indictment unsealed in May.
He was charged with one count of conspiracy and four counts of theft of funds from a gaming establishment on American Indian lands, and was scheduled to enter a guilty plea before a U.S. magistrate judge in Seattle on Thursday.
@3. Headline News Briefs 14 no bold lede-in:UW professor given probation
A University of Washington professor who dumped an extremely flammable solvent down a laboratory sink to avoid the $15,000 disposal cost needn’t go to jail but must pay a $5,000 fine, a federal judge has decided.
Admitting what he called “a stupid mistake,” Daniel Storm, 62, pleaded guilty in March to violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by dumping roughly a gallon of ethyl ether. He was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court to three years of probation and 80 hours of community service.
@3. Headline News Briefs 14 no bold lede-in:Shooting leaves one dead, two in hospital
A teenager has died and another teenager and a 28-year-old man were hospitalized with leg injuries following a shooting in a neighborhood where violent crime had declined markedly in the last decade.
Witnesses reported a dark red Cadillac speeding from the scene early Tuesday morning following gunfire near a Mount Baker intersection, and officers found a 19-year-old man in the street with a gunshot wound to the head, officer Mark Jamieson said. He died Tuesday night at Harborview Medical Center.
Another man was wounded in the leg and ran a few blocks before collapsing. A third drove from the scene with a leg wound but stopped at a nearby gasoline station, Jamieson said.
@3. Headline News Briefs 14 no bold lede-in:Coalition arrests 249 fugitives this month
A coalition of law enforcement agencies has arrested 249 fugitives wanted for crimes of violence, drug and firearms possession, as well as violations of community supervision conditions. Officials announced the arrests today in Seattle.
The coalition included the U.S. Marshals Service and Washington state Department of Corrections, as well as local law enforcement agencies.
The recent arrests came in Snohomish, King, Pierce and Clark counties.
Spanaway: Teachers contract talks stop
The start of the school year in the Bethel School District has been postponed until at least next week following a breakdown in teacher contract talks.
Negotiations with the Bethel Education Association collapsed Tuesday and union leaders gave strike notice Tuesday night, Superintendent Tom Siegel wrote in a notice posted on the district’s Web site.
Classes had been set to resume Thursday, but schools will remain closed at least through the end of the week, according to the notice. About 1,050 teachers and 18,000 students are affected.
Olympia: More policing for health professionals
Gov. Chris Gregoire, responding to a critical new state audit, is directing the Department of Health and other watchdogs of health professionals to step up their efforts to protect the public.
A 155-page performance audit released last week by the state auditor outlined a variety of shortcomings with the current system of credentialing and disciplining health-care providers, and said some patients may be at risk.
The governor requested the audit after news accounts of sexual misconduct by some health professionals.
The state and its Health Professionals Quality Assurance Office regulate more than 300,000 health providers in 62 professions, including counselors, doctors and dentists. Some of the professions have their own oversight boards, leading Auditor Brian Sonntag to complain about a lack of uniformity and clear standards.
Associated Press
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