A Pierce County woman might have set a dubious record when she was arrested for drunken driving last month, authorities said Wednesday.
A blood test showed that Rebecca G. Lingbloom had a blood-alcohol content of .50 two hours after her arrest, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in District Court.
That’s more than six times the legal limit of .08 and ties the mark for the highest level ever found in a person’s blood by technicians at the Washington State Patrol’s toxicology laboratory in Seattle, said the lab’s manager, Ann Marie Gordon.
A King County driver also registered a .50 on a blood test back in 2000, Gordon said.
In any event, a reading of .50 is extremely rare, Gordon said, so rare that technicians are required to reanalyze a blood sample if they get a reading that high.
“It certainly would kill many people,” she said.
The News Tribune
Seattle: Gonzales will speak to public
Next week, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will make his first visit to Seattle since U.S. Attorney John McKay was forced out in a purge that prompted an ongoing congressional investigation.
Gonzales is scheduled to deliver a 45-minute speech Wednesday at the Westin Hotel’s Grand Ballroom on the Justice Department’s efforts to protect intellectual property and combat cyber-crime. Justice Department spokesman Evan Peterson declined to confirm details of Gonzales’ schedule, but he is also expected to visit the U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle.
The speech, free and open to the public, is being promoted by the Discovery Institute, a think tank best known for promoting “intelligent design” as an alternative to the theory of evolution, and TechNet Northwest, a political coalition of technology executives.
Associated Press
Spokane: Man pleads not guilty in porn case
A Spokane man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 21 counts of possessing child pornography that police allege he obtained while working as an online marketing developer for the Spokesman-Review newspaper.
Zachary L. Likarich, 29, appeared before Superior Court Judge Michael Price. Likarich answered “not guilty” as Price read each of the 21 counts, officially called “depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit contact.”
Likarich was fired from the newspaper Jan. 22, which is the same day the newspaper’s online publisher, Ken Sands, and an attorney reviewed the contents of a computer that had been assigned to Likarich.
Spokane Police detective Jerry Keller said in court records that a newspaper photo archivist discovered the sexually explicit photographs and movies of children as young as 5 when she opened a computer folder on the company’s internal network.
The company traced the files to Likarich’s desktop computer. On Jan. 19, that machine and a laptop computer assigned to Likarich were seized by the Spokesman-Review, Keller stated.
Spokesman-Review
Bellingham: Arrest in exposure, stalking case
A 23-year-old Bellingham man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stalking and exposing himself to a 10-year-old girl.
Jay G. Jordan was booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of two counts of indecent exposure and stalking.
Bellingham Police say the girl had seen Jordan watching her on four separate occasions in the last month and a half.
On Monday, Jordan allegedly exposed himself to the girl while she walked to school. She notified staff members, who called 911.
On Tuesday morning, Jordan allegedly exposed himself to the girl again. One of the girl’s parents who was following behind confronted Jordan and wrote down his license plate number.
Bellingham Herald
Fire truck catches fire while responding to call
BELLINGHAM – A fire truck caught fire while responding to an aid call Wednesday evening, calling attention to the department’s aging fleet.
An electrical short created a leak in a hydraulic line and started a small engine fire in the Ladder 3 unit just after 6 p.m..
Smoke began showing from the 26-year-old truck while crews were working. A second engine quickly put out the fire.
Ironically, the truck had to wait to be moved because the tow truck capable of pulling the massive vehicle was busy towing a department aid car.
Bellingham Herald
California: Chopped onions recalled
Health officials Thursday warned consumers not to eat certain brands of diced yellow onions that could be contaminated with potentially deadly bacteria.
The onions are sold by an Oxnard distributor to stores and restaurants in six Western states.
Gills Onions was voluntarily recalling onions that were sold to restaurants and Trader Joe’s stores in Washington, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada and Oregon.
The onions on sale at Trade Joe’s are in 10-ounce, resealable plastic pouches and carry the Trader Joe’s brand name. Consumers should avoid packages with the lot code 2017-R22 1956D with a best-used-by date of June 16, 2007, on the back.
The Washington Department of Agriculture found Listeria monocytogenes in Trader Joe’s onions. Listeria monocytogenes can cause fever, headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Infections can be fatal in newborns, the elderly and people with weak immune systems. A Listeria infection can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths.
Associated Press
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