SEATTLE – Two monorail trains clipped each other on a curve in the tracks Saturday evening in the heart of Seattle. Two people with minor injuries were taken to local hospitals, fire officials said.
Seattle firefighters helped 84 passengers off the elevated trains near Westlake Center, said Helen Fitzpatrick, Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman.
A passenger on the northbound train, which had left the Westlake station minutes before the accident, said the crash “wasn’t real violent.”
“The scariest thing was coming down the ladder,” said John Gahagan, 50, of Mukilteo, who was riding the monorail with his wife and two children.
“We heard a screeching sound – metal on metal – and glass breaking,” he said, adding that the sliding door on his car was ripped off, a window was broken and his kids, Sean, 15, and Genevieve, 11, were showered with glass. Gahagan said several people slid off their seats.
“We’re fine. Everybody in the car was fine,” he said after the accident.
The one-mile monorail system – which has only two trains – was built for the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962 and has been popular with tourists, drawing as many as 23,000 riders a day.
Associated Press
Ferndale: Residents protest radio station
A group of Ferndale residents said it will file a formal complaint with the Federal Communi-cations Commission about a radio station they say has been interfering with their quality of life. The group is known as Residents Against High-Power Radio Interference, and their complaints are focused on KRPI (1550 AM) in Ferndale. The station broadcasts mostly East Indian music and talk programming in Punjabi, broadcasting 50,000 watts during the day and 10,000 watts at night. Though the station has been broadcasting at 50,000 watts for years, the complaint comes now because its license is up for renewal. That process gives the public an opportunity to request changes to the FCC. The radio station’s current license expires Feb. 1.
Bellingham Herald
Renton: Hurricane evacuees to get homes
The Renton Housing Authority will provide housing, beginning in late January, for about 50 families displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The agency, which provides housing for hundreds of low-income, elderly and disabled people, is one of several King County nonprofit agencies and housing authorities receiving Federal Emergency Management Agency funds through the state Department of Community Trade &Development. An estimated $7.8 million has been earmarked for Washington state, with about $5.5 million going to county organizations, including the Seattle, King County and Renton housing authorities. Mark Gropper, Renton Housing authority’s deputy executive director, said his agency learned in late October that it will be reimbursed up to $892,920 for expenses in housing the evacuees, many of whom have stayed in hotels and motels or with friends or family since the August and September hurricanes struck Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
King County Journal
Snoqualmie Pass: Snow is falling again
With exclamation points, ski resorts let the good news be known on their Web sites Friday night. “It’s snowing here!” The Summit at Snoqualmie’s site announced. The same for Crystal Mountain and other ski resorts, where the snow should continue falling throughout the weekend, and likely beyond. It’s excellent news for skiers and snowboarders after several days without precipitation that conjured memories of last year’s dismally dry ski season. That prospect was particularly frustrating, coming immediately on the heels of the earliest ski resort openings in recent memory.
The bulk of the snow was expected to fall Saturday, with forecasts calling for as much as 5 inches. Snow is a possibility all week. Even the Cascade foothills could see a smattering of snow, but nothing major. The snow level was expected to drop below 1,000 feet Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
King County Journal
Bangor: Brig escapee is wanted by the Navy
A man who escaped from the brig at Bangor submarine base nearly two weeks ago now appears on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s most-wanted list. Investigators expanded their search for James T. Praefke this week, distributing his picture and a wanted poster to law enforcement agencies nationwide. Praefke evaded his guard Nov. 13 while retrieving food for other prisoners at the brig, where we was awaiting transfer to San Diego to serve a three-year sentence. He pleaded guilty to illegally storing explosives and possessing stolen ammunition. The Navy has described him as armed and dangerous. But Praefke’s mother, Linda James of North Port, Fla., said her son poses no threat to anyone. She worries news reports depicting him as a domestic terrorist could lead someone to shoot him rather than turning him into police. “If my son turns up dead, I am declaring war on the government,” she said last week. She said she planned to mount legal challenges against the Navy if her son were harmed.
The Sun
Washington, D.C.: Dicks changes course
Three years ago, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, loudly and proudly backed President Bush’s plan to deploy troops to Iraq. Now he’s joined the growing ranks of politicians who believe the war was a mistake – his vote, the invasion, and the way the United States is waging the war. Dicks echoed the sentiments of Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who has called for troops to leave Iraq in six months, and told The Seattle Times: “He may well be right if this insurgency goes much further. The insurgency has gotten worse and worse,” Dicks said. “That’s where Murtha’s rationale is pretty strong. We’re talking a lot of casualties with no success in sight. The American people obviously know that this war is a mistake.”
The Sun
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