TACOMA – The state appeals court will review a police union’s argument against releasing investigative documents about the former police chief who killed his wife and himself.
The records could have been made public Monday, but the state Court of Appeals granted the Tacoma Police Management Association’s request for emergency intervention. Arguments are scheduled for Oct. 5.
The union, which represents Tacoma’s police captains and lieutenants, believes that fully releasing a State Patrol investigation surrounding the deaths could violate some officers’ privacy rights.
David Brame fatally shot his estranged wife Crystal Brame in April 2003, then killed himself. The killings prompted numerous lawsuits and investigations.
News organizations have sought the records for more than a year. Tacoma’s police unions say the release would violate police department employees’ privacy.
Associated Press
Hyak: Everett worker dies while hang-gliding
The Kittitas County sheriff’s office has identified a man killed in a hang-gliding accident as 29-year-old Saito Hiroshi, a Japanese citizen who had been working for Mitsubishi in the Everett area.
Witnesses said Hiroshi’s hang-glider clipped a tree during takeoff at Ramparts Ridge near Lake Lillian on Snoqualmie Pass on Sunday, then fell into a heavily wooded area. He died at the scene.
Associated Press
Oregon: 2 Guardsmen die in Afghanistan
Two Oregon Guardsmen from Pendleton were among five soldiers killed in a weekend helicopter crash in Afghanistan, military officials said Monday.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s office identified the soldiers as Warrant Officer Adrian Stump, 22, and Sgt. Tane Baum, 30.
Both were in an Oregon detachment assigned to Company D, 113th Aviation Battalion of the Nevada Army National Guard based in Stead, Nev.
Associated Press
Court challenge to ban on gay marriage begins
Gay rights activists urged a judge in Salem on Monday to overturn on technical grounds a voter-passed ban on same-sex marriage in another round of the political and legal fights on the issue.
Portland lawyer Mark Johnson, representing the gay rights group Basic Rights Oregon, told Marion County Circuit Judge Joseph Guimond the constitutional amendment was flawed by containing too many changes that should have been voted on separately.
But Charles Fletcher, an assistant attorney general defending the measure, said voters only clarified marriage law in the simple-one sentence proposition and didn’t change it.
The judge said he hopes to issue a decision by Nov. 1.
Associated Press
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