Parties continue to challenge state’s primary
A federal judge in Seattle has refused to dismiss a legal challenge to Washington’s top-two primary system.
Secretary of State Sam Reed had asked the court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties.
Even though the state’s top-two primary was upheld last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge John Coughenour ruled Thursday the parties can continue to challenge how the primary is conducted.
The secretary of state’s office says the ruling means a new round of litigation that could change how candidates are listed on the ballot or in the voters’ pamphlet.
State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz said the ruling means the state will have to amend the current law.
Spokane: Kitten lives 6 days in bag
A Spokane animal protection agency says two maintenance workers were testing garage door openers at an apartment complex when they heard a muffled meowing from one garage. They entered and traced the sound to a large, heavy canvas duffel bag. They found a second, zipped duffel inside the first one. Inside the second bag they found a small orange and white kitten, covered in feces and urine.
Officials of the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service said Thursday the kitten’s owner has acknowledged putting the animal in the duffel bag six days ago. SCRAPS says he is being charged with confinement in an unsafe manner.
Animal Protection Officer Nicole Montano says the kitten likely would have died Thursday but for the workers’ discovery. The agency says the maintenance workers nicknamed the kitten “Duff” and plan to adopt him from SCRAPS.
Tacoma: Lawyer arrested in pot case
Detectives say a Tacoma lawyer has been arrested for growing and dealing marijuana at his home and office.
The lawyer, identified by The Associated Press through jail records as Jesse Edward Yarbrough, was one of four people taken into custody as part of an investigation by the West Sound Narcotics Enforcement Team, or WestNET, an antidrug task force based out of the Kitsap County sheriff’s office. He was booked into the Pierce County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of manufacturing a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute. He has not been charged.
Detectives say they recovered 82 growing marijuana plants and more than 7 ounces of processed marijuana, half of which was packaged for distribution. They say they also found packaging materials, scales and ledgers documenting drug sales.
Stevenson: Huge marijuana seizure
Skamania County Sheriff David Brown says a multi-agency drug enforcement team has eradicated 6,000 to 8,000 marijuana plants in an outdoor grow operation in the eastern part of the county. He estimates the street value of the growing plants and 150 to 200 pounds of processed marijuana at roughly $10 million to $12 million.
Officers found three people in the grow area Friday but all escaped on foot into dense forest.
Brown says similarly sized marijuana grows have been found in the area in the past three years, with information pointing to connections with Mexican drug organizations.
Vancouver: Baird reports death threat
Rep. Brian Baird has reported a death threat.
Baird’s district director, Kelly Love, says someone left a phone message at Baird’s office in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 10, saying, “You think Timothy McVeigh was bad, there is a Ryder Truck out there with your name on it,”
The Washington state Democrat mentioned it Wednesday in a Rotary Club appearance in Vancouver, Wash., in the context of his initial reluctance to hold town hall meetings on health care legislation. Baird said, “If there is a Ryder truck parked out front, it has my name on it.”
Clark County Republican Chairman Ryan Hart has criticized Baird for invoking the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. Baird says he’s surprised the GOP would attack him rather than whoever made the threat.
Bainbridge Island: Dog dies in car
A dog left for a couple of hours in a car on Bainbridge Island was dead when the owner found it.
Bainbridge Island police say a woman called and said she had forgot the dog was in the car with her when she returned home about 11 a.m. Thursday. When she went looking for the dog later, she found it dead.
The Kitsap Sun reports police described the woman as inconsolable over the loss of the female black Labrador named Bear.
Investigators believe the car windows were up at the time. While the outside temperature was in the 70s, the inside temperature could have reached 120.
The Kitsap County Animal Enforcement Office will send its report to the county prosecutor for possible charges.
Bellingham: Prison time for poisoner
A woman who put a chemical cleaner in two malts at the Ferndale Dairy Queen pleaded guilty to second-degree assault.
Alexandra M. Dale was sentenced Thursday in Whatcom County Superior Court to 14 months in prison.
Two men who bought malts in February suffered chemical burns and one man was hospitalized for two days with ulcers on his esophagus.
The Bellingham Herald reports surveillance video showed Dale added deep-fat fryer cleaner to the malt dispenser.
Deputy Prosecutor Dona Bracke says the 43-year-old Ferndale woman never admitted a motive but applied for a different job with the company and thought she had been given short shrift.
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