23 years for man in fork stabbing
SEATTLE — A judge has handed down a 23 ½-year sentence to a man who stabbed his estranged wife to death with a barbecue fork as their two young children watched.
Juan Bonilla apologized Thursday in King County Superior Court for the April 2008 killing, and blamed it on his rage as well as drug and alcohol addictions. He stabbed Debra Bonilla at least a dozen times.
Bonilla, 34, pleaded guilty to second-degree domestic-violence murder on July 2. Under the standard sentencing range, Bonilla faced between about 13 and 21 years in prison. But because the couple’s 4- and 5-year-old children were watching, prosecutors sought an exceptional punishment of 25 years.
Autopsy shows heart disease caused jail inmate’s death
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office said the death of a 44-year-old King County Jail inmate was caused by hypertensive cardiovascular disease and was a natural death. The inmate was identified as Scott D. Parrish.
Maj. William Hayes of the county’s Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention said the man died Thursday morning. He had been booked into jail on Tuesday for failure to appear on a domestic violence assault charge.
Woody biomass judged the best clean energy resource
A University of Washington report says woody biomass may be the state’s best opportunity to develop biofuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The report by the UW School of Forest Resources said woody biomass is the most abundant and sustainable state resource that can be converted into liquid fuels to replace gasoline and diesel.
Woody biomass is the residue left after tree harvesting, forest thinning or the manufacturing of wood products.
Spokane: Kitten survives six days in duffel 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.
Olympia: Court report ruled public
The Washington Supreme Court says an investigation report about the work environment at Federal Way Municipal Court is a public record.
The News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma sought the report under a public disclosure request, and Federal Way agreed to provide it. But the city court’s presiding judge, Michael Morgan, attempted to block the release, arguing that because the report was prepared by the city attorney’s office, it was protected by attorney-client privilege.
The high court disagreed unanimously, saying the investigation was started without Morgan’s knowledge after an employee complained of a hostile work environment, and the judge did not have an attorney-client relationship with the investigator.
Justices say convicted DUI driver can be prosecuted again
The Washington Supreme Court says a drunken driver who crossed into Oregon on I-5 can be prosecuted in this state, even though he’s already been convicted in Oregon.
Santiago Rivera-Santos argued that being prosecuted in both states is a violation his constitutional right to be free from double-jeopardy.
But Washington’s high court unanimously disagreed Thursday, saying he’s not being prosecuted twice for the same crime, but for two different ones: driving drunk in Oregon, and driving drunk in Washington.
Federal Way: Police shoot armed man
Federal Way police say a 20-year-old man shot by two officers is in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Deputy Chief Steve Neal said the officers had responded to a report of a fight Wednesday night in an apartment parking lot.
When the officers arrived, Neal said they attempted to contact people involved in the fight in an apartment. The officers were confronted by a man armed with a knife.
Neal says he approached the officers “in an attack mode” and they both fired multiple times.
Hoquiam: K9 takes reluctant suspect
A suspect wanted by police refused to leave a trailer in Hoquiam.
KXRO reported the 31-year-old man withstood pepper spray Wednesday, but was arrested with the help of a Grays Harbor County police dog named Gizmo.
The man was treated at a hospital for a bite wound. He’s facing a kidnapping charge.
Idaho: Officials denounce racist literature
Law enforcement officers from Coeur d’Alene and Spokane are speaking out to denounce the distribution of racist literature in the region.
The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, the Spokane and Kootenai County sheriff’s offices and mayors and police chiefs of several neighboring cities will hold a press conference on Friday on the Washington-Idaho border to condemn the hate pamphlets being dropped in Kootenai and Spokane counties.
Oregon: Higher park fees possible
Oregon is considering raising state park fees on everything from day-use passes to tent sites and cabin rentals.
A day pass under the proposal would cost $5 rather than $3, tent sites would jump from $16 to $20 and visitors would have to pay $39 instead of $35 for a rustic cabin and $75 rather than $65 for a yurt.
If approved, the increases could take effect next year.
Park fees have remained unchanged since 1996. With these increases, the state expects it could raise $4.3 million, which it would use to help offset the rising costs of maintenance.
10 men indicted in marijuana operation
Ten men from Washington state, California and Texas have been indicted on charges of running a $30 million marijuana operation on public lands in a remote area of Eastern Oregon.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon said the case involves the seizure of more than 30,000 marijuana plants on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land in Malheur County.
The Washington men listed in the federal indictment issued Tuesday were: Agustin Mendoza-Mendoza, 26, Joel Birrueta-Contreras, 26, Jacobo Mendoza-Mendoza, 27, Jose Sanchez-Torres, 25, and Jose Palominos-Mendoza, 26, all of Pasco; and Guadalupe Garcia-Valencia, 30, of Yakima. David Rivera-Corona, 39, of Benton County was listed as a fugitive.
Researchers begin post-traumatic stress study
Oregon Health &Science University is beginning a study to explore alternative treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by combat veterans.
Researchers say up to half of all veterans returning from deployment suffer from PTSD, although the exact number is unclear.
Veterans suffering from the disorder experience increased anxiety, trouble sleeping, difficulty in relationships, and recurring unwanted thoughts and dreams about their past traumas that impair normal functioning.
The five-year Oregon study will focus on a technique called “mindfulness meditation” that has been shown to help deal with anxiety, intrusive thoughts and sleep difficulties.
Court rejects car salesman in ethics appeal
A manager at an Oregon car dealership said he was fired because he insisted on being an honest salesman. The state Supreme Court disagreed Thursday.
Kevin Lamson argued he was wrongfully discharged from Crater Lake Motors in Medford after he told his bosses he wanted no part of a sales campaign that he believed included deceptive ads and sales practices.
Lamson sued the dealership and won in trial court, but the Oregon Supreme Court reversed the decision. It said in a unanimous opinion Thursday that there was no evidence to support Lamson’s claim he was fired for reporting the practices.
The court also said the conduct did not rise to the level of a threat to public health or safety — typical requirements for protecting whistleblowers from being fired.
Phone photo helps police catch burglar
Medford police say an alert neighbor with a cell-phone camera allowed them to catch a burglar headed to Portland on a Greyhound bus.
Terry Munday noticed a suspicious-looking stranger in a neighbor’s yard. He then followed the man around the block and took his picture.
When the neighbor arrived home to find someone had ransacked her bedroom and stolen her jewelry, Munday provided the photo to police. A parole officer recognized the man as 44-year-old Donnie Warner, who had recently left prison.
Police learned he had just caught a bus to Portland. They sent the photo to Roseburg police, who arrested Warner when the bus stopped there late Tuesday afternoon.
Warner was returned to Medford, where he remains jailed on accusations of theft and burglary
Associated Press
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