OLYMPIA — A state Health Department survey has found fewer adults are smoking tobacco in Washington. The survey found 14.8 percent of Washington adults smoked in 2009, giving Washington the third lowest smoking rate in the nation.
Smoking rates have dropped to a new low for the seventh consecutive year. Since the state began its Tobacco Prevention and Control Program in 2000, the smoking rate has dropped by about a third.
State officials said the smoking rate among the poor remains high at 29 percent. Those with less education also have higher smoking rates.
Health Secretary Mary Selecky said the other bad news in the survey is the increased use of smokeless tobacco, including dissolvable products that look like candy.
Seattle: Body scanners coming to Sea-Tac
Full-body scanners are coming to Sea-Tac Airport.
KIRO-FM reported the Transportation Security Administration plans to have them installed by the end of September at security checkpoints.
The digital scans produce a near-nude image to help guards look for nonmetallic weapons or explosives.
The TSA has been expanding the use of the scanners to nearly all airports because a man was accused of trying to blow up a U.S. jetliner on Christmas using explosives hidden in his underwear.
People who object to the low-dose of X-rays or the privacy invasion can request a pat-down instead.
Boy shot on bus with own gun ordered detained
A King County Juvenile Court commissioner has ordered the continued detention of a 10-year-old boy who police say shot himself in the arm during a botched robbery attempt on a Metro bus in Seattle.
The boy will remain in custody at least until his next hearing Tuesday. The deadline for prosecutors to file charges is early next week. The boy appeared in court Thursday with his right arm bandaged.
Police say the 10-year-old was with a group of other juveniles when they tried to rob a 17-year-old boy Tuesday night. The 17-year-old later told police he saw the younger boy reach inside a backpack. Fearing he was reaching for a gun, the older boy grabbed him in a bear hug. Police say a gunshot went off inside the pack, wounding the 10-year-old.
Police found a .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun in the pack.
Spokane Valley: Man held for mooning
The Spokane County sheriff’s office said a man who had been drinking swore at children and adults at a park, pounded on passing cars and mooned a motorist who happened to be an off-duty Benton County deputy.
He kept the suspect — with his pants around his ankles — in sight until a local deputy arrived Saturday and arrested 43-year-old Trentwood man for investigation of disorderly conduct and indecent exposure.
Rockford: Combine starts wildfire
A Spokane County Fire District 2 spokesman said a fire started by a combine has burned about 75 acres of wheat and 25 acres of timber in a rural area between Rockford and Fairfield.
Fire Chief Jason Laulainen said no structures burned Thursday and there were no injuries. He says the fire that started shortly before noon was contained by late Thursday afternoon. The Washington Department of Natural Resources was doing mop-up work in the timber.
From Herald news services
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