OLYMPIA — State liquor stores are going to the mall for the holidays.
The Liquor Control Board plans to open temporary stores from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 at the Alderwood mall in Lynnwood, Bellis Fair Mall in Bellingham, The Commons at Federal Way, and Pacific Place in Seattle.
Spokesman Brian Smith said mall stores have been planned for years. The last session of the Legislature went along with the idea because the stores are expected to bring in $3.8 million over the next two holiday seasons.
Smith said the stores will carry mainly gift-packaged liquors. He said no brands will be advertised in windows, and the stores will not be located next to places where children congregate such as food courts or Santa locations.
Seattle: Freeway smart signs planned
A new system of high-tech signs is planned for some freeways in the Seattle area.
The state Department of Transportation said it plans to have the active traffic management system working by next summer on I-90, northbound I-5 and Highway 520. The system is a network of sensors and electronic signs that automatically responds to traffic conditions and tells drivers to change lanes or slow down to avoid potential accidents.
D.C.: Rep. Adam Smith in hospital
Congressman Adam Smith of Washington is in Bethesda Naval hospital with a collapsed lung.
Spokesman Mike Amato said he felt pain in his right side Thursday and went to the hospital for a procedure to reinflate the lung.
Amato said Smith is resting and was expected to be be released Friday.
Amato said the lung problem is something Smith was born with and there was no particular cause or injury.
The 9th District representative from Tacoma is 44.
Tacoma: Man charged in pot bust
A Mexican citizen has been charged in one of the biggest known marijuana growing operations in Western Washington.
Nine remote pot farms with a total of more than 20,000 plants were spotted by helicopter about 10 miles southeast of South Bend in the Willapa Hills of Pacific County. They were raided on June 24 by Pacific and Grays Harbor county investigators.
In a Drug Enforcement Administration complaint filed this week, 48-year-old Rafael Birrueta Mendoza of Michoacan, Mexico, is charged with conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. The complaint was unsealed Friday after Mendoza, who lived for a time in Pasco, was taken into federal custody.
Authorities said the mostly young plants were worth an estimated $60 million.
Roslyn: Town gets new water deal
The city of Roslyn has reached an agreement aimed at ensuring a full water supply even during periods of drought.
The city on the east slope of the Cascades owns a water right that dates to 1908, but some irrigators in the Yakima Valley have more senior rights that date to 1905. The city spent nine years and $600,000 to buy two older water rights, but had to reach agreement with other water users in the area on the water transfers.
Associated Press
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
