Northwest Briefly: Cascades mountain named for Ira Spring

DARRINGTON — A Cascade peak near Darrington has been renamed for hiking guide author and wilderness photographer Ira Spring.

Spring died in 2003 in Edmonds at the age of 84.

The State Board on Geographic Names approved the name of the 5,700-foot mountain in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest as Ira Spring Mountain. The previous name was Spring Mountain, apparently for springs.

Spring was co-founder of the Washington Trails Association, a nonprofit that promotes hiking.

Seattle: Navy limits Puget Sound explosives

The Navy has agreed to confine explosives training in Puget Sound to one location near the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

The Navy reached the agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect federally protected species — the bull trout and marbled murrelet.

The policy will last through 2009 when the Navy expects to have a comprehensive plan for training around Washington.

Highway 520 floating bridge replacement is now $4.5 billion

The Washington Transportation Department says the rising cost of materials has pushed the estimated cost of a new Highway 520 floating bridge to $4.5 billion.

A deputy department secretary, Dave Dye, said Thursday that’s the most likely cost of the project, but variables include the design of the interchange near the University of Washington.

Earlier this year transportation officials estimated the 45-year-old pontoon bridge could be replaced for less than $4 billion.

New cost estimates for Alaskan Way Viaduct replacements

Planners considering ways to replace Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct have released cost estimates for eight options.

Costs range from $800 million for a surface street, to about $2 billion for another elevated roadway to as much as $3.5 billion for one of the tunnel scenarios.

The city, King County and state Transportation Department are working together toward a final recommendation by the end of the year.

Transportation officials say the 55-year-old section of Highway 99 along the Seattle waterfront was damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake and could come down in another quake. It carries about 100,000 vehicles a day.

Feds say identity thieves stole cards from gym locker rooms

Federal prosecutors say a Renton man was behind a fraud ring that sold iPods and computers bought with credit cards stolen from gym locker rooms in Washington state and Oregon.

Gabriel Jang made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Thursday. Investigators allege he has taken in more than $3 million since 2004 by making sales on the Internet auction site eBay.

According to a federal complaint, Jang had associates who would steal credit cards from gym locker rooms in the Puget Sound region and in Beaverton and Tualatin, Ore. It alleges they would use the cards to buy items at retail stores, then turn them over to Jang.

Charged along with Jang is one of his alleged associates, Billy Britt.

King County judge accused of being rude

A King County District Court judge who was reprimanded three years ago for rude behavior is accused again of being curt, sarcastic and intimidating.

The state Commission on Judicial Conduct is holding a hearing this week at the King County Courthouse in Seattle to hear testimony against Judge Judith Eiler.

One former defendant, Tammy Mazanti, testified Wednesday she thought Eiler was mean for telling her to wipe a smirk off her face. Manzanti said she was just trying to look pleasant.

Eiler’s lawyer, Anne Bremner, says the judge has a difficult job hearing 10 to 20 cases a day.

The commission could order more training or remove Eiler from the bench.

Friday Harbor: Deadly bacteria found on orcas

Researchers studying droplets emitted from orca blow holes have found drug-resistant bacteria.

They could be a sign of pollution and a risk to the killer whale population in Puget Sound, which is apparently in decline.

The Kitsap Sun said the independent research by biologist David Bain and veterinarian Pete Schroeder was presented at a Tuesday meeting in Friday Harbor on orca health.

Schroeder said the bacteria may come from human sources such as untreated sewage or storm water.

Seven Puget Sound orcas are missing and presumed dead, bringing the population to 83, the fewest in five years.

Spokane: Couple accused of embezzling $800,000

Two people are accused of embezzling $814,000 from two Spokane advertising agencies and using the money for down payments on houses, vehicles and airline tickets for a youth football team’s trip to California.

Michelle A. Wing and her boyfriend, Kenneth Marsh, are each accused in a federal indictment of conspiracy and multiple counts of bank fraud.

Wing also is charged with two additional counts of identity theft opening credit card accounts, and using her boss’ name, Social Security number and birth date without his knowledge.

Mount Rainier: Nisqually entrance to reopen today

Officials at Mount Rainier National Park are ready to reopen the Nisqually entrance at Kautz Creek after flooding closed the road earlier this month.

The road is scheduled to reopen at 6 a.m. today.

Heavy rains sent Kautz Creek over its banks, and flooded the road in the park’s southwest corner. Park crews dug a new channel to divert water from the road and into two new culverts.

Kelso: Man in court over ‘sex contracts’

A Kelso man on trial on rape and assault charges says he drew up “sex contracts” with three women in hope of protecting himself from being charged.

Prosecutors say the 50-year-old man, William Glen Smith, assaulted two 19-year-old women and one 23-year-old between late 2007 and February of this year. Two of the women are Smith’s relatives.

The Longview Daily News reported the women testified this week that they signed contracts allowing Smith to touch them in exchange for clothing, a place to live and, in one case, the promise of breast implants.

The illegal contracts said if the women pressed charges the women would owe Smith thousands of dollars.

Idaho: House where family died to be demolished

The Coeur D’Alene home along I-90 where Joseph Edward Duncan III killed three members of a family will be demolished soon.

Attorneys say they no longer need the house for evidence in the case against Duncan. The Idaho Transportation Department owns the house and says it will be removed soon.

Duncan burst into the home in 2005 and beat three family members to death with a hammer so he could kidnap and molest Shasta and Dylan Groene. He has been sentenced to death.

Associated Press

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