The state Democratic Party is suing to get a Republican on the ballot.
The party sued Secretary of State Sam Reed on Tuesday, saying Dino Rossi should be listed as a Republican, instead of “prefers GOP party,” on the November ballot for governor.
The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, argues that “allowing Mr. Rossi to obscure his true party preference and affiliation directly violates the law, would mislead a substantial portion of the voting public and would breed cynicism and mistrust in our public institutions and, indeed, in our electoral process.”
Rossi is facing a rematch with Gov. Chris Gregoire, who beat him by 133 votes four years ago after three counts and a court challenge.
Under Washington’s new “top two” primary system, Rossi was allowed to pick how he wanted to be identified. Local polling has shown some voter confusion about the Republican nickname GOP, an abbreviation for Grand Old Party.
A recent poll by independent pollster Stuart Elway found that Gregoire had a 10-point advantage over Republican Rossi but a 4-point advantage when Rossi was listed as GOP.
Mount Vernon: False report on abduction
A Mexican woman sought as a kidnap victim since she disappeared on Sept. 13 wasn’t taken at gunpoint from a Skagit County migrant worker camp, she was running away from an arranged marriage, authorities said.
Investigators finally sorted out what happened at the camp near Burlington after talking to Elena Garcia and re-interviewing the other people involved, county sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Will Reichardt said.
A warrant for Sebastian Sanchez-Velasco has been canceled and prosecutors in the county deciding whether to charge Garcia’s father, Francisco Garcia, for falsely reported that his daughter had been kidnapped by an armed man and forced to leave in his van.
Two witnesses who previously said guns were used have recanted their stories.
Seattle: Man who died on sub identified
A sailor who died in an apparent accident on the nuclear missile-carrying submarine USS Nebraska has been identified.
A Navy news release Tuesday identified the sailor as 21-year-old Machinist Mate 3rd Class Michael A. Gentile of Fairfield, Maine. He joined the Navy in 2005 and was previously assigned to the Alaska, another one of the Navy’s 560-foot Trident nuclear-powered subs.
Few details have been released on what happened Saturday while the sub was beneath the surface of the ocean. Navy officers have said Gentile was given emergency medical treatment aboard the sub and was placed on a medical helicopter, but he died before reaching a hospital.
The Nebraska carries ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads and is based at Bangor on Hood Canal.
Bricks fall off building, no one injured
No one was hurt when bricks fell from the face of a building in Seattle’s International District and rained on the sidewalk.
The fire department evacuated about a dozen people from the building, at Seventh Avenue S. and S. Jackson, and closed Jackson following the collapse at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The bricks fell from a 40-foot section of the second-floor level of the older three-story building.
A spokeswoman, Dana Vander Houwen, said firefighters used thermal imaging equipment to make sure no one was buried. She said a smaller section of bricks fell about an hour later.
City building inspectors will determine if there’s a danger of more falling bricks and whether the building can be occupied.
Lacey: Wildlife agents kill bear in city
State wildlife officers used a lethal dart to kill a black bear that had climbed a tree in Lacey outside the Spring Air Mattress factory.
A department spokesman, Craig Bartlett, said there was no other option Monday because of the risk of the 300-pound bear to public safety. And it would have been impractical to leave a tranquilized bear in the wild during hunting season.
Bartlett said chances for bears and people to cross paths are increasing in communities throughout Washington.
Walla Walla: Guard had drugs, police say
Walla Walla police say a state Penitentiary guard was caught bringing a substantial amount of drugs into the prison.
Police say 20-year-old Camren James Jones of Kennewick was arrested Monday and jailed on suspicion of delivering cocaine, heroine, methadone and marijuana.
Sgt. Matt Wood described the heroin as about the size of two golf balls.
The Penitentiary said the officer resigned shortly after the arrest.
Westport: Cold storage workers sick
The Westport fire chief said carbon monoxide poisoning apparently sickened workers at a cold storage facility.
Chief Dennis Benn said firefighters responded to a report of fumes about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday and found 22 employees of Ocean Cold outside with symptoms including vomiting and headaches.
Investigators are looking for the source of the gas.
Olympia: West Nile virus found in birds
The state Health Department said positive tests for West Nile virus in one dead bird in King County and one in Thurston County are the first time this year the disease has been found in animals in Western Washington.
The birds were collected earlier this month.
The department said the virus is a threat until the first frost kills mosquitoes.
The virus was previously confirmed in Eastern Washington — one human case, two probable human cases, and more than two dozen horses, nine birds and 40 mosquito pools.
West Nile is mainly a bird disease spread by mosquitoes. In humans it can cause an inflammation of the spinal cord or brain.
Oregon: Battle for deer in appeals court
A Molalla couple who rescued a deer named Snowball say their pet should be returned but state officials have gone to the Oregon Court of Appeals to keep the animal with rare white fur.
The lawyer for James Filipetti and Francesca Mantei said that Oregon law requires the authorities to give back property it has seized if it isn’t needed for evidence.
The couple never has been charged with a crime in Snowball’s case, said lawyer Geordie Duckler, so the state should return the deer to them.
The couple rescued Snowball in 2001, paying for surgeries to repair her deformed hind legs.
But state wildlife agents said the couple broke the law by taking the deer from the wild and keeping her without a permit. They seized Snowball, now at Wildlife Safari in Winston.
A judge ordered the state to return Snowball, but the state appealed.
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