The state Transportation Department says one of its workers is in satisfactory condition after an accident that killed the driver who rear-ended his truck.
The department says David Ball, a seven-year employee, had stopped his incident response truck Friday morning to clear debris left on I-5 at Fife from an earlier accident.
The truck with a large flashing arrow sign had blocked a lane of traffic when it was hit, pushing it into Ball. He’s being treated at Tacoma General Hospital.
Associated Press
Olympia: Yakamas strike cigarette deal
The state’s new cigarette tax deal with the Yakama Indian Nation will drive up smoke-shop prices and send all the revenue to the tribe.
The agreement calls for the Yakamas to phase in a cigarette tax over eight years. The tribal rate will start out at 80 percent of the state cigarette tax and end up at nearly 88 percent.
Based on today’s tax rates, the tribal tax starts at $16.20 per carton and ends up at $17.75 per carton. All the money goes to the tribe, mostly for burial and energy assistance programs. Tribal members don’t pay the tax.
The agreement still has to be approved by the Legislature. The Revenue Department says the state benefits by getting more equal prices between smoke shops off and on the reservation.
Associated Press
Seattle: Mayor’s son sentenced for scam
The son of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Jacob Nickels, has been sentenced to three months in a federal prison for his part in a casino scam.
He’ll also have to spend three more months in home confinement.
The 26-year-old pleaded guilty in August to conspiring to steal from the Nooksack River Casino where he worked two years ago as a pit boss. As part of a plea bargain he agreed to pay $90,500 in restitution.
Nickels had accepted $5,000 to introduce two dealers to a ring that hit casinos with false card shuffles and stacked decks.
He apologized to the tribe in court Friday for what he calls the biggest mistake of his life.
His father, Mayor Greg Nickels, hugged his son as he left the courtroom and declined to comment.
Associated Press
Fort Lewis: Ordnance company to return
About 135 soldiers who have been in Iraq since September 2006 are returning Sunday to Fort Lewis.
The Army says members of the 63rd Ordnance Company managed ammunition depots and helped transport food, equipment and construction materials to combat operating posts.
Associated Press
Chehalis: Man allegedly lied for aid
A Chehalis man accused of lying to flood relief workers has been jailed for investigation of theft.
The Lewis County sheriff’s office says 42-year-old Ted Cherry Jr. was arrested Thursday after his stories were questioned by United Way workers.
He had claimed that a 20-acre farm was destroyed and he lost everything, including animals and an antique grand piano.
United Way gave the man clothing and cash cards for groceries and gas. One volunteer used her own credit card to pay for his hotel room.
The sheriff’s office says Cherry told detectives once he started lying to the United Way he couldn’t stop because they were so sympathetic.
Associated Press
Tacoma: Rules on animals considered
People who repeatedly violate animal control laws in Pierce County could be banned from owning animals.
The auditor’s office is considering new rules that also would boost fees and insurance requirements for owning dangerous animals.
The proposals will go to the county council early next year.
The News Tribune
Spokane: Goldsmith turns in theft suspect
Spokane County sheriff’s deputies are crediting a goldsmith for an arrest in a couple of burglaries — one involving jewelry he had made.
Twenty-six-year-old Jeremiah Ray Logan of Spokane was arrested Thursday for investigation of residential burglary, possession of stolen property and trafficking in stolen property.
Deputies wrote that the owner of a burglarized home alerted the owner of Stone Image, a jewelry business, and a man came in Wednesday offering to sell jewelry and rough-cut rubies.
The owner recognized some of the jewelry because he had made it. He asked the man to leave the items overnight for an appraisal, notified the sheriff’s office, and told the man Thursday he would buy the items. Logan was arrested when he arrived at the store.
Associated Press
Buckley: No sewage spray on forest
The White River School District has abandoned plans to allow septic tank waste to be sprayed on its tree farm near Carbonado, Wilkeson and Buckley.
The district backed off when the state said runoff could pollute the watershed for the town of Carbonado.
Septic waste has been spread on timberland elsewhere in Washington. The Cascade Northwest company of Puyallup has researched spraying lime-stabilized tank waste at the University of Washington’s Pack Forest near Eatonville.
Cascade is the parent company of Honey Bucket and the Flohawks septic tank cleaning service.
Cascade had proposed to spray up to 6 million gallons of partially treated waste a year on 1,300 acres of forest land owned by the Buckley school district.
Associated Press
Snoqualmie: Summit to open this weekend
The Summit at Snoqualmie will finally open this weekend.
Only the Summit West area will be open, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Sunday. West is mostly beginning and intermediate terrain.
Lift tickets prices have not been announced yet, but they will not be full fare, officials said.
The Summit is the last of Western Washington’s ski areas to open.
For more details and lift prices, go to www.summitatsnoqualmie.com.
The News Tribune
Puyallup: Searchers locate wreck of plane
Searchers today located the wreckage of a missing single-engine plane near Puyallup.
The remains of the pilot, Thomas Maxwell, 78, of Black Diamond, and his dog were found at the scene, according to a news release from the state Department of Transportation’s aviation division.
Maxwell was last seen Dec. 6 at Crest Airpark in Kent. The search began Monday.
Searchers found the wreckage in an area about seven miles southeast of Thun Field. Air and ground teams had focused on that area based on radar tracking data.
The teams faced challenging conditions due to the dense tree cover in the area, and on-and-off rain and snow, the DOT said.
Personnel from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are at the scene to investigate the cause.
Maxwell was thought to be flying back to Thun Field after dropping off his flight instructor in Kent.
The News Tribune
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