Northwest briefly: Holloman, a Tuskegee airman, dies at 85

RENTON — William H. Holloman, a Tuskegee airman in World War II who also served in Vietnam, has died at age 85.

The Tuskegee Airmen association said Thursday that Holloman died Friday at Valley Medical Center in Renton after suffering a heart attack. He was a St. Louis native who lived in Kent.

As an 18-year-old Holloman entered the Army Air Corps and trained with the all-black program at the Tuskegee, Ala., Army Flying School.

Tuskegee Airmen said after the war Holloman worked as a commercial pilot but was recalled in 1966 to serve in Vietnam, becoming the Army’s first black helicopter pilot.

His funeral is scheduled Monday at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in St. Louis followed by burial at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

Seatttle: Charge in shooting

A 35-year-old Kent man who is already behind bars has been charged with murder in the April shooting of a 12-year-old boy who was walking home in Skyline, just south of Seattle.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg told a news conference Thursday that Alajawan Brown was not hit by a stray bullet from a shootout, as originally suspected. Investigators say he was shot in the back intentionally by Curtis John Walker because Walker mistook him for someone who had just wounded his friend.

Walker has a criminal history and was arrested in May on a probation violation. He’s now held on $5 million bail and is scheduled for arraignment July 1 in King County Superior Court.

Student charged with arson

An 18-year-old student accused of starting three fires one morning in her south Seattle classroom has been charged with arson.

Seattlepi.com reported King County prosecutors charged Lynesha J. Wells with first-degree arson on Thursday.

The fires at Black River High on March 31 didn’t cause any injuries, though prosecutors noted that other students were in the science classroom at the time. The school is in the Renton School District.

Court records say two posters on walls and papers on a teacher’s table were set on fire. The teacher was in an adjoining room and returned to find the fire. A school security officer put it out with an extinguisher.

King County fined for violations

King County has been fined $46,000 for failing to meet water quality limits at four treatment plants that discharge treated sewage and stormwater.

The Washington Department of Ecology cited the county for 46 violations from September 2009 through April 2010. It says crews also didn’t perform required sampling and monitoring. The four plants operate during heavy rains and serve parts of Seattle that have a sewer system that carries both sewage and stormwater.

King County’s Christie True says the county has corrected many of the issues that led to the violations.

Jaywalking stops can turn ugly

Seattle police monitors have been warning for years that jaywalking stops often escalate into confrontations with police.

An officer struggling with two jaywalkers Monday punched one of them, and a video of the fight led civil rights groups to accuse police of an overreaction.

Police are conducting an internal review.

In an audit last year. the Office of Professional Accountability said complaints against police often originated with a jaywalker refusing an officer’s order to stop. The office made a similar finding in 2007.

Cause of foul school odor ID’d

Seattle Public Schools says a problem with concrete flooring was the cause of the mysterious odor that closed the South Shore K-8 School in April.

Public health officials and scientists say the indoor air problems at the Seattle school won’t cause any long-term health problems.

The school building was closed as a precaution and students were transferred to other buildings until the end of the year.

Toxicologists said the odor was caused by a high pH and moisture content in the concrete flooring, which reacted with the carpet adhesive and carpet backing to send methyl hexanol into the air. The district is still trying to determine what caused the high pH and moisture content in the concrete.

Westport: Pets killed in fire

Firefighters say dozens of pets were killed in a house fire in Westport. Fire Chief Dennis Benn said firefighters found the upstairs of the two-story house in flames Monday and evacuated three adults. They were treated at Grays Harbor Community Hospital for smoke inhalation. Benn told The Aberdeen Daily World firefighters were able to save 38 dogs and 1 cat from the house. He estimates 15 cats, 10 dogs and a half-dozen birds died in the fire. Benn doesn’t know why the family had so many pets. They did not appear to be related to a business. Damage is estimated at $250,000.

Vancouver, Wash.: Man pleads guilty to child rape

A 28-year-old Vancouver man faces at least 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to child rape and kidnapping charges.

Matthew Lee Ortiz entered the plea Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court after reaching an agreement with prosecutors. The Columbian reported his exact time in prison will be determined by the state Indeterminate Sentence Review Board.

Ortiz confessed to kidnapping a 16-year-old girl last August in Battle Ground. After his arrest police learned he had sex with a 12-year-old student in a martial arts class he led.

Centralia: Levee repair planned

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Chehalis-Centralia Airport will begin repairs June 28 on Airport Levee near the Chehalis River. The levee protects the airport, a number of commercial buildings and some homes from the Chehalis River and also keeps flood waters away from a portion of Interstate 5. The levee was damaged in the January 2009 flood.

The project expected to cost nearly $500,000 involves rebuilding more than 5,000 feet of the levee. Work is expected to be finished in late July or early August.

The corps and the airport are partnering to pay for the project with the corps paying 80 percent.

Puyallup: Stolen car crashes into truck

A stolen car fleeing from Lakewood police crashed into a pickup truck early Thursday at an intersection near Puyallup.

Police say the driver of the car was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma with serious injuries, and the driver of the pickup was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup with foot pain.

Lt. Chris Lawler told The News Tribune of Tacoma a stolen gun was taken from the driver of the stolen car, a 37-year-old Eatonville felon with a history of arrests.

Police are still looking for a passenger who bailed out of the stolen car as the chase began.

Police also say the truck driver was driving with a suspended license and had two outstanding warrants for his arrest.

Hoquiam: 10-year-old charged in vandalism spree

Police say a 10-year-old boy scratched and dented nearly 20 vehicles in an apartment parking lot in Hoquiam.

KXRO reported when officers arrived Wednesday frustrated residents were confronting the boy and his stepmother.

Police said the boy admitted using a rock to scratch words and faces on the cars and kicking the dents. Police determined he knew the difference between right and wrong then booked him into the Juvenile Detention Center for investigation of malicious mischief.

Kennewick: Ex-Prosser mayor pleads not guilty in sex case

Former Prosser Mayor Linda Lusk pleaded not guilty Thursday in a Benton County court to a charge of child molestation.

KNDU-TV reported she was released without bail. Her next court appearance is set for July 15.

Prosecutors said she had sexual contact with a 14-year-old boy on April 28 at her house.

The 49-year-old Lusk served one term as Prosser’s mayor and lost a re-election bid in 2007.

Spokane: Thayer nominated U.S. Marshal

Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer has been nominated to be the new U.S. Marshal for Eastern Washington.

President Obama nominated Thayer, who has been sheriff in Colville for 16 years.

Thayer has a law degree from Gonzaga University and is a past president of both the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and the Washington State Sheriffs

Woman cut on legs during party fight

Police say a party in Spokane turned violent early Thursday and a woman was cut on both legs.

She was driving herself to a hospital at a high rate of speed when she was stopped by an officer. After discovering the injury, the officer escorted her to the hospital. She’s in stable condition.

Officers said during a fight at the party men attacked the woman’s car with a baseball bat and golf club and broke windows.

From Herald news services