Northwest Briefly: Military police return to Fort Lewis today
Published 10:47 pm Monday, April 21, 2008
FORT LEWIS — Approximately 100 soldiers from the 66th Military Police Company are expected to return from a 15-month deployment to Afghanistan today.
Approximately 50 more soldiers from the unit will return later this month.
The 66th Military Police Company deployed to Afghanistan in January 2007.
The unit’s soldiers trained Afghan police while providing security and law enforcement support to U.S. and allied forces.
The Olympian
Tacoma: Two-alarm fire destroys church
A two-alarm fire destroyed a church in Tacoma.
Assistant Fire Chief Dale Vaughn said the fire was reported early Monday, just after midnight, at Eastside Baptist Church.
Firefighters found fire along the outside of the building and smoke coming from the attic vents.
No one was injured. Vaughn said the building appears to be a total loss.
Investigators looking for the cause had to wait for a crane to move the charred remains.
The pastor, Arthur Banks, said the congregation will find a temporary home and rebuild.
Associated Press
Kalama: Man gets 90 days for puppy abuse
An 18-year-old Kalama man got 90 days in jail for throwing a puppy off a train overpass and then stomping on the dog in a failed attempt to kill it in January.
Ryan Tyler Fraser also was ordered to pay nearly $6,000 in restitution after entering an Alford plea to first-degree animal cruelty charges on April 10. Under the plea, Fraser did not admit guilt but acknowledged there was enough evidence to convict him.
According to Kalama police, Fraser dropped an 11-month-old chocolate Lab 37 feet off a train overpass. Then, when the dog still appeared alive, Fraser went down and stomped on it a couple of times trying to ensure it died, police said.
The puppy was taken to a Kelso vet, who was able to save it after surgery.
The dog was returned to its owner.
The Daily News
SeaTac: 4 detained filmmakers return
Four filmmakers who were detained by security officials in Nigeria said they hope their experience will draw attention to the environmental impact of oil extraction in the Niger River Delta.
The four, who were detained April 12 and were accused of traveling in an off-limits area, were met by friends, relatives, supporters and news reporters on their arrival Sunday afternoon at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
They said they were in Nigeria legally and that authorities knew they were there for work on “Sweet Crude,” a documentary about the African nation’s oil industry. Film was seized from the crew, said Sandy Cioffi, director of the documentary
“Things have got to change,” said Cioffi, 46, a film and video professor on sabbatical from Seattle Central Community College.
Cioffi said Nigerian officials are trying to block publicity of damage to the delta environment from oil spills and other consequences of petroleum production, as well as human rights violations.
Associated Press
Olympia: Many record requests handled OK
The state auditor’s office sent staffers posing as ordinary citizens to make public records requests at Washington’s 10 largest cities, counties and government agencies.
A draft of the survey reported by The News Tribune of Tacoma said they found a compliance rate of 87 percent. But some bureaucrats gave citizens the run-around, sending them from one department to another.
One man familiar with the process is David Koenig of Federal Way. He and his lawyer have won tens of thousands of dollars from local governments who denied him public records.
Koenig said he keeps his eyes open for police misconduct, and he’s simply trying to get public agencies to respond properly under the law. But Buckley Mayor Pat Johnson said he’s making a career out of it.
Associated Press
St. Helens: Glacier resumes growing
Now that the latest dome-building eruption in Mount St. Helens has ended, scientists expect a glacier to continue growing in the crater.
A U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist in Vancouver, Wash., Carolyn Driedger, said scientists were surprised at how little the crater glacier melted during the minor eruption that began in 2004 and added hot rock to the dome in the crater. That eruption ended in February.
A USGS glacier expert, Joe Walder, said over time the two arms of the glacier will probably grow and embrace the lava dome.
Associated Press
Idaho: Judge orders mental evaluation
Confessed child killer Joseph Edward Duncan III is a step closer to being able to act as his own attorney in death penalty proceedings.
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge ruled Monday that a Boise-area psychologist will be asked to determine whether Duncan is mentally competent. Lodge said he’ll make a decision after reviewing the psychologist’s report, but he indicated that he’s inclined to grant the request.
Duncan pleaded guilty in December to 10 federal charges in the kidnapping of Dylan and Shasta Groene and the killing of 9-year-old Dylan at a Montana campsite. Three of those crimes can carry the death penalty.
Duncan said his lawyers can’t ethically represent his ideology. A hearing to determine whether he gets the death penalty is scheduled to begin next month.
Associated Press
Oregon: Another bad review for owl plan
The Bush administration’s plan for ensuring the survival of the northern spotted owl while allowing increased logging in old growth forests has received another bad review.
The Sustainable Ecosystems Institute put together a panel of nine scientists who reviewed the owl plan at the behest of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A 150-page draft obtained by the Associated Press said the reviewers found the plan underestimates the importance of habitat and calls the approach to defining habitat goals “deeply flawed.”
It said the plan does “not use scientific information appropriately.”
Associated Press
