OLYMPIA — A hearing scheduled today in Thurston County Superior Court may determine whether an Olympia tavern is violating the state smoking ban.
The owner of Frankie’s Sports Bar &Grill, Frank Schnarrs, could face contempt of court charges. He says the second floor of his tavern is a smoke-friendly, members-only club, called Friends of Frankie’s.
The hearing has been continued to give the prosecutor time to show evidence that Schnarrs is continuing to violate the law.
The criminal contempt charges could carry fines of up to $5,000 or a year in county jail, he said.
Schnarrs was joined at Friday’s hearing by about 20 supporters wearing lime-green T-shirts saying: “We Stand Beside You Frankie” and “Fight for Your Rights.”
Associated Press
@3. Headline News Briefs 14 no:Police draw a line on Olympia protests
The chief law enforcement officers for Thurston County and its three largest cities have restated their zero-tolerance policy for and violence at demonstrations.
Thurston County Sheriff Dan Kimball says Friday’s policy statement sends a public message how officers and prosecutors will respond to protesters.
The Port of Olympia protests in 2006 and 2007, the Valentine’s Day hip-hop concert riot at The Evergreen State College, and the May Day demonstration in Olympia all erupted into violence and property damage.
Kimball says agencies want to stop criminals from hijacking the rights of citizens to protest peacefully.
The Olympian
Tacoma: Car lands in water; passenger dies
A man fleeing from police in a car that had been reported stolen crashed into the water in Tacoma, and a passenger in the car was found dead.
Officer Mark Fulghum says the driver has been arrested for investigation of vehicular assault, possession of stolen property and attempting to elude police.
Fulghum says the man was arrested when he climbed out of the water following the crash Saturday night.
Shortly before 10 p.m., he says, officers tried to stop a car that had been reported stolen. The driver stopped briefly, then fled.
Fulghum says officers pursued the car for about a mile and a half, then abandoned the chase because they decided it was unsafe. The crash occurred not long afterward.
Associated Press
Ocean Shores: Rip tide hits surf fisherman
A surf fisherman who was apparently pulled down by a rip tide near Ocean Shores has died.
The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office says the 62-year-old Olympia man, Dae W. Rhim, was fishing Friday near the Roosevelt Beach approach when his wife, who was watching from shore, saw him go under.
He was pulled out of the surf by a passer-by and died on the way to a hospital.
Associated Press
Seattle: Shipper pays $27,500 for fuel spill
A Singapore-based shipping company has paid a $27,500 penalty for a bunker fuel spill in Seattle last year.
According to a state Ecology Department news release, only 93 gallons of intermediate fuel oil leaked from an ill-repaired valve on the Songa Hua, but the cleanup took six days to complete.
The vessel is owned by OSM Ship Management of Singapore. It was anchored off Smith Cove about half a mile south of Pier 91 in Elliott Bay at the time of the spill on Feb. 28, 2007.
Last year the company paid $11,139 for the cleanup and investigation and a $1,855 damage assessment.
State investigators faulted the crew for failing to monitor the fueling operation, assuring that the equipment was working properly or reporting the spill immediately as required by state law.
Associated Press
Kent: Four are sought in teen’s fatal stabbing
Four teenagers are being sought in the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old Auburn boy in Kent.
King County sheriff’s Sgt. John Urquhart says two of the teens are 17 and the other two are 14. He adds that no others are being sought in the stabbing death, which reportedly occurred during a fight about 1 a.m. Saturday.
As of midday Monday, no arrests had been reported.
Besides the boy who died, deputies say a second boy was cut during the fight on a dead-end road next to the Park Orchard Elementary School playground.
Investigators say the fight followed an argument between the two who were stabbed and the four who are now being sought.
The two who were stabbed had been at a juvenile party that ended about an hour before the fight because of noise complaints.
Associated Press
Easton: Passing car fires shots; two jailed
The Washington State Patrol says the occupants of two cars involved in a shooting near Snoqualmie Pass did not know each other.
The patrol says both cars were eastbound on I-90 on Sunday night when three shots were fired into a car in the left lane from a car in the right lane.
No one was hit, but flying glass caused minor cuts to the neck of a passenger, a 3-year-old girl.
Troopers arrested a 31-year-old Tacoma man and a 20-year-old passenger in his car and booked them into the jail at Ellensburg for investigation of assault. The Tacoma man also faces a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and his passenger had an outstanding warrant on a drug charge.
Associated Press
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