SEATTLE — Seattle police killed a man they say threatened officers with a knife after they responded to a woman screaming for help.
Spokesman Jeff Kappel said it started with a 911 call at 1:16 a.m. Wednesday from an Aurora Avenue motel.
Responding officers heard the woman screaming that the man had a knife. When they forced open the door, Kappel said, the man sprayed officers with a chemical irritant. Officers used a stun gun on the man twice but he fought it off and refused orders to drop the knife.
Kappel said when the man advanced he was shot by four or five officers and died at the scene.
This is the second fatal police shooting this month in Seattle. Officers said they shot a man early New Year’s Day when he pointed a rifle at them.
@3. Headline News Briefs 14 no bold lede-in:Passenger missing from Bainbridge ferry
The State Patrol is asking help from the public in finding a passenger from a state ferry.
A State Patrol spokesman, Sgt. Trent Cain, said the 45-year-old Bellevue woman, Lynn Stafford-Yilmaz, bought a ticket in Seattle for the 10:55 p.m. Tuesday sailing to Bainbridge. When it arrived, her van was abandoned. Cain said ferry workers found her purse and keys on an upper deck.
Ferry passengers sometimes walk off, forgetting they drove, but it’s unusual to also leave keys.
A Coast Guard spokesman, Petty Officer Kelly Parker, said a vessel and a helicopter searched Puget Sound on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
@3. Headline News Briefs 14 no bold lede-in:Police looking for suspect in attack
Seattle police say they’re looking for a pickup truck driver who became so angry when he heard a man speaking a language other than English that he attacked the man and a friend.
Police described the victims in the Monday afternoon attack as African men. One stepped outside a store on Rainier Avenue South to talk on his cell phone. The man heard a pickup truck driver stopped in traffic yell at him to “speak English.”
According to the police report, the driver grew angrier when the man with the phone tried to say he didn’t speak English very well. Police say the driver got out of his truck, called the victim a Muslim, using a slur, and told him to “go back home.”
Police say the driver grabbed the victim and punched him twice. When the victim’s friend came out of the store, he was punched in the eye. Neither man was seriously hurt.
The case is being investigated as malicious harassment.
@3. Headline News Briefs 14 no bold lede-in:Possible damage to Green River dam
King County emergency officials are watching for flooding along the Green River near Auburn.
The river is running high because the Corps of Engineers is lowering the reservoir behind the Howard Hanson Dam to check for possible flood damage.
A depression was discovered at the dam after it held a record pool level last week.
The high river flows can be expected at Auburn until Friday.
King County opened a flood warning center Tuesday to monitor the river.
Seatac: Parked planes to get air conditioning
The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport plans to supply air conditioning to parked planes so airlines can cool their jets without adding to air pollution.
Port of Seattle commissioners approved design work Tuesday for the project that will cost $33 million. Grants from the Federal Aviation Administration are expected to cover $22 million.
The cooled — or heated — air would be piped into planes at each gate from a central utility plant.
The ports says allowing planes to shut down auxiliary power plants will save fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Construction is to start in 2010 and the “precondition air” should be blowing by the end of 2012.
Mount Rainier: Road to Paradise may reopen
Mount Rainier National Park may be able to reopen the road to the Paradise winter play area sooner than expected.
Officials say the slide that closed a 100-foot section of the road last week is not as bad as it first appeared.
The Tacoma News Tribune reported pilot cars or flaggers may have to guide cars through the slide area because of risk of avalanches.
Paradise is the park’s prime winter play area. Access was first blocked almost two weeks ago by avalanche danger.
Olympia: Illegal immigration initiative
An initiative has been filed in Olympia that would require state and local government agencies to help enforce federal immigration laws.
It also would require people to prove citizenship for a driver’s license, job or public benefits.
The initiative was filed Tuesday by Wendell Hannigan of White Swan in Yakima County.
Backers have until July 3 to collect about 241,000 voters signatures to put the issue on the November ballot.
@3. Headline News Briefs 14 no bold lede-in:Bill would allow pet remains in cemeteries
State Sen. Ken Jacobsen of Seattle has introduced a bill that would allow cat and dog remains to be buried with humans in cemeteries meant for people.
Jacobsen told the Seattle Times he got the idea after his beloved pet cat, Sam, died and was buried in his back yard.
Jacobsen discovered that co-mingling animal and human remains wouldn’t be allowed. However, it is possible for human ashes to be interred in a pet cemetery. There are cremated remains of more than 20 people at the Pethaven Cemetery in Kent.
Jacobsen limited his bill to pet cats and dogs in hope it would increase its chance of passing.
@3. Headline News Briefs 14 no:Basic education task force report ready
A task force that spent nearly two years reviewing the way the state defines basic education and pays the bills has released its final report.
The task force on Wednesday offered the Legislature an expanded view of what makes up basic education, including early learning for at-risk students. The group also made a series of recommendations.
It recommends rewarding teachers for earning special certifications and demonstrating competence instead of earning advanced degrees.
The task force wants to set up a formal mentoring program for new teachers. It wants to give bonuses to school districts that improve academic achievement. And it wants more help for children who are behind their classmates.
Port Angeles: Slide closes Highway 112
A landslide has closed Highway 112 near Joyce, west of Port Angeles. The Transportation Department says it could take weeks to clear.
A 500-foot section of roadway was damaged last Thursday by the slide that continues to move.
A detour is available using Highway 101.
Oregon: Society promotes geotourism
The National Geographic Society is going to help promote tourism in the central Cascade Range of Oregon and Washington.
National Geographic will create a “geotourism” map as a guide to the mountain region that stretches from Mount Rainier National Park in Washington to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.
The printed Central Cascades MapGuide will be available in September.
Associated Press
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