SPOKANE – Organizers of a recall campaign against Mayor Jim West said Tuesday they think they have enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot, but they’ll continue to gather more.
Stepped-up collection efforts over the Labor Day weekend pushed the total to the nearly 12,600 signatures needed, but organizers decided to wait to turn in petitions so they could have a cushion of several thousand more, spokeswoman Rita Amunrud said.
Typically, a 30 percent cushion is needed to account for people who are not registered to vote, or who do not live within the city limits, Jerry Davis, a Spokane lawyer who serves as treasurer for the pro-recall committee, has said.
The petition seeks to recall West based on an allegation that the mayor abused his office by offering a City Hall job to someone he thought was an 18-year-old man in a gay online chat room.
Associated Press
Fort Lewis: Shooting victim was an ex-soldier
A man who was found shot to death last Wednesday near Fort Lewis has been identified as Christopher Jerry, 22, recently separated from the Army. Investigators in the Pierce County medical examiners office said Jerry died of multiple gunshot wounds. His last known home town was Omaha, Neb. His local residence was unknown.
Associated Press
Lakewood: Soldier, woman shot to death
A Fort Lewis soldier and a woman were shot to death outside a popular bar and restaurant in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood, apparently soon after they arrived, police said. Crystal Hurley-McDowell, 23, and a soldier from the Army’s 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, were found dead in a car in the parking lot of the Schooner Pub and Galley soon after witnesses reported gunfire just after midnight Monday morning, investigators said.
Associated Press
California: Abortion award reduced
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Tuesday substantially reduced the $108 million in punitive damages a Portland, Ore., jury awarded to abortion doctors and clinics harassed by abortion opponents. The judges called the activists’ actions reprehensible, but unanimously reduced the judgment to $4.73 million to conform with a Supreme Court precedent limiting damages that financially punish persons or corporations for misconduct. An attorney for many of the 12 activists who created Wild West-style posters and a Web site targeting abortion doctors said the damages should be reduced further.
Associated Press
Oregon: Killer’s son arrested in assault
The son of convicted killer Ward Weaver has been arrested on assault charges. Alexander Jeremiah Weaver, 20, was arrested Monday, after witnesses say he struck an 18-year-old Pablo Villacura in the head with a mallet in Milwaukie. Last fall, Weaver’s father pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, sex abuse and abuse of a corpse in the deaths of Miranda Gaddis, 13, and Ashley Pond, 12.
Associated Press
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