SEATTLE – A man has been arrested for investigation of about 60 burglaries, largely on the basis of evidence from a 73-year-old woman’s struggle to keep from losing her purse, police said.
The 48-year-old Seattle man has admitted committing at least 21 burglaries in the city, and investigators believe he may be responsible for three times that number, officer Debra Brown said Thursday.
“That’s pretty unusual for somebody to be committing that many burglaries,” Brown said.
The man, who was jailed with bail set at $1 million, targeted the elderly, slipping into homes to take whatever he could grab and pushing away anyone who resisted, police said. The investigation involves mostly property theft but extends to assault in at least two instances when people resisted, Brown said.
Associated Press
Spokane: Missing permit shuts gondola
A new $2.5 million gondola ride across the Spokane River has been shut down because it lacks a state permit.
City officials scrambled Friday to install a video camera at the west end of the ride under the Monroe Street Bridge to meet a state Parks and Recreation Commission requirement.
The ride, which replaced an older ride built for Expo ‘74, was open for less than a week before it was shut down on Wednesday, Spokane Parks and Recreation Department spokeswoman Marion Severud said Friday.
Associated Press
Catholic leader who counseled pope dies
Donna Hanson, a Spokane Catholic lay leader who once counseled the late Pope John Paul II to reach out to women, the divorced, minorities and homosexuals, died Friday of cancer. She was 65.
Hanson, director of the Diocese of Spokane’s Catholic Charities organization since 1978, was a champion of social justice who became the voice of the laity in the church, The Spokesman-Review said in its online edition Friday.
In 1987, Hanson was asked to address the pope on behalf of the laity during a papal visit to San Francisco.
She told the pope that the church hasn’t always listened to her perspective as a laywoman, and urged him to reach out to others like her, as well as people who were divorced, minorities, and to gays and lesbians.
Associated Press
Idaho: Weatherman quits to pursue theory
A Pocatello weatherman who gained attention for an unusual theory that Hurricane Katrina was caused by the Japanese mafia using a Russian electromagnetic generator has quit the television station.
Scott Stevens’ last appearance on KPVI-TV was Thursday.
His departure comes after station officials learned that a link labeled “Make a Donation” on Stevens’ Web site, www.weather wars.info, where he expounds on his theory, opened a payment form connected to Stevens’ KPVI e-mail address.
Station manager Bill Fouch, who had told Stevens he should keep his views separate from his TV role, said Stevens wasn’t forced out.
“Scott advised me several months ago that he wouldn’t renew his contract so he could devote full time to this,” Fouch said. “He wants to get right at it.”
Associated Press
Tacoma: Appeal delays Brame records release
Investigative records relating to former Police Chief David Brame, who killed his wife and himself, will remain secret while a police union appeals its privacy rights case.
The records were scheduled for public release Friday. But Thurston County Superior Court Judge Gary Tabor gave the Tacoma Police Management Association Local 26 more time to seek emergency relief from the state Court of Appeals.
The union, which represents Tacoma’s police lieutenants and captains, has until 4:30 p.m. Monday to obtain an emergency stay from the appeals court.
Associated Press
Olympia: West Nile virus found in horse
West Nile virus has been found in a horse in Yakima County, the state Department of Agriculture announced Friday.
The discovery marked the first case this year in a horse that was infected in Washington state. Earlier this month, the virus was detected separately in mosquitoes and a magpie, both in Yakima County.
Also, a Central Point, Ore., woman has contracted the virus, the sixth human case in Oregon this year.
The unidentified woman reported experiencing a fever, headache and fatigue on Aug. 21, officials said. The Jackson County Health and Human Services Department took a sample of her blood and sent it for testing – which takes several weeks – to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Canada: Pipe bomb charges are dropped
Charges have been stayed in the case of a Seattle-area man who was jailed after a long-forgotten pipe bomb was found in the glove compartment of his pickup truck.
Victoria, B.C., prosecutor Stephen Fudge said the case was dropped this week because there was no public interest to be served in going to court against Dodge White, 39, a home remodeling contractor in Issaquah.
White was arrested July 12 when border officials found the 3-inch device after he drove off the ferry MV Coho with his 14-year-old daughter. The girl was returned to Washington state, and White, who had no criminal history, spent two days in jail and paid an impound fee of more than $400 U.S. to retrieve his pickup.
Associated Press
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