SEATTLE – Mayor Greg Nickels planned to meet with Fire Chief Gary Morris to discuss stationing a fireboat on Lake Union, a move demanded by boat owners there after a marina fire Friday night.
The fire, which charred 31 boats, including seven houseboats, was the third major fire on or near Lake Union in a year, and fire officials and boat owners say it could have been extinguished more quickly had a fireboat been closer.
The fireboat Chief Seattle took nearly an hour to reach the fire from Elliott Bay.
Investigators later determined an electrical short on board the 46-foot wooden boat Shell Lee sparked the three-alarm fire. Damage was estimated at $10 million.
Lawsuit filed against light rail project: Opponents of Sound Transit’s planned light-rail line have filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the project. They argue the 14-mile line is illegal unless it goes before another public vote, because it is shorter than the one voters approved when the regional transportation agency was created in 1996. King County Executive Ron Sims, also chairman of Sound Transit’s board of directors, said he’s confident the transit agency has complied with the law as it has revised plans. The Sound Move regional transit plan approved by voters in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties called for a 21-mile light-rail line from Seattle’s University District to SeaTac. That plan was scaled back about a year-and-a-half ago, after Sound Transit announced it was $1 billion over budget and three years behind schedule.
Port Angeles
Tanker spills oil into harbor: A tanker spilled up to 500 gallons of bunker fuel early Sunday while refueling in Port Angeles Harbor, the Coast Guard said. Spill response crews from the state Department of Ecology and cleanup contractor Foss Environmental were on the scene Sunday. A slick had washed up along Ediz Hook, a three-mile spit comprising the outer edge of the harbor. The oil spilled from the Panama-flagged Gaz Diamond, a liquid petroleum tanker.
Tacoma
Two die in accident: Two young men died when a car slammed head-on into a pickup truck, police said. An Acura Integra traveling north at about 90 mph crossed the center line near the downtown intersection of Portland and Wright avenues around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, slamming head-on into the pickup, witnesses told investigators. The driver and a passenger in the car died at the scene. The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two as Raymond Kilmanis and Tery Lindblade, both 18, of Tacoma. Two other passengers in the car survived the crash.
Spokane
Airport still without federal screeners: With a May 1 target already past, it is not clear when airport baggage screeners in Spokane will become federal employees. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Congress passed a law requiring screeners at 429 major U.S. airports to become federal workers. Spokane was supposed to be one of the first six airports to make the transition. But the only airport that has made the switch so far has been Baltimore International. Officials have said the hiring and training of an expected 65,000 screeners is more complex than anticipated. In addition, officials have learned that the number of qualified applicants isn’t as high as projected.
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