SEATTLE — Seattle police say a man who thought he was ninja was impaled on a metal fence when he tried to leap over it.
An officer who was looking for an assault victim nearby Monday night heard the man screaming for help. Police supported him to prevent further injuries until medics arrived to take him to Harborview Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday he was in serious condition in intensive care.
Police spokeswoman Renee Witt wrote in a department Web site posting that officers thought he might have been involved in the reported assault, but the man insisted he was just a ninja trying to clear a 4- to 5-foot-tall fence.
Witt says the man was “overconfident in his abilities,” and that alcohol likely played a role.
Woodland Park Zoo humanely kills ailing giraffe
The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle has humanely killed a giraffe that had degenerative bone disease.
The zoo said the 13-year-old male named Johari that was euthanized Tuesday had chronic joint problems since it arrived in 1998 from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The average life expectancy of giraffes in the wild is 10 to 15 years. They can live up to 25 years in zoos. Woodland Park has three remaining giraffes, a male and two females.
Man who killed four in 2001 gets life sentence
A man who killed two teens and an elderly couple in the south Seattle suburb of Des Moines eight years ago has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty.
Leemah Carneh entered his plea in King County Superior Court on Tuesday to four counts of aggravated first-degree murder, and because prosecutors were not seeking the death penalty, the judge immediately issued life without release, the only other sentence possible.
The deal followed years of questions about Carneh’s mental competence. He spent two years at Western State Hospital after a judge declared him mentally ill, and King County prosecutors re-filed charges last summer when he was found competent.
Carneh, 26, killed Richard and Leola Larson, their grandson Taelor Marks, and Taelor’s girlfriend Josie Peterson in 2001 at the Larson home. Prosecutors said Carneh was obsessed with Peterson, a high school cheerleader.
Olympia: Snow shuts North Cascades Highway for season
The state Department of Transportation says the North Cascades Highway is closed for the winter.
An avalanche closed Highway 20 last Friday and transportation officials said Tuesday that the pass will remain closed due to heavy snowfall and avalanche danger.
The department said 20 inches of new snow fell in the North Cascades between Sunday and Tuesday.
On Nov. 8, officials announced the winter closures of Highway 410 over Chinook Pass and Highway 123 over Cayuse Pass.
Mount Baker: Body of missing skier found buried in snow
Searchers found the body of a missing skier at Mount Baker.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office said they found the body of the 54-year-old Coquitlam, B.C., man Monday afternoon buried under about 18 inches of snow.
He had been reported missing by his wife, who lost sight of him Sunday while she was snowshoeing in the same area.
Deputy George Ratayczak told The Bellingham Herald they had decided to turn around due to bad weather when he apparently fell off a cornice and was buried upside down.
Yakima: Teacher fired in sex case files appeal
A high school teacher in Yakima who is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old boy is appealing her firing.
The East Valley School District said Michele Taylor, 31, has asked for a hearing on the district’s decision to end her contract. She has been on paid leave since June.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reported she had taught physical education at East Valley High School since 2004.
Taylor is charged with sexual misconduct and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. Prosecutors say she had sex with the boy in the back of her truck in a Yakima parking lot. Her trial is set for Dec. 21.
Washougal: Embattled mayor resigns early
Washougal Mayor Stacee Sellers resigned Monday with two months remaining on her term.
Sellers was defeated in this month’s election by Sean Guard, who will take office in January.
The Vancouver Columbian reported Sellers has been under fire since a state audit in October questioned accounting of city revenue, credit card charges and gifts made with city money.
From Herald news services
Pasco: City grants permit to Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood of Central Washington says it’s looking forward to opening a clinic in Pasco.
President Anna Franks said it’s been a long time coming, after the city council voted to approve a permit, reversing a planning commission decision.
The Tri-City Herald reports people flooded out of the council chambers after Monday night’s 5-2 vote, shouting, “Babies are a gift from the Lord, and you all voted to kill them — all except two!”
Planned Parenthood says no abortions will be performed at the Pasco location.
Councilman Matt Watkins said the council had to base its decision on the zoning code. Possible protests could not be used as a reason to deny a permit.
Planned Parenthood plans to open the clinic in April.
Spokane Valley: One home-invasion robbery suspect caught
A 25-year-old Spokane Valley woman was pistol whipped and shoved in a closet by two masked men who entered her apartment with guns.
Police say the men took a TV, cell phone and laptop computer during Monday night’s home invasion robbery.
A neighbor called police, and an officer stopped a car and arrested an 18-year-old suspect.
Another suspect ran off. A police dog that tracked him found discarded clothing and a handgun.
Oregon: Medford police arrest vending vandal suspect
Medford police arrested a homeless man accused of vandalizing a dozen soda vending machines last week.
Detective Sgt. Mike Budreau said officers investigating an unrelated incident last Friday discovered Gregory Moore had several arrest warrants issued out of California and took him into custody.
Officers also noticed that Moore’s outfit matched the one worn by the vending vandal, who had been seen on surveillance tape.
The ensuing investigation linked the 28-year-old to 11 damaged vending machines in Medford and one in nearby Ashland.
Police say damage to the machines exceeds $10,000, far more money than what was stolen from inside.
Moore was charged with criminal mischief and theft and remained in the Jackson County Jail on Tuesday.
Parents in abuse case plan to use God as their attorney
A Salem couple accused of using wires, sticks and household items to abuse four of their seven children told a Marion County judge they are refusing court-appointed attorneys.
Lyudmila Kozlova told Judge Thomas Hart that she and her husband, Oleksandr, will rely on God when they stand trial on criminal mistreatment charges Dec. 1.
She told Hart through a Russian interpreter: “You are our judge, but there is another judge over you. It is our God, and he is our lawyer, our defender.”
Hart allowed the couple to represent themselves after deciding they were aware of the risks.
Three of their children called authorities from a pay phone in July to report alleged abuse.
Alaska: 6.6 earthquake off Queen Charlotte Islands
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurred at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday off the Queen Charlotte Islands off the west coast of British Columbia.
A spokesman at the Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, Guy Urban, said it did not generate a tsunami. He says the quake was reportedly felt in Port Hardy and Prince Rupert, B.C. There were no reports of damage.
Urban says the first shock was followed six minutes later by a 5.7 magnitude aftershock.
He says such quakes in that remote area are “not unusual.”
From Herald news services
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