SEATTLE – A University of Washington study of when some teens start smoking found that having parents who smoke is a huge factor.
“It really is a matter of ‘do as I do’ not ‘do as I say’ when it comes to smoking,” said Karl Hill, an associate research professor.
The study found that 12-year-olds whose parents smoked were more than twice as likely to begin smoking cigarettes on a daily basis than children whose parents didn’t use tobacco.
The study tracked 808 fifth-graders from elementary schools in high-crime Seattle neighborhoods.
The study is one of the first to look at daily smoking, rather than experimentation, the university said. The research is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Hill said if parents don’t want their children to start smoking, it’s important for the parents to stop smoking.
Associated Press
Seattle Art Museum to erect nude sculpture
To fulfill the terms of a bequest, the Seattle Art Museum plans to include a nude sculpture by abstract impressionist Louise Bourgeois as part of its Olympic Sculpture Park that opens in 2006. The sculpture will be part of a 15-foot-high stainless steel fountain the museum has commissioned using money left to the city by a retired computer analyst and arts lover. Stu Smailes, who died in 2002 at age 69, left Seattle about $1 million to buy a new fountain that he said must include the figure of at least one life-size male nude. The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs passed the gift on to the museum, whose officials this week said the bequest will pay for a piece called “Father and Son” by the New York City sculptor. “Nudity in this work is a symbol of emotional nakedness,” said SAM’s outgoing chief curator, Lisa Corrin, in a statement. “The two figures stand before each other but cannot touch; they try to see each other, but never see eye to eye; they are separated by bell jars of cascading water, which prevents any contact between them.”
Associated Press
Yakima: Coach’s sex crime missed in check
A police background check on a volunteer boxing coach now accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl apparently failed to find a 1996 child sex crime on his record. Reymundo M. Avila, 33, was arraigned Tuesday in Yakima County Superior Court on a felony charge of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor. According to charging documents, the girl told investigators she had sex with Avila last week after he gave her a ride home from a program sponsored by the Police Athletic League. The names of prospective volunteers are usually screened through several criminal record databases police routinely use, Yakima Police Lt. Mike Merryman said. But there was no indication of an arrest, prosecution or conviction when Avila’s name was entered, he said. In 1996, Avila was charged with first-degree child molestation. According to archived court documents, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of fourth-degree assault and received a suspended sentence of one year in jail.
Associated Press
Group to buy 10,000 acres of wildlife habitat
The Nature Conservancy has raised $8.3 million in state and federal grants to purchase more than 10,000 acres of critical wildlife habitat in the Tieton River Canyon northwest of Yakima, officials of the nonprofit group say. The conservancy on Tuesday received a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to round out funding to buy and protect the property, currently owned by Plum Creek Timber Co. The property will be transferred to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which owns the adjacent Oak Creek Wildlife Area.
Associated Press
Vancouver, Wash.: $1 million pledged
An anonymous donor has promised to match contributions dollar for dollar up to $1 million to a group based in Vancouver for hurricane relief along the Gulf Coast. Forward Edge International, a nondenominational religious group, is now trying to raise $1 million from other sources, which would give the group $2 million to help elderly and poor people without insurance return home and to repair damaged churches, development director Verla Stice said. The donor set no time limit on the matching grant, Stice said.
Associated Press
Fort Lewis: 500 troops returning to Iraq soon
About 500 soldiers from the Triple Nickel brigade at Fort Lewis are returning to Iraq for a second tour as soon as next week. They will be the initial wave deployed from the 555th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade headquarters and from its 14th Combat Engineer Battalion. The rest of the brigade members are scheduled to go by November, officials said. Col. William Rapp, 555th commander, said the brigade will lead engineer operations across north-central Iraq for the 101st Airborne Division during the next year. The 101st, based in Fort Campbell, Ky., has been heading out for its second Iraq deployment this week. The Triple Nickel went to Iraq in April 2003 and returned in March 2004.
Associated Press
Cosmopolis: Police got the pie, not the baker
Police are looking for the pie lady. Cosmopolis police noticed a van with expired tabs driving through their city and pulled over the 49-year-old Aberdeen driver a short distance away in south Aberdeen. After a quick background check, officer Dennis Luce told the female driver that there were two misdemeanor warrants out for her arrest. “She said she just baked her dad an apple pie,” said Shelley Willet, Cosmopolis police office administrator. “It was sitting on the passenger side of the seat. When (the officer) told her, ‘You’re under arrest,’ she said, ‘Can I take this pie to my dad first?’ He said ‘No, you can’t,’ – and that’s when she hit the gas.” The woman led Luce on a short, fairly low-speed chase early Monday before halting the van and running into a house, quickly locking the door behind her. Officers checked the house and yard but couldn’t find the woman. She’s now also wanted for felony eluding.
Associated Press
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