Herald staff
ANCHORAGE — An Anchorage woman has pleaded guilty to a felony count of interfering with a flight crew. The plea comes about three months after her in-flight behavior caused a Seattle-bound Continental Airlines flight to return to Anchorage.
Norma Linda Lozano had been jailed since her arrest in July.
She told U.S. District Court Judge James Singleton on Monday that she takes full responsibility for her on-board actions.
That includes profane speech, throwing a full can of beer at a flight attendant and hitting the woman in the chest, and biting the crew’s first officer after punching him several times in the face when he tried to subdue her, according to an FBI court affidavit.
But the 38-year-old Lozano also said she doesn’t remember what happened on the plane. She told the court she was having a blackout caused by the beer and liquor she consumed before boarding the flight in Anchorage with her boyfriend.
"Um, see I drank beer and that peppermint stuff … peppermint schnapps," she said.
An empty bottle of peppermint schnapps was found in the seat pocket where Lozano had been sitting on the plane, the FBI affidavit said.
Hours after the plane returned to Anchorage, she reportedly registered a 0.113 on a blood alcohol test administered at the Sixth Avenue Jail. That compares with the legal standard for driving while intoxicated in Alaska, which is 0.10.
Lozano faces a maximum of 20 years in jail and fines by pleading guilty to the felony, but Singleton said she most likely will be sentenced to two to eight months in jail.
Park plans two more roller coasters: Enchanted Parks is planning to add two new roller coasters to the north end of the amusement and water park. One of the rides would be among the 10 largest wooden roller coasters in the nation, according to park executives. The other would be made of steel. Enchanted Parks applied for a permit to build the rides on Wednesday. If the City of Federal Way approves the $20 million project, the rides could be up and running by 2003.
Man jailed after bomb threat: A 23-year-old man who acknowledged yelling a prank bomb threat at a Metro bus has been jailed for investigation of three felonies. Jared Brandon Jackson of suburban Redmond surrendered to the Washington State Patrol and was booked into King County Jail for investigation of threats to bomb, malicious mischief and harassment. He was to make his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the county prosecutor’s office. The hoax closed the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge for three hours Monday and snarled rush-hour traffic. Jackson turned himself in Tuesday morning at the patrol’s Bellevue station.
Doctors vote to leave network: As many as 23,000 patients in Western Washington may have to find new doctors after a group of physicians voted Tuesday to end its contract with PacifiCare health insurance. The doctors say the reimbursement rates they get from PacifiCare are too low. Tuesday’s vote was just the first step toward disbanding the network. No patients are affected yet. The doctors are part of the Memorial Clinic Health Network, which includes 450 doctors in Thurston, Mason, Grays Harbor, Lewis and Pacific counties. Of those, 74 work at Olympia’s Memorial Clinic. If the doctors dissolve the network, PacifiCare would stop covering services they perform. The 23,000 people with PacifiCare insurance, including many state workers, would have to switch insurance or find new doctors.
