Local News

Morning Memo/Wednesday: Cooler … Teen girl shot dead … Teen lost in river

Weather:  We’re returning to what Seattle is really like in May, with temperatures in the mid-60s, at least today. It might only reach 60 tomorrow. We’re certain you enjoyed the sun Monday and Tuesday. We sure did. At least it’s not expected to rain today, but it might Friday. The National Weather Service forecast.

Traffic: The map and cams.

A 17-year-old girl is dead and an 18-year-old boy with her is in critical condition after being shot while in an SUV in Richmond Beach in Shoreline early this morning. We’ll keep you posted on developments.

Swimming in dangerous water: The search for a 16-year-old teen missing in the Chehalis River has been unsuccessful. The teen was with friends when he went under and didn’t surface. Authorities are expected to decide what to do this morning. We’ve said it before: The water this time of year is fast, cold and unforgiving. And why is it that teens appear unable to resist swimming across lakes and rivers?

Viaduct closed this weekend: The Alaskan Way Viaduct will be closed in both directions from 11 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday so construction crews can shore up a two-block section above what will become the new tunnel. The portion to be closed runs from the north end of the Battery Street Tunnel to the West Seattle Bridge, according to the state Transportation Department. Expect congestion on the roads elsewhere.

The historic Fire Station No. 37 recently sold for $613,000. The station is located at 7300 35th Ave. S.W. in West Seattle. (Photo / City of Seattle)

Historic fire station sold: The old No. 37 Fire Station in West Seattle has sold for $613,000. The city put the property on the market back in September and set the minimum bid at $250,000. The city will net almost $580,000, which will go to into a levy fund. Some of that money is used to upgrade, renovate or replace existing fire stations. Have you ever slid down a firehouse pole? We have …

Malnourished boy: You might remember we told you about the 2-year-old boy in Moses Lake who was found so malnourished that he weighed just ten pounds. Authorities now have more details in the case: the youngster had no hair or muscle tone, and his body temperature was only 89 degrees.

Red Sox sock it to the M’s: As in the Mariners were shut out by in Boston. A bit of offense wouldn’t hurt, hey guys?

Most-read stories this morning on seattletimes.com:

1. Broad new layoffs at T-Mobile USA, 900 jobs cut | Brier Dudley’s Blog
2. Catholic bishops’ newest target: Girl Scouts of America | Nicole Brodeur
3. Drivers fill up with pain as state gas prices soar
4. Hard-edged manager Eric Wedge walks a fine line with fledgling Mariners | Jerry Brewer
5. Wash. man bitten by rattlesnake at Washington Wal-Mart

0 comments | More in Morning Memo | Topics: malnourished boy, Mariners, swimming

2 teens shot in Shoreline; 1 dies

The Associated Press

Two teens were shot early Wednesday in Shoreline in the Richmond Beach area.

1 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: died, Shoreline, two shot

Seattle schools send layoff notices to 45 employees

Twenty-eight Seattle public school teachers and 17 other school district employees received layoff notifications last week as part of an attempt to cut $20 million out of next school year’s budget.

The notices mean the employees may lose their job next school year, but they could also be rehired. State law requires school districts to tell employees of layoffs by May 15.

The combined number, 45, is slightly smaller than the past couple years and much smaller than in 2009, when more than 200 employees were laid off.

The areas hit hardest were counselors, physical education teachers, music instructors and family support workers. In addition, the district announced it has eliminated 11 positions in its central office this year.

“Although this is a limited Reduction in Force compared to previous years, it is not easy and has a tremendous impact on those employees who will lose their position,” Interim Superintendent Susan Enfield wrote in an email to staff today. “I want to thank those staff members for their service to Seattle Public Schools and our students.”

The Seattle School Board approved the cuts at a meeting earlier this year.

“I feel bad that we have to lay off anyone,” School Board President Michael DeBell said. “If our budget wasn’t so tight, we would certainly want to hold onto all of our teachers and our classified teachers. But we were left with very little choice.”

4 comments | More in Education | Topics: budget cuts, layoffs, Michael DeBell

No verdict today in Steve Powell case; jury returns tomorrow

The Associated Press

A jury in Tacoma needs more time to deliberate in the voyeurism case against the father-in-law of a missing Utah mother.

Jurors broke for the day this afternoon after considering Steve Powell’s fate for several hours. They planned to return at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Powell faces 14 counts of voyeurism stemming from what prosecutors say are images found on a disc in his bedroom of young girls who lived next door.

Jurors questioned that evidence during deliberations, asking if the disc was found in boxes containing only Steve Powell’s belongings.

Steve Powell is the father-in-law of Susan Powell, a Utah mother who disappeared in 2009. Her husband, Josh, killed himself and the couple’s two young children in a house fire earlier this year.

0 comments | More in General news, The Blotter | Topics: Steve Powell, Steven Powell, Susan Powell

Fuel spill closes Penn Cove for shellfish harvest

WHIDBEY ISLAND – The state Department of Health has closed all commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting in Whidbey Island’s Penn Cove because of  an oil spill from a sunken crab boat.

The closure, effective immediately, is the result of tests that showed contamination as the diesel fuel reached mussel beds.

Also today, divers plugged a leak in the sunken Deep Sea that was spewing one or two gallons of diesel a minute into Penn Cove.

Skimmers and absorbent booms were deployed by the clean-up contractor. Divers also have pumped 1,900 gallons of fuel out of the vessel and continue working today

Petty Officer Nathan Bradshaw says the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is paying for the cleanup, and the Coast Guard will seek to recoup the money.

The 128-foot derelict fishing boat caught fire Saturday and sank Sunday in 50 feet of water.

0 comments | More in Environment, General news, The Blotter | Topics: fuel spill, Penn Cove, Whidbey Island

Death penalty reinstated for Tacoma murderer

The Associated Press

A jury in Tacoma has reinstated the death penalty for a man convicted of raping, robbing and stabbing a neighbor to death.

The Pierce County prosecutor’s office says the jury reached its decision Tuesday and Allen Eugene Gregory will be sentenced again on June 13 to die.

Now 39 years old, Gregory was convicted of aggravated murder in 2001 for the 1996 killing of Geneine Harshfield who was attacked after she returned home from her bartending job. The killing went unsolved until Gregory’s arrest in a rape case two years later produced a DNA match.

In 2006 the state Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction but overturned the death sentence. Pierce County prosecutors decided to re-try the penalty phase. It began two months ago and went to the jury Monday.

1 comments | More in General news, The Blotter | Topics: death penalty, murder, Tacoma

Charge dropped against man arrested in May Day protests

A third-degree assault charge filed against a barista and photographer for allegedly assaulting a police officer during the May 1 protests in downtown Seattle has been dropped.

The King County Prosecutor’s Office today dismissed the charge against Joshua Garland. He was accused of  “grabbing a police officer’s hand and twisting his arm,” Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the county prosecutor’s office, wrote in a news release. 

“After reviewing video provided by Garland’s defense attorney showing the alleged incident, prosecutors no longer believe they could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Donohoe wrote. 

Garland has been out of jail since May 2. His lawyer, Andrea Robertson, said he has documented numerous social-activism events since 2010 through his photography.

After Garland’s arrest, Robertson said that her client was at the protest ”taking pictures.”

“His hand was on the camera and the other was at his side when the officer approached him,” Robertson said, adding that she believes the officer pushed her client in the chest and that her client’s hand went up. She insisted her client did not lay a hand on the officer.

Robertson said that to show her client’s innocence, she pieced together video segments posted on YouTube by witnesses and other footage shot by a local television station. She brought the video segments to prosecutors. The segments, she said, made it clear “there was absolutely no way that the officer’s account of events is what actually happened.”

“I don’t think there is any way you could intrepret the way he [the officer] described it,” Robertson said.

Donohoe said that three other people are still charged with allegedly assaulting police officers during the May 1 protests:

Paul Campiche, 23, is charged with two counts of third-degree assault for allegedly throwing a bottle at an officer and then kicking a second officer who was attempting to arrest him;

Robert Ditrani, 23, is charged with one count of fourth-degree assault for allegedly spitting on an officer;

Maria Morales, 30, is charged with fourth degree assault for allegedly hitting an officer in the chest, according to Donohoe.

1 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Seattle Police

Mother of boy in Bremerton school shooting pleads guilty

The mother of a third-grade boy who brought a handgun to a Bremerton elementary school has pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with a shooting that injured a classmate of the boy.

Amina Kocer-Bowman, 9, was wounded when the .45-caliber handgun discharged in the boy’s backpack Feb. 22 at Armin Jahr Elementary School. She underwent five surgeries for a shattered elbow and damage to her  internal organs.

The Kitsap County prosecutor had charged the boy’s mother, Jamie Chaffin, and her boyfriend, Douglas Bauer, with unlawful possession of a firearm and felony third-degree assault for negligently allowing the boy access to the gun.  The boy reportedly obtained the handgun during a visit to his mother’s home days before the shooting.

In Kitsap County Superior Court this morning, Chaffin pleaded guilty to the two counts and in exchange the prosecution dropped the assault charge. Chaffin, who faces just over a year in prison when sentenced, also agreed to testify against Bauer.

Bauer’s defense lawyer asked a judge to dismiss his criminal case against his client. The judge, instead, dismissed an unlawful posession of a firearm charge against Bauer. The assault charge still stands and Bauer will stand trial in July, said Deputy Prosecutor Jeremy Morris.

In cases in which a child obtains a weapon through an adult’s alleged negligence, prosecutors generally file a gross-misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment. But when he filed the assault charges in March, Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge said the case called for tougher penalties.

“The adults have the responsibility for the firearm,” Hauge said at the time. “It was no different from if they said to him: ‘Here, put this [gun] in your backpack.’ “

1 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: assault, Kitsap County Superior Court, unlawful possession of a firearm

New Seattle superintendent’s contract calls for $270,000 salary

New Seattle Superintendent Jose Banda would make $270,000 per year, according to a contract to be voted on tomorrow night by the School Board.

The three-year pact also includes an annuity of $22,000 and a $700 monthly allowance for vehicle expenses, in addition to other benefits.

The $270,000 base salary, $6,000 more than what former Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson made, is higher than expected. School Board members had initially said they were hoping to pay the new schools chief about $225,000, the amount that Interim Superintendent Susan Enfield made.

By comparison, Mayor Mike McGinn’s salary this year is about $160,000, according to his office. Police Chief John Diaz makes about $185,000.

However, while Banda’s amount is higher than superintendent salaries in other Washington school districts, it is not significantly higher than what most urban superintendents are paid.

Banda currently makes about $230,000 as head of the Anaheim (Calif.) City School District.

He was selected from among 42 applicants to replace Enfield, who is leaving to become superintendent in the Highline School District,  where she will make $220,000. Goodloe-Johnson was fired after a financial scandal in March 2011.

The School Board is expected to approve the contract unanimously.

9 comments | More in Education | Topics: John Diaz, Jose Banda, Mike McGinn

Shoreline woman charged with murder in boyfriend’s stabbing

A Shoreline woman accused of fatally stabbing her longtime boyfriend at their home on May 3, before taking off with their two young daughters and triggering an Amber Alert, was charged this morning with second-degree murder.

Doreen Starrish, 28, had initially been charged with first-degree assault/domestic violence and sought on an arrest warrant. After Aaron C. Smith, 27, died at Harborview Medical Center, Starrish turned herself in to police.

Detectives say Starrish stabbed Smith because he refused to let her take the children out of the house. Witnesses said Smith had refused because she was drunk, according to charging paperwork.

Sheriff’s deputies were called on May 3 to the home Starrish shared with Smith, in the 1500 block of Northeast 190th Street. Friends who were at the home that night told investigators that the couple had been arguing for several hours when Smith was stabbed.

After stabbing Smith, Starrish fled with the couple’s two daughters, who deputies say are 7 and 3, according to charging papers.

An Amber Alert was issued for the children. That night, Seattle police received a phone call from Smith’s brother, saying the children had been dropped off at his grandmother’s house. The grandmother told deputies Starrish had called her to say a woman named “Alice” was responsible for the stabbing. It’s unclear in the charges who “Alice” is.

According to charges, before surrendering to police Starrish posted this explanation on her Facebook page:

“Every one aarons dead I didn’t do it I ran kuz I didn’t want r girls to get taken away…”

At the time he was stabbed, there was a domestic violence order in place barring Smith from contacting Starrish, according to court records. A misdemeanor assault case is pending in Shoreline District Court, listing Smith as the suspect and Starrish as the victim, a detective wrote in her report.

0 comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: king county prosecutor, King County Sheriff's Office, Shoreline