Local News

National Weather Service / Forecast

A lot of stolen mail: A man in Port Townsend has been arrested in connection with the theft of 1,000 pounds of mail — allegedly for making fake IDs, passing bogus checks and the like, according to The Kitsap Sun. We’re not talking about 1,000 pieces of mail. That’s 1,000 pounds.  Folks and retailers in the area have been made aware that credit cards and checks might have been compromised.

Yes, Virginia, the rich do get richer … Times sports columnist Jerry Brewer writes today about Felix Hernandez’s surprise and heartfelt gratitude yesterday as he stepped off an elevator at Safeco Field to a celebratory Mariners staff. Their glee, of course, is that Hernandez has signed a new contract for $175 million and will stay with the struggling Mariners. Best line in Brewers’ column on the mood at the gathering?

“Have you ever been happier to see a rich person get richer?”

Say that again? Here’s a headline you don’t often hear in the city: “Are you missing a chicken?” The Phinneywood.com blog has the story.

Should he have resigned?  Port of Seattle Commissioner Rob Holland will resign his position next month after news was published of his troubles during three years in office, including misuse of his Port credit cards, personal financial problems and tense relationships with Port staff and colleagues. His decision comes just a few days after a Seattle Times story about his troubles. Do you think Holland’s decision to resign was the right thing to do? Vote in our poll.

Them Dawgs: Yep, the UW men’s hoops troop loses another one… Oregon adds to Huskies’ string of woes

Most-read stories on seattletimes.com:

Nick Provenza: 206-464-2142 or nprovenza@seattletimes.com

Around $100,000 in bronze ship parts were stolen Tuesday night from the Port Townsend Foundry by robbers who spraypainted the marine business’ windows black to avoid being seen, according to the Three Sheets Northwest blog.

Sometime between 6 p.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday, thieves cut a hole into a chain-link fence behind the foundry’s machine shop and stole large, custom-made pieces such as beam hangars, cowl vents and a t-track rudder fitting, the blog says. The size of the items taken leads the shop’s co-founder, Peter Langley, to believe the thieves stole the pieces to sell as scrap metal.

“They definitely knew what they were looking for,” he told Three Sheets Northwest.

A water-main break in downtown Port Townsend has closed Highway 20 this morning between Washington Street and the state ferry terminal.

Traffic is being rerouted on city streets around the flooding and no delays are reported on ferry crossings.

City public works crews responded to a report of a water-main break around 3 a.m. today near the Tides Inn on Water Street. Claudia Bingham Baker, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, said city crews are still searching for the source of the break. It’s not known when the highway might reopen, she said.

The Associated Press

PORT TOWNSEND — The Kitsap Credit Union expects the Federal Reserve will replace money that was stained red when a dye pack exploded accidentally at the branch in Port Townsend.

The Associated Press

PORT TOWNSEND – Seven members of a Seattle family were hospitalized after eating mussels from a Discovery Bay beach near Port Townsend that has been closed by the state since July because of high levels of biotoxin.

Jefferson County Public Health says members of the unnamed vacationing family, ages 19 to 68, fell ill Saturday with paralytic shellfish poisoning.

The Peninsula Daily News reports one woman had to be placed on a ventilator Sunday, but she was breathing on her own again on Monday at Jefferson Healthcare Hospital. Other family members also were treated at the Port Townsend hospital and at Harrison Hospital in Bremerton.

This state Department of Health website provides detailed information online about what beaches are closed because of biotoxin.

A woman’s body was found in Port Townsend Bay on Wednesday afternoon, after apparently floating for weeks in the water.

Construction workers at first thought it was a buoy, but two men taking photos discerned what they saw, and called 911 just before 3 p.m., near City Pier downtown.

Teeth and identifying marks may help with identification, authorities said. An autopsy is planned Thursday, said Bill Beezley, spokesman for East Jefferson Fire and Rescue.  There was no clothing or equipment to indicate she had been boating, Beezley said.

Boats afloat: Well, really, it’s a house afloat. An outfit in Port Townsend is building a 2,000-square-foot, 300-ton houseboat that’s kept afloat by concrete-covered Styrofoam. The home, bound for Lake Union in Seattle, could get its sea legs sometime in January. The story is in The Port Angeles Daily News.

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This is a rendering of one of the state ferry system's Issaquah class ferries, the M/V Issaquah (Rendering provided by Washington State Ferries)

Washington State Ferries will begin construction early next year on a new 144-car ferry. The ferry system is replacing aging ferries in its 22-boat fleet.

The state hopes to build three of the 144-car ferries, but has only provided money for the first one. The work will be done by Vigor Industrial, formerly Todd Shipyards, with other shipyards.

The announcement came a day after the state accepted the third and last of its new 64-car ferries, which will run on the Port Townsend-Coupeville route and other runs.

“This has been a momentous week for Washington state and our ferry system,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire, in a release. “We have just taken delivery of the last of our three new 64-car ferries and now we begin construction on a new 144-car ferry — an important action that helps ensure we have modern vessels to continue giving our passengers safe and reliable service.”

The new ferry is scheduled to take about 27 months to build and the estimated cost is $147 million.

This is the last ferry the state has funding for, said Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond. “We don’t have the money needed just to operate our ferry system at the current level,” she said in a release. “We are on the brink of a crisis.”

Ferries said the new boat will produce 200 jobs at Vigor and 350 more jobs with subcontractors and other shipyards.