Local News

The Blue Angels perform at Seafair in 2010. (Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times)

The U.S. Navy announced Monday it plans to fund the return of the Blue Angels and Fleet Week to Seattle’s Seafair next year.

Seafair officials have been planning since December for the flight team to come back in 2014, said spokeswoman Melissa Jurcan. But it wasn’t until today that the Navy said it plans on funding a full 2014 Blue Angels tour next year and five Fleet Weeks despite funding cuts.

But because of the potential for continuing budget squabbles in Congress, Jurcan said Seafair organizers were “cautiously optimistic” that both the Blue Angels and Fleet Week would be back. Fleet Week usually brings several Navy ships into Seattle to dock during the annual summer celebration.

“Everything seems so tentative with Congress, we’re going to hold off on any big announcements until about January,” said Jurcan.

The Blue Angels show was canceled this last summer after sequestration forced funding cuts. The Department of Defense cuts resulted in the withdrawal of more than 2,800 outreach events this year, according to a Navy release.

Most Department of Defense public outreach programs will still be operating at reduced capacity next year, though, according to a department release. The cost-cutting measures that could affect the frequency of other shows put on by jets, parachute teams, bands and port visits will save the department $104 million.

Officials have extended the public comment period for a proposed cleanup of minor radiological contamination at Magnuson Park, state Rep. Gerry Pollet announced Wednesday afternoon.

The U.S. Navy and state Department of Ecology will now take comments until July 26 and will hold a question-and-session session next month, Pollet wrote in a news release.

Pollet, D-Seattle, has been pushing for more scrutiny of the $9 million cleanup, which is in response to contamination discovered near the Arena Sports gym in 2009 but not disclosed to the publicly until recently.

Federal, state and local officials have said they did not warn the public because the contamination did not threaten the public as long as nobody entered a fenced-off area. Nonetheless, they’re planning to take care of the contamination for good later this year.

Pollet, however, thinks the officials’ plan would leave too much contamination in the soil.

“Extending the comments period and holding a proper public meeting is a promising development that allows more time for park users and local residents to get their questions answered and make their concerns known,” the second-term lawmaker said. “But the Navy, the Department of Ecology, and Seattle Parks must not stop there. The failure to provide a review for residents to consider of health impacts from the contamination which the Navy proposes to leave behind is just one of many shortcomings of this project that still need to be addressed.”

The Associated Press

Winds gusting to 49 mph early Tuesday partially broke the frigate USS Ingraham away from its mooring at Naval Station Everett.

The ship swung about 90 degrees to the dock, but base spokeswoman Kristin Ching told KOMO it did not break free and there was no damage.

The 450-foot ship was secured with the help of a tugboat.

The U.S. Navy on Friday named one of its next five nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines the USS Washington, the first naval ship to be named after the state in more than 70 years.

The Virginia-class submarine will undergo construction for several years. The Puget Sound region is home to the Navy’s third-largest fleet. Twelve submarines, two aircraft carriers, support ships and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard are based here.

U. S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, said the naming “recognizes the strategic importance of our region as well as the substantial contributions that our state makes to keep our Navy strong. I was delighted to hear from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus that one of the newest and most capable fast-attack submarines in the fleet will be designated Washington.”

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray called it a “well deserved honor.”

The four other submarines were named after Illinois, Colorado, Indiana and South Dakota. Eight Virginia-class submarines are already in service and four are awaiting delivery. All have been named after states but one, which was named after John Warner, the former Navy secretary and Republican senator from Virginia.

Also, read more on the USS Washington in Brier Dudley’s Blog: More details on USS Washington, the Dreamliner sub?

Gregory Wayne Anderson Jr.

The Navy says a man shot and killed in Seattle last weekend was a sailor.

Petty Officer Third Class Gregory Wayne Anderson Jr., 25, of Fresno, Texas, was shot Sunday, according to a news release from the Navy. Anderson, an aviation ordnanceman, was assigned to the USS Nimitz, an aircraft carrier completing a yearlong maintenance period in Bremerton.

Anderson was fatally shot and two other men were injured in a fight that broke out about 2 a.m. Sunday in the 2900 block of First Avenue South in Seattle. The three men were apparently part of a chaotic crowd that had emptied from a nearby nightclub, according to Seattle police.

Anderson died at Harborview Medical Center on Sunday evening. The other two men suffered minor injuries, primarily bruises and scrapes on their heads.

Police said witnesses “were less than forthcoming with investigating officers.”