FILING DAY FOR VOTER INITIATIVES
The next batch of voter initiatives are getting their official start in Olympia, as election officials begin processing paperwork for the 2009 ballot. Starting Monday, pretty much anybody with $5 and an idea can file an initiative to the people. But that's not the last step. Getting on the ballot requires petition signatures from about 241,000 voters - 8 percent of the number of votes cast in the last governor's race. The deadline for handing in the petitions is July 3. Professional initiative activist Tim Eyman is planning to file an initiative Monday. Eyman says his latest proposal would limit government revenue growth to the rate of inflation. Any surplus money would be used to hold down property taxes.
PORT TOWNSEND-KEYSTONE FERRY DISRUPTED BY HIGH WINDS
Ferry service between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island is expected to resume sometime today after it was shut down yesterday because of high winds. The ferry service says winds were gusting to 70 miles per hour in the Admiralty Inlet area. The normal car ferry serving the route was scheduled to be taken out of service temporarily today, and be replaced by a passenger-only ferry. However, the high winds have prevented the ferry service from moving barges into position at the Port Townsend and Keystone ferry terminals. The barges, once in place - hopefully today - will be used to allow passengers to get on and off the foot ferry.
PORT ANGELES GIRL, FATHER ARRESTED IN POSSIBLE BABY DEATH
A 16-year-old girl and her father have been arrested by police in Port Angeles in connection with the possible death of the girl's newborn baby. A body has not been found. The teenage girl was arrested for investigation of first-degree murder. Her 41-year-old father was arrested for investigation of concealing a birth by disposing of the newborn's body in a city garbage container behind their home in Port Angeles. The arrests were made Friday. Authorities told the Peninsula Daily News they were making arrangements to search for the baby's body in Port Angeles trash taken to a Waste Management facility in Tacoma.
WINTER WEATHER
Another wintry storm is spreading across Washington, promising another slam at snow-weary Spokane and dropping some snow in the Seattle area as well. A winter storm warning through at least mid-day today is in effect for the mountains and areas east of the Cascades. National Weather Service meteorologist Ellie Kelch in Spokane says the forecast is for 6 to 8 inches of new snow in Spokane. Many schools in the area are closed today. After getting 61.5 inches of snow in December, Spokane has had at least 6.9 inches of snow in just the first four days of this month. A bit of a warming trend is coming, though. The high temperature Wednesday for Spokane is forecast to be 39 degrees. Sunday's storm was expected to bring 1 to 2 feet of new snow in the Cascade Range. And in Western Washington, callers to KOMO Radio reported snowfall amounts ranging from about an inch to more than 5 inches in lowland areas. Forecasts, however, called for snow to turn to rain. A number of power outages were reported in Seattle, affecting more than 19,000 customers.
SNOWPLOW DRIVERS MAKING PLENTY OF OVERTIME
In Spokane, some of the people most tired of the winter weather have to be the snowplow drivers. For 18 days, many city and county snowplow drivers have worked 12-hour shifts without a day's break. Condition Red is the term the city uses when street crews are ordered to seven-day schedules with 12-hour shifts. In a full week of a Condition Red operation, a plow driver works 84 hours; 44 of those are overtime, paid at time and a half. The city asked for volunteers to work on Christmas and New Year's, with double-time pay. Curtis Borders, who has worked for the street department for three years, says the paycheck is nice, but he's looking forward to going back to a normal work schedule. Public Works Director Dave Mandyke estimated that each day of Condition Red snow removal costs the city $220,000, a figure that includes street workers' regular salaries.
MAN KILLED, TWO OTHERS WOUNDED IN SUNNYSIDE
One man was shot to death and at least two others were wounded during a confrontation in Sunnyside. Police in the Yakima County town say 23-year-old Jesus Sosa, of Sunnyside, was fatally shot Saturday night at a gas station in what may have been a gang-related dispute. The wounded are described as a 20-year-old man from Mattawa and a 16- or 17-year-old boy from Schawana, in Grant County. Investigators say Sosa and the two wounded victims got into a confrontation with a group in a red SUV about 9:15 p.m., and shots were fired from the SUV after an exchange of words. Sosa and the 17-year-old were taken to Sunnyside Community Hospital by friends and family. The 20-year-old ran from the scene but was later taken into custody. There was no immediate word on any arrest, but police said they were looking for a person of interest.
PLANE SKIDS OFF RUNWAY AT VANCOUVER AIRPORT
A private plane with five people aboard skidded off the runway as it tried to land at Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia. Airport spokeswoman Rebecca Catley says nobody was hurt in the incident about 5:30 p.m. yesterday. Catley says the pilot apparently contacted the airport before landing to say there was a problem with the plane's landing gear. The weather was poor at the time with wind and snow, but Catley says it's not clear whether the weather was a factor in the malfunction. The front end of the plane reportedly had extensive damage. The Transport Canada agency is investigating the incident.
SEATTLE HAS FIRST HOMICIDE OF 2009
A man in his 20s is Seattle's first homicide victim of 2009. Police say the fatal shooting occurred inside the Chop Suey nightclub early yesterday. Officers went to the club in the 1300 block of East Madison Street after receiving 911 calls just before 12:30 a.m. about a fight and shots fired. Police found three gunshot victims, all men in their 20s, when officers arrived. Investigators believe a band was playing at the club when an argument erupted and gunfire rang out in the crowd. One man was taken to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, where he died later. A second man suffered life-threatening injuries and a third man has non life-threatening wounds. Police say they arrested a 25-year-old man yesterday and were looking for a second suspect.
SHORELINE MAN DIES ON I-5
A 44-year-old Shoreline man is dead after being struck by two cars while trying to walk across Interstate 5 in Seattle. The State Patrol said the accident occurred at 10:46 p.m. Saturday in the southbound lanes of I-5 near the Sixth Avenue South and South Forest Street exit. The victim's name was not immediately available.
SOME KING COUNTY RESTAURANTS NOW REQUIRED TO POST NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION ON MENUS
With the new year, some King County restaurants are required to have nutritional information posted on their menus, a controversial rule that was passed by the county's Board of Health in 2007 after a battle with the Washington Restaurant Association. The restaurant association initially fought the new nutrition-labeling regulation, calling it "simply not workable." But the board and the association came up with a compromise so that the rule affects only larger chain restaurants. King County restaurants with 15 or more locations nationwide are now required to post nutrition data, including calorie, saturated fat, carbohydrate and sodium information. The rule does not apply to grocers, convenience stories or self-service counters such as salad bars. Restaurants that fail to post the information could be cited by health inspectors.
LIGHT RAIL TO ROLL THIS YEAR IN SEATTLE
Sound Transit plans to open its light rail line between Seattle and Tukwila in July with an extension to Sea-Tac Airport by the end of the year. The agency also plans to break ground this month on a three-mile link from downtown Seattle to the University of Washington. And thanks to voter approval in November, the light rail line next will be expanded east to Redmond, north to Lynnwood and south to Federal Way. Now transit authorities are deciding fares. They have proposed a system based on distance. The maximum cost of a ticket from downtown to the airport would be $2.75. The agency plans four hearings in the next month to take public comment on the fares, including whether to charge for rides in the downtown Seattle transit tunnel.
MEMORIAL SERVICE HELD FOR CANADIAN AVALANCHE VICTIMS
Thousands of people gathered in the small mining town of Sparwood, British Columbia, yesterday to bid a final farewell to eight local snowmobilers who were doing what they loved when they died last weekend in a string of avalanches. To the strains of bagpipers, mourners filed in to the local hockey arena, where photos of the eight victims were on display on a makeshift stage, flanked at either end by a pair of snowmobiles. Flowers and photo montages decorated the front of the platform. The memorial service capped a week of public mourning for the eight, who were among a group of 11 caught up in snowslides in the mountainous Harvey Valley in the southeastern British Columbia interior. The victims were Daniel Bjarnson, 28; Kurt Kabel, 28; Warren Rothel, 33; Kane Rusnak, 30; Thomas Talarico, 32; Blayne Wilson, 26; Michael Stier, 20, and Stier's 45-year-old father, Leonard Stier. They were struck by a succession of avalanches that came down a slope.