Lawmakers Consider Overhaul of Initiative System
Lawmakers are considering an overhaul of the state’s popular initiative system. They say voters need to be responsible for identifying the money that will pay for the policies they approve. A bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed a constitutional amendment that would require ballot measures to have their own funding sources. The Legislature and Gov. Chris Gregoire have expressed frustration with voter-approved laws that require hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, with no way to pay the bill. Just last month, the public gave overwhelming approval to an expansion of training for long-term care workers, despite opposition from a variety of leaders. The measure, which passed in every county in the state, costs about $18 million over the next two years but has no money allocated for the program. VNC

Traffic Stop Surprise
A load of illegal alcohol and untaxed cigarettes was discovered Wednesday by an observant state trooper in Lacey during a traffic stop on Interstate 5, The trooper pulled over a small box truck with a refrigeration unit. The driver said he was just doing a favor for a friend by driving the truck. The state trooper then conducted a commercial vehicle inspection of the truck and discovered multiple safety violations. As part of the inspection, the security of the load was checked, and the driver said the truck was loaded with vegetables. The truck has been placed out of service for the safety violations, and the driver is facing charges for illegal possession and transportation of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes. VNC

JBLM Soldiers Memorial Service
A private memorial will be held Monday for the four soldiers killed in a helicopter crash at joint base Lewis-McChord. Family and friends of Luke Sigfrid, Frank Buoniconti, Anne Montgomery, and Shawn Satterfield will gather for a service at the North Chapel. A team of army investigators from Alabama is in Washington try to piece together Monday night’s accident. It could take ‘a year’ to find out exactly what caused the two helicopters to crash. VNC

Consumer Confidence Up in Thurston County
The holidays and the end of the election season is being credited for improvement in consumer confidence in Thurston county. The county’s Economic Development council released the figures yesterday. The fourth- confidence data rose to 70 from 59 in the third quarter. VNC

Indictment Against Stripper
A judge in Anchorage has dismissed a murder indictment against Mechele Linehan, who was accused of conspiring to kill her former fiancé. She’s a former Anchorage stripper who eventually settled in Olympia and was convicted in 2007 of killing Kent Leppink, who was shot on an isolated trail 11 years earlier. Prosecutors had argued she was inspired by watching the 1994 movie “The Last Seduction.” Linehan and John Carlin III had plotted to kill Leppink in hopes of receiving $1 million in life insurance money, they said, and a jury agreed. But the Alaska Appeals Court tossed out the conviction in 2010. State prosecutors decided to retry Linehan in Leppink’s death. But a judge on Thursday tossed out the grand jury indictment, citing an evidence issue. VNC

Puget Sound Energy Alert
Puget Sound Energy is warning its customers to be on the lookout for a phony email resembling bill-payment notification. The bogus email does not affect PSE customer accounts, which are secure. The email looks like the notice PSE sends to online-billing customers when their utility bill is ready to be viewed and paid. The message contains PSE’s logo and some legitimate links to the utility’s site. PSE advises customers not to click on the link and don’t open attachments they may contain a virus. You are encouraged to delete the email notice immediately. VNC

Robbery Suspect Plea
The man accused of robbing dozens of Pierce County restaurants – with a toy gun – was in court Thursday. Joshua Nitschke and his girlfriend were arrested Sunday night, outside a Subway sandwich shop that had just been robbed. Lakewood Police say he admitted his role in the two month string of robberies- but today he pleaded “not” guilty. Court documents say the two were using the money to buy drugs. Nitschke’s bail was set at half a million dollars. VNC

'Barefoot Bandit' to plead guilty in Washington court
When Colton Harris-Moore broke into Kyle Ater's grocery store in Washington's San Juan Islands, he wrote a message in chalk on the floor: "C-Ya!" Turns out the Barefoot Bandit was right. Harris-Moore will see Ater and other victims on Friday at Island County Superior Court, where he is expected to plead guilty to about 30 state charges from a two-year, cross-country crime spree in stolen planes, boats and cars. Harris-Moore's daring run from the law earned him international notoriety, not to mention a movie deal. He flew a stolen plane from Indiana to the Bahamas in July 2010, crash-landed near a mangrove swamp and was arrested by Bahamian authorities in a hail of bullets. Prosecutors are seeking a 10-year prison sentence. His attorneys are asking for six years. AP

DOJ to announce results of Seattle police review
The U.S. Justice Department says it's announcing its findings Friday from a civil rights investigation of the Seattle Police Department. The investigation was launched last spring following the fatal shooting of a homeless, Native American wood carver and other incidents of force used against minority suspects. The investigation was aimed at determining whether Seattle police have a "pattern or practice" of violating civil rights or discriminatory policing, and if so, what they should do to improve. The assistant attorney general for the DOJ's civil rights division, Thomas E. Perez, is scheduled to join Seattle U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan in announcing the findings Friday morning. AP

JBLM soldier charged in Kirkland woman's death
King County prosecutors have charged a 19-year-old soldier from Joint Base Lewis-McChord with first-degree murder in the Nov. 30 death of a young Kirkland, Wash., woman. Dakota Wolf was charged Thursday. Bail has been set at $2 million and he is scheduled for arraignment Dec. 28. JBLM spokesman Joe Piek says Wolf was booked into the base corrections facility later on Nov. 30 for being absent without leave. Kirkland police notified the Army the same day that he was a person of interest in the killing of 19-year-old Scarlett Paxton. Kirkland police spokesman Lt. Mike Murray has said the soldier and Paxton did not know each other. Piek tells The Seattle Times that Wolf had gone AWOL several times in recent months. Paxton's boyfriend found her bleeding early on Nov. 30 outside their apartment. She suffered a fatal neck wound. AP

Doctors can't reattach ear in Washington hacking attack
The brother of a Longview security guard who was attacked by a shoplifter with a hatchet says doctors weren't able to reattach his ear. Police arrested Adrian Kramer on Wednesday for investigation of assault, robbery, burglary and theft. Authorities say that when 33-year-old David Morrison, the head of security at the Fred Meyer retail store, tried to stop Kramer on Monday, Kramer swung a small hatchet at Morrison and sliced off his left ear. Police say Kramer shoplifted a cart full of CDs, a bike chain and other items. David Morrison's brother, Steven, says doctors in a Portland, Ore., hospital weren't able to reattach the ear after four hours of surgery. He says his brother is weighing his medical options now, including a prosthetic ear. AP
    
Guilty plea in Pasco machete killing
A Pasco man who killed his sister with a machete pleaded guilty Thursday in Franklin County Superior Court to domestic violence murder. Tri-City Herald reports 29-year-old Aaron Velasco faces more than 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 9. His 22-year-old sister, Magdalena "Maggy" Velasco-Garcia, was found dead June 9 outside the home they shared in Pasco. Velasco called 911 and said he had killed his sister. AP

Italian appeals court says why it cleared Knox
The Italian appeals court that cleared Amanda Knox in the killing of her roommate says the evidence just didn't hold up. In a 143-page document, the appeals court criticized nearly every stage of the investigation that led to the conviction of Knox and her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. The appeals court said the lower court didn't even prove they were in the house when Knox's British roommate, Meredith Kercher, was killed. The appellate court also contradicted the lower court's time of death, putting it nearly an hour earlier. The Perugia appellate court acquitted the two in October after reviewing the lower court's evidence and conducting new hearings of its own. Knox returned home to Seattle immediately after her release, but prosecutors have said they plan to appeal her acquittal. AP

Somali pirates sentenced to life in prison
A former Somali police officer and another man have been sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the hijacking of a yacht that left all four Americans on board dead.
Mohamud Hirs Issa Ali and Jilani Abdiali were sentenced in federal court in Norfolk on Thursday. They are among 11 men who have pleaded guilty to piracy for the February hijacking of the Quest. Ali was considered a pirate leader. The other men believed Abdiali was psychic and he was brought along to bless the operation. The owners of the Quest, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., along with friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were shot to death several hundred miles south of Oman. Three other men face murder charges. AP

Plans to shoot golf course elk appear on hold
Elk blamed for tearing up fairways and greens at a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course in Snoqualmie appear to have gotten at least a temporary reprieve. Washington Fish and Wildlife Department Game Division Manager Dave Ware said earlier this week that two or three of the animals could be killed as soon as Monday, when the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge golf course is closed. However, KING-TV reports that with complaints about the planned shooting pouring in, the golf course and the wildlife agency are pausing. Wildlife Sgt. Kim Chandler tells KING "we're pretty much on hold." Chandler says he thinks golf course officials are deciding how they want to proceed. An Associated Press call to the golf course after business hours was not immediately returned Thursday. Golf club general manager Ryan Whitney said earlier that the course has been trying to drive away the elk for two years but nothing has worked. AP

Canadians, Gates Foundation want a real Tricorder
Two of the biggest spenders on global health innovation are hoping about $38 million will be enough to create a
modern-day "Tricorder" like the ones seen on the Star Trek TV series. They want to give real doctors a tool for diagnosing patients far from medical labs. Medical researchers have already developed some of the tests that would be included in the all-in-one device, but more need to be developed. And pulling them together in one battery-powered "Tricorder" will the biggest challenge. Dr. Peter Singer of Grand Challenges Canada says no device exists today that can be brought into a remote part of Africa to take samples and analyze them and answer multiple questions. The money comes from the Canadian government and Seattle's Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. AP