Missing Rainier Climbers
Officials are asking visitors to Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park to look out for clues related to four people missing on the mountain since mid-January. The News Tribune reports the park is handing out flyers telling visitors to report any physical evidence, excluding tracks, of the missing campers and climbers. Park officials, however, are not encouraging visitors to search the mountain’s treacherous backcountry. VNC
WSDA Export Seminars
The Washington State Department of Agriculture is offering seminars to help small businesses sell their products overseas. The seminars include introductions to foreign buyers to help entrepreneurs start selling quickly. The 90-minute sessions will be held in the Tri-Cities, Yakima and Seattle. Advance sign-up is required to ensure that the Washington firms are matched with an export consultant who will provide the most relevant strategic advice. Small businesses must apply for assistance by Feb. 17th. VNC
WA Remembers Slain Corrections Officer
Washington's Department of Corrections is remembering slain officer Jayme Biendl on the anniversary of her death. Biendl was strangled by inmate Byron Scherf in the chapel of the correctional complex in Monroe on Jan. 29, 2011. Corrections staff are taking part in a 5-K run, a candlelight vigil and a statewide moment of silence Sunday to remember her. Three of Biendl's co-workers were fired for failing to secure the chapel, being outside their assigned zones that night, or making false statements related to the case. Since the slaying, the prison says it has increased training, changed staffing and improved how inmates are classified. Scherf was already serving a life sentence, and now faces a charge of aggravated first-degree murder that could bring the death penalty. AP
How Much Was On Wash. Café's Walls? More Than $10,000
Customers at a landmark burger joint called Fat Smitty's on Washington's Olympic Peninsula have wondered for years how much money was plastered to the eatery's walls and ceiling. The answer, it turns out, was a pretty penny. The Peninsula Daily News reports that Carl "Fat Smitty" Schmidt enlisted Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts to take down the dough this weekend, including many dollar bills decorated by patrons who stuck them on the walls. The total? $10,316. Schmidt says he's giving all but $3,000 to a local Boy Scouts project. The rest will go to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Schmidt's connection to that hospital wasn't immediately known. The tradition began years ago when a traveling salesman wrote his name on a single dollar bill and tacked it to the wall. AP
WA Measure Aims To Slow Down Spread Of E-Verify
An unlikely alliance has been formed this year in Olympia to push a measure aimed at stopping any more cities and counties from adopting a federal program that checks a worker's eligibility to work in the country. Known as E-Verify, the internet-based program has been adopted by 11 cities and counties in Washington state so far. Supporters of the program say it provides a free and easy way of doing background checks and avoiding paperwork problems, such as losing workers to questionable documents or facing fines for hiring an illegal immigrant. But farmers and immigrant advocates say that that a national overhaul of the immigration system is needed before more enforcement is mandated, and state and local governments shouldn't interfere. AP
Man Pleads Guilty To 1979 Snohomish Co. Killing
A 58-year-old Seattle man whose arrest for a 1979 killing was prompted by a tip from a deck of playing cards has pleaded guilty to the murder. A prison inmate reported the tip last year after reading about the killing of Susan Schwarz on a playing card deck distributed by the Snohomish County Sheriff's cold case team. The cards, first circulated in 2008, offer rewards for information that helps solve the cold cases. Schwarz was featured as the queen of hearts. Schwarz was killed in her home near Lynnwood. Detectives arrested Gregory Johnson last year after receiving the inmate's tip and tracking down a witness to the murder. Johnson pleaded guilty in Snohomish County Superior Court Friday. His sentencing is set for March 23. AP
Wa To Refund 25-Cent Fee After 520 Tolling Glitch
State transportation officials say they'll issue refunds after a glitch in the tolling system on the Highway 520 bridge caused drivers to be overcharged 25 cents. Motorists who made the trip between Seattle and Bellevue from Jan. 17 to 25 will get a refund, even those who were billed correctly. The 25-cent transaction fee is charged for those who travel the bridge infrequently and pay by the license plate. State officials say the billing problem was related to the toll equipment's internal clock. The problem was fixed Jan. 26. State toll division director Craig Stone says the agency is working to fix accounts that already were billed. AP
3 Injured In Shooting Outside Seattle Club
Seattle police are searching for a shooter after three people were seriously wounded early Saturday outside a South Lake Union club. Police say "a hostile crowd" interfered with officers as they tried to help three men who had been shot. The victims would not tell police what had happened. All three were taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Policy say a fight broke out inside the club. The subjects were kicked out of the club, and shots later were fired outside near the club. Police did not know whether the shooter left in a vehicle or on foot. They found a handgun away from the scene. AP
Former Oregon Cop Gets 10 Years For Sex Crimes
A former Portland, Ore., police officer living in Washington state has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sex crimes with girls. Ryan Graichen, of Kennewick, sobbed as he apologized to his four victims during his sentencing Friday in Benton County Superior Court. Graichen pleaded guilty in October to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and five counts of commercial sex abuse of a minor. He admitted paying an underage girl for sex and offering alcohol, marijuana and money to other girls or young couples for sex acts. The Tri-City Herald reports Graichen told the court Friday that he is remorseful. Graichen served as a Portland officer from 1998 to 2006. AP
Regional Jan 30
Monday, 30 January 2012 07:42
Missing Rainier ClimbersOfficials are asking visitors to Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park to look out for clues related to four people missing on the mountain since mid-January. The News Tribune reports the park is handing out flyers telling visitors to report any physical evidence, excluding tracks, of the missing campers and climbers. Park officials, however, are not encouraging visitors to search the mountain’s treacherous backcountry. VNC
WSDA Export Seminars
The Washington State Department of Agriculture is offering seminars to help small businesses sell their products overseas. The seminars include introductions to foreign buyers to help entrepreneurs start selling quickly. The 90-minute sessions will be held in the Tri-Cities, Yakima and Seattle. Advance sign-up is required to ensure that the Washington firms are matched with an export consultant who will provide the most relevant strategic advice. Small businesses must apply for assistance by Feb. 17th. VNC
WA Remembers Slain Corrections Officer
Washington's Department of Corrections is remembering slain officer Jayme Biendl on the anniversary of her death. Biendl was strangled by inmate Byron Scherf in the chapel of the correctional complex in Monroe on Jan. 29, 2011. Corrections staff are taking part in a 5-K run, a candlelight vigil and a statewide moment of silence Sunday to remember her. Three of Biendl's co-workers were fired for failing to secure the chapel, being outside their assigned zones that night, or making false statements related to the case. Since the slaying, the prison says it has increased training, changed staffing and improved how inmates are classified. Scherf was already serving a life sentence, and now faces a charge of aggravated first-degree murder that could bring the death penalty. AP
How Much Was On Wash. Café's Walls? More Than $10,000
Customers at a landmark burger joint called Fat Smitty's on Washington's Olympic Peninsula have wondered for years how much money was plastered to the eatery's walls and ceiling. The answer, it turns out, was a pretty penny. The Peninsula Daily News reports that Carl "Fat Smitty" Schmidt enlisted Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts to take down the dough this weekend, including many dollar bills decorated by patrons who stuck them on the walls. The total? $10,316. Schmidt says he's giving all but $3,000 to a local Boy Scouts project. The rest will go to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Schmidt's connection to that hospital wasn't immediately known. The tradition began years ago when a traveling salesman wrote his name on a single dollar bill and tacked it to the wall. AP
WA Measure Aims To Slow Down Spread Of E-Verify
An unlikely alliance has been formed this year in Olympia to push a measure aimed at stopping any more cities and counties from adopting a federal program that checks a worker's eligibility to work in the country. Known as E-Verify, the internet-based program has been adopted by 11 cities and counties in Washington state so far. Supporters of the program say it provides a free and easy way of doing background checks and avoiding paperwork problems, such as losing workers to questionable documents or facing fines for hiring an illegal immigrant. But farmers and immigrant advocates say that that a national overhaul of the immigration system is needed before more enforcement is mandated, and state and local governments shouldn't interfere. AP
Man Pleads Guilty To 1979 Snohomish Co. Killing
A 58-year-old Seattle man whose arrest for a 1979 killing was prompted by a tip from a deck of playing cards has pleaded guilty to the murder. A prison inmate reported the tip last year after reading about the killing of Susan Schwarz on a playing card deck distributed by the Snohomish County Sheriff's cold case team. The cards, first circulated in 2008, offer rewards for information that helps solve the cold cases. Schwarz was featured as the queen of hearts. Schwarz was killed in her home near Lynnwood. Detectives arrested Gregory Johnson last year after receiving the inmate's tip and tracking down a witness to the murder. Johnson pleaded guilty in Snohomish County Superior Court Friday. His sentencing is set for March 23. AP
Wa To Refund 25-Cent Fee After 520 Tolling Glitch
State transportation officials say they'll issue refunds after a glitch in the tolling system on the Highway 520 bridge caused drivers to be overcharged 25 cents. Motorists who made the trip between Seattle and Bellevue from Jan. 17 to 25 will get a refund, even those who were billed correctly. The 25-cent transaction fee is charged for those who travel the bridge infrequently and pay by the license plate. State officials say the billing problem was related to the toll equipment's internal clock. The problem was fixed Jan. 26. State toll division director Craig Stone says the agency is working to fix accounts that already were billed. AP
3 Injured In Shooting Outside Seattle Club
Seattle police are searching for a shooter after three people were seriously wounded early Saturday outside a South Lake Union club. Police say "a hostile crowd" interfered with officers as they tried to help three men who had been shot. The victims would not tell police what had happened. All three were taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Policy say a fight broke out inside the club. The subjects were kicked out of the club, and shots later were fired outside near the club. Police did not know whether the shooter left in a vehicle or on foot. They found a handgun away from the scene. AP
Former Oregon Cop Gets 10 Years For Sex Crimes
A former Portland, Ore., police officer living in Washington state has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sex crimes with girls. Ryan Graichen, of Kennewick, sobbed as he apologized to his four victims during his sentencing Friday in Benton County Superior Court. Graichen pleaded guilty in October to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and five counts of commercial sex abuse of a minor. He admitted paying an underage girl for sex and offering alcohol, marijuana and money to other girls or young couples for sex acts. The Tri-City Herald reports Graichen told the court Friday that he is remorseful. Graichen served as a Portland officer from 1998 to 2006. AP
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