2 charged in Seattle plot detained pending trial
Two men accused of plotting to attack a Seattle military recruiting station have been ordered to remain in custody pending their trials, after neither contested their detentions during hearings Wednesday. Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, also known as Joseph Anthony Davis, and Walli Mujahidh, also known as Frederick Domingue Jr., each face up to life in prison. The two were arrested June 22 after an anti-terrorinvestigation with the help of an informant. They're accused of planning to use machine guns and grenades in an attempt to kill as many military people as possible at a center that processes military recruits. The 33-year-old Abdul-Latif is a Seattle-area resident. The 32-year-old Mujahidh is a former Seattle resident who traveled from Los Angeles.
    
Seattle jury deliberating rape-stabbing case
A jury in Seattle is deliberating a verdict in the murder trial of a man accused of raping and stabbing a lesbian couple in their home, killing one of them. The case went to the King County Superior Court jury Wednesday after Isaiah Kalebu testified that God told him to attack his enemies. It was the first time Kalebu appeared before the jury because of his disruptive behavior in pre-trial hearings. He was in restraints and wearing a stun device that would have shocked him if he became violent. If convicted, the 25-year-old faces life in prison. He's charged with aggravated murder, attempted murder, rape and burglary in the July 2009 attack that killed Teresa Butz and injured her partner.
    
No charge for teen in coach shooting
Prosecutors say an 18-year-old Auburn, Wash., man arrested in the fatal shooting of a popular basketball and football coach acted in self-defense and will not be charged. Cascade Middle School coach Shennon Shelton was killed on May 1 and his brother Gaston Shelton was wounded. The King County prosecutor's office said Wednesday that prosecutors can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Olenthis Woods was unjustified in his actions. The prosecutor's statement said Woods faced "an imminent risk of being assaulted" by six large men who came to his apartment "to likely enact revenge" for an earlier attack on Gaston Shelton. The dispute started with a fight in an Auburn neighborhood. Woods was released in early May while the case was investigated.
    
3 arrests in burglary at WA dead man's house
King County sheriff's officers have arrested three men in the burglary of a dead man's house. Sgt. John Urquhart (URK'-hart) says Leonard Werner's home in the Burien area south of Seattle was ransacked as he lay dead on the floor. His two vehicles were also stolen. The 69-year-old man had been dead about two weeks when relatives found his body June 24. The cause and manner of his death is still under investigation. Detectives found some of the stolen items at a neighbor's house. Then on Tuesday, they found what they believed to be Werner's stolen PT Cruiser under a tarp in another neighborhood. Detectives got a search warrant, found more stolen property inside a house and made two arrests. That information led them to another house for a third arrest, then to a storage warehouse where the second stolen vehicle was hidden. Urquhart says three men were jailed for investigation of burglary and stolen property possession.
    
Carnegie Hero Fund honors 20, including 6 who died
The Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund has honored 20 people for their bravery in saving others from danger, including six people who died in their life-saving efforts. The honorees, or their surviving families, each receive a bronze medal and $5,000. Steel baron Andrew Carnegie started the fund in 1904 after being inspired by the rescue stories from a mine disaster that killed 181 people. Nearly 9,500 people have been honored, including 40 so far this year. The hero fund honors five groups of people each year for their heroism. The people honored on Wednesday are from 15 states and Canada and included 33-year-old Daniel Diaz who drowned after helping rescue a 12-year-old boy who became tired while swimming across the swift Columbia River in Oregon on July 4, 2009. Diaz was from Kent, Wash.
    
Sold! Fed. government auctions Seattle strip club
Uncle Sam, having no interest in running a cabaret, has sold one of Seattle's most notorious strip clubs. On Wednesday, the federal government got rid of Rick's on Lake City Way for $2.35 million at an auction. The property was seized last fall by investigators as part of a wide-ranging racketeering investigation of Frank Colacurcio, Seattle's most famous organized-crime figure. Paul Baxley of the U.S. Marshal's declined to say who bought the club. But he called the sale a successful one. He says the government was hoping for $2 million. The auction took place at the club, with the auctioneer calling out buyers from a stage where strippers used to dance. No cameras were allowed inside auction to protect the bidder's privacy. Another one of Colacurcio's properties was auctioned off for $600,000.
    
Man charged in Okla. killing fights extradition
A prosecutor says a Canadian charged in a 1983 homicide in southeastern Oklahoma is fighting extradition from Washington state. LeFlore County Assistant District Attorney Marion Fry told the Southwest Times Record that Suhail Shanti has decided not to waive extradition. Fry says that means it will probably be about 90 days before Shanti can be brought back to face a first-degree murder count. Shanti is accused in the Dec. 9, 1983, shooting death of 21-year-old Mohamed Ayman Al-Zein. Both were students at what is now Carl Albert State College. He was free on bond when officials say he fled before his April 9, 1984, jury trial. On Friday, Whatcom County Sheriff's deputies arrested Shanti in Blaine, Wash., when he tried to enroll in a program for frequent border crossers.
    
Governors can help unemployed veterans
About 27 percent of young military veterans are unemployed, and governors of states were told they have a role to play in helping them find work. Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson told the Western Governors' Association on Wednesday that governors should urge their state's business leaders to hire veterans. Nicholson told the meeting in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, that veterans make ideal employees. Boise State football coach Chris Petersen opened the two-day meeting with a speech on building effective organizations.
    
Amazon to cut off California-based Web affiliates
Amazon.com says it will stop working with online affiliates based in California since the state passed a new rule that forces online retailers to collect sales tax there. In an email Wednesday to California-based affiliates - individuals or companies who run websites that refer visitors to Amazon and then get a cut of any resulting sales - the Seattle-based company said it would cut ties with those who reside in the nation's most populous state if the law became effective. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the law Wednesday as part of a larger state budget package. In its email, Amazon.com Inc. called the bill "unconstitutional" and "counterproductive." Passage of the law, which is projected to net $200 million annually, makes California the latest state that has enacted such legislation.
    
Obama administration weighs in on NW spotted owl
The Obama administration is ready to take its shot at one of the nation's long-running conservation problems: how to save the spotted owl from extinction. For two decades, the bird has been at the center of legal and political battles in the Pacific Northwest. Its numbers are still declining, and it faces new competition from a bigger migrant from the East Coast, the barred owl. On Thursday, the government is to release a plan to save the spotted owl and also allow logging in national forests - a balance neither the Clinton nor Bush administrations were able to strike. The plan won't be the last word. It could go to court. And yet to come are decisions about setting aside critical habitat for the spotted owl and killing barred owls.
    
NOAA Pacific fleet set for Ore. facility opening
The new home for the Pacific fleet of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is officially opening in Newport on the Oregon coast. NOAA announced nearly two years ago it had chosen Newport over the Seattle area as the base for its Pacific marine operation center. But the last day of the lease on the Seattle facility did not arrive until Thursday, so Friday will mark the first day at the Newport center. The new 40,000-square-foot center provides logistical, engineering, maintenance and administrative support for NOAA's Pacific fleet. A NOAA spokesman says about 20 people are already in Newport, including officers and civilians. A dedication ceremony is set for August 20.
    
Ore. Supreme Court blocks planned execution
The state Supreme Court has blocked a planned execution in Oregon until there's more consideration of the inmate's mental competence. The court agreed with a filing by the Oregon Capital Resource Center, which said a neuropsychologist found Gary Haugen incompetent. Haugen's execution was set for Aug. 16. He had asked that appeals be ended.
    
First rail shipment of Passats from new VW plant
Volkswagen loaded the first rail shipment of 2012 Passats built at the automaker's new plant in Chattanooga, and a spokesman said Wednesday they are destined for dealers who will show them off to prospective customers until selling starts in late September. Kevin Charlet, the VW plant's manager of outbound vehicles, said as drivers steered the Passats onto train cars Wednesday that "it's a big day for all of us." The plant plans to build 150,000 Passats annually. Charlet said the shipment was destined for dealers in California, Washington and Colorado for test drives and displays until selling to customers starts. VW Chattanooga spokesman Guenther Scherelis said 85 percent of the Passats will be shipped by rail.
    
Body of missing man found in Moses Lake
A body found Wednesday in Moses Lake has been identified as a 25-year-old man who had been missing since early Saturday when he was seen walking away from a bar. KHQ reports authorities are investigating the death of Robert Scanlan and haven't ruled out a crime. Police, Grant County sheriff's deputies and Scanlan's relatives and friends had been searching for him. The body was recovered by police and a fire boat.
   
Bottle rocket starts 30-acre Prosser brush fire
Police say a 16-year-old with a bottle rocket started a brush fire that burned 30 acres near Prosser Wednesday before firefighters put it out. KVEW reports the teen was arrested for using an illegal firework and released to his parents.