The families of two Fort Lewis medics who were killed nearly a year ago will gather Sunday to honor the husband and wife with a meal at Olive Garden.

A nationwide memorial will be held Sunday at all Olive Garden restaurants, said Tami Gray, the mother of staff Sgt. Timothy Miller.

Miller and his wife, Sgt. Randi Miller, were killed March 2, 2008, in their Parkland home. Their 6-month-old daughter, Kassidy, was kidnapped and later found unharmed. She's now 18 months old and is living with her paternal grandparents, Gray and her husband, in Nevada.

Timothy was 27, Randi was 25. Both were medics in the Army and had served in Iraq with the 47th Combat Support Hospital, 62nd Medical Brigade.

A fellow soldier, Spc. Ivette Davila, has been charged in the Millers' deaths and Kassidy's kidnapping. She's being prosecuted by the military.

Olive Garden was a favorite spot of the Millers.

"The restaurant holds many memories for the family and friends," according to a press release from their family. "We are holding the first year memorial for SSG Timothy Miller and SGT Randi Miller at Olive Garden restaurants nation wide on March 1st 2009."

Timothy's family and childhood friends will gather at the Reno Olive Garden. Randi's family and friends will got to restaurants in New Hampshire and the surrounding areas.

According to Gray, Olive Garden will make a donation to the Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund in memory of the Millers.

"The public is invited to join the 'Celebration of Life Memorial' for SSG Timothy Miller and Sgt Randi Miller," Gray wrote. "We want little Kassidy Miller to know how much her parents are missed and how the country can come together for these heroes and help other children of fallen soldiers."

The family also will be lighting candles the night of March 2 to make the anniversary of the couple's deaths.

The family has set up a Web site to honor Timothy and Randi. Find it here.

Fife police have arrested a father suspected of breaking his infant daughter's leg.

Staff members at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital and Health Center called police officers and Child Protective Services on Friday. They were treating the 5-month-old girl for a broken femur and an injury to her mouth, according to a Fife Police Department press release.

Doctors X-rayed the girl and found previous injuries.

"The rib cage had been broken and mended," officers reported. "In addition, an injury to the hip was located."

Doctors said the girl's mouth injury was consistent with someone using excessive force to shove a bottle into the baby's mouth.

Through the investigation, Fife police learned the baby's father is the unemployed and watched the girl and her older sibling while the mother was working.

After interviewing the father, Fife detectives him on suspicion of three counts of first-degree assault of a child, the department reported. The mother also was being investigated for lying to officers about what happened to the girl.

A car fire was blocking the right lane of northbound Interstate 5 near 72nd Street in Tacoma, the state Department of Transportation reported.

The incident began about 1:20 p.m.

Troopers and firefighters were on the scene.

UPDATE: The fire is now out and cleared. The right lane is reopened.

A car stolen from Tacoma has turned up in the Tri-Cities.

The Subraru Impreza was involved in a police pursuit. The driver was arrested.

Here's the story from the Tri-City Herald.

The flags have been lowered today at all state buildings in memory of a Air Force sergeant who was killed in Afghanistan.

Here's the press release from Gov. Chris Gregoire's office:

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire has directed that flags at all Washington state agency facilities be lowered to half-staff Friday, Feb. 27, in memory of U.S. Air Force Sergeant Timothy P. Davis of Montesano. Davis was killed February 20, when his convoy was struck with an improvised explosive device near Bagram, Afghanistan.

Flags should remain at half-staff until close of business today.

Tacoma firefighters rescued three people from a burning home on the Hilltop this morning.

One of those women later died of her injuries at Tacoma General Hospital for treatment, officials said. The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the woman as Judith Abson, 43. An autopsy to determine her cause of death most likely won't take place until Monday.

A friend took the other two people who'd been rescued to the hospital for evaluations.

Firefighters were called to the home in the 1300 block of South Eighth Street about 5:40 a.m. The caller reported a fire in the basement and said there were people trapped inside the home, Tacoma Deputy Fire Chief Jolene Davis said.

When firefighters arrived, they found smoke and flames coming from the home. They immediately rescued two people from a second floor window, bringing them down a ladder.

The occupants reported another person was stuck inside, Davis said. At that point, the flames were coming up from the basement and through the first floor.

"(The firefighters) had some difficulty knocking the fire back so they could get in and search," Davis said.

Crews were successful and found Abson, who was stranded on the second floor. Firefighters brought her down the stairs, Davis said. She was then taken to Tacoma General by ambulance.

"The crews made a great stop and a great rescue," she said outside the home as fans whirled just outside the front door.

A fire inspector was on the scene and trying to determine a cause. Volunteers with the American Red Cross were also at the house, providing aid to those displaced by the fire.

Thomas Martini, who rents the home, said six adults, two children and six cats were inside at the time. Wrapped in a blanket near the charred home, Martini said the smoke alarms alerted him to a problem.

He discovered the fire was in the basement but couldn't get to it. He got his two daughters - ages 12 and 14 - out of the house.

"I got to the basement door and the flames were already two feet high," Martini said.

He got a key and unlocked the basement's outdoor entrance.

"The flames were too thick to get inside," Martini said.

The fire department arrived a short time later and rescued Martini's 20-year-old daughter and a friend from the second-story window, then Martini's wife from inside.

"They couldn't get down the stairs because it was too black," Martini said.

Joey Jackson and Mike Hardin, both of whom stay frequently at the home, smelled the smoke before the alarms went off.

"We thought it had been the stove left on," Hardin said.

They went to the basement and saw the flames.

"I tried to get to the fire extinguisher but the fire was between me and it," Hardin said. "We tried to get some water to douse on the fire but there was too much smoke coming out of the basement."

In an e-mail to The News Tribune, Noelle Dial described Abson this way:

For myself, I can tell you she made amazing cookies. She was generous with her time. She was always there with a shoulder to cry on, or to laugh at something funny, or to confide in...or...Yeah. She was a good friend. A good mother. An artist. She painted digital abstracts...they are beautiful work. She wanted to make a go at selling them, having prints made.

I'm going to miss her.

Another friend, Mel, wrote:

The people you meet online are real people.

Judith was a huge part of the online community of Everquest 2 and a dear friend to a great many people. As I write this, I'm also currently in a chat room with about thirty other people from the game, all mourning her loss and sharing fond memories. Some of them knew her outside of the game. Others only knew her from talking to her online.
Either way, she touched so many lives; an entire community made up of people from all over the world.

I was lucky enough to meet her at a "real life" gathering in Ohio last year. What can I say about her? She was an amazing woman with a big heart and an infectious laugh. She gave marvelous hugs. She was always there to offer a shoulder and a kind word (or a kick in the butt) to anyone who needed it. To say that her loss has left a giant hole in our community and she will be sorely missed would be an understatement.

Alex wrote this:

I heard of the loss from the RM community. A community that stretches from one part of the world to another. Judith was a big part of that community. As news of the loss of such a talented, wonderful soul reached us we were floored.

Judith was an amazing woman that would give you the shirt off her back if you asked. She was the type that would sit up with you for hours even though she was dead tired to help you with a problem whether small or big.

You hear once an awhile about those people that can reach through differences and just make lives better. She was one of them. I cant believe she is gone, and I know that our community will never forget her, her heart, her mind or the character of that woman.

My heart goes out to her husband, her two daughters, and her friends.

FISH Food Bank officials want people to be aware of callers pretending to be affiliated with the charity and asking for money.

FISH Executive Director Beth Elliott said Thursday that someone claiming to be from “Emergency Relief Services” has been calling people in Western Washington and soliciting donations. The Pierce County-based food bank never calls anyone asking for money, so callers saying they’re with the charity are a fraud, Elliott said.

“We’re pretty small,” Elliott said.

Kristin Alexander, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s Office, said anyone who receives a call from someone soliciting money for a charity should ask as questions about the charity to find out if the person is for real. Also, never give out any personal information over the phone. If people want to make a donation, they should call the food bank directly, she said.

A call to the phone number for “Emergency Relief Services” went unanswered Thursday afternoon. A voicemail greeting said, “You have reached the fundraising office, leave us a message and we’ll get right back to ya. Thanks.”

Elliott said she notified the consumer protection division of the Attorney General’s Office. People from as far away as Snohomish and Bellingham have reported receiving the calls.

The man wanted in a December crash that killed two people was arrested in Tacoma on Thursday afternoon.

Scott Michael Buskeness, 31, was arrested for two charges of vehicular homicide and one charge of vehicular assault. Buskeness was driving a Honda Civic north on Highway 7 and went into the center turn lane at 146th Street and rammed a Dodge Colt head-on at about 1:35 a.m. on Dec. 10.

The driver, 34-year-old Richard Pennington, died at a hospital after the crash. Jamie Reinford, 33, a passenger in the Colt, died a day later. The crash also hurt a third person.

Buskeness told a Washington State Patrol detective shortly after the crash that he had smoked methamphetamine that day. Troopers noticed that Buskeness' pupils were dialated, that he had an elevated pulse and that his tongue was green, documents state.

He hurt his hand and was treated at Madigan Army Medical Center, court documents state. He has at least 19 prior felony convictions, including several for violent crimes, documents state.

A Pierce County jury convicted two men of the state's highest crime today, finding Tyreek D. Smith and Darrell K. Jackson guilty of killing two men during a robbery in Tacoma's South End two years ago.

Jurors deliberated all day Wednesday and part of Thursday before returning their verdict: guilty on all counts, including two aggravated first-degree murder charges each that, barring a successful appeal, guarantee Smith and Jackson will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Following the verdict, Ruben Doria Sr., whose 24-year-old son Ruben Jr. was one of the victims, smiled and exchanged handshakes with the Tacoma police detectives who investigated the case.

Abraham "Warren" Abrazado, Doria's 22-year-old roommate, also died in September 2007 after Smith, Jackson and a third man attacked the victims in their apartment.

Deputy prosecutors Grant Blinn and Jerry Costello contended that Doria Jr. and Abrazado were stabbed multiple times and had their throats slashed so Smith, Jackson and co-defendant Pierre T. Spencer III could steal some marijuana plants, a lap-top computer and a video-game console.

Doria Sr., who lost his wife three months before his eldest son's death, told a reporter Thursday he felt a great sense of relief at the verdicts.

"What can you say?" said Doria, who had tears in his eye. "There's relief that it's all over and the jury did its service."

Smith, 23, and Jackson, 22, are to be sentenced March 27.

They face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole on the aggravated murder convictions. Pierce County Prosecutor Gerald Horne decide not to seek the death penalty in the case.

Jurors also convicted Smith and Jackson of two counts each of first-degree murder and one count each of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary. The lesser murder charges probably will be dismissed before sentencing.

Spencer, who testified against his co-defendants, previously pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors that will earn him a sentence of about 25 years, said his attorney, Michael Schwartz.

Tacoma police are searching for a man who robbed a downtown Tacoma bank branch Wednesday afternoon.

The man presented a robbery note to a teller at the U.S. Bank, 1145 Broadway, just after 3:30 p.m. He implied he had a weapon but no weapon was seen, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

The robber left with an undisclosed amount of cash. He was last seen heading eastbound on South 13th Street, Fulghum said.

Tacoma officers and a police dog conducted a search for the robber but didn't find him.

The robber is described as black, in his 30s and 5 feet 11 with a medium build. He wore a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and camouflage baseball cap, Fulghum said.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged a 25-year-old man in connection with a high-speed pursuit that ended when he crashed through someone's fence early Tuesday.

Prosecutors charged John Dintari Wortham on Wednesday with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, driving while under the influence, obstructing a public servant, failure to remain at the scene of an accident involving property damage and driving with a suspended license.

Court documents provide the following account:

A Washington State Patrol trooper on patrol early Tuesday saw a car turn onto 112th Street East from Golden Given Road East about 2 a.m. The move caught the trooper's attention because it was a wide turn and appeared to have been taken at a high rate of speed.

The trooper followed the car and paced it going 55 mph in a 40 mph zone. The trooper activated the patrol car's lights and initiated a traffic stop.

The car turned south onto A Street South, then accelerated away from the trooper. The trooper pursued the car as it drove 60 mph in a 25 mph zone.

The car ran a stop sign at 121st Street East and A Street South.

"Just south of 127th and A St., a northbound vehicle swerved to the shoulder to avoid the oncoming Chevrolet," court documents state. "The fleeing Chevrolet went through the intersection at 127th without slowing or stopping for the stop sign."

The driver failed to negotiate a turn at 129th Street East and A Street South, slid across the intersection and plowed through a fence. The car came to a stop in the front yard of a home in the 100 block of 129th Street East and woke up the home's occupants.

The driver, later identified as Wortham, got out and ran. A Pierce County sheriff's dog found Wortham hiding in a storage shed in the back yard. He refused to come out and the police dog was sent in to get him.

Wortham continued to struggle with officers after he was brought out of the shed. He was hit with a stun gun and taken into custody. He was taken to Tacoma General Hospital for treatment.

The trooper who initiated the stop smelled "an obvious odor of intoxicants coming from (Wortham's) breath," court documents state. "The defendant's eyes were extremely bloodshot and watery."

The driver and his abandoned car also smelled of marijuana.

Two people suffered minor injuries this morning when a car and school bus collided at an unmarked intersection in Lakewood.

The driver of the car complained of neck pain and was taken to St. Clare Hospital for treatment, Lakewood police Lt. Heidi Hoffman said. A 15-year-old girl on the bus was taken to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital and Health Center after she reported she had a headache. Two others went to a hospital for evaluation.

"All of the injuries were minor," the fire department reported.

The crash occurred just before 7 a.m. at an unmarked intersection near 75th Street Southwest and Custer Road. The school bus was full of middle school students at the time, the fire department reported. Two men were inside the car.

Lakewood police cited the car's driver for failing to yield, Hoffman said.

Warrants were issued Wednesday for the arrest of two men who allegedly threatened to shoot a Tacoma Municipal Court judge.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged Ronald Dean Ewing, 51, and Darrell Ray Talbott, 61, with one count each of intimidating a judge and felony harassment.

According to charging documents, a third man told Tacoma police earlier this month that he overheard Ewing and Talbott planning to acquire a rifle and take a "long shot" at the judge.

"Apparently, Ewing and Talbott were angry at (the judge) for a sentenced imposed on Talbott," prosecutors wrote in the charging papers.

Ewing is scheduled to appear before the judge on a criminal matter next month, and Talbott had been before her in the past, the documents state.

The two remained at large this morning.

From the follow-up file ...

Earlier this month, The News Tribune wrote about an 18-year-old girl who'd been allegedly kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend and driven down to Oregon. She was found safely and he was recovered.

Well, now the 18-year-old ex-boyfriend has been charged in Pierce County Superior Court and booked into Pierce County Jail.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged Palla Sum with second-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary, second-degree assault and fourth-degree assault. He was arraigned on the charges Wednesday afternoon and is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Court documents give the following account:

The 18-year-old victim lived with Sum briefly in Oregon. But because he was physically abusive, the woman's mother picked her up from the home Feb. 10 and brought her back to her Pierce County home.

The mother told deputies she went to work that night and the daughter stayed at her home to watch her young nephew.

About 6:45 a.m. Feb. 11, the daughter called the mother and told her to call 911 because she believed Sum was at the house.

The mother called police, then left work. When she arrived home, the doors were locked and there were large holes in the walls. The nephew was awake and the daughter was gone.

The mother called the daughter on her cell phone and asked her a series of questions, including whether she was OK, in danger and whether she was with Sum. The daughter answered yes to the questions.

"(The daughter) told her mother she was in the front passenger seat of a car, the defendant was sitting behind her, her eyes were covered and someone else was driving, and she thought she was on a freeway," court documents state.

The 4-year-old nephew told investigators Sum had kicked and slapped him and pushed him into a wall.

Six hours after the daughter was kidnapped, an Oregon State Police SWAT team found her unharmed in Salem and arrested Sum.

Local clergy will gather Friday for a brief, spiritual ceremony for a 30-year-old mother who's body was discovered last week at a Hilltop home.

The Moment of Blessing ceremony for Jessica Armstrong begins at 11 a.m. outside the home at 1902 S. Sheridan Ave.

Armstrong was reported missing July 14, 2007. At the time, Tacoma police investigated her disappearance but found no signs of foul play.

That changed last week, when a new detective took another look at the file. Investigators again talked to Armstrong's boyfriend. After several hours, Glenn Riccio confessed to fatally shooting Armstrong and burying her body in the side yard of his home on South Sheridan Avenue.

Prosecutors charged Riccio, 39, with first-degree murder on Tuesday.

Associated Ministries performs Moment of Blessing ceremonies at the scenes of all homicides in Pierce County. The gatherings are a way to cleanse the place where the crime happened and to provide support to the victim's friends, family and the surrounding neighborhood.

The location of Friday's ceremony will be marked by bamboo poles laced with red and purple ribbons. Each ribbon bears the name and date of death of a homicide victim.

The events are open to the public.

Acting on a tip to a drug hotline, Pierce County sheriff's deputies busted a three-stage marijuana grow operation at a Buckley home this week.

Deputies served a search warrant on a home in the 24200 block of 158th Street East on Tuesday and found 92 plants, court documents state.

In addition to the plants, deputies found grow equipment, light shields, high-pressure sodium bulbs, metal halide bulbs, ballasts, timers, water pumps, grow chemicals and pesticides, court documents state.

They arrested two brothers, who are originally from New York, and booked them into Pierce County Jail.

On Wednesday, Pierce County prosecutors charged the two - 51-year-old David Pardee and 56-year-old Gary Pardee - with unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance.

A lane of southbound traffic is getting around multiple crashes on Interstate 5 at the Nisqually River, the state Department of Transportation reported this morning.

The accidents continue to block two lanes of southbound I-5 from mileposts 114 to 115 in Thurston County.

Earlier, all lanes of southbound I-5 were closed.

Washington State Patrol troopers, firefighters and medical aid personnel are on the scene. Transportation crews and tow trucks are on their way, DOT reported at 7:20 a.m.

Drivers headed southbound are backed up to Fort Lewis. Northbound drivers also are delayed.

Transportation officials warn drivers to expect significant delays and to expect winter driving conditions on the road.

UPDATE at 8 a.m.: All southbound lanes are now open.

Drivers remain backed up to north of DuPont. Northbound drivers are backed up to Lacey.

UPDATED: There's snow on the ground this morning and the flakes have accumulated enough to delay the start of school for some South Sound students.

The following districts and private schools are running two hours late today as of 7:45 a.m.:

* Auburn.

* Federal Way.

* Fife.

* Enumclaw.

* Vashon Island.

* North Thurston.

* Olympia.

* University Place.

* Chief Leschi.

* Yelm.

For more detailed information on the impacts to schools, go here.

From the morning television reports, the snow and winter driving conditions appear worse north of the King-Pierce County line. There's snow on the roadway along Interstate 405 and Highway 167. Plan ahead and take it slow.

As for the mountain passes, traction tires are required over White Pass and advised over Stevens and Snoqualmie passes.

UPDATE: The overnight and morning snow accumulations vary across Pierce County.

A good layer covers the grass and sparkles up the tree branches in the South Hill area, while parts of Tacoma hardly have any flakes. The downtown roads were clear.

In Sumner, the occasional flake has fallen. Orting has a bit more snow and Puyallup has snow on the sidewalks. No problems have been reported in any of the cities.

In Thurston County, ice has been a problem for morning drivers.

A hungry bandit was arrested in Sumner today for breaking into a car, stealing credit cards and spending about $380 at fast food restaurants.

On Aug. 17, 2007, the alleged Hamburglar used the cards to spend about $580 on unknown items at a Target in Bonney Lake, and went back 20 minutes later to try an buy a TV and an XBox. He spent $150 at a Sumner McDonald's and $232 at a Sumner Jack-in-the-Box before the victim cancelled his cards. Most of the money was spent on gift cards, court documents state.

Police were able to get the man's license plate number from surveillance video, which was connected through a prior incident report. A Jack-in-the-Box employee was able to pick the bandit out of a photo array. He was finally arrested today.

He faces five counts of second-degree identity theft, two counts of second-degree theft, one charge of second-degree attempted theft and two counts of third-degree theft.

The state Department of Natural Resources is hiring for the upcoming wildfire season.

The agency is accepting applications for more than 350 forest firefighter and natural resource worker openings. They also are looking for summer workers in the Washington Conservation Corps.

The application deadlines vary but most are due by 5 p.m. March 31. Job listings can be found here.

The fire season begins April 15.

The forest firefighter position is entry-level and does not require previous experience in natural resources work, the agency reported. DNR provides training. Applicants for that job do need:

· A valid driver’s license and two years of driving experience.

· An acceptable driving record free of serious violations.

· A high school diploma or G.E.D.

· Successful completion of a physical fitness/work capacity test.

The Washington Conservation Corps is comprised of young adults looking to conserve and enhance the state's natural resources. Teams are based in Spokane, Okanogan, Kittitas, Klickitat, King, Skagit and Thurston counties.

Members of the Corps are paid minimum wage and receive a basic health insurance package. They also have the change to earn a voucher to pay for college tuition or to repay qualified student loans.

Applicants to the Corps must be:

* At least 18 years of age but not yet 26.

* A U.S. citizen (to be eligible for the AmeriCorps Education Award).

* Currently living in Washington.

No previous experience is required.

Three comedians are going to be part of a new, national campaign aimed at reducing the number of youths who drive recklessly.

The campaign featuring Rachel Harris, Fred Willard and Rob Riggle (pictured here) was launched today by the Ad Council. The council is joined by a group of state attorneys general (including Washington's) and consumer protection agencies in the effort.

Car crashes have been the No. 1 killer of teens in the country for more than 20 years.

"The message we're aiming to get across is that when your buddy is driving like a bat out of hell, you need to speak up," Attorney General Rob McKenna said in a press release. "Research shows that teen drivers will listen to their friends."

Here's more from the state Attorney General's Office's press release:

In one TV spot, Harris plays a ditzy teen concerned that her driver is paying more attention to the car stereo than the road. "If we die in a car crash, I want to donate my eyes to my neighbor, Gary," she says with a sarcastic smile and toss of her blonde ponytail.

Another public service announcement features a not-so-youthful-looking Riggle wearing a letterman's jacket as he tells an off-the-wall story about horses that ends in a threat to his speeding driver. Willard, stretching the teenage image to the extreme, goes even further with his warning to a teen talking on a cell phone: If he dies, he'll return as a ghost to haunt the boy.

...

The PSAs direct audiences to visit www.SpeakUpOrElse.org, where teens can send instant message videos starring the comedians to their friends. The recipient, expecting a friend to chat, will instead receive a reckless driving video. The site will also include an application that turns an iPhone or iPod Touch into a bullhorn with flashing lights that can be used to inform a friend of his or her reckless driving.

Created pro bono by ad agency Y&R New York, the ads are a continuation of a prevention program that began in January 2007 with a promotion called UR the Spokesperson. Earlier PSAs featured a stereotypical, smarmy, over-the-top spokesperson who appears in the car to deliver safe driving tips. The ads concluded with the message, "There is no spokesperson to prevent reckless driving. There's only you. Speak up."

...

The Ad Council is distributing the new PSAs to media outlets nationwide this week. Since its launch, the campaign has received more than $44.5 million in donated media support.

SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) will be helping to spread the message by reaching out to its 350,000 student members. And the Ad Council will work promote the campaign on social networking sites and blogs.

NHTSA data shows that, on average, more than 300,000 teens are injured in car crashes each year, nearly 8,000 are involved in fatal crashes and more than 3,500 are killed. Research also shows that teen drivers are involved in more than five times as many fatal crashes as adults. Young drivers are more likely to speed, run red lights, make illegal turns and die in an SUV rollover.

Tacoma-Vashon Island ferry commuters can expect to see the end of really long lines next week as the larger ferry Rhododendron is scheduled to return to service.
The 48-car Rhody as ferry users call it returns to the Point Defiance-Tahlequah route Saturday morning, a Ferry System spokeswoman said Wednesday.
The smaller 34-car Hiyu ferry has been handling the route since the Rhody went out of service Jan. 6 for extensive maintenance.
The Hiyu now goes in for a week of maintenance and will be available as the state’s only backup ferry.
The Hiyu, however, could return to Vashon in the future.
One version of the ferry system's proposed long-range budget - known as Plan B - calls for the Hiyu to become the permanent boat on the south Vashon Island run. Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposed 2009-11 budget also calls for the Hiyu to permanently replace the Rhody, as it's known to ferry riders.
A petition to the governor and the Legislature is circulating on the island, asking that the Rhody or a similarly sized boat be kept on the Point Defiance-Tahlequah route. Its loss, the petitioners say, would be a hardship on island residents and businesses, as well as on businesses in Pierce County.

Here's a brief update on a shooting early Tuesday near a downtown nightclub.

As reported yesterday on this blog, a man was seriously injured. He and the suspect had words at McCabe's American Music Cafe. A short time later, the suspect shot the victim in the 200 block of South 27th Street, a short distance from the nightclub at 2611 Pacific Ave. The victim had been heading to his vehicle.

The suspect fled in a car and has not been arrested.

Initially, the victim's injuries were considered life threatening. Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum reports the 26-year-old victim is now expected to survive. At this point, because of his injuries and medical situation, the victim has not been able to provide investigators much information.

Investigators have developed some information about a possible suspect, Fulghum said.

McCabe's has been plagued by issues and violence in the past.

The state Liquor Control Board has notified the owners of McCabe's that the board will not renew its liquor license.

The owners have appealed the decision and a hearing is scheduled for June 8, according to an agency spokeswoman.

The Liquor Control Board is investigating Tuesday's shooting.

The "s" word had stumbled back into the forecast.

The National Weather Service is reporting that a cold air mass will plant itself over Western Washington tonight and some snow may come with.

A high likelihood of precipitation combined with freezing temperatures could result in snow or snow-rain mix across the lowlands late tonight and Thursday.

The good news is: whatever falls will not be much and it likely won't stick around for long. The forecast calls for highs in the lower to mid 40s on Thursday. The snow might accumulation along Hood Canal and in the southwest interior.

State transportation crews are warning drivers to prepare for winter driving this evening.

"The mountain passes and Spokane could be especially hard hit, with up to 15 inches of snow expected overnight on Snoqualmie Pass," the state Department of Transportation reported this morning.

"They are telling us to prepare for 'surprise squalls,'" said Chris Christopher, WSDOT Director of Maintenance Operations, in a press release. "This means drivers could experience clear conditions one minute and then stormy winter conditions the next. Combined with the possibility for freezing rain and evening commute traffic, the potential exists for icy roadways."

Transportation crews will be monitoring the weather and will respond as needed.

The agency offers these tips:

Drivers should be prepared, carry chains, slow down and schedule extra time to reach your destination safely. Slow down when approaching intersections, off-ramps, bridges or shady spots. These all have potential to develop black ice that makes driving hazardous.

Know Before you go:

Get information from our Web site at www.wsdot.wa.gov before you leave your home or office.

511 - This driver information phone line provides current traffic, incident and closure information. TTY users can call 1-800-833-6388. Out-of-state callers can access the information at call 1-800-695-ROAD (7623).

Mountain pass conditions are available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/.

At www.wsdot.wa.gov/winter, drivers can find WSDOT’s winter driving-related information, including preparing a vehicle for winter driving, safe driving tips and mountain pass travel advisories. The WSDOT winter site also offers information about chains, winter tires and how WSDOT maintenance crews work in winter weather.

On WSDOT’s website, www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/weather, drivers can look roadway temperatures and see camera images from across the state.

At www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/trafficalerts, a map shows highway incidents and closures.

Two Pierce County sheriff's deputies suffered minor injuries Tuesday night in separate incidents.

One deputy had to have his hand checked out after a Taser misfired while he was trying to subdue a suicidal subject, the Sheriff's Department reported. The deputy had been called to the 19600 block of 71st Avenue Court East about 8:30 p.m. for a person threatening to commit suicide, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

The deputy was using his Taser when the stun gun malfunctioned.

"It wouldn't fire, wouldn't fire," Troyer said. "As the deputy tried to fix the Taser, it misfired."

The deputy got jolted and was taken to Allenmore Hospital for an evaluation. He was treated and released. The Sheriff's Department was researching why the Taser misfired, Troyer said.

"We suspect it was a bad cartridge," he said.

Another deputy was injured when he was forced to drive off the road to avoid being hit by a truck driving with no tail lights.

The incident occurred about 9:50 p.m. in the 40400 block of the Eatonville Cut-off Road, Troyer said. The deputy was driving a fully-marked Ford Expedition. The SUV went through a ditch and sustained a broken bumper and fender. Mechanics will be checking the condition of the SUV.

"We believe the other driver knew another car went off the side of the road and didn't stop," Troyer said.

The deputy suffered neck and back pain. He was taken by ambulance to Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup for treatment, then was released.

The truck has not been located. It was last seen going south on Meridian Avenue from the Eatonville Cut-off Road.

It's described as a mid-1970s model, possibly Ford truck that's either brown or primer black. It had a six-inch lift and big tires.

Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up a reward for information in the incident. Reach Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959. Tipsters may remain anonymous.

You may have noticed some fire activity this week along Bridgeport Way.

Here's the scoop.

Members of the Pierce County Special Operations Rescue Team have been conducting training exercises Monday and Tuesday night. A final drill will be held tonight.

The exercises have started at 4 p.m. each of the days. It lasts until 10 p.m. The firefighters are working on the north side of the Town Center construction zone in the 3500 block of Bridgeport Way.

The team is comprised of specially-trained firefighters and paramedics from University Place, Lakewood, East Pierce Fire and Rescue, Gig Harbor and Central Pierce fire departments. They are trained to deal with trench rescues, high angle or low angle rope rescues, structural collapses and confined space.

Pierce County sheriff's deputies are looking for Peninsula-area residents interested in watching for speeders in their neighborhoods.

The Peninsula Detachment is forming a Citizen's Speed Watch team. Interested residents will monitor a radar display board on roads in the Peninsula area. The aim is to educate drivers about the posted speed limits, the detachment reported.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the team can fill out the volunteer pre-application at www.piercesheriff.org or download the application from the Peninsula Detachment Web site. Please not "CSW" on the front page of the application.

Questions? Call the volunteer coordinator at 253-798-3624.

Puyallup Tribal Police nabbed a man on Friday they believe is behind three snatch-and-run thefts of cash from the Emerald Queen Casino dating back to 2006.

Arnold Edward Williams was charged Tuesday in Pierce County Superior Court with three counts of first-degree theft.

According to court records: A man grabbed money and tickets from Tribal Lottery System runners on Mar. 4, 2006, Oct. 11 2008 and Nov. 11, 2008.

On Feb. 20, security officers spotted Williams, whom they "recognized from previous incidents."

The approached him as he played a slot machine.

"When officers informed the defendant that he was a robbery suspect, the defendant continued to play the slot machine."

Officers said they believed Williams was their man because: 1) he looks the same as the thief on security video, 2) he has the same facial features, 3) he has a widows peak and receding hairline like the thief, 4) they walk the same way and 5) their jackets match.

"Upon viewing the video all of the officers agreed that the suspect in the video was the defendant."

For those who are wondering, the governor has ordered flags at stage agencies to be flown at half staff for the death of a Spokane community college instructor.

Spokane Community College instructor Erik Anderson, 38, was killed last week at the SCC student center while working on bowling alley equipment. Anderson, who was teaching a bowling class, was in a pit behind a lane, trying to dislodge a pin, according to The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review.

Anderson served in the Army during the Gulf War and was a popular track coach at Clark College and at the Community Colleges of Spokane. He was a champion runner in collage and was an All-American in four events, the Spokesman-Review reported.

Firefighters doused a house fire this morning that appears to have been sparked by an oil furnace in the crawl space under the building.

Central Pierce Fire & Rescue crews were called to the home in the 10800 block of Valley Avenue about 8:30 a.m. They found heavy smoke coming from the back of the house, the fire department reported.

They attacked the flames. The fire started under the floor in the crawl space, then spread into the main living area, the department reported.

No one was home at the time of the blaze. No injuries were reported.

Investigators estimated the damage at $60,000. The renter had no insurance. The home, however, is insured, Central Pierce Fire & Rescue reported.

Pierce County prosecutors filed a first-degree murder charge today against a man who admitted last week to shooting Jessica Armstrong to death in the summer of 2007 and burying her body in the yard of a home he owned on Tacoma's Hilltop.

A not guilty plea was entered on behalf of Glenn D. Riccio, 39. Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson maintained Riccio's bail at the $1 million set during the defendant's preliminary appearance last week.

Prosecutors contend in court documents that last week Riccio confessed to police that he'd shot the 30-year-old Armstrong to death at her request in the basement of a house in the 1900 block of South Sheridan. Armstrong was mentally "sick" and asked to be "euthanized," Riccio told detectives.

He said he then buried her body in the yard.

Investigators found a human body wrapped in plastic buried in the yard Friday. An autopsy determined the body belonged to Armstrong and that she died of a single gunshot wound to the head, according to court records.

Riccio is to appear in court for a pre-trial hearing in early April.

She was singing along to Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold," having a good time after an night out.

Then, a loud noise rocked the car early Saturday.

"I couldn't breathe," the 29-year-old Spanaway mother said.

The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, started crying. Something had hit her in the upper back, stealing her breath.

Within moments, she and her friends discovered a bullet had penetrated the trunk and struck the mother in the back on the spine. Luckily, it lost steam as it traveled through the car and didn't break the woman's skin.

But it was scary, nonetheless.

"My daughter and I cried," the mother said. "Just so lucky to alive."

Pierce County sheriff's deputies are searching for the gunman who fired the bullet. They believe the woman and her friend were shot at random as they headed east on 168th Street East from Pacific Avenue about 1 a.m. They haven't found a reason to believe either woman was targeted.

Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer has said the mother wasn't more seriously injured.

Detectives were sorting through three reports of gunfire from the same time period to see whether any resulted in the woman’s injuries. No arrests have been reported.

The mother said there were no cars behind hers as they headed home early Saturday after a stop at a fast-food restaurant to get something to eat.

"We were happy, just having fun," she said.

The bullet left a sizable welt on the woman's back that turned black and blue. She took herself to the doctor later Saturday because of tingling in her hands.

"I can't lay on my back," she said. "I have to lay on my side."

The woman said she's sore and thankful she wasn't more seriously injured.

"I just hope they find these people," she said. "I don't understand how they can go around and shoot innocent people."

Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and charges filed in the shooting. Reach Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959. Tipsters may remain anonymous.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the 60-year-old woman found dead in her Sumner home Monday afternoon.

She was identified as Shirley Miluk, the office reported this morning. An autopsy will be conducted today to determine how and why Miluk died.

Sumner police booked a woman into Pierce County Jail on Monday night on suspicion of second-degree murder-domestic violence. Investigators have said little about the case or the arrest but said the suspect was known to the victim's family.

Officers found Miluk dead inside an apartment complex on 153rd Avenue Court East shortly after noon Monday.

The suspect is on today's in-custody arraignment calender and is scheduled to make her first court appearance in the case. Until then, The News Tribune is not identifying her.

UPDATE: Through court records, The News Tribune has learned the woman arrested in this case is the daughter of the victim.

The daughter was charged - as a juvenile - with assaulting Miluk in June 2006.

On May 29, 2006, Miluk had called 911, then hung up. Officers contacted her and she reported she'd been injured by her daughter.

"Miluk told police that the respondent had not been taking her medication and became more and more violent during an argument and that she had been striking walls," court documents state. "Miluk stated that she went to the phone to call 911 in fear that the respondent would become assaultive, but the respondent grabbed the phone away and her mother's wrist and pulled her into the hallway, where she was able to wrestle away the phone."

The daughter was combative with officers, kicking and spitting in the patrol car, court documents state.

The daughter was charged with fourth-degree domestic violence assault. She received a deferred disposition. The charges were dismissed in October 2006 after the daughter successfully completed all the requirements of the deferred disposition, court documents state.

The last homicide in Sumner was April 9, 2007, when Michael J. Erskine, a 19-year-old Federal Way resident, was shot and killed in a trailer park home in the 6100 block of 160th Avenue East. The gunman, 23-year-old Ronald A. Westerbur, then killed himself.

UPDATED as of 2:15 p.m.: Prosecutors charged Laura Jennette Jonston with first-degree murder in her mother's death this afternoon.

Jonston pleaded not guilty. Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson ordered the 20-year-old woman jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.

According to court documents, Jonston and her mother argued either late Sunday or Monday morning, possibly over Miluk kicking her daughter and her 13-month-old child out of the house. Jonston told police the argument turned physical at one point, with her mother attacking her with a lamp, a jar and eventually a decorative rooster.

Jonston said she then armed herself with a knife and stabbed Miluk in the stomach, according to court records. The fight ended for as long as 20 minutes, Jonston told investigators, before starting up again. Jonston said she stabbed her mother in the back during the second round, killing her.

Police said Miluk's body had at least nine obvious stab wounds and defensive wounds on both her hands. Miluk recently had back surgery and sometimes used a cane to get around, according to court documents.

Jonston's child has been placed with a relative.

A Pierce County Superior Court jury today found a 60-year-old man guilty of the murder of an Alaskan resident, a crime that remained unsolved for nearly 30 years until construction crews unearthed the victim's dismembered remains in June 2007.

The jury deliberated for less than three hours before convicting Nicholas Notaro of first-degree murder in the 1978 death of Joseph Tarricone.

Notaro is to be sentenced March 27. A conviction for first-degree murder carries a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison although Notaro probably will get more time because he has a criminal record and used a gun during the crime.

Deputy prosecutor Dawn Farina contended during a week-long trial that Notaro shot Tarricone in the back of the head, used a chain saw to dismember his body then buried it in the yard of a home outside Puyallup in Pierce County.

The body lay there undiscovered until crews clearing the lot for a strip mall unwittingly dug up Tarricone's remains, setting off an investigation that led to Notaro and his sister, Renee Curtiss, being charged with murder.

Farina argued that Notaro committed the crime at the behest of Curtiss, who once dated Tarricone and allegedly had grown tired of his advances and wanted him "gone," according to court documents. Tarricone had traveled to Pierce County to visit Curtiss at the time of the killing.

Curtiss is set to go on trial March 16.

Notaro confessed to the crime, but his lawyer, Mary K. High, argued during trial that her client, a protective brother, admitted to killing Tarricone only after detectives threatened to make a case against Curtiss. He originally blamed the killing on his now-deceased mother.

Nothing says happy belated Valentines Day like a Molotov cocktail.

James Lawrence Williams, 52, was charged Monday with attempted first-degree arson in an early morning incident Feb. 16 at his girlfriend’s house in the 11600 block of Yakima Avenue South.

According to a prosecutor’s affidavit, his girlfriend had heard a “knocking noise on her home” and looked out to see flames and Williams running away.

Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies later found a glass bottle with a burnt rag sticking out of it about three feet from the side of her home. It smelled of gasoline.

The house had burn marks under the eaves where the incendiary device was found.

When he was found hiding under a blanket in a home near his father’s house a few days later, Williams denied being involved in the apparent firebombing.

William’s girlfriend also told police he left her a cell phone message the evening before the fire saying, “Say Peaches, it’s on and crackin’, it’s on and crackin’.” The couple had reportedly quarreled over her plans to move out.

(Photo: Zack Akukumba)

Tacoma police are investigating an early morning shooting that seriously injured one man near a downtown nightclub.

The victim and suspect reportedly exchanged words at McCabe's American Music Cafe, 2611 Pacific Ave., police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

A short time later, the suspect shot the victim about a half block from the club. The shooting occurred just before 2 a.m.

The suspect fled in a vehicle, Fulghum said. He's not been identified or located.

The victim's injuries were initially described as life threatening, Fulghum said. His condition was not known this morning.

No other information was immediately available.

It doesn't pay to race along I-5, especially on Sundays.

Here's the press release from the Washington State Patrol:

Three racers were arrested on I-5 in Seattle Sunday as they approached a construction zone at Michigan Street at speeds over 90 MPH.

Troopers responded to several 911 calls regarding three erratically and aggressively driven Ford Mustangs racing northbound I-5 through Kent. With the assistance of witnesses and Department of Transportation workers, troopers were able to easily locate the reckless Mustangs as they continued northbound.

Several callers reported the incident which also included two Volkswagen Jettas and a Nissan SX. A total of six vehicles were involved in the afternoon racing incident. The Nissan was reported to have cut in front of the Mustangs while all vehicles were at an extremely high rate of speed then slam on its brakes, nearly causing a collision. The vehicles then continued racing northbound through the Duwamish curves heading into heavy congestion resulting from the highly publicized on-going I-5 construction.

Troopers stopped two of the six racing vehicles and arrested both drivers for reckless driving. After impounding the vehicles, troopers spotted a third involved Mustang, still driving in the area. Troopers initiated a traffic stop and arrested the driver.

The three arrested drivers of the Ford Mustangs were white males between the ages of 18-23 from the Bellingham area and claim to be a part of an auto racing group known as "Rogue Squadron." They will be charged in King County District Court for reckless driving/racing and possibly several counts of reckless endangerment.

"With one of the busiest construction seasons just starting in King County the Washington State Patrol will utilize every tool to include; the Aggressive Driving Apprehension Team (ADAT), aircraft, and additional troopers patrolling these areas to ensure the safety of the motoring public as well as those doing construction work," stated Lieutenant Jeff Sass of the Washington State Patrol.

An Auburn man was sentenced today to more than 18 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Nahum Copado-Nieto, 37, was arrested last May after a wiretap investigation of a group that smuggled meth from Mexico, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

"This is a giant methampetamine conspiracy, and the overwhelming evidence is that this defendant was the linchpin for the conspiracy," U.S. District Judge James L. Robart said.

Investigators found nearly a pound of meth and more than $44,000 in cash at the home of Copado-Nieto, a Mexican national. Two other couriers were arrested during the investigation. The meth was reportedly 99.4 percent pure.

The three other defendants have already been sentenced. Copado-Nieto pleaded guilty in October.

Both the prosecution and the defense rested their cases today in the trial of two men accused of taking part in a 2007 Tacoma double murder.

Closing arguments are set for Tuesday morning in the courtroom of Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff.

Tyreek D. Smith and Darrell K. Jackson are charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of Ruben Doria Jr. and Abraham "Warren" Abrazado.

Doria and Abrazado were killed in their South End apartment Sept. 22, 2007, during an apparent robbery, according to court records. Police said their throats were slashed.

Pierce Thelberg Spencer III pleaded guilty in the case and testified against his Smith and Jackson, who face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged.

A suspect was taken into custody Monday afternoon in connection with a suspicious death in Sumner.

A 60-year-old woman was found dead in her home at about noon in an apartment complex on 153rd Avenue Court East, Sumner city spokeswoman Carmen Palmer said. A suspect who is "known to the family" was taken into custody, and no other details are available.

The woman’s family was being notified of her death.

A neighbor of the woman told KIRO-TV News that he heard screams coming from her apartment hours before her body was found.
“I came home and I went upstairs and had my window open and I heard screaming,” said the neighbor, Luke Fabre.

After police began their investigation at the apartment complex Fabre said he realized the screams he heard about 9 p.m. Sunday night might have been a murder taking place.

“I thought it was kids running away from each other, but apparently it wasn’t,” he told KIRO-TV. “Apparently someone was killed in (apartment) No. 2.”

The Regional Crime Response Unit, which is comprised of investigators from seven Pierce County cities, is helping with the investigation.

Auburn police are investigating the death of a 20-year-old woman early today.

The victim's 19-year-old estranged boyfriend has been arrested on suspicion of homicide, the police department announced this afternoon.

Auburn police were called to the 3700 block of Auburn Way South about 3:20 a.m. today because the woman was having difficulty breathing, police reported. Officers arrived and found the woman dead.

"Initial investigation showed the death to be a homicide," a press release states.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy to determine her cause of death.

The investigation was continuing.

Pierce County sheriff's investigators are trying to figure out who fired the bullet early Saturday that hit a woman riding in a car in Spanaway.

The woman was not seriously injured but detectives say the scenario could have turned out much worse. Investigators don't believe the victim - or the woman driving the car - were targeted.

"This appears to be a completely random shooting," sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. "The victims have no issues with anyone and were just driving home."

Detectives are sorting through three shots fired calls from the same time period to see if any resulted in the woman's injuries.

"We don't know if came from someone on the ground or from another moving car," Troyer said. "The victims saw a car pass them just prior to the shooting, but are not positive that the shots came from the car."

The victim and another woman told officers they were driving east on 168th Street East from Pacific Avenue about 1 a.m., deputies reported. The women reported hearing something loud and thought something hit their car.

"The next thing the driver knew her friend, who was seated in the front seat next to her, began crying and saying something had hit her in the back," Troyer said. "They pulled over and the driver saw stuffing from the seat on the passenger and when the passenger sat forward there was a bullet lying on the seat."

The car pulled over in the 17300 block of 11th Avenue Court East. Deputies say the bullet hit the back of the car, traveled through the truck and backseat. It then went through the front seat and hit the passenger in the spine, Troyer said.

"Fortunately, the bullet had lost enough velocity that it just left a large welt on the victim's back," Troyer said. "It did not penetrate the skin."

Deputies found a 9 mm casing on the south shoulder of 168th Street East just east of B Street.

At the time the victim was injured, deputies were responding to several reports of shots fired in the area of 168th Street East and B Street East. Early that morning, deputies also investigated reports of someone trying to shoot out the windows of a pharmacy at 152nd Street and Pacific Avenue and of shots fired at a party.

The gunman has not been identified.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959. Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to arrests and charges filed in the case. Tipsters may remain anonymous.

Local and federal agencies teamed up again recently to investigate and arrests those involved in prostitution.

The aim of Operation Cross Country III was to find children who are being prostituted and round up those involved in domestic trafficking of children for the purposes of prostitution and solicitation.

During the recent three-day, national enforcement activity, 48 children were recovered and 571 people were arrested on suspicion of domestic trafficking, according to a statement released this morning by the FBI.

"We continue to pursue those who exploit our nation's children," said FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, in the statement. "We may not be able to return their innocence but we can remove them from this cycle of abuse and violence."

Locally, the Tacoma, Lakewood, Kent, Lynnwood, Everett and Seattle police departments assisted in the enforcement action.

Tacoma police arrested five women on suspicion of soliciting and/or drug possession, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said today. None of them were juveniles.

The action was part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative. The initiative was formed in 2003 to address the growing problem of children forced into prostitution, the FBI reported.

"To date, the 32 Innocence Lost Task Forces and Working Groups have recovered 670 children," the press release stated. "The investigations and subsequent convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences, including multiple 25-years-to-life sentences and the seizure of more than $3 million in assets."

An autopsy could be performed today on the remains found Friday afternoon at a Hilltop home.

Tacoma police investigators uncovered a bag that they likely contains the remains of Jessica Armstrong.

Armstrong, 30, was last seen June 14, 2007. Her mother reported her missing a month later. Armstrong was investigated as a missing person but no signs of foul play came to light at the time.

Last week, Tacoma police reinterviewed her boyfriend at the time. After several hours, Glenn Riccio confessed he'd killed Jessica and buried her body in a bag on the side of his home in the 1900 block of South Sheridan Avenue.

Riccio made a court appearance Friday and a judge found probable cause to hold him in jail on first-degree murder. He's scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

Tacoma police found a plastic bag where Riccio told investigators he buried Jessica's body. The contents of the bag were consistent with a body.

An autopsy on the remains was not conducted over the weekend. That work would likely be done today, the office reported this morning. As part of the process, investigators will determine the identity of the body.

A friend of Jessica's talked to The News Tribune over the weekend. Find that story here.

UPDATE: As of 3 p.m., the autopsy had not been completed, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office.

Through the Tacoma Police Department, Jessica Armstrong's mother, who lives in California, has declined to speak with the media about her daughter's death. The family wants to grieve in private.

One friend of Jessica's remembered her as a good mother. She worked at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store before taking a job at Best Western Tacoma Dome.

Barbara Decker was a corrections officer at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Purdy when Armstrong was an inmate there. Decker said she was at the hospital when Armstrong delivered her son.

"She was doing so well," Decker said Monday. "She had just changed her whole outlook on life."

Armstrong and her newborn son lived in a special unit within the prison that allows mothers to stay with and raise their babies.

"He was the world to her," Decker said of the baby boy. "She was always very polite and very respectful."

A man drove his car into the water at the Narrows Marina boat launch Sunday night.

According to scanner chatter, the black Ford Focus went into the water at about 9:30 p.m. The driver, an older man, made it out without injuries and waited on land for help to arrive.

Crews are calling for a tow truck to pull the car out.

Fire crews are on the scene of a house fire on South 56th and K streets, and a section of 56th ill be closed.

According to scanner chatter, flames are visible in the corner of the house. No one is inside the house. Crews arrived on the scene at about 7:15 p.m.

The road will be closed so crews can hook up to a fire hydrant on the street.

A woman was trying to park at Tillicum Baptist Church this afternoon when she accidentally drove through a wall.

Lakewood police spokeswoman Heidi Hoffman said the 59-year-old woman drove through a a wall and damaged a window of the church at about 12:30 p.m.. There were people inside, but no one was injured.

The driver was taken to St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood as a precaution.

A single-vehicle crash early Sunday blocked all westbound lanes of highway 18 near North Bend this morning.

The car left crashed into a guardrail and rolled at about 3 a.m., according to the Washington State Patrol. The driver, an Auburn man, and passenger, an Edgewood man, were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The road reopened at about 5:45 a.m., according to the state Department of Transportation.

An Auburn man was killed just past midnight when his motorcycle struck a barrier on northbound Interstate 405.

The 46-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene early Sunday after his 1986 Harley Davidson crashed into the barrier at the exit to northbound highway 169.

The man was wearing a helmet, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Men in vans twice have attempted to talk Puyallup school students into their vehicles recently, an elementary school principal said today in letter sent home to parents.

Arturo Gonzalez of Carson Elementary School, 8615 184th St. E., wrote that the first incident occurred Feb. 12 when a man driving a newer white van asked a student walking home from the school to get into his vehicle. The student refused and ran home.

The second incident occurred Tuesday when a man driving an older, light-colored van approached a Rogers High School student walking near Carson Elementary and asked her to get into his vehicle, Gonzalez said in the letter.
She, too, refused and ran home.

Law enforcement is investigating both incidents, the principal said.
Gonzalez reminded parents to encourage their children to walk in groups and use designated school “walking routes” to get to and from school.

Auburn City Councilmember Virginia Haugen who was charged last summer with obstructing Auburn police officers by lying to them during a criminal investigation got her day in court today - and won.

Her supporters in the Auburn municipal courtroom erupted in applause as Judge Pro Tem Glenn Phillips' declared she was not guilty, ending a three-hour non-jury trail.

With tears in her eyes, Haugen hugged her supporters. "You were never guilty," a friend told her.

"I'm so grateful, so grateful," Haugen said as she left the courtroom.
"You know what this is about. It's about these guys that try so hard to stay in business (downtown.) and Mayor (Pete) Lewis doesn't want them in to. It just kills me."

Haugen has claimed that the charge against her was politically motivated Haugen and Lewis don’t get along. They are on opposite sides of many issues but particularly the scope and direction of downtown redevelopment.

She charges the city is pushing small businesses out of the downtown area yo make way for redevelopment.

Lewis, who spent the morning outside the courtroom waiting to testify, was never called. Haugen's attorney Robert Hamilton of Buckley decided not to use the mayor.

Asked about Haugen's charge of political motivation, Lewis dismissed it with an exasperated sigh.

Hamilton attempted to bring Lewis and politics into the trial but in issuing his verdict Judge Phillips said he did not consider politics, only the law.

He said that the obstructing law requires a person to willfully and with knowledge make false statements to hinder, delay or obstruct the investigation.

The city did not have enough facts to prove there was any hindering or delay in the investigation, he said.

Phillips did say he was satisfied that Haugen made false statement to the officers. She could have been charged with making false statement to a public servant but wasn't, he said.

The case stems from a 3-foot by 4-foot vinyl sign placed illegally last July 4 on a Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad trestle over Auburn Way South. The sign read: “Will the last business to leave downtown … please turn out the lights.” The message was a knock on downtown redevelopment plans.

The sign with ropes attached was entered into evidence

Haugen was contacted two days later by police to find out what she knew about the sign. Police said Haugen at first denied buying the sign or knowing anything about it and then the next day admitted she had lied. She told police she had ordered the sign made last March for an Auburn businessman she refused to name.

She gave the sign to him but said she had no idea who posted the sign on the tracks.

Haugen has said the sign was sort of joke that harkened back to the 1971 billboard in Seattle that satirized the gloom and doom of the Boeing Company bust and huge loss of jobs with a similar message.

There have been no arrests for trespassing on the railroad trestle and the investigation has ended.

Tacoma Municipal Court Prosecutor Jean K. Hayes, who was brought in to handle the case for the city, argued Haugen admitted to the officers that she had lied about knowing anything about the sign.

The officers testified they were pretty sure Haugen was involved after talking to staff at the printin gplant where the sign was made.

When Haugen denied knowing anything about the sign during their first interview, the officers said they had to go back to the printing shop and get an invoice the next day.

Haugen's false statements the first day caused a delay to the next day, the officers said.

The officers also testified that Haugen was never a suspect in the trespassing, only a possible witness.

Phillips said he didn't quite buy the fact that Haugen was only a witness and not a suspect, as police claimed. He said he involvement with the sign could have led to a charge of aiding and abetting a trespass.

Hamilton called no witnesses, including Haugen.

In a written statement, Haugen said she wanted to apologize to "Auburn taxpayers for becoming slightly involved in a case that should never have been prosecuted."

One of Haugen's supporters in the courtroom was 13-year-old friend, Mason Fox. He, too, handed out a statement he wrote that ended with a question: "Why are you holding a trial against one of your own, for preventing someone who remains anonymous from getting punished for something that isn't worth the people in this room's time, or tax money for that matter?"

Dean J. Koepfler/The News Tribune

UPDATE:
When Jessica Armstrong disappeared nearly two years ago, her boyfriend told Tacoma police she was depressed about having her children taken away.

Glenn D. Riccio said he hadn’t seen Armstrong since dropping her off at her house one night in July 2007.

This week, Riccio told investigators a different, more disturbing story.

Interviewed again by detectives about Armstrong’s disappearance, Riccio said Thursday he’d shot the woman to death after she asked to be “euthanized” then buried her body in the side yard of his Hilltop home, according to court documents.

Police arrested the 39-year-old Riccio for investigation of first-degree murder following that admission. On Friday, working from a handrawn map provided by Riccio, they began searching for Armstrong’s remains outside a home he owns in the 1900 block of South Sheridan Avenue.

Just before noon, investigators found a bag buried in the yard. Its contents “appear consistent with a body” although police hadn’t opened it by late Friday to see what’s inside, according to the court documents.

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Tacoma police believe they've solved the disappearance of a 30-year-old woman who was last seen during the summer of 2007.

They've arrested the woman's boyfriend and booked him into Pierce County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder. He was booked shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday and is expected to make his first court appearance today.

Meanwhile, detectives are trying to locate the woman's remains, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said this morning. The man has told investigators he buried her. Investigators were working on the Hilltop this morning, trying to confirm that.

They were taking measurements in a yard near South 19th Street and Sheridan Avenue, Fulghum said. Either the boyfriend or the missing woman were living in the house at the time of her disappearance.

The woman, who's name has not yet been released, was reported missing July 14, 2007, Fulghum said. She was last seen a month earlier and hadn't been at work or in contact with family since.

At the time, Tacoma police detectives interviewed the woman's mother, boyfriend and coworkers. There were no signs of her, Fulghum said.

"There was no reason at that point to suspect foul play," he said.

Recently, the woman's mother called Tacoma police detectives and asked if there was anything new in the case. Her call sparked a detective to review the case, Fulghum said.

Investigators reinterviewed the woman's boyfriend Thursday.

"During the course of the interview he confessed," Fulghum said.

Detectives didn't know the woman was a homicide victim before the interview.

"Now, it's a matter of recovering her," Fulghum said.

The boyfriend lives elsewhere in Tacoma.

UPDATE: Tacoma detectives and forensic officers were working at the scene this afternoon, documenting the scene and sifting through dirt, looking for evidence. At different times, two news helicopters hovered overhead.

The suspect in the case owns the house where investigators are working. He was at the house off and on but mainly stayed at another house he owned, which is a couple blocks away, Fulghum said.

Regarding the man's confession to Tacoma detectives, Fulghum said that took place after several hours at the police headquarters on Thursday.

The man initially said he didn't know what happened to the woman. During further interviewing and a polygraph test, the man admitted he'd shot the woman and buried her body on the side of the house, Fulghum said.

"It was a process," he said.

There were no indications in 2007 of domestic violence between the suspect and woman.

UPDATE 2: The man appeared in court this afternoon and was ordered held in Pierce County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond.

The man is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. He has no known criminal history.

Members of the man's family attended Friday's court appearance but declined to speak with reporters afterward.

One man was injured and another under arrest after a shooting overnight in Tacoma's South End.

The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment. He was described as being in serious but stable condition, Tacoma police reported.

The shooting occurred about 12:45 a.m. Friday in the 8400 block of South Hosmer Street.

Two men got into a fight, police reported. One man reportedly pulled out a gun and shot the other man.

The gunman fled in a vehicle. The victim fell to the ground, injured, police reported.

Witnesses gave Tacoma police officers a good description of the suspect and his vehicle. Officers located the suspect a few blocks from the shooting and arrested him without incident, police reported.

Witnesses identified the man as the shooter, then booked him into Pierce County Jail on suspicion of first-degree assault.

The investigation was continuing.

The mother at the center of Wednesday’s Amber Alert will not be able to see her two children for at least another week, a custody judge in Tacoma ruled Thursday.

Tivice Evans’ two children, 3-year-old Deon Brown and 1-year-old Zariyah Brown, were originally taken into state custody earlier this month after reports of abuse. According to the Department of Social and Health Services, Evans agreed to hand her children over to Tacoma police. Child Protective Services began an investigation.

On Feb. 12, CPS doctors reviewed the children and concluded that they had been abused. Doctors found lesions on Deon’s back, and Evans said that was because of a skin condition, but doctors concluded that the lesions were consistent with abuse.

Doctors noted multiple healing injuries on the boy, some of which were patterned scars, a sign of abuse, the DSHS reported.
Evans and boyfriend Ahzariya Yasharahla visited the children daily at the DSHS office on South State Street in Tacoma. On Wednesday, Evans asked Deon what he wanted to do, and the child asked his mother to take him home. She picked up the two kids and walked out of the office, while “security advised the mother not to leave,” according to the DSHS.

Security at the DSHS office cannot restrain parents, so security officers took down information on the family’s car.

An Amber Alert was issued for the children. After negotiating by phone with police detectives, Evans agreed to hand the children back to protective custody Wednesday night. Police detectives took the two away in front of the couple’s church sanctuary on South 21st and J streets in Tacoma.

“It feels like someone ripped my heart out and is stepping on it,” Evans said Wednesday night after watching her children being driven away by police.

It isn’t the first time the mother has dealt with Child Protective Services. She said she was investigated while living in Wisconsin but kept custody of the children.

At the hearing Thursday, the court said Evans will not have contact with the children at least until a Pierce County Juvenile Court hearing Wednesday.

A Tacoma man was arrested last week in South Kitsap Internet sex sting.

According to the Kitsap Sun, 23-year-old David D. Kraqczyk thought he was meeting a 13-year-old at a fast food restaurant in South Kitsap. The fictional 13-year-old was actually a member of Perverted Justice, the organization made famous by Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator Series."

Kraqczyk was charged Tuesday with second-degree attempted child rape, the Sun reports.

When he was arrested, Kraqczyk told detectives he knew "this was illegal and morally wrong," documents state.

A Lakewood man was sentenced to 18 years in prison today for selling large amounts of methamphetamine.

Tomas Zea Reyes, 40, was arrested in December 2005 for selling meth through a grocery store in Lakewood. Officers seized 6.5 kilograms of meth, $150,000 in cash and jewelry. Officers search Reyes' home and found three loaded pistols, a bulletproof vest, more than $7,000 in cash, drugs and drug packaging equipment. At the time of his arrest, Reyes and wife Antonia Cazares had three children, ages 13, 12 and 2, which were taken into protective custody.

Meth was found in the three children's systems.

"Nobody knows for certain how the drugs got in their systems," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Dion said in a Department of Justice news release. "Maybe it was deliberate, or maybe it happened because Reyes just did not care about their safety. Either way, Reyes has poisoned the children, and they are victims of his crime – just like the addicts who buy his product on the street."

That's according to this KOMO-TV report, anyhow.

Checking the Pierce County jail roster of who's been arrested and for what is standard daily procedure at The News Tribune.

Once again today I noticed that there were several DWI bookings between 7 and 10 a.m. I had always chalked it up to a few hard traveling folks getting popped around breakfast time. But my curiosity got the better of me today and I crunched the numbers on more than a year's worth of data (see chart above).

Out of about 3,400 bookings that included at least one charge of DWI, I saw the expected after-bar spike at 2 a.m., then a sharp spike early in the morning.

I called Sgt. Patti Jackson over the at jail and she set me straight. The morning spike is for people who have been sentenced and are showing up to serve their day in jail. (Thanks, Patti!)

Click here for the story.

The vehicle that was the subject of today's Amber Alert has been located, but the driver is not the subject authorities were looking for.

Tacoma Police said the gray, 2007 Nissan Sentra was being driven by another family member, not the mother who reportedly took her two children from a supervised visit at a Tacoma office this morning.

State social workers had taken Zariyah Brown, 1, and her 3-year-old brother, Deon Brown, from their home six days ago because of “extensive abuse,” the Amber Alert states.

The mother and her boyfriend were scheduled for a supervised visit with the boy and girl this morning at the Department of Social and Health Services Office on South State Street in Tacoma this morning.

Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said the children were taken during the supervised visit at about 11 a.m.

Zariyah is described as a black, 2 feet 8 and 24 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Deon is black, 3 feet 5 and weighs 43 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

The mother, 24-year-old Tivice Evans, and her boyfriend, 25-year-old Ahzariyah Yasharahla, were reportedly driving the Sentra.

Anyone with information about the children or the car is asked to call 911

A Seattle man was found guilty Wednesday of growing and selling marijuana in a garden supply store in Auburn.

Thiet Van Tran grew and sold marijuana at the Scitek Garden Supply store on Piike Street, according to documents. He also promoted growing operations throughout the region by providing supplies and advice. Prosecutors said Tran and his conspirators laundered up to $1 million in marijuana sales.

"Today's verdict is important in that it establishes a guideline between a business that contributes to the community versus one that profits from an illegal venture," said Arnold R. Moorin, the DEA Special Agent in Charge of the investigation.

The investigation began as part of "Operation Green Reaper," a federal crackdown on marijuana growers and suppliers in the region.

An Amber Alert has been issued for two young children believed to be taken by their mother during a supervised visit at a Tacoma office this morning.

State social workers had taken Zariyah Brown, 1, and her 3-year-old brother, Deon Brown, from their home six days ago because of “extensive abuse,” the AMBER Alert states.

The mother and her boyfriend were scheduled for a supervised visit with the boy and girl this morning at the Department of Social and Health Services Office on South State Street in Tacoma this morning.

Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said the children were taken during the supervised visit at about 11 a.m.

Zariyah is described as a black girl, 2 feet 8 and 24 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Deon is black, 3 feet 5 and weighs 43 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

The mother, 24-year-old Tivice Evans, and her boyfriend, 25-year-old Ahzariyah Yasharahla, might be driving a gray, four-door 2007 Nissan Sentra with Washington state license plates 617XBP.

Anyone with information about the children or the car to call 911.

A 50-year-old man pleaded guilty today to robbing a Gig Harbor bank last year.

James R. Knox of Allyn faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison when he's scheduled to be sentenced May 18, the U.S. District Attorney's Office reported.

Prosecutors alleged Knox robbed the Kitsap County bank in Gig Harbor on Oct. 30. He went into the bank, yelled it was a robbery and demanded money from a teller. He wore a mask at the time.

Afterward, he led police officers on a pursuit from Gig Harbor to Tacoma. The pursuit went through several neighborhoods, with Knox going speeds of up to 105 mph. He abandoned his car near the junction of Interstate 5 and the Puyallup River and was found hiding in some bushes.

"He was being watched by a Department of Transportation camera and a KIRO News helicopter filming the events," the District Attorney's Office. "When arrested much of the money was on his person. A search of KNOX’s car produced the bicycle, helmet, clothes and mask all as depicted on the bank’s video surveillance cameras."

Knox had previous convictions for bank robberies. Investigators said the Kitsap Bank was the sixth bank heist Knox had committed.

A psychologist called by Pierce County prosecutors testified this morning that it's her opinion Douglas S. Chanthabouly was legally sane when he shot Samnang Kok to death two years ago in a hall at Tacoma's Foss High School.

Dr. Julie Gallagher testified at a sanity hearing that the young man was showing symptoms of his paranoid schizophrenia the morning of Jan. 3, 2007, but that he still was able to discern the nature of his actions and to know that they were wrong.

"It's my opinion that Mr. Chanthabouly does suffer from a mental disease, and he was experiencing symptoms at the time of the offense that probably contributed to the act," Gallagher said under questioning from deputy prosecutor Fred Wist. "However, in my opinion, he does not meet the legal criteria for insanity because he was able to perceive the nature and quality of his actions and knew right from wrong at the time."

Gallagher said she based that opinion on her review of Chanthabouly's medical records, police reports and nearly 12 hours of interviews with the 20-year-old man since his arrest.

Chanthabouly's statements to her that he knew Kok could die if shot, that he ran away from the school after the shooting because he was afraid of getting into trouble and that he hid the gun used in the shooting from his mother helped her form that opinion, Gallagher said.

"He clearly understood that he was shooting a human being," she said.

Gallagher, a former forensic evaluator at Western State Hospital, also shed light on Chanthabouly's motives for killing the 17-year-old Kok.

"He told me he heard voices at the time that were telling him that people were going to kill him," she said during cross-examination by public defender John McNeish.

Chanthabouly said he killed Kok because he thought he had to to protect himself and his brother, Gallagher testified.

McNeish is expected to continue his questioning this afternoon.

Lakewood firefighters doused a blaze at an apartment building this morning.

A mother and child got out of the apartment safely.

Firefighters were called to the apartment in the 10200 block of 47th Avenue Southwest just before 7:30 a.m. today. They arrived and found flames shooting from a second-story unit, the fire department reported.

Firefighters knocked down the blaze and had it under control by 7:43 a.m.

A smoke alarm alerted the mother and child to flames, the fire department reported. They got out OK.

The cause of the fire was under investigation. Investigators estimated the fire caused $150,000 in damages to the structure and $40,000 to its contents.

Here are some Don’ts for people who have been charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, courtesy of defendant Blair Robert Jensen.

Don’t: Send an e-mail to 25 people saying you are “just playing on the internet driving back from colorado” and that you “towed the dodge 1300 miles to Boulder Colorado to trade it for this God Damned Monster Truck” when the conditions of your $500,000 bond say you can’t leave the state.

Don’t: Write “We just stopped for a second on the freeway to unload the machine gun on a herd of deer” when you are also prohibited from having guns (not to mention being prohibited from other violations of criminal law).

Jensen, who turned 24 on Valentine's Day, was charged with killing a 51-year-old bicyclist in Puyallup while street racing last September. According a state Department of Licensing spokesman, he currently has a valid driver’s license.

At a bail hearing last Friday, Jensen’s bond was raised to $1,000,000 in light of the e-mail and some photos that accompanied it. Both were included in court filings available online. Attempts to reach Jensen’s attorney Tuesday afternoon were not successful. Prosecutor Tim Jones said the judge was mad Jensen had flouted the conditions of his release.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Katherine Stolz also changed some of the conditions of Jensen’s release, restricting him to just Pierce County instead of the four-county area. She also underlined the section about firearms and one forbidding him from consuming alcohol or drugs, or associating with those who do.

“Zero tolerance – violations bail goes to $2,000,000,” she wrote.

(Photo: Pierce County court records.)

A disabled semi-truck is blocking the right lane of northbound Interstate 5 at the Puyallup River Bridge in Tacoma, state DOT officials reported this morning at 10:35 a.m.

Troopers were on their way to the scene.

UPDATE: The truck has been cleared and all lanes are open to traffic.

A reader sent in this inquiry about police activity Saturday in Puyallup:

Yesterday behind the VFW hall on 2nd(?) and Stewart there were police officers with a large area closed off with yellow tape. The same thing on Stewart only there were 2 patrol cars, at least 6 uniformed officers and more yellow tape. A crowd gathered in the 7-11 parking lot to watch. Looked like the yellow taped blocked access to the parking area behind Trackside Pizza and Auntie B's. What happened?

Puyallup police Lt. Dave McDonald provided this explanation of what happened:

On 2/14/09, at about 10:27 am, officers responded to a call of a possible explosive device in the alley between two businesses in the 100 block of E. Stewart. They located what appeared to be a pipe bomb. The nearby businesses were evacuated and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad responded. The device was rendered safe by the bomb squad. It is unknown at this time where the device came from or why it was left there in the alley. Investigation to continue. Any information that the readers can provide as to suspicious people or circumstances in that area could be helpful in the investigation.

A multiple-vehicle collision crash blocks the right lane of westbound State Route 512 at Interstate 5, the state Department of Transportation reported this morning.

The westbound lane of the SR 512 off-ramp to northbound I-5 is also partially blocked.

Drivers are using the ramp shoulder to get around the crash, DOT reported.

Troopers, transportation crews, firefighters and medical aid are on the scene.

Traffic is backed up two miles to the State Route 7/Pacific Avenue interchange.

UPDATE 2: According to our news partner, KIRO TV, "four people on a Pierce Transit shuttle bus have been hurt in a collision with a truck in the westbound lanes of Interstate 5 at State Route 512 in Lakewood."

UPDATE 3: This crash was cleared about 9:30 a.m. Traffic was backed up two miles.

UPDATE 4: Ambulances took six people injured in this crash to St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood.

All are adults and all are expected to be treated and released today, hospital spokesman Gale Robinette said.

The chief of the Federal Way Police Department will be presenting a mail carrier with the Chief's Commendation Medal tonight after he helped get needed medical attention to an elderly woman on his route.

Here's the press release from the police department about Gary Lyon's actions.

On 111508 at about 3:20 p.m., Federal Way Police responded to the call of a Welfare Check, located in the 30600 block of 1st Place South. The postal carrier for the route, Mr. Gary Lyon, had called 911 to report he had not seen the elderly woman occupant of the home for a number of days and the mail was piling up in the mailbox.

Upon police arrival, officers were initially unable to receive any response by knocking on the door.

While looking for other points of entry, officers located an open bedroom window and contacted the
elderly female, who is the sole occupant of the residence. While in contact, the female told police she had fallen and did not have the strength to get up. Police later forced entry into the home through a door inside the garage and located the woman lying in her bedroom on her back.

Upon speaking to the female, she stated she had been lying on the floor for ten days after falling,
surviving only on nearby cans of a nutritional supplement drink. The woman stated she was unable to get up and had been “waiting to die” since she had fallen and was unable to contact anyone for help. Medical assistance from South King County Fire and Rescue was requested and personnel later responded to render care prior to the woman being transported to the hospital.

The actions of Mr. Lyon saved the life of this woman. Without his observation skills and willingness to intervene, the woman likely would have died. Mr. Lyon’s actions are a credit to himself and family, his community, and the United States Postal Service.

In response to the actions of Mr. Gary Lyon, Police Chief Brian Wilson of the Federal Way Police
Department will be presenting Mr. Lyon with the Chief’s Commendation medal. The presentation will
take place at the Federal Way City Council Regular Meeting on February 17th, 2009. The meeting will
begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, located at 33325 8th Ave S in Federal Way, and the presentation take place shortly after.

In attendance will be Gary Lyon and his family, as well as representatives from the United States Postal Service. Gary will be available at 6:30 p.m. for media interviews about the incident. Please join us while we congratulate Mr. Gary Lyon on his commitment to integrity and the citizens he serves.

A Tacoma man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for recruiting an ex-girlfriend to smuggle Ecstasy from Canada and leading officers on a high-speed chase through Seattle.

In June, Trevell Tyler Lamons, 20, persuaded a former girlfriend to drive to Canada and pick up 5.3 kilograms of pills and bring them back to the University District in Seattle, according to a Department of Justice news release. The woman, who was promised about $400 for the journey, was stopped at the U.S.-Canada border.

Law enforcement worked with the womanto set up a deliver of the pills to a U-District apartment. Lamons arranged for a conspirator to drive the woman's car to Tacoma, but noticed law enforcement. He reportedly sped away in a black Mercedes-Benz, tossed a .40-caliber handgun from the vehicle, crashed into a Drug Enforcement Administration agent's car and slammed into a retaining wall. He ran from the scene and was arrested two days later.

He was arrested on June 12 and pleaded guilty on Nov. 6.

Photo courtesy WSDOT.

A collision involving at least five vehicles is blocking all lanes of Interstate 5 northbound, causing extensive delays.

Tacoma Fire spokeswoman Jolene Davis said TFD crews were called to a crash at about 4:15 p.m. Three passengers have been transported to area hospitals with unknown injuries. At least four TFD units have responded so far, with more making their way through traffic.

The cause of the crash hasn't been determined. The state Department of Transportation hasn't determined when the lanes will be re-opened.

Update 5:05 p.m.: The two right lanes are now open, however traffic is backed up about six miles to Yakima Ave.

Update: 6:30 p.m.: All lanes are now open.

A fire this afternoon on the corner of 112th Street and 26th Ave. near Parkland sent two victims to the hospital, with unknown injuries.

According to scanner chatter, fire crews rescued at least one child from a building at about 2:50 p.m. . The fire was controlled quickly after.

Update 5:11 p.m.: The News Tribune's news partners KIRO-TV is reporting that passersby on 112th Street saw the house on fire, and one threw a chair through a window to save a young child who was in the house. The passerby, the boy and his father were all taken to local hospitals and are expect to be fine.

The Washington State Patrol sent out this press release Friday, warning residents to be wary of a bogus AMBER Alert.

Police and advocates for child safety are warning that a bogus AMBER alert seems to be making its way around the country again. They’re asking the public to not forward unverified AMBER Alerts by text message or other e-mail.

The most recent message seemed similar to one which was reported last year.
It reads “A 7 yr old girl was taken by a man driving a newer silver truck. The license plate reads 72b381 please please pass on. ” There are no known AMBER Alert activations containing that information.

“The best way to find out about AMBER Alerts is to sign up to receive them directly from the official web site,” said Marty Knorr, AMBER Alert Coordinator for the Washington State Patrol. “If you think your friends need to know, encourage them to sign up as well.”

In Washington, official AMBER Alerts can be found at www.washingtonamberalert.com.

Official AMBER Alert messages are geographically targeted and contain all the necessary information pertaining to the child abductions, including where they were issued and contact information for the investigating law enforcement agency. They will also be followed by a cancellation message when the child has been recovered.

Often forwarded messages that appear to be or even claim to be “AMBER Alerts,” but do not contain the necessary information are hoaxes. Even well intentioned citizens, who attempt to formulate their own alerts and forward them, can unwittingly create confusion and a lack of integrity in the
system.

The AMBER Alert program is a highly successful nationwide effort that has resulted in 443 children being safely returned to their families. The success of the AMBER Alert Program depends on the involvement of the entire community. The public has many ways to receive official AMBER Alerts via Radio, Television, Roadway and Digital Signage, Internet Service Providers, and through their wireless carriers.

Other ways that the public can receive official AMBER Alerts on the Internet would be through AOL, AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and MySpace.

Another option for wireless customers is to enroll in the Wireless AMBER Alerts program by visiting www.wirelessamberalerts.org or by texting the word AMBER followed by a space and their 5-digit ZIP code to 26237. Wireless AMBER Alerts is a free public service of the wireless industry, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the United States Department of Justice.

This warning comes from the Pierce County Sheriff's Department's Peninsula Detachment:

Residents of the Peninsula Detachment jurisdiction have reported receiving employment offers which result in the receipt of fraudulent checks and sometimes the loss of money forwarded to other parties.

The most recent report involves a resident posting a resume on www.craigslist.org. A person claiming the name of Sandra Hill replied and offered employment doing data entry from home. When the job was accepted, the victim received a cashier's check for $895.00 with instructions to keep $200.00 and forward the balance via Western Union to Save Our Souls Children Foundation.

Several emails were sent by Sandra Hill, each had numerous spelling and grammatical errors. The emails relayed a sense of urgency. The victim forwarded the money as requested then later found the check received was fraudulent.

This type of scam email has been sent in connection to other legitimate websites. To protect themselves, residents need to be educated about this type of scam.

If an email contains spelling and grammatical errors, think about what type of business would want to be represented by poorly written communication.

If the email includes a business name, attempt to verify the physical location of the business and other contact information. Don?t be afraid to use the newly found information to follow up and verify the employment offer received.

If any business transaction involves you accepting a check, depositing the check in your own account then sending money somewhere else, it is not a legitimate offer. If the money must be transferred via Western Union, realize once the money is picked up, it can not be retrieved.

If you have any questions or need assistance, you can reach the Peninsula Detachment office at 253-798-4940 during normal business hours.

Firefighters were at the scene of a two-car, injury accident this morning in the 4800 block of 176th Street East, just west of Canyon Road East.

Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said the injuries were not considered life threatening.

The crash occurred shortly before noon.

Pierce County prosecutors have begun calling witnesses in State v. Darrell K. Jackson and Tyreek D. Smith.

Jackson, 22, and Smith, 23, each are charged with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of Ruben Doria Jr. and Abraham Abazado.

The two victims were slashed to death in their South End Tacoma apartment in September 2007. Investigators believe Doria and Abazado were killed so Jackson, Smith and a third man – Pierre Thelberg Spencer III – could rob them of marijuana plants.

Spencer has pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree robbery and another count of first-degree burglary in the case. The terms of his plea bargain have not been made public, but the speculation is he's agreed to testify against his co-defendants. He's scheduled to be sentenced next month.

Aggravated first-degree murder is the state's highest crime and the only one punishable by the death penalty. Prosecutor Gerald Horne decided not to seek capital punishment against Smith and Jackson, so, if convicted as charged, they face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Testimony is scheduled to resume next week in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff. The trial is expected to last for a month or more.

Click here for more background on the case.

A jack-knifed semi-truck was blocking the left lane of northbound Interstate 5 near the Fort Lewis Road this morning.

Drivers were getting around the crash using the center and right lanes, the state DOT reported just after 11 a.m.

Troopers and transportation crews were on the scene.

UPDATE: The jack-knifed semi has been cleared and all lanes are now open to traffic, DOT reported just after 11:30 a.m.

However, traffic was backed up about six miles to Nisqually. Drivers are being cautioned to expect delays.

Railroad crossing scofflaws, both motorists and pedestrians, will be targeted Wednesday afternoon by Auburn and Union Pacific Railroad police during a railroad crossing safety emphasis.

Auburn Police Sgt. Tony deChoudens said tickets will be handed out to those found illegally crossing the tracks or stopping on the tracks. The special patrol will run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

deChoudens said an officer will be in a locomotive that will move back forth through crossings. He will spot violators and other officers in cars and on foot will be waiting to issue tickets. The Union Pacific tracks include crossings at West Main Street and 15th Street Southwest near the Supermall.

The fine for a pedestrian violation is $56; for a motorist it is $124.

DeChoudens said railroad track violations are an increasing problem. He said a recent survey in the city taken when Boeing Company workers were on strike and traffic was lighter than normal still found 34 violations in a 24-hour period. He said three people were killed on the tracks in the city last year.

Both Union Pacific and Burlington Northern have tracks in the city.

A News Tribune analysis of pedestrian-train fatalities in Pierce and South King counties in the past 10 years found that at least 54 pedestrians have died on railroad tracks in the past 10 years.

State law requires that once warning lights start flashing at a crossing, vehicles and pedestrians are required to stop at the marked stop lines and clear the tracks. Movement across the tracks after the warning signals are activated is prohibited. Stopping on the tracks or between the stop lines at any point, even without the warnings activated, is also prohibited.

Crossing a railroad tracks at other than a designated crossing also is illegal.

Union Pacific offers the following safety tips:

• Always expect a train and look both ways before crossing.

• Wait for trains and do not attempt to beat approaching trains.

• Avoid getting trapped on the railroad tracks by ensuring there is enough room on the other side for your vehicle to completely clear the tracks.

• Watch for vehicles, such as school buses and commercial trucks that must stop at railroad crossings.

• If your vehicle stalls at a crossing, get passengers out and escort them far from the area, even if trains are not coming through. Call the emergency notification number posted on or near the crossing or notify local law enforcement.

Additional railroad safety information is available through Operation Lifesaver. The program’s Web site is at www.oli.org.

Tacoma police were investigating a possible arson late Thursday at an apartment building in Upper Tacoma.

No injuries were reported.

The fire was reported at a converted home in the 1100 block of South Altheimer Street. The home had been transformed into a multi-dwelling unit, Tacoma police reported.

Someone apparently set it on fire. The occupants were able to get out safely.

The home sustained substantial damage.

The investigation was ongoing and no arrests have been reported.

UPDATE: Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said this morning that this fire was appears to have been reckless burning, not arson.

Friday the 13th didn’t turn out to be unlucky for commuters using the Nalley Valley Viaduct early this morning.

With two of four ramps closed down overnight, there didn’t appear to be any congestion or even slowdowns on Union Avenue or 19th Street that might have expected to pick up more cars as commuters looked for alternate routes into Tacoma.

By 6:45 a.m., eastbound traffic on Highway 16 approaching the viaduct was slowing but Washington State Department of Transportation officials said that was pretty typical.

There were lots of orange traffic barrels to help direct motorists away from the two closed Sprague Avenue ramps. Lighted arrows and signs on Highway 16 warned motorists of upcoming changes including the shifting of eastbound lanes on Highway 16 toward the median between Union Avenue and the viaduct.

The commute traffic appeared abnormally light, according to Jamie Swift, a Washington State Department of Transportation spokesman. The beginning of a long President’s Day weekend combined with Tacoma schools being closed probably kept traffic down, he said.

“Tuesday will probably be the true test,” Swift said.

And there is still the commute this evening.

Swift said 11,000 cars normally use the now closed Sprague Avenue ramps to Highway 16 each day. “They have to find a way to get where they are going,” he said.

The few motorists who used Sprague Avenue to try to get to Highway 16 could only head west to Bremerton but there was a marked detour route back onto Highway 16 at Union Avenue.

WSDOT crews turned on signals about 6 a.m. on the onramp from Union Avenue to eastbound Highway 16 to meter traffic onto the highway.
“It’s the first time we have turned it on,” Swift said.

A former mental-health counselor pleaded not guilty in Pierce County Superior Court on Thursday to engaging in inappropriate sexual relationships with two patients at the Puyallup clinic where he once worked.

Michael G. Bennett, 66, is charged with two felony counts of indecent liberties. Prosecutors contend in charging documents that he engaged in sexual touching with two of his women clients from Good Samaritan Community Services. The criminal activity allegedly occurred between July 2007 and January 2008, the documents state.

It’s a crime under state law when a health-care provided has sexual contact “with a client or patient, and the sexual contact occurs during a treatment session, consultation, interview, or examination.”

Bennett worked at the clinic for more than 10 years and was assigned to the crisis intervention team at the time of the allegations, according to court documents. It was his job to help people who were dangerous to themselves or other because of their mental illness.

State officials began investigating Bennett in January 2008 when one of the women told her case manager that she’d had a sexual relationship with Bennett, according to charging papers. Good Samaritan officials placed him on administrative leave five days later.

Another woman came forward with allegations against Bennett in March, and investigators with the state Department of Health and the Puyallup Police Department launched investigations.

State health officials revoked Bennett’s license in July, and county prosecutors charged him last month.

A King County Sheriff's Deputy was charged with assault after allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old girl in a holding cell.

According to the Sheriff's Office, the 31-year-old deputy was with another officer when they arrested a pair of 15-year-old girls for automobile theft in late November in SeaTac. The two were placed in a SeaTac City Hall holding cell for processing.

The deputy, an eight year veteran of the department, allegedly assaulted one of the girls in a holding cell, an incident that was caught on the camera.

The deputy said the the girl kicked off one of her shoes and hit him in the shin. After the alleged assault, the girl complained of breathing difficulties and was checked out by medics. Both girls were booked into the King County Youth Center.

On Dec. 1, the detective assigned to the auto theft saw the security video as part of her investigation and notified her supervisor. The deputy is charged with fourth-degree assault.

A Pierce County jury will have to decide if Nicholas Louis Notaro is a cold-blooded killer who shot and dismembered a man more than 29 years ago or just a protective brother who decided to take the rap for the murder when detectives threatened to charge his beloved sisters with the crime.

Notaro's trial began Thursday in Superior Court. The 60-year-old man is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Joseph Tarricone, who disappeared in September 1978 after visiting Notaro's sister at a rented house outside Puyallup.

Construction crews unearthed human remains near that house in June 2007, sparking an investigation that culminated with Notaro (seen here) and his sister, Renee Curtiss, being charged in Tarricone's death. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty. Curtiss' trial is set to begin next month.

During her opening statement Thursday, deputy prosecutor Dawn Farina used Notaro's comments to detectives during a March 2008 interview to paint him as a cold and calculating killer.

"'Nobody had to tell me to kill him,'" Farina quoted from a transcription of Notaro's statement. "'We went down to the basement, and when he leaned over, I shot him in the back of the head. I shot him twice.' These are the words of the defendant."

During her opening statement, defense attorney Mary K. High told jurors her client initially denied killing Tarricone, who had been pursuing a romantic relationship with Curtiss. Detectives contend Curtiss told Notaro she was sick of Tarricone's advances and wanted him "gone."

Notaro initially told investigators his mother, now deceased, fired the fatal shots.

Notaro – a proud and protective brother – changed his story when detectives said they might charge his sisters, High said.

"Then and only then did they hear from Mr. Notaro that, 'OK, it was me. I shot him to death,'" she said.

High also used her opening statement to attack the state's evidence, saying medical examiners had no "medical or scientific evidence" that the bones discovered in June 2007 belonged to Tarricone or that the person whose remains were found died of homicidal violence.

DNA testing could only confirm that Tarricone could not be excluded as the source of the remains, High pointed out.

Farina said the circumstantial evidence and Notaro's own admissions to detectives prove that the bones belonged to Tarricone and that he was murdered.

Tarricone, 53 and the divorced father of seven children, was known to keep in touch with his kids and "never missed a child support payment" until the summer of 1978, the deputy prosecutor said.

All that ended when he traveled from Alaska to Washington to pay Curtiss a visit in September of that year, Farina said.

"All phone calls stopped abruptly during the late summer of 1978 when their father simply vanished," she said.

The trial is expected to last for a week or so.

A luring incident in Lacey is the second to hit the Lake Pointe Housing Development within a week.

At about 4 p.m. on Wednesday, an 8-year-old girl walked out of her home on Stockton Street Southeast in Lacey to pick up a toy on the ground. A red car pulled up, the driver walked out and said "Come here little girl." The passenger in the car gave the driver a "thumbs up," Lacey Police said. The girl ran into her home. The car, reportedly a red Dodge Daytona, has tinted windows and the front passenger window is covered with plastic. The driver is described as 5-foot-10, in his teens with a medium build. He was wearing a red shirt with blue stripes, a wallet chain and black boots. The passenger is described in his mid-teens, with short cropped dark hair and a blue shirt.

A witness saw a similar car in the area, occupied by one white man and one Hispanic man.

At about 3 p.m. on Feb. 5, an 11-year-old male got off a school bus and was walking home when a white van with the word "Flowers" written in pink. pulled up. Two men jumped out and chased the boy, who was able to make i home. The first suspect is described as a white man, about 6-foot-1 wearing blue jeans and a Carhart jacket. The second suspect is described as a 5-foot-6 Hispanic man.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call Lacey Police at (360) 459-4333.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged a man who tried to rob a pharmacy of oxycontin earlier this week.

Sean Michael Gradias, 23, has been charged with attempted first-degree robbery of the Pierce County store, which isn't named in the court documents.

Charging documents provide the following information:

Gradias was seen pacing in the pharmacy's waiting area minutes before it opened at 9 a.m. Tuesday. When the business opened, he approached a pharmacist and demanded, "Give me all of your Oxy 80s."

He didn't have a prescription and was not a regular customer.

"The pharmacist noticed the defendant was wearing gloves inside, was nervous and fidgety, and kept putting his hands into his pockets," court documents state.

The pharmacist suspected the man had a weapon and asked Gradias to take his hands out of his pockets.

The employees stalled while they called 911. Gradias asked who the pharmacist was talking to and became increasingly aggressive.

Deputies arrived and arrested Gradias. They found a sharp-bladed cutting tool in one of his pockets.

Gradias claimed he was trying to get Oxycontin for his father even though he didn't have a prescription. When asked how he planned to get the prescription drugs, Gradias answered, "I'm not the smartest."

The state Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision has ruled that the only survivor of a horrific Auburn crash that killed six people should not have been convicted as an accomplice to drunken driving.

Teresa Hedlund who was seriously injured in the July 21, 2001 one-car crash, was convicted in 2003. She was 28 at the time of the crash.

The high court upheld a similar ruling by the state Court of Appeals that state law does not allow a victim of a DUI to also be charged as an accomplice. The Supreme Court decision was released today.

Writing for the majority, Judge Tom Chambers said the accomplice law is “plainly written” and if the Legislature wants a more limited definition of a victim then it can amend the law.

Judge Barbara Madsen who wrote the dissent said the majority’s “broad reading” reading of the state law “leads to absurd and untenable results” that the Legislature didn’t intend.

The high court also reversed Hedlund’s conviction for furnishing alcohol and tobacco to a minor.

Hedlund's fiance, Thomas Allen Stewart, was driving the small Ford Z2X that slammed into a freeway support pillar near the Supermall in South Auburn. Hedlund had a camcorder and had videotaped a party before the fatal ride and a portion of the ride up until the moment of the crash.

In Auburn Municipal Court, city prosecutors argued before a jury that the videotaping spurred Stewart, 22, to behave irresponsibly. The graphic video was shown several time.

Auburn Municipal Court Judge Patrick Burns reluctantly dismissed the accomplice charge during the trial. Auburn City Attorney Dan Heid appealed the dismissal to King County Superior Court which reversed Burns' ruling.
The jury then found Hedlund guilty. A second King County Superior Court judge threw out all of Hedlund's convictions. The city decided to appeal to higher courts.

The Supreme Court said it sided with Burns original ruling.

A 4-year-old boy took the ride of his young life this morning when he managed to put a parked car into neutral and it rolled across South 38th Street and into a store.

Tacoma police were reviewing how the boy got out of his car seat and how he got the vehicle - which was parked with the engine off - moving.

The boy, his mother and her boyfriend pulled into a check cashing store on South 38th Street just after 9 a.m. today, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

The two adults went inside the building and left the boy buckled into his car seat in the back seat.

The mother told police she was keeping an eye on the car. She had the car keys in her hands.

"The next thing, she turned around and the car was gone," Fulghum said.

Officers say the boy managed to get out of his car seat, climbed into the front seat and put the older model car into neutral.

It backed out of the check cashing parking lot and went onto South 38th Street. The boy sharply turned the wheel and backed into the driveway of a strip mall adjacent to the check cashing store.

The car smacked into the CompuCare store, causing some damage to the store, its contents and the car.

No one was injured.

While the car was smashed up, the adults were able to drive it away, Fulghum said.

Officers were still reviewing the matter. No citations were immediately issued.

A crash is blocking three lanes of Interstate 5 at the King-Pierce county line, the state Department of Transportation reported this morning.

Troopers, firefighters and transportation crews are on the scene.

The crash is blocking the two left lanes of northbound I-5 and the left lane of southbound I-5.

UPDATE: The left-center lane of northbound I-5 and the left lane of southbound I-5 are now open. The HOV lane remains blocked.

UPDATE 2: All lanes were open to traffic at 11:15 a.m.

Tacoma police worked late Wednesday, trying to piece together how a 16-year-old Tacoma boy on a skateboard was injured while riding in Point Defiance Park.

Investigators believe a group of young adults were driving around the park Wednesday night. They were in two cars, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

A friend on a skateboard was hanging on to each of the cars. They were holding on with their hands, Fulghum said.

One of the cars slowed down and the skateboader hanging onto that car lost control. He fell or was thrown and hit the pavement about 6:30 p.m., Fulghum said. The boy, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered serious and possibly life threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. He underwent surgery Wednesday night, Fulghum said.

All of those involved stayed at the scene and were interviewed by officers and detectives. No arrests were immediately made but the investigation was on-going.

The park was closed at the time of the crash Wednesday night but it doesn't appear the gates had been shut, Fulghum said.

An 18-year-old man accused of speeding and hitting two people walking along Five Mile Drive in Tacoma's Point Defiance Park last year has pleaded guilty in the case.

Christopher J. Stewart pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of vehicular assault. A third count of minor in possession of alcohol was dismissed, according to court records. The Gig Harbor resident is scheduled to be sentenced April 10.

Pierce County prosecutors had alleged Stewart was behind the wheel of a 2005 Subaru when it hit a man and woman who'd been out for a walk on May 15. Both victims were hospitalized with serious injuries.

Witnesses told police that Stewart appeared to have lost control while trying to pass two other cars while going about 70 mph, court documents state. The young man remained at the scene and told officers he'd been drinking and smoking marijuana before the crash.

Stewart faces one year and one day to 14 months in prison. Deputy prosecutor Tim Jones said under the plea agreement, he'll recommend a sentence of one year and one day.

Stewart's guilty plea came the same day that another car hit a skateboarder along Five Mile Drive. The skateboarder was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

A car hit a skateboarder Wednesday evening along Five Mile Drive at Point Defiance in Tacoma, sending the person to a Tacoma hospital with serious injuries.

Officers were called to the crash about 6:30 p.m., said Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum. An update on the skateboarder’s condition wasn’t available Wednesday night.

Five Mile Drive closes at dusk. Sunset was about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

It’s not the first car-pedestrian accident on the scenic loop. In May, a man and a woman out for a walk along Five Mile Drive were hit by a car and hospitalized with serious injuries that required surgery. Witnesses told police that it appeared the driver lost control while trying to pass two other cars at about 70 mph, according to court records.

The collision prompted police to temporarily step up traffic patrols in the park.

The incident sparked a News Tribune analysis, which used a radar gun to show that roughly one-third of the drivers on one May afternoon were going 25 mph or more, even when pedestrians and cyclists are present. The speed limit is 20 mph. The fastest car was doing 41 – twice the speed limit – as it blew right by a jogger.

In September, five speed “tables,” which are flatter than typical speed bumps for bicyclists’ sake, were installed on straightaway stretches where cars often exceed the speed limit. That brought the park’s total to eight.

A Kent man was killed when his motorcycle crashed on an Interstate 5 on-ramp in Tukwila earlier tonight.

The Washington State Patrol said the man was changing lanes and struck a car in front of him on the highway 518 and Interstate 5 interchange. The driver of the car was not injured. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. He was wearing a helmet.

The collision blocked two lanes of southbound traffic for about an hour and a half this evening.

Law enforcement officers ticketed 222 speeders in Tacoma last weekend as part of a special emphasis patrol.

Officers involved in the 10-hour emphasis focused on parts of the city where there are higher numbers of speed-related crashes that result in injuries to drivers, passengers and pedestrians, the Tacoma-Pierce County DUI Task Force reported. The areas included North Pearl Street, Portland Avenue and South Tacoma Way, streets that are fed by freeway exits and business areas where the speed limit is 25 mph.

The officers stopped 439 drivers and ticketed 222 speeders. They also cited:

● 85 drivers for driving without proof of valid insurance.

● 41 drivers and passengers for not wearing their seat belts or wearing them improperly.

● 27 drivers for driving with a suspended or revoked license. They also cited teens who were in violation of their intermediate driver's licenses.

The officers made 11 arrests. Those people were picked up for misdemeanor and felony
warrants or other criminal violations. Officers found no impaired drivers, the task force reported.

"People slow down when they pass several of us writing tickets; then, speed up when we're out of sight," said Tacoma police Sgt. Tom White, the law enforcement coordinator for the Tacoma-Pierce County DUI Task Force-sponsored patrol last weekend. "We call it the 'halo effect'. But Saturday drivers had a halo over their heads all day long. From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., the city was saturated with traffic enforcement officers."

The special emphasis was part of the statewide X-52 program, a campaign to make sure law enforcement officers are constantly enforcing the speed and DUI laws.

Similar patrols are scheduled in Puyallup and Bonney Lake.

Pierce County Sheriff deputies responded to a call Wednesday morning of an abandoned 4-year-old whose baby sitter was missing, and damage in the house suggested there was a struggle.

Six hours later and about 200 miles away, an Oregon SWAT team found the kidnap victim unharmed and arrested her 17-year-old estranged boyfriend.

Thankfully, everything came together to make a quick arrest, sheriff spokesman Ed Troyer said.

“It’s nice when things are done quickly,” he said.

Family members came home to a house on 78th Street in South Tacoma to find a four-year-old crying alone, with fresh damage on the walls. The victim, an 18-year-old woman, was baby sitting the child, a relative, at her grandmother’s home. The victim’s family said the she had recently left an abusive relationship in Oregon and had been staying with family in Tacoma, though investigators aren’t sure how long she had been in the area.

“(She) isn’t the type of girl to leave a child unattended,” Troyer said.

An investigator from the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office trained with talking to children was able to interview the child and confirm that the boyfriend, a Salem resident, did take the baby sitter away. Officers quickly confirmed that “something not right had happened,” Troyer said.

“The kid gave a lot of good information,” he said. “It was surprising for such a little kid.”

Detectives contacted the Oregon State Police at about 10 a.m. and asked them to look for a black car heading south from Washington to Salem. Officers found the boyfriend’s car at his Salem home and officers surrounded the house and waited for the suspect to appear. A SWAT team arrested the 17-year-old without incident at about 1:40 p.m., about five hours after the initial call. The missing woman was found safe in the home.

The suspect is being held in an Oregon juvenile detention center as a fugitive. He is expected to be extradited to Tacoma and booked on suspicion of first-degree assault, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary.

“There is a history of an abusive relationship,” Troyer said. “And the suspect has possible gang ties that we’re exploring.”

TNT reader Tamera observed some police activity this morning at the intersection of South 19th and Tyler in Tacoma:

Any clues as to why a police car was blocking southbound traffic this morning? (I'm guessing there was a corresponding car at the other end, since nobody was coming northbound, either.)

Just wondering! Reminded me of the Foss shooting incident a while ago, but less cops & no parents standing around outside in their pajamas.

Your faithful Lights & Sirens correspondents put Tamera's query to TPD spokesman Mark Fulghum. His answer:

It was a one-car accident caused by ice on the roadway. The road was blocked off until it could be sanded.

So there you go.

Eastbound traffic on highway 16 will have to divert through the Tacoma Narrows Bridge toll plaza overnight tonight as crews work on the toll equipment.

The state Department of Transportation said "Good to Go" drivers will need to pass through the plaza from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. tonight. Drivers with transponders will need to pass through the lanes with signs that display "ETC," but do not need to stop. Other drivers will need to stop at a toll booth displaying the "Cash" sign.

Once through the toll booths, traffic will flow onto the bridge and cars can change lanes.

King County law enforcement officers have busted a Metro driver for allegedly selling rock cocaine.

Here's the press release from King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart:

Deputies and detectives from the Metro Transit Police arrested a Metro driver today for dealing rock cocaine. It was the culmination of an investigation that spanned several weeks.

The driver, a 54 year-old Seattle man, was arrested just before noon while driving Route 42. The arrest occurred at S. Leo and Beacon Ave South.

Metro Transit Police conducted several undercover buys from the driver, including immediately prior to today’s arrest. Not all of the buys occurred from Metro busses.

Transit police were originally alerted to the man’s illegal activities by another Metro employee.

A search of the suspect’s home is currently underway. He will be booked into the King County Jail shortly.

All the southbound lanes of State Route 167 in Sumner are blocked this afternoon because of a multiple-vehicle crash.

The crash occurred about 11:35 a.m. at 24th Street East, the state Department of Transportation reported.

Troopers and transportation crews are on the scene.

Drivers were getting around the crash using the shoulder.

1 p.m. update: All lanes are now open to traffic.

The crash was cleared to the shoulder, DOT reported. However, traffic was backed up two miles past the Pierce-King county line.

Tacoma police are searching for a masked man who robbed a Tacoma deli on Tuesday night.

The robbery occurred just before 11 p.m. at the Tacoma Community College deli mart in the 6700 block of South 12th Street, police reported.

A man wearing a mask and gloves robbed a clerk of an undisclosed amount of cash, then fled. Officers set up containment and had a police dog conduct a search but didn't find the robber, police reported.

The robber was described as white, 5 feet 7 and thin.

No injuries were reported.

The Pierce County Fire Marshal's Office and Sheriff's Department are investigating a fire early today at Nifty's Fifty's Pub & Grill on Canyon Road East.

The blaze was out and investigators were on the scene, Central Pierce Fire & Rescue Assistant Chief Matt Holm reported. No injuries were reported.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.

"It's being investigated now," Holm said.

It had been an active overnight at the pub.

The pub, 8924 Canyon Road E., closed Tuesday night a little early, Holm said. Around midnight, Pierce County sheriff's deputies were called to the business for an intrusion alarm. They arrived, checked the building, found nothing amiss and left, Holm said.

About 1 a.m., a cleaning woman arrived at Nifty's Fifty's and found light smoke inside the restaurant. She called a worker, who showed up and went into a locked office in the back of the building.

In the office, the worker found a fire coming up through the floor. The worker extinguished the blaze with a fire extinguisher and, believing the flames were completely out, left about 2 a.m.

Someone called 911 at 4:30 a.m. to report a fire at the pub, Holm said. Firefighters arrived, found flames in the back of the building and got the fire out in 45 minutes.

The fire appears to have started in the floor of the office, spread up the wall and reached into the attic.

The pub has a sprinkler system but it had been shut off before the fire.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze without much difficulty.

Investigators say the pub has heavy smoke damage. The initial damage estimate is $150,000, Holm said.

The state's nine Supreme Court justices will spend the next two days on the Puyallup campus of Pierce College, rubbing elbows with students and hearing oral arguments on some actual cases.

The tour is part of the high court's "on the road" series of appearances throughout the state. Three times per year, the justices hold hearings outside the Temple of Justice in Olympia.

"The Court enjoys visiting our state's local colleges," Chief Justice Gerry Alexander said in a news release. "In addition to the students, we encourage anyone interested in learning more about the judicial branch of government to see the workings of the highest court up close and personal."

The court will hear arguments on three cases beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday in the multi-purpose room at College Center:
• State vs. Pugh, involving whether certain statements made during a 911 call can be admitted as evidence during a criminal trial.
• State vs. Garvin, involving the limits of what constitutes reasonable search and seizure by police.
• In re Estate of Pamela Kissinger, involving the state's so-called "slayer statute," which prevents people from benefiting from the unlawful killing of another person.

There will be a question-and-answer session with the justices following arguments in the first two cases. The public may attend all three arguments and the Q-and-A.

The Puyallup campus of Pierce College is at 1601 39th Ave. S.E. Here's a link to a map and directions.

The state Attorney General's Office is warning residents of another telephone scam. Here's a press release from the agency:

SEATTLE – The Washington Attorney General’s Office is alerting residents about a phone scam in which Spanish-speaking callers claim to be representatives of an insurance company.

Hispanic residents from Seattle to Yakima have reported receiving phone calls from Spanish-speaking callers who claim to be from “the insurance company.” The female callers ask for bank account information they claim is needed to process insurance payments. The callers have left messages if owners aren’t home, along with phone numbers that start with 800 and 752 area codes.

At least two individuals provided their bank information to their cons, according to a Woodinville-based insurance company that reported the fraud to the Attorney General’s Office.

As a reminder, never provide your bank account, Social Security number or other personal information to someone who asks for it by phone, e-mail or text message.

If you believe a call might be legitimate, ask for the caller’s name and contact details then end the conversation. Call the business directly using the number on your insurance card, statement or in the phone book.

If you believe you may have provided information in response to a fraudulent phone call, report the information immediately to your bank and place a fraud alert on your credit report.

A reader sent us a question earlier today about police activity near Larchmont Elementary this morning.

Here's what police spokesman Mark Fulghum had to say.

It was in response to a burglary in the 8400 block of 'A' street. Suspects were observed in/around the residence and fled as officers arrived in the area. Containment was set up and an area check located two of the suspects-one adult and one juvenile. Both were arrested and booked.

A head-on collision injured three people on highway 302 at about 3 p.m.

According to the Washington State Patrol, a 2008 Nissan Altima crossed the center line into westbound traffic on the highway at milepost 11, and crashed head-on into a 1995 Ford pickup, causing the truck to roll.

The 83-year-old driver of the Nissan was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center. The 76-year-old driver of the pickup was taken to Madigan Medical Center with broken ankles and her 17-year-old passenger was taken to St. Joseph with a collapsed lung and internal bleeding.

The King County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in finding the SUV that struck and seriously injured a teenager in SeaTac earlier this month.

The 17-year-old boy was getting out of his father's car in the 4300 block of South 178th Street about 5 p.m. Feb. 4 and was hit by a dark green Dodge Durango, Sgt. John Urquhart reported.

The SUV (similar to the one pictured here) had been speeding when the driver started to lose control. The Durango hit the boy, throwing him backward.

The Durango stopped briefly, then took off before anyone could get its license plate number.

The boy suffered broken bones and was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. He's listed in stable condition, Urquhart reported.

The driver of the Durango has been described as a Hispanic man in his 30s. He was 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 7 with a medium build and shaved head. There was a woman in the Durango.

Anyone with information about the hit-and-run is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at (206) 296-3311 or 911.

A multiple vehicle crash is blocking the left lane of northbound Interstate 5 in Fife.

The crash is at Porter Way, the state Department of Transportation reported.

The incident began about 11:30 a.m.

Troopers and firefighter responded to the scene. Traffic was backing up to 54th Avenue.

12:15 p.m. update from DOT: The crash has been cleared and the left lane is back open to traffic.

Traffic is still tied up through the area.

Snow flurries have been spotted in parts of Tacoma and the greater Puyallup-Frederickson area this morning.

The flakes are tiny and not sticking.

The Washington State Patrol reported no problems on the highways in Pierce and Thurston counties.

A Thurston County dispatcher reported a trace of the white flakes. However, police dispatchers in Puyallup, Orting and Sumner report no snow flurries this morning.

It is snowing on Snoqualmie Pass this morning but there are no restrictions for drivers.

12:30 p.m. UPDATE: The snow is coming down pretty hard outside The News Tribune building. The big, fat flakes are not really sticking, though.

1:20 p.m. UPDATE: The snow is sticking on the grass, sidewalks, rooftops and in the parking lots. On the streets, slush is covering the roadways.

The Peninsula School District has canceled all after-school activities.

1:30 p.m. update: Buses in the University Place School District will be operating on snow routes this afternoon.

All after-school activities have been canceled.

"No decision has been made on the district Coral contest scheduled for this evening," the district reported.

The Evergreen State College's Tacoma campus is closed for the night because of snow.

1:50 p.m. update: The choral contest tonight in the University Place School District has been canceled.

2:20 p.m. update: The Yelm School District has canceled its activity runs for this afternoon.

2:25 p.m. update: All after-school activities in the Clover Park School District will end at 4:30 p.m., the district announced minutes ago.

Also, all out-of-district transportation and athletic events have been canceled.

Also, the Steilacoom School District will not have after-school activity buses for the middle and high school.

The Tacoma-Tahlequah route to Vashon Island was suspended for about six hours today after the lone ferry suffered a mechanical problem earlier this afternoon.

Earlier today, an engine on the Hiyu ferry failed, due to a problem with lube and oil pressure, DOT spokeswoman Laura Johnson said. The ferry was able to make it to port and everyone made it off the boat.

Johnson said crews performed sea trials to see if the ferry is able to resume the route.

The 34-car Hiyu is filling in for the 48-car Rhododendron, which has been dry docked for maintenance, and isn't expected back until March 1. Commuters were already frustrated with the smaller, older ferry.

At a hearing last week held on Vashon Island, passengers shared their frustrations with Washington State Ferries.

Local clergy will gather Tuesday at the Spanaway house where a young man was killed earlier this month.

The Moment of Blessing ceremony for John P. Stratton, 27, begins at noon outside the home in the 3800 block of 246th Street Court East. The site will be marked with bamboo poles laced with red and purple ribbons. Each ribbon bears the name and date of death of Pierce County's homicide victims.

Stratton was fatally shot early Feb. 1. An argument broke out between some guests and a man at a birthday party at the home. Stratton was shot in the back. Another man was shot but his injuries were not considered life threatening.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged two men in the deadly shooting.

Associated Ministries designed the Moment of Blessing ceremony to cleanse the places in Pierce County where homicides occur. The brief, spiritual events are intended to provide support to the victim's family members, friends and the community where the crime happened.

A Federal Way fugitive was arrested Sunday afternoon after fleeing from a traffic stop in South Seattle.

Glenis C. Mitchell, 28, was wanted on a $50,000 nationwide felony warrant for first degree burglary.

The Washington State Patrol said Mitchell was spotted not wearing a seatbelt while stopped on an Interstate 5 off-ramp at Michigan Street. He was pulled over, and ran from his car, through bushes and private property. He was spotted on top of a roof nearby where he was arrested.

All lanes of highway 302 near Purdy have reopened after aA rollover collision is blocked both directions this afternoon.

The state Department of Transportation said the stretch of highway at milepost 11 neat 118th Avenue Northwest, about four miles west of Purdy closed at about 3:30 p.m.

Guy Allen, Pierce County Fire District 16 division chief, said a pick-up truck rolled over and leaked gasoline on the road. Two people had to be removed from the pickup and reportedly have serious injuries. Another person was injured.

Someone who claims to be representing Tacoma Power and Tacoma Water is continuing to make phone calls to customers falsely claiming that water or electric service is about to be cut off.

The calls, which are coming between midnight and 3 a.m., are not true, said Sonja Hall, spokeswoman for Tacoma Public Utilities.

Tacoma Water does not notify customers about shut-offs via telephone, Hall said. Representatives from the utility either leave a door hanger on the customer’s door, or contact them in person if the customer is home, Hall said.

Tacoma Power may notify customers of a shut-off by phone, but always with an automated call – never with a live voice, Hall said. Tacoma Power also notifies customers with door hangers or in person, Hall said.

The bogus caller began over the weekend of Jan. 19th and Jan. 20th and new calls were reported to the utility this morning indicating he struck again this weekend.

It’s not clear what’s driving the caller. In at least one case, he told the utility customer there was a main break in the area and power and water service would be interrupted, Hall said. He reportedly asked one person if he or she needed a heater to stay warm.

“Of course, we would never give out a heater,” Hall said.

Utility officials are asking people who receive one of these calls to dial *69 to try to learn where the call came from, Hall said.

(Submitted to Lights & Sirens by staff writer Jason Hagey.)

A community summit on crime, gangs, Internet safety, bullying and other subjects is scheduled from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Edison Elementary School, 5830 S. Pine St.

Free dinner and free child care with activities for children ages 3 and up will be provided, according to a news release. There also will be a raffle for restaurant gift certificates and flower bouquets.

Interpreters will be on hand for Spanish and Russian-speaking community members.

The Southside Safety Summit is sponsored by Safe Streets, the Tacoma Police Department and the Tacoma School District.

Here are the agenda topics, according to the news release:

• Community mobilization with Safe Streets

• Gang awareness education

• Internet safety

• Harassment, intimidation and bullying awareness

For more information, call Lindsay Whiteman at 253-571-1339 or e-mail her at lwhitem@tacoma.k12.wa.us.

(Submitted to Lights & Sirens by staff writer Kris Sherman.)

The aggravated murder trial in the slayings of two men at a South End apartment began last week.

Tyreek Smith and Darrell Jackson are accused in the Sept. 22, 2007, deaths of Ruben Doria Jr. and Abraham "Warren" Abrazado at a South End apartment. Prosecutors allege Doria and Abrazado were killed during an apparent robbery. Their throats were slashed.

Prosecutors have charged Smith, 23, and Jackson, 22, with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary.

Attorneys for both sides made their opening statements on Friday. Witness testimony begins today. (Aggravated murder is punishable only by life in prison without the possibility of release or the death penalty. Prosecutor Gerry Horne previously decided not to seek capital punishment in this case.)

A third defendant, 27-year-old Pierce Thelberg Spencer III, pleaded guilty last year to first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary in connection with the homicides. Under court order, Spencer's plea agreement has been sealed. He's scheduled to be sentenced March 27.

----

In unrelated court news, a jury found a man guilty last week of vehicular homicide, failure to remain at the scene of an accident resulting in death and driving with a suspended license.

John Nicholas Woods, 33, is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 27.

Prosecutors had charged Woods in the Feb. 3, 2008, death of Radion Plyut, 51.

According to court documents, Woods was driving a BMW on Brookdale Road East when he struck Plyut's car as Plyut turned left onto 157th Street.

Investigators suspected the BMW was speeding at the time.

A sheriff's deputy found Woods walking in the 5300 block of Brookdale Road East. He had blood on his hands and in his mouth and smelled strongly of intoxicants.

Plyut, 51, was taken to a local hospital and died of his injuries.

Three reported Fort Lewis soldiers were injured in an early morning crash in Seattle, police said today.

The Seattle Police said the three were driving at a high rate of speed, lost control and struck a light pole at about 3:30 a.m. near the 1200 block of Western Avenue. The vehicle rolled, and medics were able to remove the men. The drive was transported to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, and the passengers sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver was cited for second-degree negligent driving.

The woman killed in a rollover crash late Saturday near Carbonado has been identified as Gail L. Richardson, 40, of Carbonado.

Crews arrived on the scene on Manly Moore Road East and found a sport utility vehicle lying on its roof on the road. Crews used a thermal imaging camera to find Richardson, who was found in a nearby ditch. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Photo courtesy the Kent Fire Department.

A Covington house fire sent a woman to the hospital late Saturday night.

Crews responded to the woman's house, on the 25800 block of 177 Place Southeast, at about 11 p.m. Fire and smoke filled the house but the woman was able to escape without serious injuries. She was the only person inside at the time of the blaze.

The Red Cross is assisting the woman.

Have a thought or two about the night clubs in Tacoma?

This might be the right venue for you.

As part of the city's Safe and Clean effort, employees from the business and licensing offices will host a community meeting Monday night at the Tacoma Police Department headquarters, 3701 S. Pine St.

The meeting is scheduled from 5:30 to 8 p.m. City officials will discuss potential challenges related to night clubs in Tacoma and want to hear from residents and club owners about how to better manage these issues.

Tacoma police and parks officials are searching for those responsible for shooting six raccoons this week at Point Defiance Park.

Two wounded raccoons were found Monday morning. Park staff believe they were shot with a pellet gun. The animals were later euthanized.

Since then, park staffers and visitors have found four other dead raccoons "victimized by similar attacks along Point Defiance Park’s Five Mile Drive," Metro Parks reported.

The most recent deaths are believed to have been between 1 and 2 p.m. Thursday. Staff members had made the rounds an hour before a park visitor found the two raccoons in an area that had been patrolled, Metro Parks reported.

Tacoma police warn of possible criminal charges against those responsible.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Tacoma Police Department’s non-emergency number 253.798.4721.

"If visitors encounter any wildlife injured by unnatural causes they are asked to report the location directly to Park Superintendent Marina Becker at 305-1024," Metro Parks reported.

A young man was sentenced to more than two years in prison Thursday after a deadly car crash in August 2007.

Jase M. Sellers, 19, was taken into custody and booked into Pierce County Jail after his sentencing hearing.

Sellers pleaded guilty last year to vehicular homicide in the Aug. 2, 2007 death of Timothy Beau Bockmann.

The crash occurred at the intersection of Highway 410 and 214th Avenue East. Sellers was going about 70 mph when he struck Bockmann’s car.

Bockmann, 19, died on the way to the hospital.

When making his guilty plea, Sellers admitted he’d been drinking beer before getting into his car and then speeding along Highway 410.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Susan Serko sentenced Sellers to two years, seven months.

If you're feeling charitable Saturday, here are three opportunities to provide your support.

WHAT: South King County police and firefighters will take the court for a charity basketball game. The game will feature Federal Way police officers and South King Fire & Rescue firefighters.
WHEN: 2 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Decatur High School, 2600 S.W. 320th St., Federal Way.
COST: Admission is free but a $5 or more donation can get you a Lions King Dog, pop and chips.
CHARITY: The Federal Way Lions Club is sponsoring the event as part of Helen Keller Day. The proceeds will benefit children and adults with sight and hearing needs in the community.

WHAT: Puyallup police officers will be working the tables at Famous Dave's Restaurant to earn tips for charity.
WHEN: 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Famous Dave's at 3811 Ninth St. S.W., Puyallup.
CHARITY: The proceeds from the Tip-Cop event will go to Special Olympics Washington. The police department hopes to raise at least $3,000 in tips.

WHAT: Spaghetti dinner in memory of Sebastian Hizey, the 6-year-old Puyallup boy who died last month at a monster truck show in Tacoma.
WHEN: 5 to 7 p.m.
WHERE: La Petite Academy, 16028 Gem Heights Dr. E., Puyallup.
COST: $5 per plate.
CHARITY: All proceeds from the event will go to the Sebastian D. Hizey fund at U.S. Bank.

FEMA is opening up a new Disaster Recovery Center today in Olympia for people affected by the January floods.

It's the fifth such center to open in the state. (Earlier this week, a center was opened at the South Hill Mall in Puyallup.)

The Olympia center is located at the Westfield Mall, 625 Black Lake Blvd. The center will be open from noon until 7 p.m. today.

The regular operating hours at 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday. On Sundays, the center will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Washington State Patrol is seeking some recognition for one of its own.

Here's the press release from the agency:

For his actions and professionalism in dealing with a very tense, very dangerous situation involving a suspect who had already killed six people, Washington State Patrol Trooper Edward D. Collins has been selected as the regional nominee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Trooper of the Year for 2008.

Trooper Collins was nominated for this award for his heroic actions on September 2, 2008, when he created a safety buffer by placing himself between a very dangerous individual and citizens driving on Interstate 5.

In the incident Trooper Collins heard on his police radio Mr. Isaac Zamora was a suspect in the shooting of several citizens in the Silver Creek Road area of Skagit County. The information Trooper Collins received indicated Zamora was seen driving a silver pick-up southbound on Interstate 5. Trooper Collins observed the pickup, crossed the median, and turned to follow Zamora.
Trooper Collins did not know Zamora had just shot and killed his sixth victim; a driver who was shot at random on the freeway.

Once behind Zamora Trooper Collins, driving an unmarked Chevrolet Impala patrol vehicle, realized the seriousness of the situation and only turned on his rear flashing lights. He blocked traffic behind him to create a buffer zone without alerting Zamora to his actions.

Trooper Collins requested assistance from other troopers who were converging on the situation. Trooper Collins watched as a fellow trooper who was attempting to get close to Zamora’s vehicle was shot. This trooper was struck in the arm and drove himself to the hospital.

Trooper Collins, joined by several other troopers, pursued Zamora southbound until Zamora was taken into custody at the Skagit County Sheriff’s office without further incident. Trooper Collins continued to display a high level of professionalism throughout this process, while under intense public and media scrutiny.

This is not the first time a WSP Trooper has been nominated for this prestigious award. In 2007 the IACP Trooper of the Year was awarded to WSP Trooper Kelly Kalmbach.

Two alert witnesses helped nab a man suspected of breaking into and ransacking a woman's Tacoma home Wednesday afternoon.

The 48-year-old man's arrest yielded a couple of other finds - counterfeit bills and drugs.

Pierce County prosecutors charged Stanley Donald Hite on Thursday with residential burglary, unlawful drug possession, forgery and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.

Court documents provide the following information:

Officers were called to the 4600 block of South Park Avenue just after 1:30 p.m. Wednesday after citizens had reportedly detained a suspected burglar.

Two witnesses reporting seeing the burglar, later identified as Hite, coming out of the second story of the victim's home. He attempted to hand some items to an accomplice.

Hite fell or climbed out of the window and the two witnesses chased him. One of the witnesses caught Hite and detained him for police.

Police officers checked the victim's home and found the back door had been kicked in. She arrived home a short time later and was frightened.

She surveyed her home and told officers her bedroom had been ransacked and all of her jewelry appeared to be gone from her jewelry boxes. Several dresser drawers also had been pulled out.

Officers searched Hite after his arrest and found the victim's jewelry. They also found three counterfeit $20 bills (all had the same number, bad coloring and running ink), a glass smoking pipe, hypodermic needle and two bags containing a crystal substance that later field-tested positive for meth.

Officers also found one of the victim's pillowcases, which contained some of the victim's belongings.

Police did not find the accomplice.

An argument led to a shooting at an apartment complex on Yakima Avenue at about 8:30 tonight.

According to police on the scene, two men were arguing in an apartment stairwell at 621 Yakima Ave. when one pulled a gun and shot the other. One man was shot in the arm and is being taken to a Tacoma hospital. Police are questioning the other man and witnesses to see if the shooting was in self defense.

Photo courtesy of Lacey Fire District 3.

Lacey firefighters had to use the "jaws of life" to free a teenage driver whose car wrapped around a tree on Willamette Drive this evening.

Lacey Fire District 3 firefighters responded to a call at about 5 p.m. for a late model Honda that left the roadway and smashed into a tree in the 2600 block of Willamette Drive. It took about 35 minutes to free the driver, who was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital.

Willamette Drive was reduced to one lane of traffic while crews worked on the car, and Lacey police are investigating.

An Olympia man was arrested this afternoon in Oregon for leading police on a high speed pursuit on Interstate 5 and for possession of eight pounts of marijuana.

According to the Oregon State Police, 45-year-old Roger A. Stewart was driving south on I-5 near Eugene when police attempted to stop him for speeding and "lane change violations." He led police on a 10 minute pursuit on I-5, Interstate 105 and local streets, reaching speeds of about 95 mph. He stopped and was arrested after a 10 minute chase.

Police searched Stewart's red Ford pickup and found the marijuana in two five-gallon plastic buckets. Police estimate the marijuana has a street value of $24,000.

Stewart is being held in Lane County Jail on charges for the chase and possession of marijuana.

Documents released today detail the struggled that sparked the alleged murder of two parents by their son Wednesday near Kent.

In a statement of probable cause, King County Sheriff deputies say the suspect, Vincent Housley, admitted that he argued with his mother and father and shoved his mother Karen Housley and father Joe Housley down the stairs. Vincent reportedly stabbed both his parents and hit them in the head with a baseball bat.

Deputies say Vincent is a drug user with no ties to the community, and that he was getting ready to flee the area.

Vincent Housley, 43, was arrested last night in Tukwila. He is being held on two counts of second degree murder with bail set at $2 million.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged three men in connection with pursuit of a stolen car early Tuesday.

Kevin Yong, Michael Anthony Barquet Jr. and Kimsann Soung were charged Wednesday.

Court documents provide the following information:

A Lakewood police officer drove through a parking lot in the 13100 block of Gravelly Lake Drive Southwest just after 3:30 a.m. Tuesday and checked license plates of parked cars.

A records check revealed an Acura car had been reported stolen in Seattle. The officer spotted the car leave the parking lot.

The officer followed the car as it got onto southbound Interstate 5 and asked for backup.

When a second patrol car arrived, the officers turned on their emergency lights and sirens.

The Acura's driver took off, going 80 mph down the highway. The driver got off the freeway at exit 120 and lost control, spinning off the roadway.

The driver regained control and drove toward the North Fort Lewis Gate. He went around several vehicles at the gate area and went onto Fort Lewis. He ran a red light at the intersection of 41st Division Drive and Shoreline Beach Road.

The driver went between cement barriers and barricades, then ended up making a U-turn and heading back toward the gate.

Another officer deployed stop sticks. The car drove over the sticks and started swerving. The officers got the car stopped.

The front seat passenger bailed out of the car and took off running. Officers chased him into a wooded area and used a Taser to try to subdue him. The man punched one officer in the face.

Three officers finally got the man into custody. He continued to fight the officers and refused to follow commands.

The driver said he didn't know why he was running from officers. He said the car wasn't his.

The other passenger initially claimed he was drunk and didn't know what happened. He later said he put some marijuana under the seat when the pursuit began.

Officers searched the car and found two vials of PCP, two baggies of suspected marijuana and a gun.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged a second man in connection with a shooting early Sunday that injured one and killed another at a birthday party in Spanaway.

Christopher Michael Eugene Randon was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree assault. The 23-year-old was arraigned Wednesday afternoon and remains in Pierce County Jail on $1 million bail.

On Tuesday, prosecutors charged Jacob Hadley, 19, in the shooting death of John P. Stratton, 27, and the injuring of another man. Hadley has pleaded not guilty to murder and assault charges and remains in jail on $950,000 bail.

The shooting occurred at a birthday party at a home in the 3800 block of 246th Street Court East in Spanaway. Hadley, Randon and others came to the party about 11 p.m.

More than two hours later, a dispute erupted between some of the guests and a man who lives at the home hosting the party.

A fight broke out. The man was taken to the ground, where he was punched and kicked.

According to court documents, Hadley pulled out a gun and waved it around. He struck the man with it. Prosecutors also allege Randon pulled out a gun and hit the man with it.

"At this time, a gunshot rang out," court documents state. "Defendant Randon has told police that his gun discharged and a shot was fired. A witness has described seeing (the man) on the ground after the shot was fired and defendant Randon reaching for something on the ground."

Chaos broke out. Witnesses have told investigators that Hadley shot Stratton in the back a few seconds later, court documents state. Stratton collapsed and died a short time later.

Hadley and others fled in a Chevy Trailblazer. Randon fled in a separate car.

Randon reportedly told another witness "he thought he had shot 'that dude' as he fled from the scene," court documents state. Investigators interviewed Randon Tuesday.

At first, he denied have a gun and pulling it out at the party, court documents. He later said he'd been involved in the altercation with a resident of the house, court documents state.

Seattle Police and Fort Lewis officers arrested another soldier in connection with January robberies in Seattle.

Two Fort Lewis soldiers were arrested yesterday. Officers took the third suspect, a 21-year-old from Rhode Island, into custody at about 5 p.m. today.

The third suspect allegedly participated in a Jan. 10 robbery, and was reportedly present at another on Jan. 17.

A duplex fire displaced two families Wednesday evening after the blaze started on one side and smoke made its way into the other.

Matt Holm, assistant chief of Central Pierce Fire and Rescue, said crews responded to the fire at the corner of 108th Street South and 10th Ave. Court South near Parkland at about 7 p.m. Crews were able to put out the fire within a half and hour, but not before the flames gutted one side of the duplex and damaged the other.

A family of two adults and six children were displaced by the fire, which destroyed all of their belongings. The family did not have insurace, Holm said. The second family, two adults and two children, were also displaced because their residence had smoke damage. No injuries were reported, and the Red Cross is helping the two families with temporary shelter.

The blazed caused about $100,000 worth of damage to the structure, Holm said. Investigators arrived at about 8:30 p.m., and have not determined a cause.

A 20-year-old man who led Tacoma police on a high speed chase early Friday apologized when it was done and said he ran because he had a federal warrant.

Calvin Dewayne Davis was charged Monday in Pierce County Superior Court with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and third-degree driving with a suspended or revoked license.

Court documents provide the following details about the incident:

Two Tacoma police officers were on patrol in a marked police car just before 1 a.m. Friday. As they drove north on Interstate 5, the officers spotted a white Chevrolet Tahoe speeding and changing lanes without first signaling.

The officers activated their emergency lights for a traffic stop. The Tahoe started to move to the right shoulder, then sped up and took the exit to the State Route 7 and State Route 705.

"As the Tahoe reached about 65 mph it began to exit to southbound SR 7 but at the last second, it jerked hard to the left, crossed the collector distributor lines and nearly struck the concrete jersey barrier as it re-entered the interchange going to SR 705," court documents state.

The vehicle then got onto State Route 509 and speed up to 80 mph. The officers continued following the Tahoe as it weaved through cars and drove onto Marine View Drive.

The Tahoe ran a red light at Taylor Way, then turned up Norpoint Hill. It failed to stop at another stop sign and headed east on 29th Street Northeast into Federal Way.

The Tahoe finally pulled over near 348th Street Southwest and 10th Place Southwest. Officers conducted a high-risk felony stop.

The driver was handcuffed.

"I ran because I have a federal warrant, I'm sorry," he reportedly told officers, according to court documents.

A records check revealed a federal probation warrant.

KIRO TV is reporting:

Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma has gone into lockdown as a precaution after a burglary occurred in the area, reports KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

After the burglary, the robbers were seen in a car that may have crashed and then the robbers took off, police said.

The school is in lockdown as a precaution and police said there is no reason to believe that the robbers were or are on campus.

Prosecutors have charged against a 21-year-old man suspected in a home invasion-style robbery at a Gig Harbor apartment.

John Clenton Carlisle was charged Monday in Pierce County Superior Court with robbery and assault.

Court documents provide the following account:

Gig Harbor police were dispatched to the Harbor County Apartment complex in the 4400 block of Harbor County Drive just after 9 p.m. Jan. 28.

A resident reported that he heard a knock at the door, then opened it. He was punched in the eye. A man, later identified as Carlisle, entered the apartment, pointed a gun at the victim and demanded to know where the victim's money and other stuff were.

A woman also was inside the apartment. She was ordered at gunpoint to sit on the couch.

The robber grabbed some of the male victim's belongings and moved them near the front door. The victim spotted an opening and grabbed the robber's gun. He pulled out the ammunition magazine and forced the robber out of the apartment.

The robber fled on foot and got into a nearby car. A witness followed the car to the store.

Officers tracked the car to a Federal Way address and found Carlisle. He had a warrant for his arrest and was taken into custody.

Officers found some of the victim's belongings in Carlisle's car. They also found bags containing more than 70 grams of marijuana and a handgun that was missing its ammunition clip.

Here's someone who deserves a medal ... a good Samaritan helped Tacoma police nab a man suspected of snatching the purse from a 74-year-old woman Monday.

The victim was walking in a parking lot in the 7500 block of Portland Avenue just before 1:30 p.m. Monday. She told officers that a man came up from behind her and grabbed her purse, court documents state.

The purse straps were over the victim's arm. She described the thief as ripping the purse from her.

The purse snatcher ran and got onto a bicycle, court documents state.

A witness saw the theft and tackled the thief off his bicycle. The witness ordered the man to hand over the purse.

The thief threw the purse down and ran off, court documents state.

Officers arrived and a police dog was deployed to find the purse snatcher.

A 25-year-old man was found hiding in some brush and taken into custody. The victim and witness positively identified the man as the purse snatcher.

The man later told officers he snatched the purse to get some rent money.

Pierce County prosecutors on Tuesday charged Robert Charles Brandon Gregory-Johnson with robbery in connection with the incident.

A man allowed his wife to leave their North Tacoma apartment late Tuesday, then fatally shot himself, ending a three-hour standoff with officers, Tacoma police reported.

Officers went into the apartment and found the mortally wounded man. Paramedics tried to revive the 42-year-old but were not successful, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

The man's wife called 911 about 8:25 p.m. Officers responded to the couple's apartment complex on North 12th and Pearl streets. The man reportedly had a gun.

When officers arrived, the man told them to stay away. That's when the SWAT team and hostage negotiators were called, Fulghums said.

Neighboring apartments were evacuated as negotiators spoke on the telephone on and off with the man, his wife and his two daughters, all of whom were inside the apartment.

The negotiators directed the daughters to another room in the apartment. SWAT officers were able to get the girls out through a window, Fulghum said. The girls were not physically injured.

A short time later, the wife came out onto an outside porch area. Moments later, a shot was heard.

"That's when we went in," Fulghum said.

Officers will be reviewing the incident.

Tacoma Police have blocked off the area around an apartment complex on North 12th and Pearl Street as negotiators talk to a man barricaded inside an apartment with his wife.

The man reportedly has a gun, but that has not been confirmed, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

Crews were called to the apartment at about 8:40 p.m., and eventually blocked off the street and cleared neighboring apartments. Negotiators have been talking to the man through the door and over the phone to get him to come out.

"We are trying to bring this to a peaceful conclusion," Fulghum said.

MORNING UPDATE: The standoff reportedly ended late Tuesday.

From what I've heard on the radio, the wife got out and a short time later, the 42-year-old man committed suicide.

I am awaiting a call back from TPD with details about how the standoff ended.

The federal government is cautioning people to be aware of work-at-home scams. This was posted today on the Internet Crime Complaint Center Web site:

Consumers need to be vigilant when seeking employment on-line.
The IC3 continues to receive numerous complaints from individuals who have fallen
victim to work-at-home scams.

Victims are often hired to "process payments", "transfer funds" or "reship products."
These job scams involve the victims receiving and cashing fraudulent checks, transferring
illegally obtained funds for the criminals, or receiving stolen merchandise and
shipping it to the criminals.

Other victims sign up to be a "mystery shopper", receiving fraudulent checks with
instructions to cash the checks and wire the funds to "test" a company's services.
Victims are told they will be compensated with a portion of the merchandise or funds.

Work-at-home schemes attract otherwise innocent individuals, causing them to become
part of criminal schemes without realizing they are engaging in illegal behavior.

Job scams often provide criminals the opportunity to commit identity theft when
victims provide their personal information, sometimes even bank account information
to their potential "employer." The criminal/employer can then use the victim's information
to open credit cards, post on-line auctions, register Web sites, etc., in the victim's
name to commit additional crimes.

If you have been a victim of Internet crime, please file a complaint at
www.IC3.gov.</blockquote>

Parents, students and community members are invited to Mount Tahoma High School on Thursday night for a forum about gangs violence.

The "PEACE OUT" forum, a collaboration between Safe Streets, Tacoma police and Tacoma schools, is from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the school, 4634 S. 74th St.

Community leaders and youth prevention specialists will talk about ways to stop drugs, gangs and violence in the community.

Parents will be able to attend breakout sessions on preventing, identifying and addressing their child's gang involvement. Students can learn more about what they can about the violence in their school. Community members can learn about how to organize their neighbors to fight the gang and drug activity in their neighborhoods.

The speakers include a student from Mount Tahoma, Tacoma police Capt. Mark Langford and Tacoma City Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg.

The high school's Hip Hop Club will perform. Food and childcare service will be provided.

Another "PEACE OUT" forum is scheduled for Feb. 12 at Lincoln High School. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m., with the forum scheduled to run from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in the school's cafeteria.

The school is located at 701 S. 37th St. in Tacoma.

Tacoma police are searching for a man who is suspected of robbing a South Tacoma gas station last month.

Investigators released surveillance photos of the man and the getaway car today in hopes of identifying the robber.

The robber walked into the convenience store of the Shell gas station in the 5400 block of Tacoma Mall Boulevard about 10:35 p.m. Jan. 20.

He was armed with a semi-automatic gun and pointed it at the clerk. He left in an undisclosed amount of cash, police reported.

The robber was seen arriving and leaving in a red car with gray primer spots and chrome wheels. He was in the passenger seat, police reported.

The robber was described as black, about 20 years old, 5 feet 8 and 170 pounds. He wore a white ball cap, gray-and-black vest over a dark jacket, black-and-white shoes and black jeans with stitching on the back pockets.

Anyone with information about the robber is asked to call Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959. Anonymous tips also can be submitted to the Tacoma Police Department here.

The man claimed he was just taking a short cut when Lakewood officers spotted him near the scene of a burglary at a dental office last week.

The 40-year-old didn't have an explanation, though, for the glass shards that cut his fingers.

Officers ended up arresting him and on Friday, Pierce County prosecutors charged the man with second-degree burglary, second-degree malicious mischief, resisting arrest and making/having burglary tools.

Court documents give the following account:

Lakewood officers responded to a burglary alarm at a dental office at 10908 Gravelly Lake Drive S.W. just before 11:30 p.m. last Wednesday. The alarm monitoring company reported hearing glass breaking.

Officers spotted a double-pane window that had been removed and set aside and a larger window that had been shattered. A gate to the back of the building also had been open.

Officers set up containment and a police dog arrived at the scene.

One officer spotted the man nearby next to some brush and a fence.

"The defendant was looking around in a nervous manner," court documents state. "He was sneaking towards a fence to another building near where the officers were. As one officer made his way to the defendant, the defendant quickly jumped the fence."

The officers announced their presence and warned that the dog would be released if the man didn't come out.

An officer went to the fence where the man was. The man tried to climb out of the fence. The officer pulled him down and the man lost a headband with a light on it that he'd been holding.

The man was eventually taken into custody.

Officers found a knife and flathead screwdriver on the man. They noticed small glass shards had caused bleeding on the man's fingers.

The man said he was taking a short cut. The officers didn't buy it.

"He said he came from an area that the officers knew he could not have come from because they were in that area while setting up containment," court documents state.

The federal Damage Recovery Center for Pierce County will open Wednesday at noon in the South Hill Mall in Puyallup, according to the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management
Homeowners, renters and businesses who suffered damages from last month’s flooding or landslides can register in person at the center. Regular hours of operation will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Pierce County spokeswoman Sheri Badger said the Federal Emergency Management Agency center will be open on that schedule for at least the next two weeks.
She said anyone seeking disaster relief needs to register with FEMA either in person, online or by telephone and get a case number.
The center will be located in the old Victoria Secret location in the mall, she said. Look for signs.
In South King County, a Damage Relief Center has opened opposite the Good Sam Club inside the Supermall in Auburn.
Badger said the centers will find information on FEMA and state disaster assistance programs, Small Business Administration low-interest disaster loans and how to complete the loan application, smart building techniques to reduce damage from future floods, and flood insurance
Residents can also register on-line at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or over the phone at 1-800-621-FEMA.
To speed up the application process either in-person or on-line, have the following information:
• Social Security number.
• Current and pre-disaster address.
• A telephone number where you can be contacted.
• Insurance information.
• Total household annual income.
• A routing and account number from your bank if you want to
have disaster assistance funds transferred directly into your bank account.
• A description of your losses caused by the disaster.

The power company serving Anderson Island said today that they will bring another large diesel generator to the island and have temporary power to the entire island by Wednesday afternoon.

Steve Walters, general manager of Tanner Electric Cooperative, said they had hoped to get the third generator to the island today but will have to wait until Wednesday morning.

He said about two-thirds of the island’s 1,100 customers now have temporary power.

The new 2 megawatt diesel generator will replace the smaller of the two generators hooked up Monday, Walters said.

“We should cover all our (power) needs by mid-Wednesday,” he said, adding that residents still must conserve as much power as they can.

“This is generator power,” he said. “If you overload it, it backs out to the main source and shuts down. It’s a battle to get it back on.”

Power to the island was interrupted about 5:30 a.m. Saturday. Tanner Electric is still investigating what caused the outage. They believe it is may be in the underwater transmission line from the mainland to the island.

Waters said they are bringing in experts to check on the line. If it is the cable as expected, repairs could take weeks, he said.

“We’ll have a better timeline in a couple weeks,” he said.

Tanner Electric has scheduled community meetings at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday at the island’s Community Center.

Late Monday afternoon , Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy declared an emergency for the island located in Puget Sound south of Tacoma. The declaration authorizes emergency actions and services by county agencies to protect the health and safety of residents.

The Pierce County Sheriff has added a second deputy to patrol the island of 1,100 permanent residents. Seasonal residents raise the population to 2,000 to 3,000.

The county Department of Emergency Management brought its Mobile Disaster Command Center to the island Monday afternoon. It is parked at the Island General Store.

Residents are urged to conserve power and only use essential electrical appliances especially during morning and evening peak usage hours.

Walters explained that diesel generation will be expensive for the cooperative’s customers.

As for the $4 million 35-year-old underwater line that carries power from Luhr Beach in the Nisqually Delta to the southern end of the island, Walters said the cooperative’s board of directors will evaluate it once the problem is found.

“I suspect it will move up in the (annual) work plan,” he said.

The plan now is to stabilize the island’s power need, warm up peoples homes and keep refrigerators going, Walters said.

Conservation can means washing clothes in off peak usage times, he said. Peak usage is usually between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to about 10 p.m.

Using generators, Walters said, also means having to maintain them every 10 days or so which will require short outages in some areas.

Here's a bit of good news for those of you who had property damaged by the recent floods.

According to Pierce County:

Pierce County property owners who sustained damage or loss to homes or other buildings, or to business personal property during recent snows and flooding may qualify for property tax relief. Property owners can file a Taxpayers Claim for Reduction of Assessments with the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer’s Office.

For more information or to file a destroyed property claim, visit the Assessor-Treasurer Web site.

Learn more about services available from the Office of the Assessor-Treasurer here.

Tanner Electric Cooperative posted this update on its Web site this morning:

Anderson Island -- 2/3/09 7:30am Partial power has been established to the Island.There is another generator arriving today. We plan on having all of the Island back on with temp power by Tuesday afternoon. Please be very conservative and limit your usage.

Please attend one of the two meetings at the Anderson Island Community Club on Wednesday 2/4/09 at 4:00pm & 6:00 pm. We will discuss the issues related to restoring permanent power to the Island.

News Tribune reporter Mike Archbold spent several hours on Anderson Island on Monday, checking in with residents to see how they are coping with the prolonged power outage. Read his story here.

The governor has ordered flags at all state buildings to be lowered today.

Here's the press release:

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire has directed that flags at all Washington state agency buildings be lowered to half-staff Tuesday, Feb. 3, in memory of U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Benjamin H. Todd of Colville. Todd was killed on Jan. 26, while flying one of two helicopters that crashed at Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

Flags should remain at half-staff until sunset Tuesday, or first thing Wednesday morning, Feb. 4.

Congress amended the U.S. Flag Code to give governors the authority to lower flags when a state resident in the military is killed in the line of duty. Other government entities, citizens and businesses are encouraged to join in this recognition.

Commuters who take highway 18 should expect delays beginning tonight.

The state Department of Transportation said beginning Tuesday morning, traffic will be reduced to one lane so crews can repair the broken highway. Both directions of highway 18 are reduced to one lane between 7:30 p.m. and 4:40 a.m. as pilot cars guide traffic down the lane.

Recent flooding caused Holder Creek to flood, eroding the hillside that supports the highway.

"The shoulder of the roadway has already cracked and if we have additional flooding we could lose the highway," project engineer Dave Lindberg said in a DOT news release.

The work is expected to finish in March. About 20,000 vehicles use this stretch of highway each day, including about 3,000 trucks, the DOT said.

The DOT also said today that crews are repairing a retaining wall that supports highway 169 near the Maplewood Golf Course. Flooding from the Cedar River about a month ago damaged this highway as well.

Super Bowl Sunday was not a day off for the Washington State Patrol.

Troopers reported 125 DUI arrests from midnight Sunday morning to 3 a.m. today. There was one traffic fatality reported statewide.

Sunday's arrests were a 60 percent increase in DUI stops, according to a WSP news release.

"We see a lot of advertising that links Super Bowl Sunday with alcohol," WSP Chief John Batiste said in the release. "The responsibility is still on the individual not to drink and drive."

In 2006, when the Seahawks were in the Super Bowl, the State Patrol made 128 DUI arrests.

The State Patrol's District 1, which includes Tacoma, had 16 DUI arrests. Seattle's district reported 23. The fatality was in District 4, which includes Spokane.

A fingerprint left at the scene of a grocery store robbery led to the arrest 10 days later of a man suspected in the crime.

On Friday, Pierce County prosecutors charged Jimmy Reyes Jr., 29, with first-degree robbery in the Jan. 19 heist at the Handy Corner Grocery.

Court documents give the following account:

Deputies responded to the grocery store in the 1100 block of 112th Street South about 7:15 p.m. Jan. 19. The owners reported a man had entered the store, selected some merchandise and walked up to the counter as if to pay.

Instead, the man put his hand on "what appeared to be the butt of a gun that was tucked into his waistband," court documents state. The robber demanded cash and threatened to shoot the owners if they did not comply.

The robber got an amount of cash and fled.

Investigators lifted a fingerprint from an area touched by the robber as he left the store. It was processed and matched Reyes.

The grocery store owners separately picked Reyes out of photo lineup.

Deputies found Reyes on Thursday at a residence in the 20900 block of 18th Avenue East and arrested him.

"Reyes eventually admitted that he committed the robbery and described how he did so," court documents state.

A 27-year-old man was killed early Sunday after gunfire erupted at a party in Spanaway.

The Pierce County Sheriff's Department has arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with the homicide. The man was booked into Pierce County Jail on Sunday night on suspicion of second-degree murder, then bailed out, Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. He's expected to be back in court Tuesday.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office identified the homicide victim as John P. Stratton of Spanaway.

According to preliminary information, the shooting occurred early Sunday at a birthday party in the 3800 block of 246th Street Court East. Stratton lived at the house, Troyer said.

Some uninvited guests came to the party, Troyer said. A confrontation ensued in the driveway, then gunfire erupted just before 2 a.m.

Two people were struck in the shooting. Stratton died of his injuries. A 26-year-old man was taken to an area hospital, was treated and later released, Troyer said.

Investigators believe they've identified the shooter, Troyer said. They were looking for others involved, however.

The incident remains under investigation.

Residents on Anderson Island remain without power this morning.

However, crews from Tanner Electric Cooperative were working to connect two large generators that were delivered late Sunday.

A problem with a severed submarine cable to the island in Pierce County has prompted the outage.

The island lost power Saturday afternoon.

UPDATE: Pierce County's Department of Emergency Management is providing generators and information to Anderson Island residents.

The agency provided generators Sunday evening and is bringing more in today. It also coordinated with the City of Lakewood to provide cots to residents spending the night at the public safety building, the agency reported today.

The agency's mobile operations command center will be at the general store to update residents on what's going on.

Phone service on the island is being maintained by generators, the Department of Emergency Management reported.

Tacoma police investigated two driveby shootings and a home-invasion robbery overnight.

No one was injured in either shooting.

The first driveby was reported just after 5:20 p.m. in the 1100 block of South 27th Street, Tacoma police reported. The suspect(s) was unknown.

The shooting left property damage.

The second driveby occurred later Sunday night in the 1500 block of South Fawcett Avenue. The suspects arrived in a vehicle, fired weapons in the air and then fled, police reported.

There was no property damage reported.

Sometime after midnight, suspects armed with weapons broke into a home in the 1100 block of North Prospect Street, police reported.

The suspects took an unknown quantity of prescription drugs during the home-invasion robbery, then fled.

A police lieutenant said the department had generic descriptions of the suspects.

The investigation was continuing.

No arrests have been reported in any of the three incidents.

A serious-injury crash was blocking the westbound lanes of State Route 18 near Preston this morning, the state Department of Transportation reported.

The crash occurred around 7:20 a.m. It was blocking the westbound lanes and one lane of eastbound SR 18.

Troopers, medical aid and fire crews were on the scene.

UPDATE: The crash was cleared and lanes were reopened about 8:10 a.m.

More than 1,000 Anderson Island residents remained without electrical Sunday afternoon, an outage blamed on a severed underwater cable.

The island lost power Saturday afternoon, Tanner Electric Cooperative said.

Tanner posted the following message on its Web site:

"The crews have determined that the submarine cable to the island has possibly experienced a fault. The island will be without power until at least Monday and we are working on providing emergency temporary power next week."

Be wary of scamming or illegitimate locksmiths.

Here's a press release from the Better Business Bureau.

DuPont, WA – Jan. 27, 2009 – Winter is an easy time to become locked out of a vehicle or home while going to warm up a car. Being locked out can be a huge inconvenience and many are in a rush when it happens. Unfortunately, this is the perfect situation for con-artists to thrive.

Your Better Business Bureau wants consumers to be aware of the following. Scam locksmiths often list in directories, and advertise in yellow pages. They may use a local address, but when visiting that address a different business is located there or a different, legitimate locksmith. When calling for a quote, scam locksmiths often pull a bait-and-switch scam, by quoting rates around $40-$80, but upon arrival charge hundreds of dollars.

These scams are active in your BBB’s coverage area. Ryan Obermire, a locksmith from Wilsonville Lock Works, Inc. in Oregon, said that he has recently received 15 locksmith catalogs addressed to his business but with different business names. He speculates that these are scam locksmiths using their business address to fool customers.

Tips from your BBB and the FTC when looking for a locksmith:

- Be prepared. Look for a locksmith before needing one. Look up businesses with your Better Business Bureau at bbb.org or 206-431-2222 for a BBB Reliability Report. Also check out the business with the Attorney General’s office.

- Call road side assistance if available. If locked out of a vehicle and have roadside assistance service, call them first. These services are sometimes included with the purchase of a car or as an add-on through an insurance company.

- Call family or friends for recommendations. If not prepared with a verified, trustworthy locksmith’s contact information, this is the next step.

- Not all locksmiths in directories and phone books are reputable. Be wary if the ad for a company only lists a Web site address. When calling a locksmith ask for their local store location. If they refuse to give it or give an address that does not match the directory listing, look elsewhere.

- Be wary of generic business names. If a company answers the phone with a generic phrase like “locksmith services,” rather than a company-specific name, be wary. Ask for the legal name of the business. If they refuse to give it, call another locksmith.

- Get an estimate. Most legitimate locksmiths will give estimates on the phone for the total cost of work. Also ask about additional fees such as charges for mileage, a minimum service call fee, or responding in the middle of the night. Get a second estimate when the locksmith arrives for all work and replacement parts. If the price doesn’t jibe with the over-the-phone estimate, do not allow the work to be done. After the work is completed, get an itemized invoice that covers parts, labor, mileage and service call prices.

- Never sign a blank form authorizing work.

- Check for locksmith identification. Upon the locksmith’s arrival, ask for identification such as a business card and, where applicable, a locksmith license. Alaska, Oregon and Western Washington do not require locksmiths to be licensed. Check the invoice or bill to make sure it includes the company’s name.

- Check the vehicle for a business name. Some locksmiths will work out of a car for quick or emergency jobs, but most arrive in a service vehicle clearly marked with the company’s name. Confirm that the business card and invoice match the name on the vehicle.

- Expect the locksmith to ask for the property owner’s identification. Legitimate locksmiths should confirm the vehicle or home belongs to the consumer who is locked out.

- Replacing a lock is not normal. If locked out, be cautious if told up front that the lock has to be drilled and replaced. Experienced legitimate locksmiths have invested in tools and education to provide quality service that can unlock almost any door.

- Keep a reputable locksmith’s contact information. Once you find a reputable locksmith, keep the business’ contact information in your wallet or cell phone.