Control tower repair extended
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SEATTLE - Five more weeks and $2 million are needed to repair damage to the control tower at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport caused by the Feb. 28 earthquake, officials say.
The tower has been closed since the 6.8-magnitude quake shook out the large windows at the tower's upper level. But air-traffic controllers working from a temporary "tower" - a trailer perched on a hillside above the runways - have kept flight operations close to normal, said airport spokesman Bob Parker.
"During some periods of the day we don't have any delays," Parker said although there are occasional slowdowns during the airport's noon and late afternoon "rush hours."
The 107-foot-tall tower, where controllers direct arriving and departing flights, was built about 50 years ago. It was remodeled during the early 1970s, with extra bracing added to bring it into compliance with newer building codes.
Engineers believe that extra bracing prevented much more extensive damage during the quake.
When the temblor struck, most of the tower's thick plate-glass windows fell outward to the ground, and controllers were showered with ceiling tiles and other debris.
Nobody was injured and inbound flights were brought to safe landings. But Sea-Tac was closed most of the day while the Federal Aviation Administration brought in specially equipped trailers for the controllers to use during repairs.
Even with the repairs, the permanent tower's days are numbered. A new 233-foot tower is under construction and should be completed in 2004, according to Federal Aviation Administration officials.
Woman killed in car accidentnear North Bend is identified
SEATTLE - A woman killed Saturday in a one-car accident near North Bend has been identified as Shanti D. Cooley, 23, of Bainbridge Island.
Cooley was a passenger in a car that skidded off a gravel road about five miles northeast of North Bend and hit an embankment, according to the King County Sheriff's Office. The driver, a man in his 20s, suffered major head injuries in the accident and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center where he remained in critical condition yesterday.
Man held in assault of deputydies in Jefferson County jail
PORT HADLOCK, Jefferson County - A 24-year-old man died in a cell at the Jefferson County jail this past weekend after being arrested for investigation of assaulting a sheriff's deputy.
Kevin Wayne Bledsoe, who had recently moved from San Antonio to this Olympic Peninsula town, died Saturday. He had been arrested after allegedly assaulting a sheriff's deputy who had responded to a fight in the parking lot of a supermarket, Sheriff Pete Piccini said.
Witnesses told deputies that Bledsoe had consumed a large amount of alcohol. Bledsoe was assigned to a special observation cell at the jail and appeared to be calming down, Piccini said. A short time later, jailers discovered that Bledsoe was not breathing and did not have a pulse. They tried to resuscitate him, but he did not regain consciousness, Piccini said.
The sheriff's office in neighboring Clallam County was asked to investigate.
Anchorage students facingdiscipline in paintball attacks
ANCHORAGE - The Anchorage School District will discipline two Chugiak High School students authorities believe participated in paintball attacks against Alaska Natives, but school authorities are still deciding how severely to punish them.
"We feel we must take disciplinary action to send a strong message to the students and their parents that this is unacceptable," Superintendent Carol Comeau said.
The two students, 17-year-old boys, shot paintballs at Alaska Natives as they drove around with Charles D. Wiseman in downtown Anchorage Jan. 14, according to a court complaint. Wiseman, now 20, has been charged with misdemeanor assault. The complaint said he encouraged the teens and also videotaped the event.
Prosecutors won't say if the two teens have been charged. The two were not named because they are juveniles.
"I would have been very pleased to hear an apology, certainly from the 20-year-old, and from the other two and their parents," Comeau said.
New generation moves upin Cowles Publishing
SPOKANE - A new generation is moving up at Cowles Publishing, the family-owned publisher of The Spokesman-Review newspaper.
James P. Cowles, 67, will be replaced as president of the company by his niece Elizabeth "Betsy" Cowles. His nephew W. Stacey Cowles will become chairman.
James Cowles, who has headed Cowles Publishing since 1992, will remain chairman of Inland Empire Paper, its largest subsidiary.
"We have been planning for a decade to make a smooth transition to the next generation of family leadership of our company. Betsy and Stacey know our businesses, and we have worked well as a team in that time. Now it's time to pass the baton," he said in a prepared statement.
Betsy and Stacey Cowles will share strategic planning and policy responsibilities for Cowles Publishing, in addition to maintaining their current responsibilities.
Betsy Cowles, 38, oversees the company's broadcast division, video and film production, insurance and real estate. She was an associate in the Seattle law firm of Davis, Wright Tremaine before joining Cowles in 1992 as a sales account executive for KHQ-TV.
Stacey Cowles, 40, has been publisher of The Spokesman- Review since 1992, and he oversees print media and related online operations for Cowles Publishing. He worked as a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press and as a manager in the merger and acquisition department of KPMG Peat Marwick in New York before joining Cowles in 1989.
Sea-Tac evicts Harbor Airfor failure to pay back rent
PORT ANGELES - Commuter carrier Harbor Air has lost use of its gate at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport because of failure to pay about $100,000 in back rent.
The airline, based in Gig Harbor, is using Boeing Field instead, shuttling passengers on 15-minute van rides to and from Sea-Tac. Harbor Air spokesman Rick Jones criticized Sea-Tac for using "strong-arm tactics" to evict his company.
"We had been staying current," he said of the airline's debt payments. "We agreed to be very aggressive in paying. Since Nov. 30, we've paid $160,000." Then trouble arose over the $30,000 due March 17, Jones said.
"We asked if we could have a few days and that we would pay a penalty. But they said they changed their minds and wanted $63,000 on top of it.
"Wednesday, with no written warning, they told our station manager we were no longer a tenant there."
Sea-Tac spokesman Bob Parker disputes Jones' account.
"We've been working with them for close to six months," Parker said. "We didn't drop a bombshell on them. They owe more than $100,000 in back debt and current debt. They gave us a payment schedule but didn't keep up with it. As a public agency, we have to be responsible with the public's property."
The eviction was the first in recent history at the airport, he said, and it came after several default letters and unreturned calls to Harbor Air's owner.
Harbor Air served fewer than 100 Sea-Tac passengers a day with 15 arrival and departure flights, Parker said.
Information is from Seattle Times staff and news services.