Judge rules out playful initiative
Initiative 831 would allow voters to declare whether Eyman is "a horse's ass." But Superior Court Judge Gary Tabor agreed with the state attorney general that the measure wasn't the proper subject matter for an initiative.
"I believe this proposed initiative is outside the power given the people," the judge said.
David Goldstein, sponsor of the initiative, said he would appeal. He insists his initiative has a serious goal of prompting a discussion of how Eyman and others may be abusing the initiative process.
Eyman said he finds it "richly ironic" that Goldstein wants to weed out frivolous initiatives and then complains when a judge does so.
House OKs yanking WASL as sole test for graduation
OLYMPIA — Under a bill passed by the state House, high-school students would still be able to earn their diplomas even if they didn't pass the WASL test on their first try.
The state Board of Education has adopted rules requiring students in the 2008 graduating class to pass the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) test in reading, writing, communications and math to get their high-school diplomas.
The class of 2010 will also have to pass the science WASL.
House Bill 2124 deletes the requirement that students pass the communications test.
The bill approved Thursday night also gives students other ways to earn their diplomas. If they fail the WASL on their first try, they could retake it. Or, recognizing that not all students do well on standardized tests, the bill would allow them to prove their knowledge in some alternative way.
The bill also allows students an appeals process for the WASL graduation requirement.
The bill passed 84-12 and now heads to the Senate.
Senate passes measure to close Fircrest School
OLYMPIA — Developmentally disabled residents of the Fircrest School in Shoreline would be moved to nursing homes, community homes or other state institutions for the disabled under a bill the state Senate passed yesterday.
About 260 people live at Fircrest. The school employs 740 workers and cost about $43 million last year to operate.
Senate Bill 5971 would close Fircrest and sell the 87 acres of prime real estate, which has been appraised at $30 million.
The proceeds would go into a trust fund that would pay for services for the developmentally disabled.
The Senate passed the Fircrest Bill 37-12. It now heads to the state House.
Third suspect pleads guilty in Rachel Burkheimer case
EVERETT — A South Everett man who helped to tape Rachel Burkheimer's mouth shut pleaded guilty to her kidnapping yesterday.
Tony J. Williams, 20, faces up to 10 years in prison for first-degree kidnapping with a firearm. He and co-defendants Matthew Durham and Maurice Rivas are set to be sentenced July 31.
Burkheimer, 18, was found shot to death and buried in a shallow grave outside Gold Bar Oct. 5. The Marysville woman was bound, gagged and killed by her ex-boyfriend and his friends, according to court documents.
Rivas, 18, and Durham, 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last year. None of the three men will be sentenced until after they testify against the other four men and a juvenile who remain charged with Burkheimer's Sept. 23 kidnapping and death.
Prosecutors have until May 30 to decide whether to pursue the death penalty against two suspects who are charged with aggravated first-degree murder.
Man in funeral-home case accused of probation breach
LYNNWOOD — Police are searching for a 32-year-old man for parole violations.
The man served time for breaking into an Edmonds funeral home twice in 1993 and sexually abusing bodies.
The man has not checked in with probation officials for more than a month.
Since his release from prison three years ago, Ronald Shawn Ryan has been in and out of jail for probation violations and was supposed to return home five weeks ago. Because he hasn't returned to his house, in the 20800 block of Highway 99 in Lynnwood, police have issued a warrant for his arrest, said Lynnwood police Cmdr. Paul Watkins.
Ryan, who was an unemployed millworker at the time of his arrest for the attacks, was convicted of two counts of second-degree burglary and one count of malicious mischief.
Seattle college student missing in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS — Police are searching for a Tulane University student from Seattle missing since a Feb. 28 fraternity party, and the student's family has hired private investigators to help.
Jeremy Houk, 19, the son of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport director Gina Marie Lindsey, was last seen walking down a campus-area street in New Orleans Uptown neighborhood between midnight and 2 a.m. Lindsey said she is trying to stay calm.
"I don't want to overreact, but for heaven's sake, it's 12 days later and there's no sign of this kid," Lindsey said this week. "Mardi Gras is over, spring break is over, and classes started yesterday. I'm very, very worried."
$10,000 reported missing from contested bail money
EVERETT — Everett police are investigating the disappearance of $10,000 from a safe at the Snohomish County Jail.
South Snohomish County Narcotics Task Force detectives showed up at the jail armed with a court-approved seizure order March 7 for $39,900. The money had been used to bail out three people they had arrested for drug charges in late February. While counting the money, detectives and jail staff members noticed that $10,000 was missing, said Lynnwood police Cmdr. Paul Watkins, whose department is part of the task force.
Watkins said task-force members planned to put the $39,900 in a bank account or into a safe until an administrative-law judge ruled whether the money should be given to them permanently or back to the people who posted the bails. If it were determined that the bail money had been earned from drug transactions, police would be given the money.
George Hughes, jail spokesman, said the money may have been miscounted when it was first brought to the jail.
Man arrested in death of girlfriend's infant son
AUBURN — A 22-year-old Auburn man has been arrested in connection with the death of his girlfriend's 11-week-old son.
Kaden Isings died Thursday at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle.
The King County medical examiner said the exact cause of Kaden's death won't be known until further tests are conducted, but, police say, doctors found evidence that the infant had been abused.
About noon Wednesday, the man 911 from the home he shares with his 20-year-old girlfriend, in the 2500 block of F Street Southeast in Auburn. Kaden's mother was not home at the time. The boyfriend is not the boy's father, police said.
Bail was set at $100,000. Charges were expected Monday.