False SOS call means jail term
Coast Guard officials said James Garrett Baldwin, 31, claimed he and his crew were taking on water and were abandoning ship at the entrance to John's River near the Oregon border on Nov. 19, 2002.
Rescue teams responded to the call and dispatched a helicopter, lifeboat and a 23-foot utility boat and searched for more than 15 hours before concluding the distress call was false.
Baldwin pleaded guilty in July to communicating a false distress message. He also will have to serve three years of probation.
Two Tukwila girls arrested in separate arson cases
TUKWILA — Two 15-year-old girls have been arrested in separate arson cases in Tukwila.
The girls do not know each other, said Tukwila Fire Capt. Don Tomaso.
The more recent case occurred Jan. 14 at an apartment in the 3700 block of Southcenter Boulevard and caused $750,000 in damages. The other occurred Dec. 15 at a house in the 4600 block of South 146th Street and caused $80,000 in damages.
Woman, 29, charged with vehicular homicide
EVERETT — A Lynnwood woman who was allegedly drunk when she lost control of her car and crashed, killing her passenger, was charged yesterday with vehicular homicide.
On Aug. 4, Lisa Dassinger failed to negotiate a turn from Interstate 5 to a Highway 526 ramp near Everett Mall and went down an embankment, according to charging papers filed in Snohomish County Superior Court. As the car rolled over, Chad Aldridge was ejected from the vehicle, the papers said. Aldridge died two hours later.
Charging papers say Dassinger, 29, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.13 percent two hours after the crash, above the legal limit of .08 percent.
SeaTac man, 44, arrested after 50-year-old killed
SEATAC — A 44-year-old SeaTac man given away by a distinctive feature — his small stature — was arrested yesterday following the shooting death of a 50-year-old man. He is being held on suspicion of homicide.
The incident began about 8:30 a.m., said King County Sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart. The suspect argued with David Bernfield at Bernfield's home in the 2200 block of South 132nd Street, Urquhart said. Deputies believe the suspect shot Bernfield once in the chest and fled in a truck.
A woman saw the shooting and told police she knew the suspect's first name and said he was short, about 5 feet tall. Urquhart said when that description was broadcast to officers, SeaTac police recognized the man and arrested him at his home.
Insurance-reform legislation dies in House without action
OLYMPIA — Legislation aimed at curbing the insurance industry's practice of counting consumer inquiries as claims will not become law this year.
A bill to ensure that only real claims turn up in national databases accessed by carriers passed the Senate but died last week in the House.
The bill did not define "inquiries" but required consumer-reporting agencies such as ChoicePoint's Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (C.L.U.E.) to make sure carriers did not file them as claims.
The legislation was introduced as a result of consumers' complaints that mere inquiries — such as checking whether a plumbing problem was covered by a homeowner's policy — ended up as a strike against them. Some consumers said they never learned about the problem until they tried to sell their homes or switch carriers, according to complaints on file with the state insurance-commissioner's office.
Smoker in bed deemed cause of apartment fire
SEATTLE — A fire Thursday afternoon at the Jensonia apartment building in downtown Seattle was caused by someone in a second-floor unit who was smoking in bed, Seattle fire investigators said yesterday.
The fire at 1214 Eighth Ave., near Town Hall, caused $300,000 in damage, investigators determined.
Three people suffered minor injuries, including one woman who had to be rescued from her sixth-floor unit via a fire-engine ladder.
Seattle schools ask union to extend agreements
SEATTLE — Seattle Public Schools introduced a proposal this week to extend for two years all four of the collective bargaining agreements the district has with the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 609.
The union represents four bargaining units: custodial engineers and gardeners; nutrition services; school security; and alarm monitors and "security response specialists."
There would be no changes to the agreements unless the district gives the Seattle Education Association's teachers an across-the-board increase in salaries and health-care benefits between Sept. 1, 2004, and Aug. 31, 2006. In that event, the proposed agreement would require the district to provide an equivalent increase to Local 609's members. The association's contract expires this year.
Adoption executive takes leave after abuse list includes him
EUGENE — The executive director of a worldwide adoption agency based in Eugene, and former president of Seattle Children's Home, has taken a leave of absence after he was listed among Roman Catholic priests accused of sex abuse in Los Angeles.
David Cousineau, a former priest who now is married, denied the allegations and said he has been falsely accused.
From 1992 to last year, Cousineau served as president of Seattle Children's Home, a Queen Anne mental-health institution for children.
The institution did a background check on Cousineau at the time of his hire and found no allegations, said spokeswoman Joy Ingram. Cousineau received no allegations of sexual misconduct or inappropriate behavior during his tenure there, Ingram said.
Cousineau, who 10 months ago took over Holt International, the adoption agency, worked as a priest for 18 years in Los Angeles-area parishes. Teenager's drug possession raises anger about lax laws
POINT ROBERTS, Whatcom County — Parents at a meeting here accused British Columbia of having lax drug laws after a teenager was arrested on suspicion of transporting 8 pounds of marijuana across the border on her school bus.
A U.S. prosecutor said earlier in the week that the pot found on the 16-year-old girl's school bus appeared to be from British Columbia.
But Whatcom County Deputy Prosecutor Thomas Verge told the Thursday night meeting that he had no evidence the marijuana was from the province.
Times staff and news services