Everett authorities probe suspicious fires
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The fires — which damaged a vacant home at 3621 Broadway; a trash can at 1201 N. Broadway; a car and a building at 1216 N. Broadway; a trailer at 819 N. Broadway and a car at 856 Locust St. — appear to have started after litter, cardboard and flammable materials were set on fire. No one was injured in the fires, said police Sgt. Boyd Bryant.
Anyone with information about these fires may call Assistant Fire Marshal Rick Robinson at 425-257-8100.
Tacoma
Bodies of 2 men found inside home
Two men were found dead yesterday, apparently shot to death, in a home near a day-care center.
Officers were called by a relative of one of the victims about 2:30 p.m. to check the home after the relative was unable to contact the residents, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.
When officers called into the house, a man came out and was detained before officers found the bodies. Fulghum said the man was taken in for questioning.
A motive for the killings was not immediately known.
Seattle
Sound Transit board approves big contract
The Sound Transit board yesterday approved the biggest contract so far for its Seattle light-rail line: $280 million, plus a $20 million contingency, to dig a one-mile tunnel under Beacon Hill and build two stations.
The total of up to $300 million is $42 million more than the agency had budgeted. But, since other parts of the 14-mile line are being built for less than Sound Transit had estimated, the project's total budget of $2.44 billion won't be affected, officials say.
The Beacon Hill segment, to be built by Obayashi Corp., is the only underground portion of the light-rail line between downtown Seattle and Tukwila. Sound Transit officials have attributed the higher-than-anticipated cost of the job to contractor jitters about inflation and to lack of competition — just two teams submitted bids.
Seattle
Man, 51, is arrested in video voyeurism
A 51-year-old man seen aiming a video camera up women's skirts in the Pike Place Market was arrested Tuesday.
The man had the camera in a bag, with the lens pointed upward, and tried to tape women in the area of a nearby restaurant and bar, according to Seattle police reports.
Market vendors called the police after noticing the man acting suspiciously, said Carol Binder, the market's executive director. Market security detained him while the police were called.
The man told police that it was the second time he had taped women at the market. "I have a problem," he told his arresting officers.
Video voyeurism recently was made illegal by the Legislature.
Seattle
Calif. men charged in Tukwila slaying
Two California men, who prosecutors say didn't plan to pay for a bag of marijuana they wanted, were charged yesterday with first-degree murder in King County Superior Court.
Clifton Lee Morson, 23, and Michael Jerome Minor, 23, were in Seattle April 15 to work on a rap recording when they went to an apartment in Tukwila to buy pot, police and prosecutors said in charging papers.
Russell Nicolet and the apartment's tenant went to a bedroom to get the stash when Minor allegedly walked up to Nicolet, punched him, and then fatally shot him in the chest after Nicolet punched back, according to the papers.
Morson and Minor ran from the apartment after grabbing the $200 bag of pot and fled to California, court documents say.
Morson was arrested in Seattle June 4 and is being held in King County Regional Jail in lieu of $1 million bond. Minor remains at large.
Tacoma
Lost wedding ring found — 30 years later
Nick Tucci was gardening when he lost his wedding ring and he was gardening when he found it — 30 years later.
Tucci, 74, a former Marine who served in Korea and retired three years ago after working as a ticket-taker and driver, among other employment, said he discovered the gold band Monday while digging under a rhododendron bush in his back yard.
He immediately called his wife of 52 years, Gloria Tucci, at the Cascade Park Communities assisted-living center, where she does community-relations work.
Gloria said she well remembers the day he lost the ring, which she had saved up to buy for him when they were married in 1952.
Spokane
Despondent inmate refuses to eat
A man accused of setting fire to his estranged wife's home, seriously burning a teenage girl, has not eaten in more than four months and is fighting Spokane County jailers' efforts to force-feed him.
Apparently despondent over injuries a 16-year-old stepdaughter suffered in the fire, Charles R. McNabb began refusing to eat last year and has not had solid food since early February, jail commander Capt. Dick Collins said Wednesday.
McNabb, who drinks water and occasional coffee, weighs just under 100 pounds, about 80 pounds less than when he was booked into jail about a year ago, Collins said.
A judge has declared McNabb competent to assist his defense in his scheduled July 12 trial on one count of first-degree arson and six counts of first-degree assault.
Hospitals won't feed him involuntarily unless he is judged mentally incompetent.
Port Orchard
Corrections officer on leave after arrest
A 36-year-old Kitsap County Sheriff's corrections officer is on administrative leave after he was arrested yesterday on suspicion of groping a 42-year-old female inmate.
Detectives are also investigating whether the woman played any role in encouraging the officer, said sheriff's Deputy Scott Wilson. The officer has worked with the sheriff's office since October 2002. The alleged incident occurred June 4 at the county jail, while the woman was in her cell and the officer was making evening rounds.
Times staff and news services