Alki altercation results in arrest
Seattle police on Saturday arrested a man for allegedly threatening the owner of the iconic Duke's Chowder House on Alki Beach.
Police spokesman Rich Pruitt said the man was taken into custody after allegedly threatening to use a gun to settle a dispute between the owner of Duke's and those of its next-door neighbor, Christos on Alki.
Jail records indicated a man with the same surname as the two owners of Christos was booked for investigation of assault just after 7 p.m.
Officers responded to a report of a fight Saturday afternoon and the first officer on the scene called for "rapid backup," a distress call that resulted in eight squad cars arriving within minutes. Pruitt said he did not immediately know why the officer felt threatened.
No firearm was found, he said.
Whitefish, Mont.1 killed, 1 hurt in motorcycle crash
A Washington state man was killed and his female passenger critically injured early Saturday in a motorcycle accident in Montana.
The motorcycle left South Edgewood Avenue in Whitefish, and the two riders were thrown from it, the Flathead County Sheriff's Office said.
Brian Jones, 39, of Sammamish, died at the scene. His 37-year-old female passenger was flown to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition.
RedmondFire damages 2 Eastside homes
A three-alarm fire tore through two homes on a cul-de-sac in Redmond on Saturday afternoon, displacing two families and slightly injuring two firefighters.
Redmond Fire Lt. J.D. Smith said more than 50 firefighters responded to the blaze, which was reported at 2:42 p.m. in the 7900 block of 172nd Place Northeast. The fire started in a three-story house and spread to a neighboring home.
One of the families apparently was out of town. The residents of the second house fled without injury and are staying in a hotel, Smith said.
He said investigators were combing the charred interiors trying to determine the cause of the fire.
One firefighter suffered minor burns on his back and buttocks, Smith said. Another suffered heat exhaustion.
TacomaRelatives sentenced in ID-theft schemes
A mother and her daughter, formerly of Vancouver, Wash., were sentenced on Friday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma for a range of charges related to identity theft.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mildreada Ruiz Rapa, 46, and her daughter, Melanie Andrews, 24, were sentenced for charges including fraudulent use of Social Security numbers, real-estate fraud, making false statements to the government and income-tax fraud.
Ruiz Rapa was sentenced to eight years in prison and three years of supervised release, and ordered to make restitution of about $550,000. Andrews was sentenced to 15 months prison and three years supervised release, and ordered to pay $60,000 restitution.
The prosecuting U.S. attorney described Ruiz Rapa as the "grand dame" of identity thieves, recruiting her children at a young age to participate in fraud. In 2005, her son, Michael Andrews, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The case against Ruiz Rapa and her daughter began in 2003, when the defendants used false identities to get car loans in Vancouver. They fled the area after arrest, and an investigation revealed wide-ranging fraud.
In December 2004, while impersonating nurses in Arizona, the defendants were caught gathering personal information from patients in need of kidney transplants, so that they could create new identities for further fraud. In that case, Ruiz Rapa was sentenced to 30 months in prison, while Andrews was sentenced to 18 months.
Blood Center issues call for donors
The Puget Sound Blood Center is urging donations through the Labor Day weekend because of a short supply of certain blood types.
For some types, the supply is approaching emergency levels due to high demand from hospitals, officials with the center said.
Donor centers normally open on Sunday will be open their regular hours. The five donor centers normally open on Monday will be open on Labor Day from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. For more information, go to: www.psbc.org/home/index.htm
Overnight closures of freeway planned
Both directions of Interstate 5 in Everett will be closed for a few nights starting Tuesday, so that crews can work on the new 41st Street Bridge.
The affected area is between Broadway Avenue and just north of 41st Street. Both directions will be closed between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.
WenatcheeForest areas closed because of wildfires
Parts of the Okanogan and Wenatchee national forests are closed to nature enthusiasts this weekend because of wildfires burning nearby.
The U.S. Forest Service said there are extensive trail and area closures in the central and eastern portion of the Pasayten Wilderness in the Okanogan National Forest, as well as the Glacier Peak Wilderness north of Entiat in the Wenatchee National Forest.
Also, a portion of the north shore of Lake Chelan in the Flick Creek, Fourmile Creek, Purple Pass and Hazard Creek areas, as well as the War Creek Trail out of the Twisp River drainage remain closed due to the Flick Creek Fire.
For more information on the fires and the closures, visit the Fire Incident Web site at: www.inciweb.org , the Okanogan National Forest Web site at www.fs.fed.us/r6/okanogan, the Wenatchee National Forest Web site at www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee.
Seattle Times staff
and The Associated Press