Lynnwood teen missing for week

LYNNWOOD — Snohomish County sheriff's deputies are searching for an 18-year-old woman last seen by her friends in Lynnwood on the night of Sept. 23.

Rachel Rose Burkheimer told friends she was taking someone to the airport and never returned; she was reported missing Friday, said sheriff's spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen.

Burkheimer is white, 5-feet-5, 115 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes. She has a tattoo on her chest, and a pierced nose and tongue. She has four piercings in each ear.

Anyone with information about Burkheimer should call the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office tip line at 425-388-3845.

Weyerhaeuser gets maximum fine over July gas release

OLYMPIA — The state has fined Weyerhaeuser $10,000 — the maximum allowed by law — for a July 11 release of deadly chlorine dioxide gas at its Cosmopolis pulp mill.

Department of Ecology officials said the accident prompted the evacuation of 10 homes and 180 plant workers and shut down parts of two highways.

Weyerhaeuser will appeal the fine, said Marian Snyder, a company communications manager. The company does not think the accidental release violated state regulations, she said.

According to company documents, the release occurred because there wasn't enough water in an absorption tower at the plant, allowing chlorine gas to concentrate and decompose. The decomposing gas built up pressure, which broke a pipe.

A compressor that was left on automatic caused two more releases of chlorine dioxide.

One-vote margin stands up for Mitchell in House race

OLYMPIA — A one-vote lead in a state House primary in the 26th Legislative District on the Kitsap Peninsula stood up after a hand recount yesterday, even though election workers found four more ballots for each man.

Ed Mitchell received 5,870 votes to Kevin Entze's 5,869 in the GOP primary to take on incumbent Rep. Pat Lantz, D-Gig Harbor.

The district encompasses parts of Pierce and Kitsap counties. Entze is a Gig Harbor police officer. Mitchell is a management consultant from Port Orchard.

Flat tire shuts down monorail with backup train in shop

SEATTLE — The Seattle Center Monorail was closed for nearly four hours yesterday after a flat tire on the one-mile tourist line.

Flats occur two or three times a year, said operations manager Matt Abbey. A backup train can usually be activated, but it has been in the shop undergoing scheduled repairs.

Last week, passengers on the 40-year-old monorail were retrieved by fire department ladder trucks after two stalls, one of which was blamed on a fraying tire that sliced an air hose.

"I'm just wondering if we got a bad batch of tires," Abbey said.

Information is from the Seattle Times staff and news services.