Governor, wife greet their new daughter

Gov. Gary Locke and first lady Mona Lee Locke became the proud parents of a third child yesterday — baby girl Madeline Lee Locke, born at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.

Locke reports that his wife feels fine, and the baby is healthy.

The baby, who arrived at 4:40 a.m., weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces. Like her siblings, Madeline arrived early. She was not due until Wednesday.

"Mona and I are thrilled to welcome a third child to our family," Locke said. "Emily and Dylan are very excited about their baby sister. We appreciate the interest and best wishes of everyone who has contacted us."

Emily is 7 and Dylan is 5.

This is the first time in state history a governor and first lady have had three children born while the governor was in office, Locke's office said in a news release. Locke, a Democrat, is stepping down in January after two terms.

Ballard

Apartment fire sends resident to hospital

A fire in a four-story apartment building in Ballard sent one person to the hospital yesterday. The fire broke out at 11:35 a.m. in the building at 2850 N.W. 56th St. Firefighters put the fire out within 20 minutes and damage was contained to a single unit, said Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick.

One resident was taken to Harborview Medical Center suffering from mild smoke inhalation. Investigators said the fire broke out after the resident discarded a cigarette in a trash can. Damaged amounted to about $250,000, Fitzpatrick said.

Election 2004

Lands commissioner post is Sutherland's

Incumbent Doug Sutherland has pulled away from state Rep. Mike Cooper to win another term as state lands commissioner.

Cooper, the favorite of environmental groups, Democratic Party loyalists and labor unions, had been holding out hope that thousands of absentee and provisional ballots in King and Snohomish counties would catch him up to Sutherland.

But the ballots, tallied Friday, maintained Sutherland's 50 percent to 47 percent lead over Cooper. Libertarian Steve Layman received 3 percent of the vote.

"The people of this state have confirmed our management of these resources," Sutherland said.

Cooper said he had not yet had a chance to evaluate the new numbers and probably would not have further comment until tomorrow.

As head of the Department of Natural Resources, the lands commissioner oversees logging on about 2 million acres of state forests and regulates the timber harvest on 8 million acres of privately owned land. The state's timber sales proceeds go into a trust that pays for school construction, libraries, hospitals, county services and other needs. That requires the lands commissioner to strike a delicate balance between maximizing revenue for the trust and protecting the environment.

Moscow, Idaho

3 Washington men indicted in death

Three men have been indicted by a grand jury in the Sept. 19 shooting death of University of Idaho football player Eric McMillan.

Seattle brothers Matthew R. Wells II, 27, and James J. Wells, 25, are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy. Their nephew, 23-year-old Thomas J. Riggins of Kent, is charged with being a principal to first-degree murder and conspiracy.

Second District Judge John Stegner, who authorized formation of the grand jury last month, set $1 million bond for each of the three defendants.

Though authorities have yet to release a possible motive for McMillan's murder, the grand-jury indictment offers a few details of the prosecutor's case.

According to the indicting documents, Riggins allegedly solicited the Wells brothers to do the shooting and the brothers allegedly got ammunition for the job while visiting Riggins. All three men are accused of driving to Moscow, hunting for McMillan and possibly others.

Times staff and news services