Latest storm brings wind, rain, snow to Wash

Another strong Pacific storm has brought high winds to the Washington coast and northwest interior of the state, with accompanying power outages. The storm has also brought rain to the lowlands and snow to the mountains. National Weather Service forecaster Jay Albrecht says Washington's north coast saw the strongest winds Wednesday night, with gusts just off Olympic National Park measured at 66 mph and a peak gust of 81 mph. In the northwest interior, Cherry Point near Ferndale had a 64mph gust and Friday Harbor in the San Juans got a 58 mph blast.  As of 10 p.m. Wednesday, KING-TV reports some 8,000 Clallam County customers without power, while another 4,300 lost power in Grays Harbor County and 3,000 Puget Sound Energy customers lost electricity. Seattle and Snohomish County reported scattered outages. Albrecht says rain was falling at the rate of a half inch an hour in some areas on the coast and on the Olympic Peninsula. A winter storm warning for heavy snow is in effect for the Olympic Mountains and the west slopes of the Cascades.

Navy: dolphins, sea lions to help protect WA base
The Navy says it has decided to use teams of security officers and specially trained bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to help protect Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. The Navy said Wednesday the system is designed to counter threats from swimmers or divers, and will be implemented in 2010. An environmental impact statement evaluated the potential effects of several factors on the Navy's dolphins and sea lions, including temperature, noise, water quality, toxins and the presence of other marine mammals. It concluded that the creatures are not expected to be harmed by being transferred to and living at Bangor on Washington's Hood Canal.

Fleeing man killed on I-5 near Tacoma

A man fleeing from police was struck and killed on Interstate 5 near Tacoma. The Washington State Patrol says about 1 a.m. Thursday an officer pulled over a driver suspected of drunken driving. A check showed that a passenger in the car was wanted on arrest warrants for assault and eluding police. The man tried to run across the freeway near the Tacoma Dome and was struck by one or more vehicles and killed.

Fallen tree cuts power, leads to log truck crash

A tree that fell in the early morning darkness west of Longview not only caused a power outage but also led to a log truck crash that blocked both lanes of an area road for about four hours. Cowlitz Public Utility District spokesman Dave Andrew said the tree took down power lines at 2:40 a.m. Wednesday, interrupting electric service to nearly 1,500 customers for about three hours. A log truck crashed into the fallen tree, blocking both lanes of the highway for about four hours before the road was cleared at about 6:30 a.m. The Washington State Patrol tells The Daily News of Longview that the truck driver was unhurt.

Kent police investigating Boeing plant death

Kent police and Boeing officials are investigating the death of a man at the Boeing plant in the south Seattle suburb. Kent Fire Department Capt. Kyle Ohashi says the unidentified man died Wednesday in what Ohashi says "appears to be an industrial accident." Ohashi says firefighters responded to the plant about 2 p.m. and confirmed that a man had died "as a result of a piece of machinery" which he was authorized to use. But police are investigating because of what Ohashi calls "the unusual circumstances of the death." Boeing spokeswoman Kimberlee Beers confirms an employee fatality at the Kent plant, part of Boeing's defense side. She declined to identify the employee or any other details until the investigation is complete.

LNG terminal proposal: 2 decisions favorable

Two decisions this week have boosted the prospects for liquefied natural gas company Oregon LNG's proposal to build a terminal on 92 acres near Youngs Bay. A federal magistrate ruled Tuesday that Astoria's Port should extend both its sublease with Oregon LNG and its lease with the Department of State Lands for three decades, despite the port's concerns that it might lose money if the LNG terminal doesn't pan out. Then Gov. Ted Kulongoski's (koo-luhn-GAH'-skee's) office said Wednesday it won't investigate the port's lease with the state as anti-LNG activists had requested, even though the $38,400 annual lease price was based on an appraisal that assumed the land would be used for a golf course -- rather than a $1 billion LNG plant. The company is pursuing permits for the terminal from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the states of Oregon and Washington. Its CEO, Peter Hansen, says he expects approval of major permits by late 2010.

Passersby grab woman before jump from Wash. bridge

Police say three passing motorists stopped and grabbed a woman before she could jump off the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The Washington State Patrol says the 45-year-old woman parked her car in the middle of the span Wednesday and climbed over a rail in an attempt to jump. Three passing motorists reached and grabbed her, then held on until police arrived. Officers held the woman's hand through the railing until a rescue team with a harness pulled her over the side.

Judges: Seattle biotech can pursue $23 million claim

An appeals court says Seattle biotechnology firm Cell Theraputics Inc. can pursue claims for nearly $23 million against a former consultant. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned the ruling of a federal judge in Seattle. The case concerns a leukemia drug that CTI developed, the first drug for which the company won FDA approval. CTI says that on the advice of the consultant, formerly known as Documedics Acquisition Co. and now the Lash Group, it marketed the drug for uses beyond what the FDA had approved. The government sued CTI, and the company agreed to pay $10.5 million. Under the appeals court ruling Wednesday, CTI can go after the Lash Group, based in Charlotte, N.C., for that much plus $12.3 million more for legal fees and other damages.

Feds award $3.1 million to Northwest for green jobs

Pacific Northwest states are getting more than $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to encourage green jobs. The stimulus grants are to improve training for jobs that reduce energy use and benefit the environment, and help state employment departments improve information gathering. Alaska's Cook Inlet Tribal Council will receive more than $67,000 in job training money, and $100,000 each will go to Oregon's Portland YouthBuilders and Seattle's Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Employment for Women. Alaska's state employment agency will get $800,000, while Oregon will receive $1.25 million and Washington $1.06 million. The grants were part of nearly $55 million nationwide that the Labor Department awarded Wednesday.

Associated Press News Briefs for 11/19/09

Utility crews are making repairs to wind-caused power outages in parts of Grays Harbor County, the San Juan Islands, Snohomish, and Thurston counties and the city of Seattle. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service says the breezy wet weather will continue into next week with snow in the mountains and parts of Eastern Washington.

With heavy snow in the Cascades, the Transportation Department required traction tires this morning on Snoqualmie, Stevens and White passes. Because of heavy rain on the Olympic Mountains, forecasters are warning of flooding on the Bogachiel and Satsop rivers.

A man fleeing from police was struck and killed on Interstate 5 near Tacoma. The State Patrol says it happened early this morning after an officer pulled over a driver suspected of drunken driving. A passenger with outstanding arrest warrants took off and was trying to run across the freeway when he was hit.

A Spokane Valley man serving a 10-year sentence for making the poison ricin (RY'-sin) is asking to have his conviction overturned because one of the government's expert witnesses was fired for misconduct on other cases. The Spokesman-Review says a federal court hearing is set for Jan. 29 on the appeal filed by Kenneth Olsen. He wants a new trial because of the firing of the head of the crime lab were evidence was tested.

Sentencing is scheduled today in Tacoma for the Pierce County Superior Court judge convicted of patronizing a prostitute and threatening a man. The News Tribune of Tacoma reports the assistant state attorney general who prosecuted the case against Michael Hecht wants a maximum 90-day sentence. His supporters say Hecht deserves a break because he has already lost his job.

The state Department of Corrections has agreed to pay $4 million to a man who suffered disabling injuries in an attack by a cellmate in the state prison at Shelton. Ryan Alwine was in a coma for nearly four months after the attack in September 2006. The department says the settlement will pay for lifetime medical care.

A jury in Seattle awarded $1.5 million to man injured aboard a fish-processing vessel. The Seattle Times reports the King County jury on Monday found that Icicle Seafoods failed to pay for medical care for 55-year-old Dana Clausen who was injured in 2006 while trying to lift a 122-pound piece of sheet metal while working aboard a ship in the Bering Sea.

The Maryhill Museum near Goldendale says attendance increased 17 percent this year to nearly 46,000 visitors. The director told The Yakima Herald-Republic the poor economy apparently led people to look for affordable attractions, closer to home - like the Rodin (roh-DAN') sculptures at the museum.