The News Around Washington State From The Associated Press
Guards shoot at teen outside FDA office in Bothell
SEATTLE (AP) — Snohomish County authorities say security guards outside a Food and Drug Administration lab in Bothell, Wash., shot and wounded a teen after the boy struck one guard with a car.  County sheriff's spokeswoman Shari Ireton said the 15-year-old boy was treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound to the foot. She says he was also involved in a non-injury hit and run accident after he fled from the lab's parking lot.  Ireton says the teen has been booked into juvenile detention in Everett for investigation of second-degree assault.  KOMO-TV reports the guard suffered minor injuries.  The two guards told police they approached a suspicious person in the lab parking lot at about 7 a.m. Friday. They say that person fled, then returned got into a vehicle and backed out, striking one guard.  The teen attends an alternative high school near the FDA building.
Yakima prosecutors drop charges in triple murder

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Yakima County prosecutors have dropped charges against the sole remaining murder suspect in a triple slaying in Yakima two years ago.  Prosecutors said they have insufficient evident to prosecute Tracy Culton in the February 2011 deaths of a man, his wife and 98-year-old mother.  Bill and Pauline Goggin and Bill's mother, Bettye Goggin were found beaten to death at their home in a gated community west of Yakima.  The Yakima Herald-Republic reports that Superior Court Judge Ruth Reukauf dismissed the charges Friday without prejudice, which means they could be re-filed.  Prosecutors also dropped murder charges against the primary suspect in the case in October, and the judge has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate whether authorities recorded jail calls between that suspect and his attorneys. (Information in the story is from: Yakima Herald-Republic)
2 fifth-grade WA boys accused of murder conspiracy

COLVILLE, Wash. (AP) — A northeast Washington prosecutor says two fifth-grade boys are in custody, accused of bringing a knife and a stolen gun to school in a conspiracy to harm classmates.  Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen told The Spokesman-Review that no one was hurt, thanks in part to a fourth-grader who saw one of the boys playing with a knife on a school bus and told a school worker.  The two boys, ages 10 and 11, appeared in court Friday and a judge ordered them held on $100,000 bond each. They're expected to be formally charged in juvenile court with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, possession of a firearm and witness tampering.  Rasmussen says a search found a knife and handgun in one boy's backpack. Police interviews showed the boys intended to use the weapons Thursday.  Colville School District Superintendent Michael Cashion says the plan apparently involved killing an "ex-girlfriend" and harming other fifth-grade students at Fort Colville Elementary School. (Information from: The Spokesman-Review)
WA couple convicted in adopted twins abuse case

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — A Vancouver, Wash., couple accused of abusing adopted twins have been convicted of starving, beating and imprisoning the boy and girl.  The Columbian reports that Superior Court jurors on Friday afternoon convicted Jeffrey and Sandra Weller on multiple counts including second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful imprisonment and third-degree assault causing bodily harm.  Jeffrey Weller was also convicted of choking the twin girl and assaulting his biological son and Sandra Weller's biological son.  The couple testified Thursday in their own defense, denying the charges. They plan to appeal. Sentencing was set for March 12.  The twins were removed from the home in 2011.  Now 17, both twins testified. The girl said they were fed moldy food and she was beaten with a cable-style bicycle lock.  A doctor testified the girl has scars on her back and the boy had a broken bone that was never set after he said he was beaten with a board. (Information in following story is from: The Columbian)
WA police say soccer coach beaten by 2 teens

LYNNWOOD, Wash. (AP) — Police in Lynnwood, Wash., say two young men insulted a 53-year-old soccer coach and his teenage daughter, then beat the man. The daughter was unharmed.  Police spokeswoman Shannon Sessions said the private league soccer coach from Seattle was waiting outside Meadowdale High School for other team members to arrive on Wednesday after school hours when three boys walked by and insulted the man and his daughter.  The spokeswoman says two of the three juveniles assaulted the man. He suffered bruises and abrasions but declined medical help.  Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the juveniles, both described as 15 to 17 years old. Sessions says neither the coach nor his daughter knew the boys.
WA bill would restrict buying, deploying drones

SEATTLE (AP) — A new bill introduced by a Republican lawmaker in Olympia would put strict restrictions on how law enforcement agencies statewide could buy and deploy drones.  Introduction of Rep. David Taylor's bill on Friday comes a day after Seattle mayor Mike McGinn ordered the police department to abandon its nascent drone program.  The bill from the Moxee Republican would require legislative approval from local or state lawmakers before a police agency obtains a drone. It also limits how long data is collected during deployments as well as requiring a warrant for operations unless it is of exigent circumstances, such as a search and rescue.  Lawmakers in at least 11 states are looking at plans to restrict the use of drones over their skies amid concerns the vehicles could be exploited to spy on Americans.
Maia Bellon named to head Department of Ecology

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Maia D. Bellon has been named to head the state Department of Ecology.  Gov. Jay Inslee made the appointment Friday. Bellon, who currently heads the Water Resources Program at Ecology, replaces Ted Sturdevant, who is now Inslee's executive director for legislative affairs.  Inslee's office says that Bellon will play a key role in a bill the governor has sponsored requiring state agencies to begin implementing a long-term plan for improving water supplies in central Washington's agricultural Yakima River Basin.
Kids rewarded for good manners at Wash. restaurant

SEATTLE (AP) — To Laura King, her three children were acting normal while enjoying dinner at an Italian restaurant in their hometown in Washington state.  But staffers of the restaurant Sogno di Vino in Poulsbo were so impressed at her children's table manners that they thanked her kids and gave the family of five a bowl of ice cream.  It wasn't until King got home that that she noticed a $4 "well-behaved kids" discount on her receipt to cover the dessert. A friend posted a picture of the receipt on the website Reddit, and the story took off.  King's children are 2, 3 and 8 years old.  King says it's been entertaining to see all the attention her story has gotten, and she plans to dine at Sogno di Vino again soon.
Study: Magnetism helps salmon home in

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Salmon have long been known to use their sense of smell to find their home river when it comes time to spawn, but how do they get close enough to smell the river?  A new study suggests that, like birds on long migrations, salmon use the earth's magnetic field.  The study this week in Current Biology looked at 56 years of fisheries data about which route sockeye salmon use returning to the Fraser River in British Columbia.  Scientists found that which way the salmon chose to go around Vancouver Island matched changes in the geomagnetic field.  Lead author Nathan Putman, a researcher at Oregon State University, says they think salmon log in magnetic waypoints as they swim out to sea, then follow them back until they can smell the river.
 

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