Local Digest
Radio outage still a mystery

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SEATTLE — KUOW-FM (94.9) officials are trying to figure out why the city's National Public Radio affiliate was knocked off line for more than half an hour yesterday afternoon.

"We don't know what happened yet," said program director Jeff Hansen. "We're still waiting to hear from him (the transmitter technician) why we went off the air."

Hansen said the radio outage happened about 5:30 p.m. and was restored just after 6 p.m.

Employees at the station believe someone may have accidentally bumped into the transmitter in their downtown Seattle building.

Sound Transit blocked from signing contract

SEATTLE — A state Court of Appeals commissioner yesterday blocked Sound Transit from signing for at least a week a contract with a construction company to build 4.5 miles of its 14-mile Seattle light-rail line.

The move came just after the Sound Transit board had authorized Chief Executive Joni Earl to award the $128 million contract for work in the Rainier Valley to RCI-Herzog, a joint venture. Until the stay is lifted, Earl can't sign the paperwork.

An unsuccessful bidder, Rainer Valley Constructors, sought the stay after King County Superior Court Judge James Doerty on Wednesday denied its bid for a temporary restraining order to block the contract signing. Rainier Valley has filed a lawsuit against Sound Transit, claiming the contract is illegal.

A hearing is scheduled next Friday. Earl said a one-week delay shouldn't affect the project schedule significantly.

Trust fund set up for family of soldier who was killed
 
BREMERTON — A trust fund has been set up at Washington Mutual for the family of Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Bunda, a soldier with the Fort Lewis-based Stryker Brigade, who disappeared in the Tigris River after the boat he was in capsized Jan. 25.

His body was later recovered.

He lived in Bremerton with his wife, Michele, and a young daughter and son. Donations can be made at any Washington Mutual branch by requesting to donate to Michele Bunda's account.

Man charged after children are locked in bedroom

EVERETT — A Lynnwood man has been charged with locking his three young children in his filthy apartment using ropes and bungee cords.

Sheriff's officers and officers from Child Protective Services reported that when they entered Robert Doel's apartment Feb. 9, two boys, ages 6 and 2, and a girl, 4, were locked in a bedroom. The door to the room was being held shut by a rope tied to the doorknob across the hall. Police had to use a knife to cut the rope, charging papers said.

Doel was charged with unlawful incarceration.

According to charging papers, the 6-year-old told police that he and the other children were locked in the room daily so their mother could do work around the apartment. Police described the apartment as filthy and unsanitary, and charging papers said the children did not have enough food.

Police had been to the couple's home in 1999 to check on a report of neglect.

Doel is in Snohomish County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Former truck driver fails to appear in court

LYNNWOOD — A former tanker-truck driver whose crash on Interstate 5 in Lynnwood last summer caused more than $1 million in damage failed to appear at his arraignment yesterday on a charge of reckless driving.

Because Gary Brammer, 33, of Enumclaw, missed his hearing in Snohomish County South District Court, a judge upheld the $10,000 warrant signed for his arrest.

The July 12 crash on I-5 at 44th Avenue West snarled traffic for 18 hours and damaged the roadway, according to the State Patrol and state Department of Transportation officials. If convicted of reckless driving, Brammer would face up to a year in jail and suspension of his driver's license.

According to the State Patrol, Brammer fell asleep at the wheel and struck the bridge railing. Brammer was fired by Harris Transportation after the crash when company officials learned he had not reported an earlier accident in his own vehicle.

4 county advisers sought on rural forest issues

SEATTLE — Four people are needed to help advise the King County executive and council on rural forest issues.

Applications for the four vacancies on the Rural Forest Commission need to be submitted by March 15.

The seats have specific requirements:

One applicant must be a professional forest landowner who makes a living from 40 to 500 acres of timberland; one must be a residential forester with more than 20 acres of trees enrolled in the Forest Land Designation program; another member need only be a representative of a rural city; the fourth opening is for a representative of professional consumers of forest products, such as a mill owner or a wood craftsman or florist supplier.

Anyone interested should call Benj Wadsworth at 206-296-7805. For more information, look online at dnr.metrokc.gov/forestry

Conviction upheld in death of firefighter outside bar

SEATTLE — The first-degree manslaughter conviction of a crab-boat engineer who hit and killed a firefighter outside a tavern has been upheld by the state Court of Appeals.

In a unanimous ruling Monday, a three-judge panel rejected an appeal by Tony Adam Cullum of Lake Stevens, who argued that the trial judge should have barred rebuttal testimony on how far outside the bar the fight extended.

Bothell fire Lt. Gary D. McAdam, 40, a father of three who lived in Snohomish, died after being beaten by Cullum outside the now-defunct U&I Bar and Grill in Snohomish on Feb. 26, 2002. Cullum is serving an eight-year prison term.

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