Local Digest
Seattle arts group names managing director

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Wilke is now the managing director of Consolidated Works, another Seattle arts center, and will join On the Boards in mid-September. Previously she was the associate curator of education at the Tacoma Arts Museum; she holds a master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

At On the Boards, Wilke replaces former managing director Diana Ragsdale, who left this summer to work for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Seattle

Some state forests lift campfire ban

A campfire ban in effect since Aug. 2 will be lifted today within all undeveloped areas of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie and Olympic national forests, Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park and the North Cascades National Park Complex.

At Mount Rainier National Park and the North Cascades National Park Complex, campfires are restricted to designated fire pits with grates; at Olympic National Park, no campfires are allowed at elevations above 3,500 feet, according to the National Park Service.

Because dry conditions still exist in much of the state, particularly in Eastern Washington, campers are encouraged to check with state and local fire-protection agencies for any restrictions.

Olympia

Principals' board backs Bergeson

The state association for school principals announced yesterday that its board of directors voted to endorse Terry Bergeson in her bid for a third term as state Superintendent of Public Instruction.
 
The 28-member board, which represents more than 3,400 public- and private-school principals, voted unanimously to support Bergeson. In a statement, it praised her leadership "in implementing many of the reform efforts that have led to a greater focus on higher achievement for all students."

Earlier, the Washington Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, endorsed Judith Billings, who is challenging Bergeson in the race. Billings held the post from 1989 through 1996. Also on the ballot are KumRoon Maksirisombat, Juanita Doyon, David Blomstrom and John Blair.

Vancouver, B.C.

4 Canadians charged in chemical for drug

Canadian investigators seized nearly 4,000 pounds of a chemical used to make the drug ecstasy, disguised as a shipment of Chinese soy sauce, police said yesterday.

Four Canadians have been charged in the case that also led to the seizure of nearly 1,600 pounds of marijuana and about $610,000 in cash, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

Border guards became suspicious about a shipping container that arrived in Vancouver in late July and found that 66 cartons in a 400-carton shipment of soy sauce actually contained a yellow liquid later identified as the chemical MDP2P.

Police did not put a dollar value on the seizure, but estimated the chemical was enough to help produce 21.2 million doses of ecstasy.

Everett

Lower PUD rates are called unlikely

Snohomish County Public Utility District customers are unlikely to receive a rate decrease next year despite news that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) might drop its prices.

The PUD's early electricity budget proposal shows almost a $13 million gap between expected revenues and expenditures for 2005. Revenues are estimated at $573 million, while expenditures are closer to $586 million.

Bonneville is proposing a 5 percent to 7.5 percent rate reduction on power it sells to the PUD and other customers. With about 80 percent of the PUD's power coming from Bonneville, that only saves the Everett utility about $9 million at most, said PUD General Manager Ed Hansen.

The remainder of the shortfall likely will be made up through the PUD's rate-stabilization fund making a customer rate increase also unnecessary.

Times staff and news services