Richland fire alarm prompts emergency plan

Richland

Fire alarm prompts

emergency plan

The U.S. Department of Energy activated its emergency-operations center at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation on Sunday evening after a fire alarm went off in a non-radioactive part of the nation's largest nuclear-waste site.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Hanford emergency personnel were responding to the alarm, and employees in the affected areas were directed to take steps to ensure their safety.

Local and state emergency agencies were notified, and the Energy Department said people living near the site would be contacted if they needed to take any action.

The fire alarm went off in what's called the 400 area of the Hanford site, where the department's newest reactor, the Fast Flux Test Facility, is located.

It was used from 1982 to 1992 for national and international research, including the testing of advanced nuclear fuel and nuclear-power-plant operating procedures, and for production of numerous isotopes for medical and industrial use.

Caseworker slain;

sex offender held

Police are investigating the stabbing death of a Kitsap Mental Health Services caseworker who was killed on the job Friday. A Level 2 sex offender was arrested in the slaying.

The Sun newspaper in Bremerton reported Sunday that caseworker Marty Smith, 46, of Poulsbo, was visiting the sex offender at his home Friday afternoon to evaluate him for possible commitment when the attack occurred.

Wilson said Smith, a county-designated mental-health professional, had been working for the agency since May 2004. He responded to calls from law enforcement, family members and the public to evaluate people who may be in danger, Wilson said.

The sex offender was being held at the Kitsap County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond, according to the jail's Web site.

Wilson said no caseworkers had been killed on the job in Kitsap Mental Health Services' 27-year history.

Vashon Island

Failed line cuts

power to 25,000

A failed transmission line left about 25,000 Puget Sound Energy (PSE) customers on Vashon Island and the Kitsap Peninsula without power Sunday morning.

The equipment failed at about 8 a.m., said PSE spokesman Tim Bader. Workers restored power to everyone by 1 p.m. The outage wasn't weather-related, Bader said.

Everett

Bizarre abduction

may be gang-related

A bizarre abduction in Everett began with the victims being forced to take off their clothes and ended with the suspects and victims dining together at Denny's Restaurant, police said.

An Everett Police Department spokesman said the Oct. 24 assault and kidnapping may have been gang-related and was rooted in a dispute about tagging buildings with graffiti. According to the spokesman, the suspects kidnapped two teenagers, made them strip down, then assaulted them and drove them to Granite Falls.

The four ended up eating together at the Everett Denny's Restaurant on Pacific Avenue, where one of the suspects called police when he stepped outside to smoke.

It's not clear why the suspects — not the victims — called police. When police arrived, they arrested the suspects.

Seattle Times staff and news services