GOP: Legislature should rule on ban

"We believe that the courts don't have the right to go in and change law that the Legislature has passed," said Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee.

The court is considering a challenge of the state's 1998 gay-marriage ban, and could overturn the legislation.

But if justices do void the law, they should leave any new remedies to the Legislature, House and Senate GOP leaders said at a meeting unveiling their 2006 legislative agenda.

Washington's Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as being between one man and one woman, passed in 1998 with bipartisan support after a veto from then-Gov. Gary Locke.

The high court heard arguments about the constitutionality of the act last March.

Fund set up for

soldier's children

A college fund has been set up for the children of Army Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Van Der Horn, 37, who died in Iraq Sunday when a bomb exploded near his Humvee.

Van Der Horn, who grew up on the Eastside, leaves a wife and two young sons. Donations may be made to The College Fund for the Children of Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Van Der Horn at any Bank of America branch, or may be sent to the Bank of America, 201 Bastogne Ave., Fort Campbell, KY 42223.

Olympia

for cold medicine

New restrictions on some cold and sinus medicines take effect this month with the goal of reducing the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine.

Retailers who sell products containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine must keep them behind the counter. The rule does not affect gel capsules, liquids or liquid capsules containing those ingredients in combination with another active ingredient because those are harder to convert into meth.

Shopkeepers are also now required to record each transaction involving ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine. They must record and verify the consumer's name, date of birth, valid photo identification number and the amount of drug purchased. Only two packages may be purchased at one time, and buyers must be at least 18.

2 teens arrested

after Ecstasy found

Two 17-year-old Canadian boys were arrested Wednesday at the Pacific Highway border crossing near Blaine on suspicion of trying to smuggle $400,000 worth of Ecstasy into the United States.

Around 2 p.m., a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent became suspicious of the teens, who said they were crossing the border to go shopping at a mall, said spokesman Mike Milne. Agents didn't find anything after searching their car but got a supervisor's permission to conduct body searches, he said. Agents "patted them down and found some major bulges," which turned out to be bags of pills concealed under the boys' clothing, Milne said. Combined, officials say the boys were carrying 20,650 tablets of the drug Ecstasy.

The drugs "are worth over $400,000 on the streets, so it is certainly suspected that this is part of a larger smuggling operation," Milne said.

1 arrested after

shots fired at police

A 16-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday night after an incident at Garfield High School in which someone fired a gunshot at police.

Two Seattle police detectives arrested the boy at the school but are still looking for two other suspects. Just after 9 p.m., the detectives — who happened to be at the school — heard gunshots and went to investigate, said Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb.

They saw three people running away. One detective chased after them while the other used a police car to try to cut them off, he said.

During the pursuit, one of the people turned and fired at the detective who was on foot, Whitcomb said. No one was hurt, and the officer did not return fire; though police don't know who fired, they did find a gun, he said.

The 16-year-old who was arrested was booked into King County Juvenile Detention Center.

Seattle

Judge says Chihuly

lawsuit can proceed

A federal judge on Thursday said he would allow a copyright-infringement lawsuit filed by famed glass artist Dale Chihuly to proceed.

Chihuly Inc. and Portland Press Inc., which is Chihuly's publishing company, filed a lawsuit in October against former Chihuly glass-blower Bryan Rubino, glass artist and broker Robert Kaindl and four galleries that sold Rubino's work, which Lewis described as Chihuly copies. The complaint, which seeks $1 million in damages, raises questions about when a piece of art is merely influenced by another piece, and when it's an illegal copy of that work.

Lawyer Bradford J. Axel, who represents Kaindl and Rubino, asked Judge James Donohue to toss out the lawsuit because Chihuly's lawsuit didn't do the basic task of identifying specific pieces that infringed on Chihuly's work, only some of which is actually copyrighted. Kaindl, of Redmond, and Rubino, of Shelton, Mason County, deny deliberately copying Chihuly.

The judge asked the two sides to get together in the next 30 days to identify the "universe" of copyright pieces and of potential copyright infringements.

Pilot killed when

small plane crashes

The pilot of a small plane died Thursday after the single-engine Mooney lost power and crashed in a field near the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course, authorities said.

The pilot, Jay Richards, 51, of Portland, was approaching the Sunset Airstrip near the golf course when the plane lost power and hit a grove of trees, said Bobbie Gregg, a spokeswoman for the Washington County Fire District No. 2.

Times staff and news services