Judge scolds UW for e-mail on lawsuit

A King County Superior Court judge has rebuked the University of Washington administration for sending an unauthorized e-mail about a class-action lawsuit involving back pay for 3,000-plus faculty.

In an October partial summary judgment, Judge Mary Yu ruled that the UW breached its duty by not awarding most faculty a 2 percent merit increase in the 2002-03 academic year. The ruling could cost the UW up to $16 million.

On Nov. 30, UW President Mark Emmert sent a facultywide e-mail to "offer as much clarification as possible" about the lawsuit. But Monday, Yu ordered the UW to send a corrective e-mail and refrain from further unauthorized communication.

Yu said the court is concerned about Emmert's e-mail because it was sent to class-action members without notice to counsel; it discussed the alleged budgetary impact to the UW, "which on its face appears to be an attempt to influence class members regarding their participation"; and it didn't include contact information for class-action counsel.

$1 million bail set

in police shooting

Bail was set at $1 million Tuesday for a man accused of shooting a Renton police officer.

Officer Larry Strauss was in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center on Tuesday. Police say Strauss, 49, and a 20-year veteran of the force, was shot in the neck Sunday evening as he approached four people getting into a van at a strip-mall parking lot near the Renton Municipal Airport.

The 48-year-old suspect is not being identified because he hasn't been charged.

Separate attacks

King County sheriff's detectives are investigating two unrelated homicides that occurred 30 minutes apart Monday night, one in Maple Valley and the other in the Ravensdale neighborhood west of Maple Valley.

About 9 p.m., a 22-year-old man answered a knock at his door in the 23700 block of Southeast 246th Street in Maple Valley and was confronted by someone with a gun, said sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart. The two struggled and the man was fatally shot, Urquhart said. The King County Medical Examiner's Office identified the dead man as Aaron O. Blewett.

The second homicide occurred about 9:30 p.m., Urquhart said. Deputies were called to a house in the 26900 block of Southeast Ravensdale Way and arrested a 16-year-old boy on suspicion he fatally shot his father, Urquhart said.

The teen's parents had been arguing just before the shooting, he said. The teen was booked into the King County Juvenile Detention Center in Seattle.

The medical examiner has not released the 52-year-old father's name.

Times staff and news services