Just luck? Poet wins $100,000

Lucia Perillo of Olympia has won the 2006 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, worth $100,000 and said to be the largest award given to a midcareer poet.

Perillo's fourth volume of verse, "Luck Is Luck," was published by Random House in March 2005. The line that lends the collection its title — "well, hard luck is luck, nonetheless" — sums up the spirit of the book. Perillo, who has been battling multiple sclerosis since the 1980s, is also a MacArthur Foundation Fellow.

Robert Wrigley, chairman of the Tufts Poetry Awards, commented on "Luck Is Luck": "It gives the reader stories that show the familiar in unfamiliar ways. ... It manages to be simultaneously lighthearted and moving — a very elusive quality."

Robber gets away after bank heist

The Issaquah Bank of America branch at 1135 N.W. Gilman Blvd. was robbed just after 1 p.m. Thursday, the Issaquah Police Department reported.

A man entered the bank, presented a note to a bank employee and implied he had a weapon. Police did not disclose whether any money was given to the robber.

The man then left the bank and disappeared. The robbery is being investigated by the FBI and Issaquah police.

Olympia

Bill to manage rivers signed by Gregoire

Gov. Christine Gregoire on Thursday signed into law a water bill that farmers, some environmentalists and lawmakers from both parties hailed as a breakthrough for management of the Columbia and lower Snake rivers.

To tackle a stalemate over water for farmers and salmon, the state plans to spend $200 million for new water-storage projects and improving flows to the rivers.

It also allows the state to issue more water to farmers except when the fish need it most, and provided farmers offset new water withdrawals with conservation projects.

The measure passed by wide margins in the Legislature and was lauded by the Washington Environmental Council and American Rivers. But it angered some conservation groups, such as the Center for Environmental Law and Policy of Seattle, which said the law was too hastily enacted and won't help fish as billed.

Times staff and news services