Activist, author join for Town Hall

Sheehan, whose soldier son died in Iraq, and Arnove will discuss two recently released books: "10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military," edited by Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg and whose introduction was written by Sheehan, and Arnove's "Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal."

Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets ($15 general admission; $12 students and seniors) are available in advance at Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S. Main St., 206-624-6600. Town Hall is at 1119 Eighth Ave.

Thibaudeau says run not a sure thing

State Sen. Pat Thibaudeau, D-Seattle, might not run for re-election after all.

Thibaudeau said she expects to decide within the next few days whether to run. She's being challenged by Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, a prominent Democrat who already has raised more than $60,000 for the race. Thibaudeau has raised about $3,000.

A few weeks ago, Thibaudeau indicated she was going to fight to keep her seat. Now she's not sure.

"I'm not really decided" on whether to stay in the race, Thibaudeau said Friday. "I've heard from my consultant I can win, and I'd have to spend a lot of money to do it. Some of it would be my own money at this stage."

Thibaudeau noted that Gov. Christine Gregoire has just appointed her co-chair of a blue-ribbon panel to look at improving access to affordable health care. "The question is, can I devote my heart and soul to both?" she said.

Thibaudeau, 73, was first elected to the state House in 1992 and has been in the Senate since 1995.

Seattle

Diana, a northern fur seal that lived at the Seattle Aquarium for more than 25 years, was put to sleep Thursday.

Her organs were failing because of old age, said Traci Belting, the aquarium's curator of mammals and birds.

The seal was born in captivity, and, for unknown reasons, went blind at age 6, which gave her distinctive white eyes. She was named after Diana, Princess of Wales.

"She was easy to pick out, because she liked to float vertically in the water, her head straight down," Belting said.

Diana's organs will be donated to researchers.

"It was bittersweet," Belting said about how the aquarium staff dealt with the seal's death. "They understood they didn't want to see Diana suffer, but they also will miss her."

Monument status closer for memorial

The U.S. Department of the Interior has recommended that a memorial to the Bainbridge Island Japanese Americans interned during World War II be made part of the National Park Service.

That brings the memorial, under construction at the old Eagledale ferry dock on Bainbridge Island, one step closer to becoming a national monument. In a letter, the Interior Department described the Bainbridge memorial as essential to understanding the internees' story.

In March, Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, urged the Interior Department to expedite its decision, before the remaining survivors of the internment die.

The Bainbridge memorial would be attached to a national monument in Idaho, the site of the former Minidoka Internment Camp. Many of the Bainbridge Island internees were held at Minidoka.

The 227 internees shipped from the Eagledale ferry were the first of 120,000 Japanese Americans interned nationwide.

Times staff and news services