BCC may dock instructor's pay for racially insensitive question

Bellevue

A Bellevue Community College administrator has recommended a week's suspension without pay for an instructor who wrote a racially insensitive math question that sparked a national controversy last month.

Peter Ratener should be suspended because he did not meet two faculty standards: choosing appropriate test materials and treating students with respect, according to a letter to Ratener from Ron Leatherbarrow, executive dean of instructional services.

Ratener and the faculty union appealed the decision, BCC spokesman Bob Adams said.

BCC President Jean Floten is expected to hear Ratener's appeal early next month and will then have 10 days to make a decision.

The math question that sparked controversy presented a scenario about "Condoleezza" throwing a watermelon off a roof.

School officials have said this demeaned U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and employed a racist caricature of blacks eating watermelons that dates to the 1800s.

Ratener said Saturday the math question was "an embarrassing and careless error," but that the penalty is too heavy because the question was not politically or racially motivated, and he has an otherwise clean disciplinary record in 25 years of teaching at the school.

Car hits courthouse; occupants injured

Two people were injured early Saturday when their car struck the King County Courthouse.

Seattle police say the car was traveling north on Fourth Avenue at 4:23 a.m. when the driver apparently lost control of the vehicle and struck the corner of the building.

Both occupants were taken to Harborview Medical Center; the driver may have a broken leg, said police spokesman Sean Whitcomb.

Police are investigating the cause of the crash.

Bothell

3 officers on leave after man was shot

Three Bothell officers have been placed on paid leave after a police shooting.

The officers wounded a Snohomish man on Thursday, and a multiagency task force is investigating whether their actions were justified.

Officers were called to the 23000 block of 35th Avenue Southeast shortly before 2 p.m. on Thursday to help a possibly suicidal person.

It's unclear what happened between the 32-year-old man and police, but officers felt forced to shoot him, according Snohomish County sheriff's spokesman Dave Hayes.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating the shooting as part of a Bothell Police Department protocol that requires outside agencies to review such cases, according to Bothell police Capt. Denise Langford.

The wounded man's identification and medical condition have not been released by authorities.

Fort Lewis

Soldier convicted in killing of wife

A soldier was convicted Saturday of murdering and mutilating his teenage wife, a Fort Lewis spokesman said.

An Army jury found Spc. Brandon Bare, 20, of Wilkesboro, N.C., guilty of premeditated murder and two counts of indecent acts for using a meat cleaver to kill his wife and desecrate her corpse.

The jury deliberated Friday night and reached its verdict shortly after midnight.

The same jury has begun considering Bare's sentence. He faces life in prison.

Nabila Bare, 18, had been stabbed at least 71 times when she was found July 12, 2005, in the couple's kitchen.

The machine gunner with the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division was wounded in a March 24, 2005, grenade attack in Mosul.

Corvallis, Ore.

University reports 15 norovirus cases

Benton County health officials say that 15 suspected cases of norovirus have been reported by Oregon State University staff, students, and family members.

Symptoms include frequent vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps, along with headache, low-grade fever, chills, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness.

No single source has been identified for the suspected outbreak.

Noroviruses are among a group of viruses that cause the "stomach flu," or gastroenteritis. Frequent hand washing is the best way to prevent transmission.

Health officials warn that the virus is active for at least 72 hours after the last symptoms — meaning an infected person is contagious for three days after the last symptoms of diarrhea or vomiting.

Portland

Body of driver recovered from river

The body of a Canby man suspected of driving a pickup off one of the highest bridges in Portland has been found in the Willamette River.

The body of Jerry Tupper, 34, was recovered Saturday after joggers spotted it downstream from the Marquam Bridge, which carries Interstate 5 across the Willamette.

The Multnomah County Medical Examiner's Office will perform an autopsy and toxicology tests to determine the cause of death.

Police said Tupper drove his Ford F-350 pickup off the top deck of the Marquam Bridge and plunged 165 feet into the river on May 12.

Divers found the truck the next day.

Seattle Times staff and The Associated Press