Gates Foundation gives to Seattle Aquarium

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $1.5 million to help expand the Seattle Aquarium, the largest single private donation in the aquarium's history.

The donation to the Seattle Aquarium Society will go toward a $41 million plan to improve the existing structure and add 18,000 square feet to the facility on the Seattle waterfront. A new exterior and entrance are planned, along with a new Great Hall with a 120,000-gallon exhibit. The project is due to be completed by next summer.

Report on 520 bridge due Wednesday

State highway engineers will release the results of the annual inspection of the 520 bridge on Wednesday.

The floating bridge across Lake Washington was closed for 53 hours last weekend while crews repaired guard rails, trimmed trees, replaced screens, re-striped the road, replaced lights, filled potholes and repaired expansion joints. Engineers also checked the bridge's structural integrity and its electrical and mechanical systems, and did maintenance work on the bridge's drawspan. The information is being analyzed in Olympia.

Seattle

The University of Washington will go ahead with plans for an underground lab in the Cascades, now that the National Science Foundation has agreed to consider funding it. The foundation rejected the UW's initial plans last year, but the university appealed and Monday the foundation agreed to award the project $500,000 for design.

The lab would be used for research that requires protection from ultraviolet radiation. The site is in the Pioneer Tunnel near Stevens Pass, part of the deepest tunnel system in the country.

An 11-year-old girl was in critical condition Monday at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle after she was found hanging by the neck from playground equipment in an apartment-complex park in Federal Way.

The girl, whose name was not released, was found at about 11 a.m. in the Laurelwood Garden apartments, hanging from a piece of material that had been tied to a bar to allow smaller children to reach the equipment. Paramedics were able to find a pulse only after attempting to resuscitate her.

Police said it appears the girl had been playing alone, and it may have been an accident. There was no evidence of criminal activity, nor that the girl was suicidal, police said.

Seattle

Council OKs higher sewer-service rates

Wholesale sewer rates in King County will go up next year but not as much as originally proposed.

The King County Council on Monday voted to raise rates from the current $25.60 per month to $27.95 in 2007.

County Executive Ron Sims had proposed raising the rate to $28.50, but the council's Operating Budget Committee concluded that the new rate could be lower.

The wholesale rate is what King County charges to cities and sewer districts that send their waste to county sewer lines and treatment plants. The "capacity charge" paid by owners of new homes and businesses will rise sharply, from $34.05 to $42 a month. That charge, on top of the regular monthly rate, is intended to place the cost of system expansion on customers who create the need for expansion.

Body may be that of missing hiker

A body found Monday in Mount Rainier National Park appears to be that of a missing park worker.

Darcy Quick, 22, failed to return from a hike on Friday evening. After a helicopter spotted a body at the base of Comet Falls on Monday morning, a ground crew confirmed that it matched the description of the missing woman, said Lee Taylor, a park spokeswoman.

Quick, from the Chicago area, had been at the park for a summer job at National Park Inn.

Seattle

The city of Seattle has sued to challenge a teachers-union initiative that seeks to raise money for schools.

The Seattle Education Association (SEA) wants to raise $40 million through two initiatives, I-87 and I-88. They would impose a city levy, with the money spent on specific things such as reducing class sizes and adding all-day kindergarten. The district can't raise the money through a school levy because of a state limit on school taxes.

The city argues that initiatives can't tell city leaders how to spend tax money. Instead, state law says budget decisions should be made by the budget director, the mayor and the City Council, they say.

SEA said the initiative is legal, and that voters should be able to decide how their money is spent.

Seattle

Body found in river; sheriff investigating

The King County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a woman whose body was found by kayakers Sunday in the Duwamish River.

There was no obvious cause of death, and the identity of the woman was not known. Police planned to review missing-persons reports.

Times staff and news services