Gridlock ends gasoline giveaway

A gas giveaway at a downtown Shell station was shut down during Tuesday's commute because police said traffic was gridlocked and motorists became angry.

Cars trying to get to the gas station at Denny Way and Queen Anne Avenue North stretched to Mercer Avenue at least a half-hour before the giveaway started at 4 p.m., said Seattle police spokesman Rich Pruitt.

The giveaway, part of AOL's Gold Rush pop-culture game, was shut down by police and promoters less than an hour after it started, Pruitt said. The gas offer was supposed to last until 7 p.m., according to the game Web site.

Gas also was given away at the station from 6:30-9:30 a.m. as part of the promotion, but there weren't any traffic problems, Pruitt said.

Man fends off would-be robbers

A man in his early 70s managed to fend off two attackers who attempted to rob his North Seattle house Tuesday, police said.

Just before 11 a.m., the man was working in his garage when two men approached him, said Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb. The men were able to get the victim to go inside his home in the 13000 block of Corliss Avenue North; they followed him inside, knocked him to the ground and restrained him, Whitcomb said.

The victim fought back and fled; his attackers "did a quick rummage" of the house but then fled, he said.

Hiker killed in fall is ID'd

A hiker who apparently fell to his death near North Bend on Monday was identified as Dustin Van Meter.

According to the King County Medical Examiner's Office, Van Meter, 22, died from multiple injuries to his head and body. His death was ruled an accident.

Van Meter was hiking with another man and two women on the Iron Horse Trail, a popular hiking trail about a mile outside North Bend, a King County sheriff's spokesman said Monday.

Man found shot on sidewalk

Edmonds police are investigating a shooting that injured a man early Tuesday.

Police found a man with a gunshot wound in his leg on a sidewalk near 84th Avenue West and Bowdoin Way.

The man was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His injuries were not life-threatening, according to police.

No ID troubles after data theft

Providence Health System and the Oregon attorney general have settled an investigation into a data breach at the health system.

In December 2005, backup tapes and computer disks with information on 365,000 patients were stolen from a Providence employee's car. The data were not encrypted.

The attorney general's office said it had no confirmed reports of identity theft associated with the case.

As part of the settlement, Providence will continue to provide free credit-monitoring services for patients who may have been affected. It will also provide credit restoration to any patient who becomes a victim of identity theft. The company must increase its security programs and also pay patients for any direct financial losses related to the breach.

Seattle

Council panel urges pump settlement

After a Seattle Public Utilities water-treatment plant damaged a pump station in the Cedar River Water and Sewer District, a City Council committee Tuesday recommended a $425,000 settlement to compensate the district and build a new station.

The station, which serves the Fairwood area, was damaged in 2004. Until a new pump station is built in Renton, Seattle Public Utilities will take over pumping water to Fairwood customers. The settlement requires full council approval.

Seattle

Port commission OKs runway money

The Port of Seattle Commission on Tuesday authorized spending $219.6 million to finish the third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The cost of the runway is $1.123 billion, unchanged from the total approved in 2003. The original cost estimate was $587 million, but delays, legal wrangling and other issues pushed it up.

Commissioners also approved spending $5.7 million for other airport projects, including new lighting.

Seattle Times staff and news services