Man in stabbing found dead at home

The county also would eliminate a requirement that rural landowners obtain a conditional shoreline-use permit before cutting trees commercially and that forest-zone landowners obtain a shoreline exemption.

Regulations have been written in summary form. After public meetings in June, they will be drafted into an ordinance for review this fall and possible adoption by the County Council next year.

For more information visit www.metrokc.gov/shorelines.

Seattle

A man who was hospitalized last week after he was stabbed was found dead in his University District apartment Saturday morning.

Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt said detectives are looking into Christopher Reynolds' death as suspicious but are not investigating it as a homicide. Toxicology tests have not been completed.

Police went to Reynolds' apartment in the 4200 block of Latona Avenue Northeast shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday after a building manager found Reynolds' body, Witt said.

Police said Reynolds was stabbed on May 14.

Olympia

Gregoire creates education council

Gov. Christine Gregoire on Monday created an education council to crack the whip on reforms in early learning, public kindergarten through 12th grade and the state's higher-education system.

Gregoire, who recently headed a two-year reform drive called Washington Learns, said she will chair the new 11-member council, which will include members from across the education spectrum. She said she also will keep tabs on another study panel that is looking at education financing.

The governor said one of the key goals of the new P-20 Council will be to knock down the "silos" that seem to put preschool, K-12, community colleges and four-year schools in separate worlds. P-20, her phrase for the whole system, refers to preschool and other early-learning opportunities, followed by K-12, college or trade school and, potentially, graduate school or retraining.

South King County

3 ballot measures set for annexations

Residents of three South King County communities will decide in August whether to become part of Auburn or Federal Way.

The Metropolitan King County Council voted Monday to put these annexation proposals on the Aug. 21 primary ballot: East Federal Way, with 22,000 residents, to Federal Way; Lea Hill, population 10,000, to Auburn; and Auburn West Hill, with 5,000 residents, to Auburn.

County Executive Ron Sims has encouraged urban unincorporated areas either to join neighboring cities or to create their own cities since a budget task force said in 2003 the county's tax revenues are insufficient to provide local services such as police and road maintenance to urban areas.

Bellevue

High schools again are rated highly

Bellevue's high schools are among the top public schools in the nation, according to this week's Newsweek magazine.

This is the fourth time that at least three of the Bellevue School District's high schools have been ranked in the top 100. International High School was ranked 11th, Bellevue High 32nd, Newport High 49th and Interlake High 59th. The district's Sammamish High was 104th.

The magazine ranked schools using a formula that divides the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2006 by the number of graduating seniors.

The full list is at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18757087/site/newsweek.

Redmond

Geography contest ahead for 8th-grader

Caitlin Snaring, of Redmond, competes today and Wednesday in the National Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C.

This is the second trip to the national bee for Snaring, an eighth-grader who is home-schooled. The winner receives a $25,000 scholarship.

Snaring earned a place in the national competition after winning the state title in March.

Times staff and news services