No charges against former Brier Mayor in death of officer

Brier, Snohomish County

Snohomish County prosecutors will not charge former Brier Mayor Gary Starks in the death of a police officer who died shortly after the two struggled.

Officer Eddie Thomas, 28, collapsed at Starks' home on Sept. 12 after responding to a medical emergency at the house. Medical examiners later determined Thomas had congenital heart-valve disease and died of natural causes.

Starks, a diabetic, had dangerously low blood sugar and was not behaving rationally the night of the struggle, Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Mark Roe said.

There is no evidence that Starks did anything intentional or illegal that day, Roe said in a letter Wednesday to detectives who investigated the case.

To hold him accountable for Thomas' death, prosecutors would have to prove he intentionally did something to cause the officer's fatal collapse, Roe wrote.

Given the evidence, prosecutors "could not ethically or honestly try to link Officer Thomas' death to any acts by Mr. Starks," Roe said.

Fort Lewis

Soldier dies in Iraq; base's 17th in June

The Department of Defense announced Thursday that another soldier from Fort Lewis has been killed in action.

Sgt. Nathan L. Winder, of Blanding, Utah, died Tuesday after being wounded by small-arms fire in Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq, a city 100 miles south of Baghdad.

The 32-year-old was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group.

He is the 17th soldier from Fort Lewis to be killed this month.

Since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March 2003, 136 servicemen from Fort Lewis have died.

Redmond

Initiative targeting gays is dropped

Ken Hutcherson, senior pastor at Redmond's Antioch Bible Church, has dropped his effort to remove provisions of a state law that bans discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Hutcherson would have needed signatures from at least 224,800 registered voters by July 6 to place an initiative on the November ballot.

He said Thursday he discontinued his efforts early in the spring after Joe Fuiten, senior pastor of Cedar Park Assembly of God, asked him to instead unite in opposing a domestic-partnership bill for gay and lesbian couples. That measure ended up passing the Legislature in April.

Fuiten confirmed he asked Hutcherson to drop the initiative, saying "I didn't think we should run it. The time wasn't right. The climate wasn't right."

Seattle

Suspects sought in fatal shooting

A man in his 20s died after being shot several times Wednesday night in an apartment in Seattle's Leschi neighborhood.

Seattle police responded to a shooting at 8:53 p.m., said police spokesman Jeff Kappel. The victim died at the apartment in the 2700 block of East Yesler Way.

Homicide detectives and crime-scene investigators also responded and determined the shooting "doesn't appear to be random," Kappel said.

Police are looking for two or three male suspects, who remain at large, he said.

Everett

Gunfire kills man, wounds another

A 23-year-old man was fatally shot and another man suffered a leg wound in a shooting outside an Everett apartment complex Wednesday night.

About 9 p.m., Everett police responded to the 900 block of West Casino Road after calls that shots had been fired and that a man was down, said Sgt. Robert Goetz. When officers arrived, they found the 23-year-old dead in the apartment's courtyard, he said, adding that the man was not a resident. Another man was shot in the leg and was taken to an Everett hospital, where he was treated and released.

A motive has not yet been determined.

Olympia

Waste mishandled; state levies fine

The Department of Ecology has levied a $76,000 fine against a Pennsylvania company after 18,000 pounds of hazardous waste was allegedly mishandled at its facility in Kent.

Philip Services Corp. was fined after a state inspector discovered that the waste, including paint waste and toxic solvents such as xylene and methyl ethyl ketone, was mistakenly treated as less hazardous, and incorrectly sent to a facility in Idaho for disposal, according to Ecology.

The waste was recovered and dealt with correctly after the mistake came to light, and the company has changed procedures to prevent a repeat of the incident, according to Ecology. The company can appeal the fine.

Federal Way

District regulates cellphones, iPods

The Federal Way School District passed a new personal-electronics policy this week that will allow high-school students to use cellphones and iPods during lunch in designated areas such as the cafeteria.

The policy, effective this fall, also will allow teachers to give students of all grade levels permission to use these devices in the classroom.

A previously discussed version of the proposal called for a ban on all personal electronic devices during school.

The district — like other area districts, including Edmonds, Kent and Seattle — regulates personal electronics on a school-by-school basis.

Yakima

Forest Service OKs expanded ski area

The U.S. Forest Service has issued a decision allowing the White Pass Ski Area to add lifts and other amenities in a roadless area long defended by conservationists.

The popular Highway 12 ski area west of Yakima in Washington's southern Cascades would nearly double under the government's selected alternative released Wednesday. Even with the expansion, White Pass would still be smaller than Washington's three major ski resorts — Mount Baker, Stevens Pass and Crystal Mountain.

An appeal period for the decision should begin next week. Only those who commented earlier in the process can appeal.

The idea of expanding White Pass to the southwest has been around for two decades. Expansion supporters, primarily the White Pass Co., have argued the project is needed to accommodate growth.

The ski area has seen an annual average of nearly 110,000 skiers over the past five years.

Mark Lawler, of the Sierra Club's Cascade Chapter, said the organization plans to review the decision before determining whether to appeal.

Under the proposal, the ski area would expand to 1,572 acres and add two chairlifts and 18 trails.

The proposal was one of five considered, and Forest Service officials said it strikes the best balance between meeting the needs of the ski area and protecting the environment through mitigating measures.

Seattle Times staff and wire reports