Marijuana plants tied to house fire

Police say a marijuana grow operation inside an Auburn house led to an electrical fire that destroyed most of the home early Sunday.

A man and a woman who lived in the house in the 2700 block of Alpine Drive Southeast were arrested on suspicion of growing marijuana, said Auburn Police Commander Willard Lathrop.

Police found about 400 plants in various stages of growth. The grow was fueled by an illegal power tap. An electrical short in one of the grow rooms caused the fire, Lathrop said.

The married couple, both in their 50s, were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where the man was treated for smoke inhalation, Lathrop said.

A newspaper-delivery person reported the fire Sunday morning. With the help of a neighbor, the woman escaped before firefighters arrived. The man was found unconscious on the second floor of the house.

Seattle

County building gets name: Chinook

King County's new 13-story office building will be known as The Chinook Building, thanks to the suggestion of an eighth-grade student.

Megan Drews was a student at Holy Family School in Kirkland when she entered the County Council's name-that-building contest earlier this year along with 140 other students.

Megan, now a freshman at Eastside Catholic High School in Bellevue, told the council Monday the building name celebrates Northwest native heritage. "Along with our heritage," she said, "it is a great fish to eat."

The Chinook Building faces Fifth Avenue between Jefferson and Terrace streets in downtown Seattle.

Seattle

Endangered gorilla is born at zoo

The Woodland Park Zoo is celebrating the birth of a female western lowland gorilla — the third offspring of her parents and the 12th successful birth of the endangered species at the zoo.

The gorilla was born about 3:30 a.m. Saturday. She is indoors and not available for public viewing while she remains under 24-hour observation.

The new gorilla, who does not yet have a name, seems to be well; her mother, Amanda, is showing "excellent maternal care," according to a news release.

Public viewing of the baby and her mother will be dependent on outdoor temperatures, according to the zoo. A video of the newborn is on the Web at www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE4zFSYDDkU.

Vancouver, Wash.

Son calls 911, mom arrested for DUI

A woman has been arrested for investigation of drunken driving and other charges after repeated calls to 911 from her 8-year-old son, who was in the car, Clark County sheriff's deputies said.

Paulette Lynn Spears, 33, who lives east of Vancouver, was arrested Saturday evening after she drove to a fire station and said she had a medical problem. Emergency dispatchers received a report of a four-door Nissan sedan being driven erratically four minutes before the first call from her son, sheriff's Sgt. Randon M. Walker said.

"He said, 'I don't know where we are, and Mom's not acting normal,' " Walker said.

As the operator began asking the boy for landmarks and the direction the car was traveling, Walker said, Spears took the cellular telephone from the boy, told the dispatcher not to worry and hung up.

The boy called back, and again his mother cut short the call, Walker said.

"The mother kept interrupting the 8-year-old," he said. "It happened at least twice."

The boy and a younger child, 5, who was also in the car, were placed with an aunt. As of Monday, Spears remained in jail for investigation of drunken driving, two counts of reckless endangerment and assault of a child. Records show she has at least one conviction for drunken driving.

Spokane

Couple sentenced in cigarette scheme

An Idaho couple who federal prosecutors say were the ringleaders of a cigarette-trafficking scheme that cost the state of Washington millions of dollars in uncollected taxes have been sentenced in federal court.

Peter Mahoney and Peggy Mahoney, operators of the Warpath Smoke Shop on the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation at Plummer, Idaho, were sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court for trafficking in contraband cigarettes, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice said Monday.

Peter Mahoney, 54, was sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to traffic in contraband cigarettes and money laundering. Peggy Mahoney, 38, was sentenced to six months of home detention and three years of probation after pleading guilty to one count of contraband cigarette trafficking.

As part of their plea agreement, the Mahoneys agreed to forfeit $1.4 million.

Seattle Times staff and news services