Ferry line to stop until January

Seattle

Car-ferry trips from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend will be canceled until January, after state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond ordered the 80-year-old vessel Klickitat into dry dock for inspections.

Steel corrosion, which she described as "pitting" and "pockmarks," was found inside the hollow hull of a similar "Steel Electric" ferry, the Quinault, during dry-dock inspections in Seattle, she said Tuesday.

An unused passenger-only ferry will be transferred Thursday to the route, Hammond said. A similar vessel, the Illahee, which travels among the San Juan Islands, will be replaced with a larger boat without disrupting service, Hammond said.

Fort Lewis

3 Stryker soldiers killed in Iraq

Three Stryker Brigade soldiers have been killed in Iraq, reportedly while giving toys to children, bringing the death toll for this military post near Tacoma to eight soldiers in less than a week.

The latest casualties, confirmed in an Army statement Tuesday morning, were Cpl. Christopher J. Nelson, 22, of Rochester, Thurston County; Cpl. Jason T. Lee, 26, of Fruitport, Mich.; and Pfc. Marius Ferrero, 23, of Miami.

All were members of the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, and died Sunday when an improvised explosive device was detonated in Baqouba.

Leo Marquez, Nelson's father-in-law, and other relatives said all three soldiers died in a previously reported attack as they were distributing toys and other gifts to children at a playground. At least three children also died, and seven were wounded.

Nelson was "just a good-hearted guy" who played football in high school, enjoyed riding all-terrain vehicles and was drawn to children, often ignoring other adults in favor of playing with younger relatives, Marquez said.

"He just wanted to serve his country, and he believed in what was going on," Marquez said.

Mount Rainier

Part of Cayuse Pass to reopen today

A section of Cayuse Pass within Mount Rainier National Park that closed for a week because of rock slides will reopen at noon today.

The highway has been closed from the junction of Highways 410 and 123 to Stevens Canyon Road since Nov. 13, after several large rocks fell onto the highway from the hillside above the northbound lane.

"Federal geotechnical experts carefully examined the hillside above the highway and determined that two large rocks we were concerned about are stable and the road is safe for travel," said Mount Rainier Superintendent Dave Uberuaga. "We are excited to reopen [Cayuse Pass] for holiday travelers."

Seattle

No felony charges in Metro crash death

A former King County Metro Transit bus driver who was involved in a head-on collision in April that killed a man in Enumclaw will not face felony charges.

Sandie Olosky, 35, was fired from Metro last month after the transit company determined that the crash, which killed 21-year-old Michael Dahlquist, could have been prevented.

The State Patrol requested that a misdemeanor negligent-driving charge be filed against Olosky. King County prosecutors have decided the case did not warrant a more serious felony charge.

"There is not enough evidence to support a felony charge of vehicular homicide," said prosecutors' spokesman Dan Donohoe. "It will be sent over to district court for a possible filing of negligent driving, second-degree."

On April 17, Olosky was driving a Metro bus on Highway 164 when she swerved into oncoming lanes to avoid hitting a vehicle that had slowed. The bus hit the bumper of that vehicle before colliding with a pickup driven by Dahlquist, who died at the scene.

The State Patrol determined Olosky had realized too late that the vehicle in front of her was slowing down.

Olosky had been fired by Metro in 2005 for stopping her bus on the West Seattle Bridge for what investigators didn't think to be solid reasons. But she was rehired last year after arbitration.

Seattle

County restricts property searches

King County land-use code-enforcement officers no longer will be allowed to search properties without first notifying the owner, except in emergencies, under an ordinance adopted Monday by the County Council.

The law, sponsored by council members Reagan Dunn, R-Maple Valley; Dow Constantine, D-Seattle; and Kathy Lambert, R-Redmond, applies to code-enforcement visits by staff of the Department of Development and Environmental Services.

The ordinance also gives property owners the right to appeal a staff decision that they did not meet the terms of "voluntary compliance agreements" they had signed. David Spohr, senior deputy ombudsman for rural affairs, said appeals were needed because compliance agreements have been written in a way that gives the department "essentially unchecked discretion."

Another provision requires code-enforcement officers to cite a specific code section or text when writing citations.

Seattle Times staff and news services