"Spam king" to face additional charges

Seattle

Robert Soloway, indicted last year on 35 counts of mail and wire fraud in connection with junk e-mail, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, will face four additional charges at an arraignment in federal court scheduled for Thursday.

Dubbed the "spam king" for having sent millions of unwanted e-mails around the globe, Soloway, 28, was arrested in May and jailed in June. He is the first spammer charged by federal prosecutors with aggravated identity theft.

Soloway has been out of jail since September because of a medical condition, but is barred from accessing the Internet without court approval.

At this week's arraignment he will face additional counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, as well as two misdemeanor charges stemming from his failure to file income-tax returns.

The IRS says Soloway had a gross income of $309,725 in 2005 and $294,334 in 2006, yet failed to file returns.

Vancouver, B.C.

3 strong tremors hit off B.C. coast

Three strong earthquakes struck early Saturday off the British Columbia coast about 142 miles west of Port Hardy.

The first quake struck at 2:39 a.m. with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3.

That was followed by a stronger tremor of 6.7 in the same region about 20 minutes later and then a third earthquake of magnitude 6.5.

Guy Urban from the Alaska and West Coast Tsunami Warning Center said the center sent out a statement letting people know a large earthquake had occurred. But the center had received no reports of any quake injuries and no tsunami warning was issued.

The Tsunami Center issues warnings when earthquakes are larger than magnitude 7.

"We're pretty much convinced that no tsunami has been generated," Urban said. "We're watching our tide gauges scattered around the Pacific Coast and we saw no tsunami anywhere on any of those."

However, he said there might be some slight sea-level changes.

"Fortunately, it was out in the water," Urban said. "Had it been on land, it could have caused some significant damage."

Seattle

Blood-supply levels at dangerous lows

The Puget Sound Blood Center says Western Washington's blood supply has dropped to "emergency" levels, and is urging people to donate this week.

The organization blamed the shortage on a drop in the number of donors during the holidays, and on a surge in the number of patients who have required multiple blood transfusions at regional hospitals.

The blood center said all 11 of its donation centers will be open Monday, including those that usually are closed.

The centers are in Bellevue, Bellingham, Everett, Federal Way, North Seattle, Central Seattle, Silverdale, Tukwila, Lynnwood, Olympia and Vancouver.

For more information, call 800-398-7888, or see www.psbc.org.

Seattle

Man atop overpass finally climbs down

An unidentified man spent the better part of a night and day atop the roof of a King Street Station pedestrian overpass connecting to Qwest Field before coming down around 3:15 p.m. Saturday.

Seattle police say they began receiving reports that a man had climbed onto the roof just before 1 a.m. Crisis negotiators began talking with him soon after. He attracted the attention of scores of fans en route to the Seahawks game before eventually climbing down a ladder on his own.

The man, whom officers described as appearing mentally ill, was getting medical treatment Saturday night, police spokesman Mark Jamieson said.

Kodiak, Alaska

Plane crash kills 6 of 10 aboard

A small plane's crash in waters off Alaska's Kodiak Island Saturday killed six of the 10 people on board, officials said.

The Servant Air plane, bound for Homer, crashed in shallow water at 1:48 p.m., soon after takeoff, according to the Coast Guard.

A private float plane pulled four people from the wreckage. Another person managed to swim to shore, said Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters.

Troopers pulled five bodies from the water after the tide receded, Peters said. The pilot was among the dead, she said.

Four survivors were in stable condition, the Coast Guard said.

Buffalo, N.Y.

Making good on 40-year-old ticket

The Buffalo Police Department got a letter last month from a Yakima County woman who wanted to pay a traffic ticket she'd received in the city in upstate New York. That's not so unusual.

This is: The ticket was dated Jan. 23, 1968.

"It was misplaced, forgotten, found and ignored for many years. I am enclosing a check for $10 to cover the cost of this ticket," wrote Karen Wasiczko of Selah.

The original fine was $5 — $30 is the standard today. The ticket doesn't say why Wasiczko, who was 21 and living in Watkins Glen, N.Y., at the time, was cited.

The 40-year-old ticket landed on the desk of Police Capt. Mark Antonio.

He said any record of the ticket has been purged from the department's records.

"I'm going to mail the check back to her, thanking her for her consideration," Antonio said.

Seattle Times staff and The Associated Press