Singapore-based shipping line pays $27,500 for oil spill

Seattle

A Singapore-based shipping line has paid a $27,500 fine for a 2006 oil spill in Seattle's Elliott Bay, the state Department of Ecology said Monday.

The fine stems from an incident that sent 93 gallons of thick, syrupy fuel oil into Puget Sound while a cargo ship owned by OSM Ship Management was being fueled from an adjacent barge, according to Ecology. The oil-coated parts of the Elliott Bay Marina took six days to clean up.

Ecology investigators determined the ship's crew failed to properly monitor the fueling, made faulty repairs to a fuel-tank valve, and didn't promptly report the spill.

Seattle

Parking refunds due to about 4,000

The city of Seattle will issue refunds to about 4,000 people who were wrongly ticketed for parking on Seattle streets the day before or after a holiday.

King County Superior Court Judge Harry McCarthy issued the judgment in a class-action lawsuit last week; it will affect people who were improperly ticketed from 2003 through 2006. According to previous city law, street parking should have been free on the day before a Saturday holiday, the day after a Sunday holiday and the day after Thanksgiving.

The refunds will cost the city $448,000, according to DeWelle Ellsworth III and Bendich Stobaugh & Strong, who sued the city on behalf of Bellevue resident Colette Turner.

Checks will be mailed to the registered owners of vehicles that were ticketed.

Seattle has since changed which days street parking is free. They now include the Monday after a Sunday holiday, Sundays and on holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

City Attorney Tom Carr could not be reached for comment.

Seattle

City OKs loans for 40 homeowners

The city of Seattle will offer $5,000 loans to help 40 homeowners facing mortgage default or foreclosure. In the unanimous vote on Monday, City Council approved spending $210,000 on the program, first proposed by Mayor Greg Nickels. Nonprofits Solid Ground and Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle will administer the loans to low-income homeowners, who can use the proceeds to bring an existing mortgage current or to help them refinance.

Homeowners who make $48,000 to $50,000 a year, or 80 percent of the median income, can qualify. The loans will be repaid after their homes are refinanced or sold. Homeowners interested in applying should contact the Urban League at 800-368-1455 or Solid Ground at 206-694-6766.

Bellevue

Boy run over by car is doing well

A 4-year-old boy who was run over by a car in Bellevue on Monday is doing remarkably well, police said.

The Sammamish boy was run over by a Toyota Corolla in a church parking lot next to his preschool just before noon. While the boy was scraped up, he had no serious injuries, police said.

"The worst-case scenario at this point is that they may have to give him stitches on his hips and side," Bellevue police spokesman Greg Grannis said Monday afternoon. "Considering he was actually run over by a car — not just knocked down, but the tires ran over his pelvis — we expected much worse. We're pleasantly surprised."

The boy's name was not released.

The Renton man who drove over the boy was not driving recklessly, and drugs and alcohol were not a factor, Grannis said. The driver probably will not be charged or ticketed, he said.

Seattle Times staff and news services