Anti-drug measure aimed at landlords

King County

To help neighborhoods get rid of drug houses, Metropolitan King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn plans to introduce legislation making it a civil infraction if landlords are willfully negligent of illegal activity on their property.

Dunn, R-Maple Valley, said the measure will target houses where people produce and sell methamphetamine or engage in other illegal drug activity. "It's a tool that law enforcement and the community have needed for a long time in order to reduce crime that is occurring in and around neighborhoods in King County," he said.

Dunn and King County Sheriff Sue Rahr are planning a news conference in Renton today. Dunn says the Residential Housing Association, which represents landlords and property owners, supports the proposed law.

Renton

1 of 3 idled cranes OK'd for use

One of the three tower cranes recently red-tagged by the state for safety concerns was cleared to resume operating Tuesday at Valley Medical Center in Renton, according to a state Department of Labor and Industries spokeswoman.

The crane — along with two others at construction sites in downtown Seattle — was idled by L&I last week because the electrical systems in the cranes had not been evaluated or approved for use. The cranes erected in Seattle also had mixed and matched parts from two manufacturers, raising questions about whether they were structurally sound.

Lewis Equipment Co., the Texas-based owner of the Sun model cranes, told L&I the combined parts were compatible and safe. The state said it wants to be sure of that before allowing the towering machines to restart.

L&I spokeswoman Elaine Fischer said all the electrical systems in the cranes have been certified and approved for use. The cranes are the only Sun models operating in the state.

Olympia

Attorney quits Supreme Court race

Tacoma attorney Jack Hill withdrew from his state Supreme Court race Wednesday, leaving incumbent Justice Debra Stephens with no opposition.

Stephens was appointed to the Supreme Court by Gov. Christine Gregoire last December.

Stephens had served a short time on the Division III Court of Appeals in Spokane and before that had practiced law there. She replaced Justice Bobbe Bridge, who resigned from the court to take another job.

The other incumbent justices on the ballot, Mary Fairhurst and Charles Johnson, both face challengers.

Yakima

Details vague about reported assault

A woman who reported that she'd been kidnapped and raped over the weekend told police Tuesday that she didn't get a good look at her assailants.

The 38-year-old woman talked to Yakima detectives after returning from Seattle, where she said the men had dropped her off early Sunday at Northgate Mall.

The woman told detectives and Seattle police that she was outside her apartment complex in the 1100 block of McKinley Avenue smoking a cigarette Saturday night when she was confronted by four men.

The men allegedly put her in her boyfriend's car, a Toyota Yaris. However, the victim said she lost consciousness and woke up in an unidentified gray sedan. She said she was raped and beaten at some point, possibly near Snoqualmie Pass.

State troopers found the Yaris about 8 p.m. Saturday in the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 outside of Ellensburg, but the other car has not been found.

Seattle

Festival celebrates the end of slavery

The 26th annual Juneteenth Freedom Festival & Parade is scheduled Friday through Sunday in the Central Area.

Sponsored locally by the Seattle Central Area Chamber of Commerce, the event is a nationwide celebration commemorating the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas, the last state to free enslaved African Americans.

This year's theme is "Building Character ... Shaping Destiny," and the event will include a Barack Obama look-a-like contest at 4 p.m. Friday at Pratt Park. The contest is open to kindergarten through college-age students, who must give a seven-minute speech on change.

A "Mardi Gras Parade" is scheduled for Saturday, with the lineup starting at 11:30 a.m. at Garfield Community Center, at 23rd Avenue and East Cherry Street, and proceeding to Pratt Park.

The Juneteenth celebration will continue at local churches on Sunday.

For more information: www.scacc2108.org/index.php

Seattle Times staff and news services