Youth shot, killed outside restaurant

Kent

A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed just after 7 p.m. Saturday after a dispute among about 20 youths outside an Arby's restaurant at 317 E. Smith St., according to Kent police.

The suspect ran from the scene, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call Kent Police at 253-856-5800 or Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound 1-800-CRIME-13.

The name of the victim was not released.

Rainier, Ore.

Kirkland boy, 5, drowns in Columbia

Authorities say a 5-year-old Kirkland boy died after falling into the Columbia River during a fishing trip with his father.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it was contacted about 2 p.m. Saturday to assist in the search for a boy who fell into the water at Dibblee Beach in Rainier.

A diver from the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office recovered the body of Sakai Dillard three hours later.

Seattle

Neighbors come to rescue in fire

Several Skyway residents are being hailed for helping save an elderly woman's life when a fire destroyed her basement.

Neighbors of the woman, who lives in the 12400 block of 84th Avenue South, saw smoke coming from her home just before noon Saturday, said Dave Nelson, spokesman for King County Fire District 20.

One neighbor went inside to help the woman get out of the house while another called 911, Nelson said. Several other neighbors grabbed garden hoses to try to knock back the fire.

When firefighters arrived, they were able to keep the fire contained. The basement sustained heavy fire damage; the upstairs had minor smoke damage . The woman was uninjured, and both of her dogs escaped unharmed.

Investigators determined that the fire began accidentally, Nelson said. Damage was estimated at $100,000. The Red Cross is assisting the woman and her dogs.

Seattle

Man, 26, arrested in woman's shooting

A man has been arrested after a 28-year-old woman was shot in the leg and rushed to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries early Saturday morning.

Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel said that witnesses reported a man and a woman getting into a dispute about 1:45 a.m. just outside Waid's nightclub, in the 1200 block of East Jefferson Street in Seattle's First Hill neighborhood. The man pulled out a handgun and chased the woman down the street before shooting her, Kappel said.

The man ran away. Detectives spotted him a few blocks away and caught him, Kappel said. The 26-year-old has been booked into the King County Jail for investigation of assault.

Issaquah

Man dies after paraglider crash

A man whose paraglider crashed into a tree on Tiger Mountain near Issaquah has died.

King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart says the paraglider crashed into the tree about 4:30 p.m. Friday and was stuck about 50 to 100 feet above the ground. Rescue crews were able to extricate the man, but he never regained consciousness.

Witnesses say the man, an experienced paraglider in his 50s, might have passed out before he crashed. The man was not identified pending notification of relatives.

Alaska

Volcano erupts on remote island

A volcano erupted Saturday with little warning on a remote island in Alaska, sending residents of a nearby ranch fleeing from falling ash and volcanic rock.

The Okmok Caldera erupted late Saturday morning,hours after seismologists at the Alaska Volcano Center began detecting a series of small tremors.

The explosion flung an ash cloud at least 50,000 feet high, said geophysicist Steve McNutt.

Nine people, including three children, were at Fort Glenn, a private cattle ranch six miles south of the volcano on Umnak Island, in the western Aleutians. They were picked up by a vessel responding to a Coast Guard request for emergency assistance.

Olympia

Steel Electric ferries to be put on eBay

The state plans to put its Steel Electric ferries for sale on eBay on July 16 after it received no local bids on the boats.

The state's General Administration Office is trying to sell the four ferries, idled when they were taken out of service in November. They were offered to state agencies, counties, cities, government organizations and nonprofits. The minimum bid is $350,000 for the Illahee, Nisqually, Klickitat and Quinault.

Hadley Greene, a ferries spokeswoman, said there have already been two expressions of interest: the city of Port Townsend, which wants one of the boats as a meeting hall, parking garage or retail space; and the Washington Scuba Alliance, which wants to sink the boats as a dive attraction.

King County

Reward offered for tips in dog drowning

The Humane Society is offering a $2,500 reward for information into the July 4 drowning of a female pit bull in the Cedar River.

King County Animal Care and Control officials said someone tied a gas can filled with concrete around the neck of the dog, then dropped it into the fast-moving river. A necropsy of the animal found it may have been alive before being submerged.

Those with information are asked to call King County Animal Care at 206-296-3958.

Tacoma

Man, 29, breaks Rainier record

There's a new unofficial Mount Rainier speed king.

Justin Merle, 29, took 4 hours, 49 minutes, 35 seconds on Wednesday to go from Paradise to the 14,411-foot summit and back down again.

Merle beat the previous record of 4 hours, 59 minutes, 1 second, set in 2004 by Chad Kellogg, which also was not officially timed.

Merle is a climbing guide from Ashford, Pierce County, who has been guiding on Mount Rainier since 1999.

A client on a guided ascent typically takes 17 to 18 hours to complete the climb, not including a sleep break at Camp Muir.

Minneapolis

Seattle man drowns in Minnesota lake

A Seattle man has drowned while swimming in a Minneapolis lake.

The Hennepin County sheriff's office says the man was swimming in Lake Calhoun on Monday afternoon when he went under the water.

Witnesses saw the man begin to struggle. He died Tuesday afternoon at Hennepin County Medical Center. The victim is identified as Osman Roble, 20.

Olympia

Boy, 17, stung by scorpion in motel

A 17-year-old boy staying at a Tumwater motel was stung by a scorpion and had to be treated at a hospital.

Wendy Holman says she was told her son, Kyle, was the first patient to be treated for a scorpion sting at Olympia's Providence St. Peter Hospital in 37 years.

Motel officials theorize a truck driver from another state must have left the quarter-size scorpion in the room.

The mother says her son felt something funny on his leg, and it went numb.

Kyle Holman was medicated and monitored for about six hours at the hospital.

Wendy Holman says the motel company is allowing the family to stay there for free and has agreed to pay for the teenager's medical bills.

Seattle Times staff and news services