Paraglider suffered midair heart failure

Issaquah

A 58-year-old Pacific man who died while paragliding Saturday on Tiger Mountain suffered midair heart failure, according to his family and the King County Medical Examiner's Office.

Eric J. Jansen, a Boeing engineer who had just celebrated 20 years at the company, had a passion for the sport, said his son, Steven Jansen.

"He always said that flying in a plane was like swimming in a boat," Steven Jansen said. "He was always telling us about how he was flying with hawks and eagles. I think he really liked being avian."

Jansen was paragliding about 4:30 p.m. Saturday when he crashed into a tree and was stuck high above the ground. A hospital official told the family he died before he crashed into the tree, his son said.

Jansen previously flew a hang glider and took up paragliding because he preferred the slower pace, his son said.

A paraglider resembles a slender parachute steered by the person connected to it. Paraglider pilots take off on foot, rather than jumping from an airplane, and then soar.

Jansen had done more than 100 flights with his paraglider, his son said.

Seattle

Motorcycle crash kills Kirkland man

A 35-year-old Kirkland man died early Sunday after crashing his motorcycle into a barrier while riding south on Interstate 5 in Seattle.

According to the State Patrol, the man's 2006 Suzuki struck the barrier on the left side of the freeway at the Mercer Street exit around 1:30 a.m.

He came to rest in the center lane and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fall City

Body in river may be missing man's

Sunday rafters on the Snoqualmie River discovered a body presumed that of a Kirkland man who disappeared while inner-tubing on the river earlier this month, police said.

The rafters spotted the body near Fall City, caught underwater by branches, said King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart. The body appeared to have been in the water for quite some time.

The 36-year-old man was presumed drowned June 30 after he fell in the river while inner-tubing with friends south of Snoqualmie Falls.

A search was called off because of dangerous river conditions.

His name has not been released pending positive identification, police said.

Tacoma

Miss Washington is WWU student

Janet Harding, of Yelm, Thurston County, a 21-year-old student at Western Washington University in Bellingham, is the new Miss Washington.

Harding was crowned Saturday night before an audience of more than 600 at the Pantages Theater in Tacoma. She will represent Washington in the Miss America competition in January in Las Vegas.

Harding competed in the three-hour pageant as Miss Tahoma, a title she earned in a Puyallup pageant.

First runner-up was Kristin Cox, Miss Tri-Cities; second runner-up was Elizabeth Lamb-Ferro, Miss Pierce County; and third runner-up was Cara Rudd, Miss Auburn.

Harding is studying elementary education, social studies and communications. She serves on the board of Big Brothers-Big Sisters in Whatcom County and is a Big Sister.

Harding received her crown from outgoing Miss Washington Elyse Umemoto.

Port Angeles

Diners hurt when car rams restaurant

Port Angeles police say three people seated at a booth were injured Friday when a 77-year-old woman backed her car through a restaurant wall.

Maria Sands was not injured when her Lincoln Town Car plunged through the wall of the Fairmount Italian Restaurant.

Elisabeth Nicole Hagerman, 19, suffered a broken arm and internal bleeding, according to her mother, Huberta Meadows, 42, who was also injured, along with Juana Argyropoulos, 50.

Sands has not been cited.

Times staff and news services