New murder charge brings guilty plea

Clay Bennett's ownership group has reached a final settlement with the city of Seattle allowing the former Sonics franchise to move to Oklahoma City.

Attorneys filed a document Tuesday in federal court in Seattle, noting the parties would each pay their own court costs.

Bennett announced last month that a settlement was being negotiated that would involve his making a payment of as much as $75 million to Seattle to get out of the final two years of a lease at KeyArena.

Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the city had reached an agreement superseding the memorandum of understanding the parties reached on July 2.

The initial memorandum called for Bennett to pay $45 million to the city of Seattle to break the lease, and make another $30 million payment if the city doesn't have a new NBA team within five years.

That agreement also allowed Seattle to retain the rights to the Sonics' name, logo and colors.

The federal court didn't release terms of the final settlement, and Carr didn't immediately have them available. Dan Mahoney, a spokesman for Bennett, did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press.

Bennett still faces a lawsuit filed by former Sonics owner Howard Schultz seeking to void his 2006 sale of the team.

Tukwila

Man found stabbed to death in hotel

A 67-year-old man was found stabbed to death in a Tukwila hotel room Tuesday, according to Tukwila police.

Tuesday night police said they had no suspects.

Police found the man in his room at the Riverside Residences on Tukwila International Boulevard. He had been stabbed with a knife, police said.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office has not released his identity.

Lincoln County

Residents are told to evacuate

Residents of nearly 50 homes were told Tuesday they needed to evacuate to escape a wildfire in Eastern Washington's Lincoln County.

The Swanson Lake Fire was burning over 15,415 acres Tuesday night — more than 24 square miles.

Fire spokesman Mark Morrow said the level-three evacuation order was issued in the Hawk Creek Ranch area, about 10 miles northwest of Davenport. A level-three order — the highest level — means residents should leave immediately, because rescuers likely won't be able to reach them if the situation worsens.

Morrow said nobody was hurt, and about 390 firefighters and support personnel were on the scene. The fire was burning in grass and sagebrush along with some scattered timber.

The blaze, reported Monday afternoon, was burning on state Department of Resources land and some fire-district land.

Morrow says the cause of the fire is under investigation, but lightning is a likely suspect.

Ellensburg

Coroner: Hantavirus claims officer's life

A rare disease linked to mouse droppings has been blamed for the death of an Ellensburg police officer.

The Yakima County coroner reported report that 34-year-old Sgt. Nelson Ng died Friday of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Police say Ng was previously in excellent health.

Hantavirus is typically contracted from airborne droplets of mouse urine or particles of dried droppings. It can fill the lungs with fluid and cause death in less than 48 hours.

Details on the circumstances in which Ng contracted the ailment have not been released.

North Bend

Man who drowned in river is identified

A man who drowned Saturday while swimming in the Snoqualmie River near North Bend has been identified as Ryan Lu.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office said Lu, 20, drowned and ruled the death an accident.

Rescuers found Lu's body in about 15 feet of water at the popular swimming spot east of North Bend.

Tumwater

Coroner: Worker severed artery in fall

The Thurston County coroner says a 23-year-old worker who died at a glass plant in Tumwater fell against a pane of glass and severed an artery in his neck.

The man was 23-year-old Christopher Benson, of Lacey.

Coroner Gary Warnock says Benson tripped on the plant floor about 2:30 a.m. on Monday and his neck hit the edge of a pane of glass that was coming off the line. The glass was lying flat.

The state Department of Labor and Industries is investigating.

Seattle Times staff and news services