Vigil to be held for slain woman

Redmond

A vigil in memory of Melissa Batten, who was slain July 29, will begin at 5 p.m. today at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, 16600 N.E. 80th St., Redmond.

The vigil will be sponsored by the Eastside Domestic Violence Program.

Batten was killed by her husband, Joseph Batten, who then committed suicide at a Redmond apartment complex, police reported. Batten had sought a restraining order against her husband eight days before her death.

People interested in attending the vigil are asked to contact the program at marshat@edvp.org or by calling 425-562-8840, ext. 0.

Federal Way

Ex-teacher charged in molestation

A former Federal Way elementary-school teacher with a previous conviction for fondling a student was charged Monday with first-degree child molestation in a separate case.

Scott Michael Riley, 53, is accused of fondling a 10-year-old relative when the girl was 4 or 5, according to charging documents filed in King County Superior Court. The incident came to light after Riley admitted the fondling to a therapist, court papers said.

Riley was seeing a sexual-deviancy therapist as part of treatment mandated after he pleaded guilty in 2007 to fourth-degree assault of a student. Riley, who fondled an 11-year-old girl in his music class at Twin Lakes Elementary School in Federal Way, received a one-year suspended sentence and two years of probation and was ordered to undergo the sexual-deviancy treatment.

Shoreline

$9.7 million winner in lottery sought

Thirty days after a $9.7 million lottery ticket was sold at a convenience store in Shoreline, the money has yet to be claimed by the lucky winner.

The winning numbers are 01-08-21-30-36-39, and the ticket was sold July 26 at the 7-Eleven at 1232 N. 185th St.

State Lottery officials are urging the winner to come forward.

"Because this is such a large jackpot, very few people would sit on it if they had the ticket," said Jacque Coe, lottery spokeswoman. "We have to assume that whoever has it doesn't know."

Winners have 180 days after the drawing to claim the prize. If no one does, the money is set aside into the unclaimed-prize fund, which pays for promotional giveaways, such as a "trip of a lifetime" or weekend vacations, Coe said.

If someone does find the ticket, she said, he or she should sign the back of it, keep it in a cool, safe, dry place and call the lottery office at 360-664-4720 to make an appointment to claim it.

The last — and only — time a prize of this magnitude went unclaimed was in April 1993, when a $6 million ticket was sold and no one stepped forward, Coe said.

Seattle

Teenager buried in sand cave-in dies

The King County Medical Examiner's Office says it has been informed that a 15-year-old boy buried in a sand cave-in at Dash Point State Park has died.

The office says he died Monday at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center. The office said this morning it did not yet have custody of the body and had no other information.

The boy and his family, reportedly from Newberg, Ore., had been visiting the Puget Sound park at Federal Way on Saturday when he dug into a sandy bluff that collapsed. It took about 20 minutes to dig out his head and shoulders.

The park has put up a fence and warning sign at the site. A ranger says previous warning signs and fences were torn down or trampled.

Agassiz, B.C.

Mumps outbreak reported in B.C.

A growing mumps outbreak has been reported in the Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver and north of Washington state's Whatcom County.

About 200 people have been verified to have the virus in areas as far west as Burnaby in the Vancouver suburbs, Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin, medical-health officer for the Fraser Health Authority, said Tuesday.

In an average year, fewer than 100 cases are reported across Canada.

The British Columbia Centre for Disease Control is convening a provincial task force to meet in two weeks to develop a strategy for combating the outbreak, Brodkin said.

Mumps is spread through saliva, and health officials warned against the sharing of water bottles, drinking cups, musical instruments and cigarettes as well as coughing and sneezing without covering the nose and mouth.

The virus arrived in British Columbia from Alberta, where 300 people were infected, and spread through a Fraser Valley religious group that shuns immunization, Brodkin said.

Olympia

Woman enters plea in baby's death

A 29-year-old woman who had denied knowing she was pregnant has pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge in the death of the newborn baby.

Jessica Wemhaner, of Lacey, Thurston County, was held on $250,000 bail in the Thurston County Jail after Tuesday's arraignment in Olympia.

Thurston County prosecutors say she had denied being pregnant but later said she suspected she was pregnant and delivered the baby in the bathroom at her home.

Her husband also denied having any knowledge of the pregnancy and the baby.

The baby girl was found dead in a bathroom cabinet Aug. 10 after Wemhaner was treated at a hospital for bleeding. An autopsy showed the full-term baby was born alive.

Lewiston, Idaho

Sheriff vanishes; post is vacant

After weeks without any word from Sheriff Jim Dorion vacant, Nez Perce County commissioners have voted to declare his office vacant.

Nearly four months ago Dorion began a 90-day paid medical leave after announcing he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. That leave ended July 30, county Prosecutor Dan Spickler said.

Chief Deputy Dale Buttrey, who has been acting sheriff since May, said the last time he spoke with Dorion, the sheriff said he was going to Texas for treatment.

Dorion sold his Lewiston Orchards house, and all mail was forwarded to his parents' home in Lewiston, which is in the county, officials said.

Darlene Dorion, his mother, would not comment to the Lewiston Tribune, except to say that her son is ill and needs privacy.

Klamath Falls, Ore.

Animals removed; neglect alleged

Authorities have taken all 200 sheep and 55 horses from the property of an 80-year-old woman who authorities say has repeatedly neglected them.

Klamath Humane Society officials started investigating reports of malnourished animals at Leta Johnson's property in the spring of 2007. Since then, several charges have been filed, and Johnson spent two nights in the Klamath County Jail after she was arrested June 23.

She then was put under court order to pay for care and food for her animals after a judge determined she was able to do so.

Klamath County District Attorney Cole Chase said the animals were removed last week after she failed to comply.

Wellpinit, Stevens County

24,000 pot plants seized on reserve

Authorities say more than 24,000 marijuana plants worth more than $60 million have been seized on the Spokane Indian Reservation.

Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer said the pot plants were found last Wednesday in two locations in steep, forested land on the west side of the reservation, which is west of Spokane.

Thayer said it's the most plants and the highest estimated dollar value of marijuana seized in recent county history.

He added that the raid was kept secret for days partly to help assure the safety of the task force that investigated the case. Participating agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington State Patrol, tribal police, National Park Service and Border Patrol.

Times staff and news services