$250,000 Sound Transit truck can't fit in tunnel

Seattle

$250,000 truck can't fit in tunnel

Sound Transit must sell a new $250,000 maintenance truck because it won't fit inside the Beacon Hill and downtown transit tunnels.

The truck is one of two specialized vehicles with lift booms to allow workers to reach overhead wires that will power future light-rail trains. But the agency blundered in its purchase order — when the trucks' outriggers are extended for stability, they become too wide for the tunnel floor.

"This was an instance where we wish we would have done things differently," said spokesman Geoff Patrick. One truck will be sold, and the proceeds applied to buy a replacement that can operate without stabilizers.

The other truck will be kept because it's still useful for most of the route, Patrick said.

The blunder isn't expected to delay the $2.7 billion line, scheduled to open from downtown Seattle to the airport next year.

Puyallup

Hit-run suspect turns himself in

A man suspected of hitting and killing a bicyclist with his car, then abandoning the vehicle on Monday, has turned himself in.

The Puyallup Police Department reports that Blair Jensen, 23, of Puyallup, turned himself in at the Pierce County sheriff's headquarters in Tacoma on Friday afternoon. Jensen was charged with vehicular homicide and failure to remain at the scene of an injury accident.

John McRae III, 51, was struck and killed when he was riding his bike on a Puyallup street. The car didn't stop. Police later found the vehicle abandoned.

Evansville, Ind.

Woman sentenced n grocer fund scam

A Burien woman has been sentenced to 13 months in federal prison for defrauding a grocery-store chain of about $44,000 by hacking into its computer system.

Carima Jansen, 32, was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to aiding in the interstate transport of stolen funds from Wesselman's Supermarkets of Evansville.

Federal investigators reported that Wesselman's computer system was compromised during Sept. 12-26, 2007, by a program that allowed a hacker to obtain the user ID and password for the company's bank account.

Jansen admitted opening an account with a U.S. Bank branch in Washington state on Sept. 14, 2007, using a counterfeit passport from Denmark as her identification, authorities said.

Five days later, an unauthorized electronic funds transfer was made from Wesselman's bank account using the stolen ID and password, with the money deposited in Jansen's account.

Jansen told authorities she forwarded the stolen money to other participants in the scheme who were outside the United States. A total of $44,279 was stolen from Wesselman's, which has eight stores in southwestern Indiana.

In sentencing Jansen, U.S. District Judge Richard Young required her to make restitution to Wesselman's and imposed two years of supervised release after serving prison time.

Seattle

Literary group's director leaves

Lyall Bush is no longer executive director of Seattle's Richard Hugo House. On Friday, an employee at the Capitol Hill-based literary organization confirmed Bush's departure, but gave no details and said no one was authorized to comment except program associate Brian McGuigan, who was unavailable.

Richard Hugo House, named after a Northwest poet, is a nonprofit dedicated to nurturing writers, promoting literacy and forging connections between writers and readers. Bush was hired as executive director in 2006 to replace Frances McCue, who was co-founder and artistic director of the Capitol Hill literary-arts center.

He had been the center's program and education manager since 2003.

Seattle

Conservation groups sue over donations

Three conservation groups are suing the federal government over a decision to give millions of dollars to forestry foundations.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle by the Forest Stewardship Council, Conservation Northwest and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The $350 million contributions that are the focus of the lawsuit were part of payments made by Canada to settle a lumber-trade dispute. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative picked the timber groups to receive the donation.

The conservation groups say the decision should have been made by Congress.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative says her office does not comment on pending litigation.

Seattle

Utility relocation starts at viaduct

It may be the least-visible part of construction of a new Alaskan Way Viaduct, but the State Department of Transportation Friday broke ground on relocating a mile of electrical lines that are attached to the raised roadway.

The lines must be moved before the state can rebuild the south end of the viaduct.

In conjunction with the city and King County, the lines will be moved to underground sites just east of the viaduct near the sports stadiums in preparation for removing the southern mile of the viaduct beginning next year.

"This project is a major step for the south-end reconstruction and it will ensure that the downtown power supply is safe in the event of an earthquake," said Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond.

The $17 million project will take about a year to complete.

The utility relocation is part of six "moving forward" projects announced last year that will replace or repair about half of the viaduct by 2012 while a decision is made on what to do with the central waterfront portion.

Index

Highway 2 repairs to close single lane

Starting Monday and continuing through November, drivers can expect single-lane weekday closures on Highway 2 east of Index as crews start repairs to the highway.

Crews will stabilize the slope under a section of roadway that sank more than 7 feet during record rains in November 2006 and install a new drainage system to help prevent further erosion.

Seattle

Resort owners will restore wetlands

The owners of a Columbia River Gorge resort have agreed to pay $30,000 and restore wetlands to settle a federal lawsuit.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle says Bonneville Hot Springs Resort owners Pete and Elena Cam must restore the 2 acres of wetlands that were filled on Forest Service land. They also must pay for a new survey to mark the property line.

The resort at North Bonneville, in Skamania County, filled the wetlands to make trails on land that is part of the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area.

The litigation was filed in March against the Cams, who live in Woodburn, Ore., by the Forest Service and Corps of Engineers.

The Cams agreed Friday to the settlement over violations of the Clean Water Act and trespassing.

Times staff and wire services