Fares for King County taxis rise to $2.50 per mile

Seattle

The Metropolitan King County Council approved the increase Monday to bring fares in line with a Seattle fare increase that will take effect the same day.

Under the new rate ordinance, taxis will charge 25 cents for every 30 seconds they travel less than 12 miles an hour or wait at a customer's request. A waiting fee of 50 cents a minute has been charged for waiting or for travel at less than 15 miles an hour.

The drop charge of $2.50 for one-tenth of a mile remains unchanged.

Perugia, Italy

A judge will begin a closed-door hearing today to decide whether University of Washington student Amanda Knox and two other suspects will be charged in the slaying of a British college student last year.

The suspects -- Knox, her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and Ivory Coast citizen Rudy Hermann Guede -- all deny wrongdoing.

Judge Paolo Micheli is not expected to rule on the possible indictments Tuesday, lawyers in the case said. The ruling is expected to take weeks.

Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old student from Leeds University in England, was found dead in November from a stab wound to the neck in the house she shared with Knox in Perugia.

Seattle

Boats collide, injuring three

Three people were injured when a 70-foot charter sailboat and a 22-foot runabout collided Monday afternoon near Alki Point.

Two sailboat passengers and the runabout's operator were brought to shore and met by an emergency medical crew, said Coast Guard Petty Officer David Marin. The sailboat's remaining 13 passengers and two crew members were transferred to another boat, he said.

The sailboat, Neptune's Car, began taking on water from a large hole in its side, but rescuers from the Coast Guard and Seattle's fire and police departments stopped the flooding, he said.

Olympia

Arson suspected in campus fires

Arson is believed to be the cause of two fires on The Evergreen State College campus.

Sunday's blazes caused an estimated $35,000 in damage: $30,000 at the college's organic farm and $5,000 to five garbage bins.

The first fire was reported at about 2 a.m. and engulfed the five bins in a residential-housing area. The second fire was reported about 4:20 a.m. by a neighbor who saw smoke and flames. It destroyed a tool shed and a greenhouse at the organic farm.

Steve North, chief of the McLane-Black Lake Fire District, said all the tools in the shed at the organic farm were lost. North said that fire was deliberately set.

Seattle

Bridge sculptures to be reinstalled

City crews will reinstall sculptures on the railing over Northwest Leary Way at the north end of the Ballard Bridge between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. today and Wednesday. The sculptures had been removed for maintenance.

Today crews plan to close the northbound right lane of 15th Avenue Northwest north of the Ballard Bridge and a lane on Northwest Leary Way. On Wednesday, the southbound right lane of 15th Avenue Northwest and a lane on Northwest Leary Way will be closed.

Seattle

Expect delays with traffic changes

Starting today, lower South Spokane Street eastbound will be closed to through traffic between First Avenue South and Fourth Avenue South. A detour will be established between the morning- and afternoon-commute periods, and traffic will be monitored over the next several days and changes made to signal timing and signs, as needed.

The closure will allow the Seattle Transportation Department to start on a multiyear project in the South Spokane Street corridor, beginning with relocating utilities and then improving surface streets, building a new Fourth Avenue South offramp and widening the Spokane Street Viaduct.

The closure is scheduled to last until mid-2010, when the new ramp should be finished.

The work also will mean other traffic changes: Southbound traffic on First Avenue South will no longer be able to turn left at South Spokane Street. All eastbound traffic exiting the upper Spokane Street Viaduct at First Avenue South will be directed north on First Avenue South. Eastbound traffic approaching First Avenue South from East Marginal Way South on South Spokane will be generally directed south on First Avenue South.

Also, traffic requiring access to businesses on First and Second avenues will be allowed to enter South Spokane Street, but the road will be closed to traffic at Second, which is not a through street.

Traffic delays are expected over the next few weeks as drivers adjust to new routes and signal timings are changed along the detour route.

Parking restrictions for vehicles under the Spokane Street Viaduct went into effect on Monday.

Everett

Liquid asphalt back in production

Liquid asphalt is flowing again in Western Washington. And hundreds of miles of public road- and highway-paving projects are back on, after about a two-month delay when Tesoro halted production of liquid asphalt at its refinery in Anacortes this summer.

That led to a shortage of the road-paving material for at least four counties in Washington, affecting miles of road maintenance.

Rising oil prices prompted refineries to switch to oil that does not produce asphalt. New York, Colorado and Oklahoma also reported delays in road projects.

Washington companies say they've found other asphalt sources to replace Tesoro.

Pavement is made from sand and gravel held together with liquid asphalt. Liquid asphalt is distilled from crude oil and constitutes about 5 percent of asphalt paving.

Grays Harbor County

Boat takes on water; 1 hospitalized

One person was hospitalized after a 58-foot fishing vessel began taking on water near Grays Harbor early Monday.

A Coast Guard lifeboat transported five people from the Miss Michelle to Westport, said Coast Guard spokesman David Marin in a news release. One person was taken to Grays Harbor Community Hospital in Aberdeen, he said.

The boat's owner said they were outbound for a sardine run when they felt a loud thump and jarring, Marin said. The vessel began taking on water in its engine room, he said. Coast Guard investigators were working to determine what happened.

The vessel remained afloat, but a Coast Guard team was prepared to respond in case of sinking, Marin said.

Seattle

New hospital name: Seattle Children's

Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center is shortening its name to Seattle Children's.

The new name — being unveiled in exterior signs starting today — is part of a redesigned logo and appears above "Hospital • Research • Foundation." The change is meant to highlight the fact that Children's encompasses not just a medical center, but a major research facility as well as a foundation dedicated to children's health issues.

The name switch is expected to take several months.

Richland

Employer to be fined or laying off worker

The U.S. Department of Energy plans to fine a contractor at the Hanford nuclear reservation $41,250 for laying off an employee who raised safety concerns.

Bechtel National is building a plant at the south-central Washington site to convert highly radioactive waste into glasslike logs for permanent disposal underground.

The Energy Department says the employee's concerns related to the purchase of software. The employee reported that the company had retaliated for raising those concerns in 2005.

Olympia

Flags lowering to honor Marine

Flags at state agency buildings will be lowered to half-staff today to honor fallen Marine 1st Lt. Nicholas Madrazo, of Bothell.

Flags will remain at half-staff until sunset Tuesday or Wednesday morning, according to Gov. Christine Gregoire's office.

Madrazo, a Seattle Pacific University graduate, was killed in action last Tuesday in Parwan province, Afghanistan.

Times staff and news services