UW student hit, robbed near campus

Seattle

UW student hit, robbed near campus

A 24-year-old University of Washington student was knocked to the ground and mugged as he walked near the Burke-Gilman Trail on Thursday, according to UW police.

Assistant Police Chief Ralph Robinson said the incident was the eighth strong-arm robbery in campus jurisdiction since the beginning of the year. The last one occurred in October, he said.

According to Robinson, the student was walking under the 45th Street Viaduct around 3:30 p.m. when a man who had been standing behind a pillar pushed the victim to the ground and grabbed the man's wallet.

The student was struck with a stick twice when he tried to get up, police said. The man took the money out of the wallet and fled.

The victim, who sustained a bump on his head and a bruise on his shoulder, was treated at the scene.

Tukwila

Failure to note milk spurs product recall

A Tukwila company is recalling certain muffin tops because they contain undeclared milk.

Seattle's Favorite Gourmet Cookies & Dessert is recalling orange-cranberry and banana-nut muffin tops because of the presence of milk, which could cause a severe or life-threatening reaction in people who have allergies to milk.

No illnesses have been reported, according to the company.

The orange-cranberry and banana-nut muffin tops were distributed nationwide. For more information, consumers may call 866-203-5588.

King County

Gas prices fall, but more ride bus

More riders boarded King County Metro Transit buses last month, even while gasoline prices slid.

Metro reported a record 417,710 average weekday trips in October, an increase of 6.8 percent from a year earlier. Gasoline prices began the month at $3.63 per gallon and ended around $2.70, according to gasbuddy.com. Some government officials previously attributed high transit demand to a spike in fuel prices.

But gas costs are just one factor affecting transit demand, Metro spokeswoman Rochelle Ogershok said. Other issues include parking fees, road congestion, housing patterns, employer-sponsored transit subsidies and the economy.

Seattle

Man, 25, pleads guilty to 2002 killing

A Seattle man who fatally shot another man in 2002 pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder and second-degree assault.

Benjamin Smalls, 25, faces a maximum of 38 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 9.

Because his case was resolved through a plea agreement, the King County Prosecutor's Office is recommending a nearly 35-year sentence, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

On Sept. 13, 2002, Smalls shot Stephen Kirk while the men were arguing in Seattle's Rainier Valley, according to court charging documents.

Police said witnesses to the shooting were uncooperative.

An arrest wasn't made until earlier this year after a woman who witnessed the shooting told police what she knew.

Police say that Kirk was shot while defending the woman after Smalls threatened her.

The woman told police earlier this year that she had thrown a soda on Smalls after he drank a bottle of her boyfriend's liquor, court papers said.

Smalls was charged with assault for threatening the woman, court papers said.

Seattle

Light-rail grant of $813M proposed

Economic strains haven't stopped the Federal Transit Administration from proposing on Friday an $813 million grant for a planned light-rail tunnel linking Westlake Center, Capitol Hill and Husky Stadium.

Several months ago, the feds endorsed the three-mile, $1.9 billion line, which reaches the most populated neighborhood in Washington state.

But Friday's move is significant because officials would secure the money during the Bush administration, which already contributes to Sound Transit's initial downtown-to-airport line.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., seeks to move the grant through Congress for final approval before the presidential transition Jan. 20 "in order to avoid any procedural delays," said Murray's spokesman, Matt McAlvanah. Station-area demolitions could occur this winter to start the eight-year construction project.

King County

Gang member gets 7 years for meth

A member of the Surenos street gang will serve more than seven years in federal prison for possession of methamphetamine.

Joe Nick Saiz, who went by the street name "Lobo," told U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez that he believed this prison stint was his "last shot" to break from gang life. His attorney asked that he be sent to a prison outside the Northwest to distance him from his criminal past and cohorts.

Saiz was arrested in September 2007 after a chase by King County sheriff's deputies. Deputies found a large quantity of methamphetamine and a handgun in the car. Saiz was being sought by deputies for an earlier assault.

Seattle

Man charged with hate crime

An Arizona man who police said punched a cabdriver and tormented him with racial slurs earlier this month has been charged with malicious harassment, the state's hate-crime statute.

Danny Fields, 55, was charged with the hate crime and third-degree theft in the Nov. 4 incident.

Seattle police said that the Orange Cab driver picked up Fields outside the Boxcar Ale House in Seattle around 11 p.m. Soon after getting into the cab, Fields started shouting at the driver and punched him in the back of the head.

Before Fields was dropped off at a Safeway in Ballard he told to driver "to go back to your country," according to charging papers filed in King County Superior Court Nov. 7. The driver called police because Fields refused to pay for his fare.

South Seattle

Father, 17, charged with assault of infant

A 17-year-old who police say shook his 2-month-old son so severely that the child was hospitalized with head and chest injuries was charged Friday with second-degree assault.

The teen, who is not being named because his case is being handled in juvenile court, was arrested on Monday.

Police were called to the child's mother's house, where the 17-year-old was caring for the child, after someone reported the infant wasn't breathing and didn't have a pulse, according to charging papers filed in King County Superior Court.

The baby was taken to Seattle Children's Hospital, where doctors determined he had serious brain bleeding, a broken collarbone and 10 to 15 broken ribs, court papers said.

Some of the fractures appeared to be older injuries, court papers said.

Doctors also determined that the child had suffered previous brain bleeding, court papers said.

The child's 18-year-old mother told police that the child's father spent the night at her house on Saturday and was taking care of the child when she left for work Sunday morning.

The 17-year-old said that the child woke crying and "fell limp" around 10:20 a.m. The teen said he then notified the child's grandmother that the infant wasn't breathing, court papers said.

Police say that the teen violently shook the baby because he wouldn't stop crying, charging papers said.

Olympia

Ideas sought on fixing deficit

Gov. Christine Gregoire is asking for help in fixing the state's looming budget deficit.

The governor is asking Washingtonians to visit her Web site and suggest cost-saving strategies for government.

Gregoire also wants suggestions on how to improve state government, such as government functions that could be handled by the private sector or nonprofits. The Web site is: www.governor.wa.gov.

Orting, Pierce County

Woman in shooting expected to survive

An armed woman who was shot by a police officer Wednesday is expected to survive.

Orting Police Chief Bill Drake said Friday that the 55-year-old woman is in intensive care at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis.

She was at a friend's home Wednesday evening in Orting when she called 911 and told dispatchers she was upset with the friend and planned to break into a gun cabinet.

Police say that when officers arrived, the woman moved toward them with a weapon and was subsequently shot by an officer.

Tacoma

Port Orchard man convicted of fraud

A man who swindled hundreds of investors out of millions of dollars with phony schemes was convicted in federal court in Tacoma of fraud and money laundering.

Charles Nolon Bush, 69, of Port Orchard faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 6.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle says Bush took more than $35 million from investors between 1998 and 2002, promising high-yield investments. Bush used most of the money to pay for a lavish lifestyle and to pay early investors in the manner of a Ponzi scheme.

Toward the end, prosecutors say, Bush told investors the money was for a resort under development in Mexico.

Olympia

85% may have voted in Nov. 4 election

Washington's turnout for the Nov. 4 election is expected to set a modern record at nearly 85 percent.

Election staff members at the office of Secretary of State Sam Reed said vote-counting trends Thursday show the state is on track to count about 3.1 million ballots statewide — the first time that more than 3 million have been counted.

About 2.8 million ballots were counted in the disputed 2004 governor's race. After voting irregularities in that race, officials removed about 200,000 voters from the state voter rolls.

"As far as we know, 85 percent will be a statewide record," said Reed's spokesman, David Ammons. It would surpass the mark of 84.5 percent in 1944, the highest since tracking of statewide turnout records began in 1936. Reed had predicted turnout of 83 percent.

Seattle Times staff and news services