Seattle

Man dies 12 days

after being beaten

Danny Vega, a 58-year-old South Seattle hairdresser and prominent member of Seattle's Filipino community, has died, 12 days after he was robbed and beaten by three teens in Seattle's Rainier Valley.

Vega suffered severe injuries to his brain, kidneys and liver and was placed on life support after falling into a coma, according to KING-TV, which reported that Vega died on Sunday. A niece also reported his death on her Facebook page.

Vega was on his evening walk Nov. 15 when he was beaten and robbed of his cellphone and keys.

He was attacked from behind by three young men, believed to be about 18, at about 7:45 p.m. in the 4200 block of South Othello Street, according to Seattle police. The assailants fled.

The attack occurred about four blocks from Vega's home, where he also operates Danny Vega's Hair Design, according to public records.

Vega was able to walk home and call 911, according to Seattle police. He told officers he lost consciousness during the attack. He was later taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, police said.

Vega's family has said they believed Vega, who was gay, may have been targeted because of his sexual orientation. Seattle police are not investigating the incident as a hate crime, citing a lack of evidence

Tukwila

Driver killed

in I-5 accident

A 20-year-old Des Moines woman was killed and her three teenage passengers were injured in a rollover crash on Interstate 5 in Tukwila on Saturday night.

Katerina Valavala was driving a 2004 Mitsubishi Montero north on I-5 at 8:15 p.m. when she missed an exit, made a hard turn to the right and struck a curb, causing the vehicle to flip, according to the State Patrol. She died at the scene.

Christina Valavala, 16, and Marcia Foalima and El-Desicca Lifiti, both 17, were all taken to Harborview Medical Center, the Patrol said. Their conditions were not immediately available. The girls are all from Des Moines.

There was no evidence of alcohol or drug use, said Trooper Julie Startup. "It looks like it was just driver error," she said.

Seattle

Protesters to go

to Olympia

Occupy Seattle, the local offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, said Saturday night that a contingent of protesters will leave early Monday from Seattle Central Community College aboard buses bound for Olympia, where they plan to protest budget-cut proposals aimed at closing a $2 billion budget shortfall.

The first bus will leave Seattle for Olympia at about 6:30 a.m. and the last bus will depart Olympia for Seattle at about 5 p.m., Occupy Seattle said on its website.

Local 1488, which represents custodial, food-service, and other workers at the University of Washington, is supplying the buses and passenger vans, Occupy Seattle said.

Richland

Airport devices

may target bugs

Scanning technology developed at a Richland lab to screen airplane passengers could soon be used to target bedbugs.

The technology developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has been licensed to a start-up company in Corvallis, Ore.

The Tri-City Herald reports it's part of a White House initiative to help young companies grow.

The Richland lab, part of the Department of Energy, has signed option agreements with start-up companies for three technologies. Innovations include millimeter wave technology to be used to see inside walls to detect insects hiding there.

VisiRay in Corvallis signed an option agreement with PNNL for millimeter wave technology and plans to manufacture devices to detect pests in buildings. The initial target will be bedbugs.

Seattle

Protester criticizes

college president

An Occupy Seattle member has issued a statement condemning Paul Killpatrick, the president of Seattle Central Community College, for earlier remarks about evicting the protesters' encampment on the college's south lawn.

Killpatrick cited a report of an attempted sexual assault in supporting an emergency rule to ban camping or protesting overnight.

Robin DeBates, a volunteer with Occupy Seattle's medical work group, wrote on the Occupy Seattle website Sunday that "using the attempted sexual assault to discredit a peaceful political movement is a reprehensible manipulation of a terrible situation."

About three weeks ago, the county health department found unsafe conditions at the encampment, including syringes and needles on the ground, and drug and alcohol use near the college child-care center.

Occupy Seattle members said the conditions existed in the Capitol Hill neighborhood long before the protesters set up their encampment.

Gig Harbor

Amnesty for

arrest warrants

The city of Gig Harbor is offering people with outstanding arrest warrants a one-month amnesty in December.

People who schedule a quash hearing on their misdemeanor arrest warrants won't have to pay a $50 fee or risk being jailed before the case is heard.

The News Tribune reports the amnesty applies to misdemeanor warrants issued by the Gig Harbor Municipal Court for violations such as drunken driving, marijuana possession and driving without a license.

Court officials hope it will reduce a backlog of about 300 warrants. Court administrator Stacy Colberg says the fee is sometimes an obstacle for people who want to do the right thing and turn themselves in.

Times staff and news services