Yakima Herald-Republic RSS feed Yakima Herald-Republic en_us Tue, 19 May 2015 15:52:58 GMT http://www.yakimaherald.com/csp/mediapool/sites/dt.cms.rss.XMLServer.cls editor@yakimaherald.com
Tue, 19 May 2015 15:41:22 GMT
By Joseph O’Sullivan The Seattle Times



OLYMPIA — The parallel universes Democrats and Republicans have inhabited over the writing of the state’s two-year operating budget don’t seem to be inching closer together. Exhibit A: The reactions to the latest state revenue forecast released Monday. The forecast, moved up from June to give lawmakers more certainty in negotiating the budget, projects $327  million in new revenue in the 2015-17 budget cycle. It also adds another $79  million to the 2013-15 budget. Democrats question some of the forecast’s assumptions, including the large amount of marijuana tax money it assumes, and say new revenue is still needed. Meanwhile, a trio of Republican senators argue that the state’s budget situation is so rosy, lawmakers can now cut business taxes. The state Legislature’s 105-day regular session ended April 26 with Republicans and Democrats failing to reach a budget agreement. Now, more than halfway through a 30-day special session, the budget negotiators are still far apart on how — and how much — to fund government. The new revenue forecast “doesn’t completely solve the problem,” said Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, the Democrats’ chief budget writer. Hunter raised concerns over whether the marijuana tax collections assumed in the forecast will pan out. The forecast estimates the state will reap $374  million in marijuana taxes in the 2015-17 budget cycle and about $695  million in the 2017-19 budget years. The projected revenue from marijuana in the current two-year budget is about $53  million. That forecast is overly optimistic, Hunter argued, because reforms to streamline the marijuana tax and regulatory system and limit local prohibitions haven’t yet been made. Current marijuana stores “could be the size of a Costco and we wouldn’t be able to sell that much weed,” Hunter said. “I don’t buy this for a New York minute,” said Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle. But Sen. Andy Hill, R-Redmond and chief GOP budget writer, argued that the new revenue projection weakens Democrats’ case for raising taxes. “At some point you have to say, ‘Holy cow, we have a lot of money,’ ” said Hill. “We should be able to get this job done very quickly.” Apparently among those in the “holy cow” camp are GOP Sens. Doug Ericksen of Ferndale, Michael Baumgartner of Spokane and Mike Padden of Spokane Valley. In a news release, the three proposed using $200  million of the projected revenue to cut state business-and-occupation taxes. “There will be pressure in Olympia to spend all of this new increase in tax dollars, and we must resist that temptation,” Ericksen said. During the special session, Hill, Hunter and other negotiators have spent time together in budget briefings and exchanging proposals that the other side has rejected as insufficient. Lawmakers this year are struggling to meet a state Supreme Court order to better fund K-12 education, and other court orders to improve mental-health services, as well as provide cost-of-living raises for teachers and state workers, who have gone six years without such an adjustment. Republicans have demanded that House Democrats pass their proposed $1.5 billion tax increase — to help fund the House’s $38.8 billion budget plan — to prove that they have the votes for it. That plan includes a capital-gains tax and an increase in part of the business-and-occupation tax. The proposal also would collect sales taxes on bottled water and some online purchases, and end certain tax exemptions that benefit oil refineries. Meanwhile, Democrats have criticized the Republican Senate’s $37.8 billion budget proposal for including gimmicks and budget shifts that would lead to cuts in government programs. House Majority Leader Rep. Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, said in a news release that the revenue forecast isn’t enough to fix the state’s funding needs. “While this forecast certainly helps, it does not completely cover needed resources to create a sustainable budget that funds education, protects the safety net, and bolsters an economy that works for all,” Sullivan said. The state needs to have a new budget by July 1, the start of the fiscal year. The state Office of Financial Management already has directed some state agencies to update contingency plans in the event that doesn’t happen and there’s a partial government shutdown...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180007-8/forecast-shows-327m-increase-in-state-revenues David Kaye /News/LatestNews/ 8410675@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 15:41:22 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 15:41:22 GMT
By NOMAAN MERCHANT and DAVID WARREN The Associated Press


JERRY LAWSON/Associated Press Law enforcement officials Monday continue to investigate the motorcycle gang related shooting at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas, where nine people were killed Sunday and more than a dozen injured.


WACO, Texas — About 170 members of rival motorcycle gangs were charged with engaging in organized crime Monday, a day after a shootout at a Texas restaurant that killed nine people and wounded 18. The crowd of suspects was so large that authorities opened a convention center to hold them all before they were arrested, police said. Sunday’s melee at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco drew a broad police response that included placing officers atop buildings and highway overpasses to watch for other bikers rushing to the scene to retaliate. McLennan County Justice of the Peace W.H. Peterson set bond at $1 million for each suspect. He defended the high amount, citing the violence that quickly unfolded in a shopping market busy with a lunchtime crowd. “We have nine people dead, because these people wanted to come down and what? Drink? Party?” Peterson said. “I thought it was appropriate.” Peterson also performed inquests on the nine dead bikers but declined to identify them pending notification of family. Peterson says all nine were from Texas. Police acknowledged firing on armed bikers. But it was unclear how many of the dead were shot by gang members and how many had been shot by officers. Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said the Waco Convention Center was used to hold the suspects temporarily as police rushed to secure many parts of the city amid reports of rival bikers going elsewhere to continue the fight. Those at the convention center were later taken to jail. It’s too early to determine how many motorcycle gang members will face murder charges, Swanton said. Five gangs had gathered at the restaurant as part of a meeting to settle differences over turf and recruitment. Prior meetings had been held at the restaurant, and managers there had dismissed police concerns over the gatherings, he said. “They were not here to drink and eat barbecue,” Swanton said. “They came here with violence in mind.” Twin Peaks — a national chain that features waitresses in revealing uniforms — on Monday revoked the franchise rights to the restaurant, which opened in August. Company spokesman Rick Van Warner said in a statement that the management team chose to ignore warnings and advice from the company, and did not establish the “high security standards” that the company requires. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission on Monday issued a seven-day suspension of the restaurant’s liquor license, but owners had the option of reopening to serve meals. Police and the restaurant operators were aware of Sunday’s meeting in advance, and 18 Waco officers in addition to state troopers were outside the restaurant when the fight began, Swanton said. Swanton has repeatedly declined to identify which gangs were involved in a fight that began with punches then grew to include chains, knives and then guns. “I am not about to give them the respect of mentioning their names,” he said. However, many men detained in the hours after the shooting were seen wearing leather vests that read Bandidos or Cossacks. McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara, whose office is involved in the investigation, said the nine dead were members of those gangs. More than 100 motorcycles were in the parking lots around the restaurant Monday, along with another 50 to 75 vehicles that probably belong to gang members, Swanton said. All were scheduled to be towed from the scene, 95 miles south of Dallas. Swanton said authorities had received threats against law enforcement “throughout the night” from biker groups and stood ready to confront any more violence. Officials stopped and questioned motorcycle riders. Agents from the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting local and state authorities. In a 2014 gang-threat assessment, the Texas Department of Public Safety classified the Bandidos as a “Tier 2” threat, the second highest. Other groups in that tier included the Bloods, Crips and Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. The Bandidos, formed in the 1960s, are involved in trafficking cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Bandidos conduct their activities as covertly as possible to avoid publicity, according to the DPS assessment. Members are not covert, however, about making their presence known by wearing their colors and insignia, and riding in large groups. The Texas assessment does not mention the Cossacks. There’s at least one previously documented instance of violence between the two groups. In November 2013, a 46-year-old from Abilene who police say was the leader of a West Texas Bandidos chapter was charged in the stabbings of two members of the Cossacks club....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179585-8/charges-filed-against-170-bikers-in-texas By NOMAAN MERCHANT and DAVID WA /News/LatestNews/ 8409296@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 15:41:22 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 15:41:21 GMT
By Rafael Guerrero Yakima Herald-Republic



A lawsuit against the Yakima School District alleges the district and a bus driver failed in 2014 to protect a second-grade special-needs female student from physical and sexual assault by an older, special-needs boy on a school bus. Filed last week in Yakima County Superior Court, the lawsuit states that the then-8-year-old girl with Down syndrome at Adams Elementary School was repeatedly molested by the other student on the special-needs bus, and that the bus driver did nothing to intervene or report the abuse even though the activity occurred in the front row, just to the right of the driver. While there is video of physical and sexual abuse on at least 25 bus rides between February and March of 2014, the lawsuit states the abuse likely began at the start of the 2013 school year. Yakima police investigated the case as a criminal sex offense in May 2014. The lawsuit, filed by the Tamaki Law Firm on behalf of the girl’s guardian and her father, is the second against the district over a child’s safety on a school bus in the last six months. In the first case, filed in December 2014 and pending, a school bus driver allegedly did nothing to intervene in a 2011 assault against a then-13-year-old Franklin Middle School student. District officials would not respond to requests for comment on the most recent lawsuit, citing pending litigation. The bus driver, John Epperson, named in the lawsuit, was suspended without pay for two days after being placed on paid administrative leave. Efforts to reach him or determine if he is still employed by the district were not successful. Tamaki lawyer Bryan Smith said evidence is growing of a pattern of violence tolerated on Yakima School District buses. “We believe this problem of a lack of supervision on school buses — bullying and assault — is more widespread than what these two lawsuits claim,” Smith said in a news release. But Superintendent Elaine Beraza said she has no problem reassuring parents their children are safe while the district transports them to and from school. “I think kids are very safe on our buses,” Beraza said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “We transport a lot of kids a lot of miles, and I think our drivers do a marvelous job.” The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from the school district and the bus driver. Adams officials were first alerted to the alleged abuse in March of last year when the girl’s grandmother reported she had arrived home with bruises, scratches and blood on her face, according to the lawsuit. Adams administrators called the executive director of special education in the district’s central office to report that an incident had occurred on the special-needs bus on March 27, 2014, the same day the grandmother reported signs of physical abuse. According to a police investigation of the case, Adams and the central office employee miscommunicated over who would file the required notice with the state Department of Child Protective Services. Meanwhile Nancy Byers, the special education director, had reviewed video recordings on the bus back to February 14, “and located some very disturbing images,” according to the police report. Byers called Yakima police on April 11, 2014, concerned that no notice to CPS had been filed. The investigating officer learned from Adams officials that day that the boy, then 11, had been expelled on an emergency basis. The officer reviewed partial video recordings from the bus at the school and observed the boy and girl sitting in the front row, just to the right of the bus driver, according to the investigation, which outlines various instances of sexual assault. The school district declined to provide copies of any video recordings to Yakima police, including bus rides prior to February of 2014, according to the lawsuit, which states, “it is believed that the assaults began in September of 2013, when the school year started.” The lawsuit alleges that the Yakima School District and Epperson were “negligent, failed to supervise, and failed to implement and enforce policies and procedures to protect the safety of its students on its school bus.” The girl, the lawsuit states, requires close supervision because she cannot communicate verbally and thus cannot “protect herself from dangers around her.” At least one paraprofessional educator also rode the special-needs bus, according to the lawsuit. However, because that educator was not directly in charge of all the children’s safety, he or she was not disciplined, said Smith. “The responsibility ultimately rests on the bus driver,” he said. “That’s why the bus driver was disciplined.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178607-8/alleged-abuse-of-special-needs-girl-on-yakima Molly Rosbach(MROSBACH) /News/LatestNews/ 8406962@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 15:41:21 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 15:41:21 GMT
By Molly Rosbach Yakima Herald-Republic


GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic Trina Cooper plants flowers at her Yakima home on May 6. Though she suffers from multiple sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair, she tries to maintain as normal a life as possible. She’s now trying to raise money to go to Mexico for an experimental bone marrow transplantation treatment.


How far would you go for a possible cure to an incurable disease? How much money would you spend? How great a risk could you accept? In an age when social media and Internet forums allow people to share ideas and access information of varying degrees of credibility, doctors and patients sometimes end up on opposing sides when it comes to emerging medical procedures. Patients walk a fine line between evidence-based treatment and desperate optimism. For Trina Cooper, whose multiple sclerosis diagnosis was recently changed to the more severe secondary-progressive form, no cost or risk is too great for an intensive experimental procedure with the potential to halt the debilitating disease in its tracks. “I want the darn disease stopped,” Cooper, 55, said. “If I have to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, OK, I can deal with that. But I don’t want to deal with being bedridden.” “I don’t have any other health problems other than MS at this point,” she said. “So why not do it now and take the chance?” Cooper is working to raise money for a six-week course of HSCT, hematopoeitic stem cell transplantation, which she hopes will reboot her immune system. Preliminary results from trials are extremely promising, but doctors warn that the experimental treatment is not equally effective in all patients. Determining who is most likely to benefit from it is something researchers hope to do soon. Where patients may be willing to take risks, doctors must err on the side of caution, said Dr. James Bowen with Swedish Medical Group, one of the lead neurologists of the Seattle-based “HALT-MS” trials. “The worst of all possible situations — you’re potentially exposing the patient to a dangerous treatment, and you’re not answering the question,” he said. There is no cure for multiple sclerosis. The chronic disease causes the immune system to attack the protective myelin tissue surrounding nerve cells, which damages the nerve fibers and disrupts communication between them, leading to symptoms like vision problems, numbness, dizziness and difficulty walking. The most common form of MS is relapsing-remitting, in which periodic attacks on the myelin cause temporary flare-ups of symptoms. That’s what Cooper was diagnosed with in 1994 when she was 33. Earlier this year, however, doctors upped her diagnosis to secondary-progressive, which eventually happens to most people with relapsing-remitting MS. Secondary-progressive appears to be driven by ongoing neuro-degeneration, rather than intermittent inflammation, and doesn’t respond to therapies that regulate the harmful auto-immune response. At a certain point, the nerve cells just continue to die, even in the absence of inflammation. Degeneration becomes more steady, disease-modifying treatments become less effective, while fatigue, mobility problems and difficulty with memory or concentration can become more pronounced. “There are over 40 clinical trials testing strategies for disease modification for progressive forms of MS ... The field is really starting to focus on the problem of progressive MS, a lot more than it was 10 years ago,” said Bruce Bebo, executive vice president of research for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. But, he said, a lot of therapies that target the immune system “have been tried in progressive MS, and they don’t work.” In the United Kingdom, Bebo said, a trial is looking at an epilepsy drug to slow neuro-degeneration, with some exciting preliminary results. “There are many more like that we are waiting anxiously to hear results from,” he said. “There’s been tremendous advances, and dramatic changes, improvements in the quality of life of people living particularly with relapsing forms of MS, and a lot of hope and a lot of activity in progressive MS that leads me to have a lot of hope that we’ll see similar advances for people living with progressive MS in the next 20 years.” HSCT has been used to fight various cancers, but in recent years has been explored for use in auto-immune disorders. In Seattle, Bowen and a large team of far-flung researchers began the HALT-MS study in 2009, treating 24 patients in 2012. The team published three-year results in February, showing that most patients saw their disease stabilize or improve in that time, and will continue to follow the patients for another two years. The treatment basically guts and then rebuilds the entire immune system: Doctors give patients a drug that makes their bone marrow pump out stem cells, which are collected from the blood and frozen. The patients are then given a large dose of chemotherapy to kill off their bone marrow and white blood cells. Then doctors put the stem cells back, which repopulate the bone marrow and rebuild the immune system — without the auto-immune disease that was there before. So it’s a bone marrow transplant, but with your own bone marrow. HALT-MS is the second study by this team, Bowen said. The first looked mostly at people with secondary-progessive MS. Through that study and others worldwide, researchers have found that people respond best to the HSCT treatment if they have relapsing-remitting MS rather than the progressive forms. Of the patients in that first study, Bowen said, about 40 percent had remained stable after six years — their disease had not continued progressing — while 60 percent saw some decline. The theory was that they were too late in treating patients whose disease had moved from inflammatory to degenerative. The second study, then, was designed to see if the treatment really does work better for relapsing-remitting. “You’re only going to answer those questions if you enroll the right patients,” he said. “It has a substantial risk of side effects, including death.” Patients must be kept in isolation for a few weeks as their immune system reboots to reduce the risk of infection. As someone with secondary-progressive, Cooper feels she’s hit a wall. She does not meet the criteria for studies like HALT-MS, which is not accepting new patients anyway. Other emerging treatments she’s researched aren’t projected to become available until at least 2022. “I don’t have any other major health problems, other than MS,” she said. “In another seven years, if age sets in … The younger you are, the better your recovery.” She’s confined to a wheelchair and often needs a full day to recover from activity. She also cares for her mother who has Alzheimer’s, and is terrified by the likely prospect of her own cognitive decline caused by the MS. The disease-modifying steroid injections used to treat MS cost $60,000 a year or more. Progressive MS is also treated with chemo drugs, but Cooper, who is insured, can’t stand the idea of enduring regular chemo for the rest of her life, with no hope of remission. With three grown kids and two grandchildren, Cooper wants a chance to live her life as fully as possible. “I don’t want them to know me as, ‘Oh, we saw grandma, she was in bed,’” she said. A one-time six-week course of HSCT in Puebla, Mexico, where a doctor is willing to perform the treatment, costs about $50,000, Cooper said, plus travel costs. She’s got $14,000 left to raise, which she’s doing via a raffle and with the organization HelpHopeLive, and has postponed her scheduled treatment from the end of May to August to give her more time. “I just need help,” she said. “I’m not expecting to walk. I’m expecting to halt the disease, to not get worse.” Another Yakima woman, Mikal Heintz, is working to get treatment for her mother, who is 65. She’s hoping to be accepted into a clinical HSCT trial in Chicago early this summer, but if she isn’t, Heintz said they will pursue the treatment in Mexico, as well. “My mom has been living with this monster for 30-plus years,” Heintz wrote in an email. “This disease has taken much from her and this procedure offers her a bit of hope — hope that her quality of life won’t be further diminished.” From the research side, though, Bowen says doctors must move slowly and continue their studies, both for the safety of patients and to ensure development of future treatments. “How many patients do you allow to be exposed to a potentially dangerous treatment, without proving that that treatment is helpful?” he said. “It’s hard to tell patients to slow down, because they’re the ones suffering, but there are unfortunately consequences to not slowing down and taking the steps to do those studies right.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3141225-8/recognizing-the-risk-multiple-sclerosis-patients-doctors-weigh Molly Rosbach(MROSBACH) /News/LatestNews/ 8307529@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 15:41:21 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 15:36:11 GMT
The Associated Press



SEATTLE — Teachers in Seattle, Issaquah and Mercer Island are the latest to hold a one-day strike to encourage Washington lawmakers to pay for voter-approved class-size reductions and put more money into the state education budget. Seattle is the state’s largest school district, with about 3,000 teachers. The Washington Education Association says they will be picketing on Tuesday at schools and then come to downtown Seattle to participate in a march from Seattle Center and a rally at Westlake in downtown Seattle. The WEA says nearly 60 teacher union have held or plan to hold their own one-day walkouts. Teachers in more than a dozen districts have protests planned for later this week....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180906-8/teachers-in-seattle-mercer-island-issaquah-on-1-day /News/LatestNews/ 8413277@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 15:36:11 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 14:40:11 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



EASTON, Wash. — A Pasco man died in an Interstate 90 crash early Monday when the pickup he was driving went off the road, hit a tree and became engulfed in flames, the Washington State Patrol reported. Leighton J. Rowe, 23, died at the scene two miles east of Easton about 2:49 a.m., according to a patrol news release. Rowe was eastbound when the Ford F-150 left the road to the right, went through a barbed-wire fence, struck a tree and caught on fire, troopers said. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Investigators said they did not know whether Rowe was wearing a seat belt or whether he was intoxicated. The pickup was a total loss....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180825-8/pasco-man-dies-in-fiery-crash-near-easton Mark Morey /News/LatestNews/ 8413068@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 14:40:11 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 13:56:11 GMT
The Associated Press




Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. RAMADI ROUT PUTS U.S. IRAQ STRATEGY UNDER SCRUTINY The Islamic State group’s capture of the provincial capital calls into question the Obama administration’s approach to rebuilding the Iraqi army as Shiite militias are poised to launch the counter-offensive. 2. WHOSE STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL IS GETTING TOUGHER With the Syria conflict in its fifth year, many of the close to 4 million Syrians who fled to neighboring countries are unable to work legally, while funding gaps force aid agencies to slash vital support. 3. TENSIONS LONG SIMMERED BETWEEN RIVAL TEXAS BIKER GANGS The Texas Department of Public Safety’s Joint Information Center issued a bulletin May 1 that cautioned authorities about increasing violence between the Bandidos and the Cossacks. 4. INVESTIGATORS UNCERTAIN ANYTHING HIT TRAIN BEFORE CRASH The National Transportation Safety Board says it could be a year before it determines the probable cause of the derailment. 5. NEW HEADACHE FOR PUTIN A tug-of-war between Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Russian federal law enforcement reflects an apparent effort by the Kremlin to cut the 38-year-old strongman down to size and make him obey the rules. 6. WHEN CLINTON EMAILS WILL BE RELEASED The State Department proposes posting portions of 55,000 pages of messages from the former secretary of state by next January. 7. WHAT ROHINGYA CRISIS HIGHLIGHTS The Southeast Asian grouping known as ASEAN has long been toothless in handling members’ internal issues and may achieve little now as three countries struggle with thousands of Myanmar’s persecuted minority stranded off their shores. 8. FROM GERMAN WINERIES TO CHINESE FACTORIES, U.S. DOLLAR ECHOING As the value of the U.S. currency steadily strengthens, the consequences are being felt throughout the world. 9. WINGSUIT FLIER THOUGHT HE COULD MANAGE THE RISK Dean Potter risked flying off the vertical rock walls he was famous for scaling with little more than a parachute on his back and thin fabric wings. 10. FIGHT OF CENTURY BECOMES FIGHT IN COURT Boxing fans and their lawyers are calling the match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. a fraud and want their money back....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180755-8/10-things-to-know-for-today The Associated Press /News/LatestNews/ 8412922@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 13:56:11 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 13:36:10 GMT
The Associated Press



SEATTLE — A Bonsai tree worth more than $2,000 was stolen from the Pacific Bonsai Museum Monday and officials are asking for its return, no questions asked. The Seattle Times reports (http://is.gd/eyCApP) that the 60-year-old juniper tree, measuring just 16 inches, was snatched early Monday. Security alarms were activated at 4:40 a.m. Bonsai Museum curator Aarin Packard says a gardener discovered the tree’s pot beyond the museum’s pence, but the plant was missing. Packard said the tree could be fine with the proper care, but without bonsai expertise it will only survive a day or two....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180704-8/valuable-60-year-old-bonsai-stolen-from-washington-museum /News/LatestNews/ 8412818@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 13:36:10 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 13:32:10 GMT
The Associated Press



LONGVIEW, Wash. — Federal wildlife officials have launched an investigation into the death of a sea lion in Longview after a necropsy revealed it had been shot in the head. The Daily News of Longview reports (http://is.gd/ZNEKE2) that the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for shooting the sea lion, named Stillie by local animal control workers. Stillie was stranded on a Cowlitz River sandbar near Gerhart Gardens Park in April. Stillie was unable to eat, drink or move and had a wounded eye and probable broken jaw. Hurting a sea lion is punishable by penalties up to $100,000 and one year incarceration....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180703-8/sea-lion-stranded-in-washington-suffered-gunshot-wound /News/LatestNews/ 8412814@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 13:32:10 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 13:28:10 GMT
The Associated Press



ASHFORD, Wash. — Mount Rainier National Park officials say several important park fees will be increasing Friday. Park officials say the park’s single vehicle rate will increase from $15 to $20. That fee grants entry for one vehicle and passengers for seven consecutive days. The vehicle rate will increase again, to $25, on May 27, 2016. Also on Friday, camping fees for any “single” campsite that can accommodate as many as six people will increase to $20 per night, while group camping sites will be $60 per night. The camping rates would not increase again in 2016. Single campsite fees currently range from $12 to $15 per night while group sites have ranged from $40 to $64. The per-person walk-up or single bicycle fee will increase from $5 to $10. That fee also grants entry for seven consecutive days. Entrance fees are not charged for holders of a variety of passes, including the military pass and the senior pass....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180696-8/mount-rainier-vehicle-camping-fees-to-increase-friday /News/LatestNews/ 8412798@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 13:28:10 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:20 GMT
By Donald W. Meyers Yakima Herald-Republic



Four of the remaining 42 defendants accused of stealing more than $60,000 from the Yakama Legends Casino by rigging a contest drawing will be sentenced in federal court this summer. A U.S. District Court jury found Ricardo Garcia, Arianna Rosales, Raul Arellano and Exmeralda Garcia guilty in April of conspiring to steal casino funds and theft from a casino on tribal land. They will be sentenced on July 9. The four were among 42 people indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2013 in what prosecutors described as a plot that netted the participants $63,250. Juan Correa, a casino marketing employee, was sentenced April 23 to five months in prison and three years on probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal from a casino and theft by a casino employee. Another co-defendant, Kurtis Crowder, was sentenced April 29 to three years on probation after pleading guilty to theft of less than $1,000 from an Indian casino. Of the remaining defendants, 32 pleaded guilty to theft charges in earlier court proceedings, where most received probation, according to judgments filed in U.S. District Court. Two defendants received three years on probation after pleading guilty to not informing authorities about the crime, while court records were sealed for the remaining two, whom Joe Harrington, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said testified in the trial. The defendants are accused of being part of a conspiracy to rig a contest the casino ran as part of its 15th anniversary celebration in 2013. The contest involved a drawing to select the winner, who would then pick one of 13 spots on a game board for a cash prize, which ranged from $250 to $2,500, according to court documents. Correa was accused of preselecting the winner, and instructing that person which number to pick, typically ones that had the larger prizes, according to the indictment. That person would then give Correa or Garcia a share of the prize money, court records said. All of the defendants except Correa were listed in the indictment as preselected winners. • Donald W. Meyers can be reached at 509-577-7748 or dmeyers@yakimaherald.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/donaldwmeyers....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3149514-8/four-to-be-sentenced-for-theft-from-legends Don Meyers /News/LatestNews/ 8330146@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:20 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:19 GMT
By Donald W. Meyers Yakima Herald-Republic


MASON TRINCA/Yakima Herald-Republic D.J. Davis, a senior at Selah High School, participates in an evening class at the Yakima School of Karate in Yakima on May 12. During his recovery from a serious car accident, Davis had a poster of himself receiving his black and the quote ‘Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better,’ a favorite of his sensei, Morris Mack.


SELAH — When D.J. Davis walks with his graduating class at Selah High School on May 31, it will be nothing short of a miracle, he and his mother believe. It’s not that the grades Davis earned are bad. He’s graduating with a year’s worth of college credit along with a 3.1 GPA. The miraculous part is that he defied the odds after an automobile collision on South Wenas Road on Nov. 21, 2013. The crash left Davis with a brain injury and a grim prognosis. “When I first got to (Yakima Valley) Memorial Hospital, they didn’t expect me to live,” Davis said. “The next thing they said was, ‘If he lives, he’s going to be a vegetable.’” From Memorial, he was taken first to Harborview Medical Center and then to Seattle’s Children’s Hospital, where he left after 32 days to begin a grueling rehabilitation regimen. “He had to learn how to do everything again,” said Pam Davis, his mother. That included eating, walking and talking. He returned to school that winter, his junior year, and had a light class schedule as he worked through rehabilitation. He was recently cleared to drive and resume karate lessons at the Karate School of Yakima. Davis and his mother attributed his recovery to prayers and support from friends and family. A “Pray for D.J. Davis” Facebook page received more than 1,300 likes, and a community dinner in March 2014 helped cover medical expenses. A poster on his hospital room wall also kept him going through his recovery. The poster quoted French psychologist Emile Coue: “Every day in every way I am getting better and better.” The quote is a favorite of Davis’ karate sensei, Morris Mack. Pam Davis said her son’s determination also carried him. “I just think he is a fighter,” she said. “He never gives up.” In addition to karate, Davis also plays drums for the worship team at Christ the King Community Church in Yakima and participates in Civil War re-enactments, an activity introduced to him by an uncle. This summer, he’s planning to go to Texas on a church mission trip to be a mentor at a vacation Bible school. Davis participated in Running Start, which allows students to take college classes while going to school. Before the accident, Davis was planning to graduate high school with an associate degree. Now, he plans to go to Yakima Valley Community College for a year to finish his work on that, and then attend either Seattle Pacific University or Northwest University to study counseling. “I’ve gone through a lot in my life,” Davis said. “And I want to take what I have learned and help people.” • Donald W. Meyers can be reached at 509-577-7748 or dmeyers@yakimaherald.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/donaldwmeyers....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3152548-8/seriously-injured-in-2013-crash-selah-senior-fights Don Meyers /News/LatestNews/ 8338910@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:19 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:17 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



Mt. Rainier park fee increases begin Friday Nothing stays the same. Not even the park-entrance and camping fees at Mount Rainier National Park, which hadn’t changed in nearly a decade — but will now increase, starting this Friday. The fee hikes, which had gone through a public-comment period in late 2014, will be as follows: • Annual pass: from $30 (current fee) to $40 starting this Friday and to $50 starting in May 2016. • Single vehicle fee: from $15 to $20 this year, and to $25 in May 2016. • “Per person” fee (walk-up or bicycle): from $5 to $10. • Motorcycle fee: From $5 to $10 this Friday and to $20 in May 2016. • Campground fee (single sites): from $12-15 nightly (current fee), to $20 this Friday. • Campground fee (group sites, for 25 to 40 people): from $40-64 to $60 this Friday. The timing of Friday’s fee-schedule increase coincides with the anticipated opening of Stevens Canyon Road, linking the park’s east and west sides. --- Cl e Elum open house introduces WATV route A 5-7 p.m. open house today at the Cle Elum Ranger Station will introduce the Cle Elum Ranger District’s proposed new wheeled all-terrain vehicle (WATV) route that may be opened late next month. Maps of the route will be on display in the Tom Craven Conference Room at the ranger station (803 W. 2nd St., Cle Elum), following a short presentation on the process leading to the selection of the proposed route. Forest Service officials will be available to answer questions about the WATV program and its future within the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests. The route is part of a pilot program to assess WATV impacts on Forest Service roads and adjacent land. Routes open to WATV use will be monitored throughout the summer and fall as officials gather data on traffic volume, safety and road-surface impacts. Washington House Bill 1632, passed in 2013 to regulate registration of WATVs designed or modified for off-road use, has sparked interest within groups who would like to increase recreational opportunities on Forest Service system lands. For more information, call the Cle Elum Ranger Station at 509-852-1100. --- Deadline extended for hunter ed jamboree The registration deadline for a June 6-7 Hunter Education Jamboree near Bumping Lake has been extended through next Monday. The jamboree, set for the Boy Scouts of America Camp Fife (8370 Bumping River Road near Goose Prairie), offers prospective hunters who have completed the online hunter ed course a chance to complete their field-skills requirements. The original registration deadline was set to expire last Friday. Field skills requirements include a review of the online course content, including safety, firearms, first-aid and conservation topics, as well as hands-on firearm handling and live fire practice. Three field skills sessions will be offered at the Jamboree: Saturday, June 6, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1- 5 p.m., and Sunday, June 7, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. Each session can accommodate up to 100 pre-registrants. The Jamboree will be conducted by WDFW hunter education coordinators and over 30 volunteer instructors from all over the state, said Aaron Garcia, WDFW South Central Region hunter education and volunteer coordinator. For information or to register, go online to: • June 6 morning class: www.register-ed.com/events/view/59433 • June 6 afternoon class: www.register-ed.com/events/view/59434 • June 7 morning class: www.register-ed.com/events/view/59435 For more information, go to wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/huntered/. --- AROUND AND ABOUT SPRING YAK: After nearly 70 shooters and more than 20,000 targets thrown in the recent Spring Yak trapshooting event at the Pomona range, Jeff Mitchell and Rick White were multiple winners among the several Yakima Valley Sportsmen’s Association shooters who finished atop several classes. YVSA winners included: Event 1 Singles — C Class, Jeff Mitchell 95, Edward Cole 95; Event 2 Handicap — Champion, Joel Moberly 94; Event 3 Doubles — C Class, Mitchell 86; Event 4 Singles — D Class, Nick Kramer 96; Junior, Dakota Eims 96; Event 5 Handicap — Long, Rick White 94; High Overall — A Class, White 468; C Class, Mitchell 442. FISHING RULES CHANGES: New fishing rules are increasing daily catch limits to three adult hatchery spring chinook salmon at Drano Lake and the Wind River (each through June 30), to two hatchery adults on the lower Kalama River (until further notice), and to three hatchery adults on the Cowlitz (until further notice). Elsewhere, the area for fishing for hatchery springers on the (Big) White Salmon River will expand starting this Saturday to include the stretch from the county bridge below the former power house upstream to the Northwestern Road Bridge beginning May 23. And the hatchery steelhead limit on the upper Klickitat River will increase to three fish beginning June 1, while the upper river will also open to hatchery spring chinook. CANYON FEE SEASON: We’ve moved into the May 15-Sept. 15 fee season for the Bureau of Land Management’s Yakima River Canyon recreation sites, where day-use rates are now $5 per vehicle and camping rates are $15 per night. Reservations (at www.recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777) can be made for camping at the BLM’s Umtanum, Lmuma Creek, Big Pines and Roza campgrounds, not less than 48 hours before the desired arrival date. TOXIC CLAMS: Razor clam digging will remain closed on ocean beaches for the remainder of the season because of elevated toxin levels, and WDFW shellfish managers canceled two openings that had been tentatively scheduled to start last Friday and this coming Friday. DALLES STURGEON: White sturgeon retention in The Dalles Pool sport fishery ended as of last Thursday, with the harvest guideline of 100 fish reached. Catch-and-release fishing for sturgeon is still allowed. --- BIRD ALERT While any time is a good time to go birding, May may be the best month for bird watching. The spring migration happens in a shorter period of time than the fall migration, putting a lot of exciting new birds in Yakima County right now. Notable arrivals this week included western wood pewee; eastern kingbird spotted at the Oak Creek Wildlife Area; ash-throated flycatcher at Fort Simcoe; yellow, Townsend’s and Wilson’s warbler; the secretive yellow-breasted chat; black-headed grosbeak; lazuli bunting, a small, beautiful finch with bright blue upperparts, cinnamon-brown breast and sides, with a white belly; grasshopper sparrow; and Bullock’s oriole. Other bird sightings of interest included a Say’s Phoebe at our yard southwest of the Yakima Airport; black-crowned night-herons at four locations; a golden eagle in the Yakima Canyon; our largest hawk, the ferruginous hawk, and a great egret, a tall, stately white wader of quiet waters, both spotted near Sunnyside; a burrowing owl in the Black Rock Valley; and a black-chinned hummingbird frequenting a feeder near Wapato. Birders in Cowiche Canyon watched as a prairie falcon battled with six turkey vultures. It’s unclear what the fight was about, but the falcon eventually landed on the cliff while the vultures took turns flying down and buzzing it. Please email your bird sightings to birds@yakimaaudubon.org or leave a message at 509-837-6930. — Kerry L. Turley --- GETTING OUTDOORS THIS MORNING: Two Cascadians groups will head out at 8 a.m. from the 40th Avenue Bi-Mart lot en route to separate destinations, the Trekkers to hike the Beverly Creek-Iron Peak Loop (7 miles, 3,000 feet of elevation gain with some fabulous views and wildflowers; Green Trails Teanaway Map 209), and the Free Spirits to hike Devil’s Table (5 miles, 1,500 feet of elevation gain, Green Trails Old Scab Map 272). Figure on the Free Spirits hiking a little faster, farther and with more elevation gain than the Thursday Pokies, but slower, not as far and not as much elevation gain than the Trekkers. For either group, bring the 13 essentials, lunch and energy. THIS EVENING: Mount Adams Cycling’s weekly Tuesday ride for beginners or new ride participants will head out at 6 p.m. from Valley Cycling & Fitness on West Nob Hill Boulevard. WEDNESDAY: The weekly 21-mile Naches loop ride led by Mount Adams Cycling will leave the Suntides Golf Course parking lot at 6 p.m. Participants should bring headlight/taillight be able to maintain a 13 mph pace. THURSDAY: The Cascadian Pokies are going to hike the Devil’s Table Trail in the Nile area, a 5-miler with perhaps 1,000 feet of elevation gain, depending on how much the group wanders around the meadows to enjoy the gorgeous views and the blooming bitterroot. For meeting time and place, call Susie Lattomus at 509-941-8383. SATURDAY: The carpoolers taking part in latest “David’s Sagebrush Ramble” led by the Cascadians’ David Hagen will head out from the 40th Avenue Bi-Mart south lot at 8:30 a.m. en route to some hike of Hagen’s choosing somewhere in the shrub-steppe. Figure on the occasional steep pitch and elevation gain in the 2,000-foot range, with a stop for a leisurely lunch. Drivers will probably need a Discover Pass. If you need more info than that, call Hagen at 509-965-3697. MONDAY: Bicyclists in Chinook Cycling’s weekly “Mellow Monday” ride will take off at 6 p.m. from Wide Hollow Elementary School in West Valley. Mellow or not, expect a 16-20 mph range. NEXT TUESDAY: Looking ahead? The Cascadian Trekkers will be heading to Sheep Lake/Sourdough Gap off Chinook Pass, and the Free Spirits will head to Ancient Lakes overlooking the Columbia River Gorge near Quincy. Both groups will head out from the 40th Avenue Bi-Mart at 8 a.m....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3170734-8/outdoors-happenings-may-19-2015 Scott Sandsberry /News/LatestNews/ 8387108@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:17 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:16 GMT




In recent years, the food and agriculture industries have won political and economic victories by mounting campaigns against ballot initiatives requiring labels on products containing genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. This issue has hit close to home in the ag-dependent Yakima Valley; since 2012, business groups have mounted expensive campaigns and narrowly prevailed against GMO opponents in Washington, Oregon and California. But now, with a move by the U.S. Agriculture Department, the real winner may be the free market — and certainty for businesses that were wary of the impact of a GMO labeling mandate. Word came last week that the USDA is developing a new government certification and labeling for foods that are free of GMOs. The certification standards, which are being developed in cooperation with industry, would be voluntary; certified foods would be able to carry a bureaucratically sounding “USDA Process Verified” label along with a claim that they are free of GMOs. The companies would pay for the certification. Business support is the key. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said an undisclosed “leading global company” requested the certification program. Supporters of GMO labeling can claim success in building political pressure about the issue; as more consumers support GMO labeling, businesses have good reason to get behind a standardized program. Among the many problems with Washington state’s 2013 Initiative 522, which the Yakima Herald-Republic Editorial Board opposed, was that it eventually would require a food to have absolutely no GMO levels in order to be labeled as such. Most countries that require GMO labels allow for some residual levels. GMO laws at the state level, especially initiatives that tend to be poorly worded, would have created a patchwork nightmare for business and agriculture. A national standard is far more preferable. The USDA move also allows a choice — for the business and for the consumer. Businesses can decide whether the extra cost and effort are worthwhile, and consumers can decide for themselves whether to choose non-GMO products. For the record, a long list of scientific studies has found GMO products to be safe. According to an Associated Press-GfK poll conducted in December, two-thirds of Americans support GMO labeling — some for safety reasons, others to keep the food industry accountable. That support has yet to transfer to ballot-box success, but soon members of the public can vote with their pocketbooks and businesses can respond accordingly, a much more preferable approach to a hodgepodge of state-by-state mandates and inconsistent laws. • Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Sharon J. Prill, Bob Crider, Frank Purdy and Karen Troianello....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3171932-8/marketplace-is-deciding-gmo-labels-as-it-should Frank Purdy /News/LatestNews/ 8390270@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:16 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:14 GMT
By Scott Sandsberry Yakima Herald-Republic


SCOTT SANDSBERRY/Yakima Herald-Republic WDFW enforcement officer Shawn Myers explains fishing regulations Saturday to an angler on the North Fork Tieton River below Clear Lake. While this angler and his father each received a single citation, they ultimately ended up thanking Myers for the way he went about his job.


YAKIMA, Wash. — Shawn Myers isn’t a high-wire acrobat, but his every work day is one long balancing act. As is the case for each of his fellow Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officers, Myers’ job is to uphold the laws protecting the state’s wildlife resources. Ticketing everyone who breaks them, though, clearly isn’t the objective. “If I wanted to,” Myers said, “I could probably write 100 more tickets in a year.” That he doesn’t want to was aptly demonstrated during his shift last Saturday, when Myers worked sections of the Yakima, Naches and Tieton rivers and several lakes and issued four citations ranging from $99 to $150 each. Those citations could easily have numbered 10 or more. While Myers, 44, wants to catch and cite the sportsmen ignoring the rules, he wants to educate the ones who are merely misinterpreting them. Differentiating between the two is the balancing act, and it always starts with friendly conversation and a few firm questions. In the case of fishing violations, did the angler know the regulations for that body of water? Did he check the pamphlet beforehand? Does he even know where he’s fishing? “If they show some effort, hey, I’m a human being, too,” said Myers, one of the six WDFW enforcement officers responsible for policing wildlife laws throughout Yakima and Kittitas counties. “If the guy’s trying — if he’s got the pamphlet right here next to him but he’s just not quite sure what body of water he’s on, he thought he was here but he’s not there, that kind of thing — maybe it’s just going to be a sit-down education session. “If the guy didn’t make any effort to know the rules, he’s going to get (a citation).” Not always. Upon encountering an angler who was about to cast his line into a closed section of the Yakima River — but hadn’t yet — Myers simply told him those waters weren’t open for fishing and told him which ones were. And while Myers did make sure the angler’s truck had a Discover Pass necessary for vehicles parked on state recreation lands managed by WDFW, State Parks or Department of Natural Resources, he didn’t ask to see a fishing license. “We call it ‘fixin’-to-fish.’ There’s no law broken there, except intent — and nobody’s going to be paying much attention to that at Yakima District Court,” Myers said. “He could flat-out tell me he doesn’t have a fishing license and I couldn’t do a thing about it, because he wasn’t actually fishing.” Myers checked two other anglers bank-fishing the Yakima at the Rest Haven area near the Interstate 82 bridge at Selah. One, who was fishing for spring chinook, had the requisite licenses and legal gear. His fishing buddy had the same gear but no license. Myers made that angler squirm like the object of sunlight under a magnifying glass, checking the state’s WILD system for evidence he’d ever had a fishing license, grilling him about what he knew and didn’t know and reminding him just how close he came to several expensive citations. The angler’s contention that he wasn’t fishing for salmon? “I’m not buying your ‘fishing-for-whatever’ story,” Myers told him. “You’re fishing with salmon gear, your buddy’s fishing for salmon and your set-up’s identical to his.” In the end, though, Myers didn’t issue a citation, because he hadn’t actually witnessed him fishing and the fishing line wasn’t wet. “He’s got it coming, but I’m not going to write him. I’m not into writing bogus tickets,” Myers said. “If I’d seen him fish, he definitely wouldn’t be getting a warning right now. That’s a guy that needs a ticket. That’s a guy not even making an effort to try and do it right.” Big-game hunters not making an effort — or worse, intentionally doing it wrong — are the guys Myers really wants to see brought to justice. That those cases take more time to investigate and bring to prosecution doesn’t matter. “In our minds, that’s the big stuff and what really needs your attention,” he said. “Barbed-hook violations, sure, you want people abiding by the rules. But getting this guy that’s poached a 5-by-5 trophy bull, making sure he gets hammered — that’s kind of our bread and butter. If 10 barbed-hook tickets get past me while I’m doing a big-game violation investigation for a week, so be it. “It’s checks and balances. It’s focusing on what’s important.” A man fishing on the North Fork Tieton with his young son, perhaps 9 or 10 years old, didn’t get a ticket Saturday afternoon, even though that stretch of the river wouldn’t be open yet for another six days. The man was using legal gear and described in detail what he’d read in the regulations and why he’d believed it was legal to fish below the Clear Lake spillway and above Rimrock Reservoir. That became one of those “sit-down education sessions” for Myers, both for the sake of the man, who thanked Myers for his patient guidance, and for the boy, who smiled at the officer shaking his father’s hand. Seeing a member of the younger generation learning respect for wildlife regulations — and a love of the great outdoors in general — matters to Myers. A 15-year WDFW officer, he’s doing the very job he aspired to since he was a teenager hunting with his dad near Ellensburg and they were checked by a game warden. And it bothers him to see that younger generation of outdoorsmen dwindling. “Kids out hunting and fishing with their dad, or their uncle or grampa, I’m just not seeing that as much as I used to. And it’s sad,” Myers said. “I hate seeing kids not having this experience. It’s fun, it doesn’t cost too much, and it’s a good experience.” Further up the North Fork Tieton, alongside a campground just below the Clear Lake spillway, Myers encountered two small groups of anglers — all of whose gear and licenses would have been legal for fishing on the lake itself, but not below. One group, a father and grown son not from the area, had mistakenly assumed the rules were the same there as on the lake; the other group had apparently seen the first two men fishing on the river bank and assumed it was legal. Myers could have issued each of four anglers three to four citations; instead, he issued each just one, explaining what they were doing right, what they were doing wrong, and why they needed to do a better job of reading and understanding the regulations. And in each case, while signing and accepting a ticket for up to $150, the angler smiled, thanked Myers and shook his hand. And in each case, Myers left feeling that the angler wouldn’t make the same mistake again — but would look forward to fishing once again. And according to the rules. On balance, it was a pretty good day....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3174399-8/enforcing-laws-educating-sportsmen-a-give-and-take-for-wdfw Scott Sandsberry /News/LatestNews/ 8396474@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:14 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:11 GMT
By Rob Phillips For the Yakima Herald-Republic



YAKIMA, Wash. — Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of owning six different dogs. Actually, “owning” is not really the best description and gives the wrong impression. The dogs in my life are more members of the family than something I bought and used. I learned at an early age, when you bring a pet into your life, you’re expected to care for them — housing, feeding and caring for their health. For what I ask my dogs to do, and for the love and companionship I receive in return, this is more than an equitable payoff. With my first four hunting dogs, the return on investment was extremely high. I had very little invested in them — a grand purchase total of $400 — and they gave me hundreds of hours of great days in the field along with, for the most part, being really good pets. Besides the typical vaccinations and boosters, only once did I have any real medical bills. As I’m now learning, I was very lucky. My last two dogs, both yellow Labs, have become the four-legged version of the six million dollar man. Sierra, nearly 15, had pretty major surgeries on both back legs and twice had to be rushed to the emergency care veterinarian for different maladies. I don’t even like to think about the money I have in keeping her healthy. Now, my youngest Lab, Tessa, has just set a personal record for medical care, and she’s not yet 7. When she was only a year old, Tessa had to have her eyelids surgically repaired. She suffered from a disorder called entropion, where the eye lids roll in and look droopy — potentially a constant cause of discomfort for a hunting dog out running through the weeds and brush. Then, following the last two hunting seasons, Tessa would be very sore and actually had trouble walking after a day of hunting. I hoped it was just because I hadn’t worked to keep her in good hunting shape. But that wasn’t the case. I feared it might be hip dysplasia. But Dr. Steve Clark of Yakima Valley Veterinary Clinic told me Tessa was displaying all of the symptoms of osteoarthritis in her lower back leg joints, I assumed the worst: At just 6 years old, my hunting dog would have to retire. At that time our choice was to try some laser treatment in the joints, along with a daily dose of anti-inflammatory/pain medication. That worked OK for a while, but still after even a half-day in the field she could barely walk and was in definite pain. Then, about a month ago, she seemed to be getting worse. It was at this point Dr. Clark recommended a treatment still in its early stages of use in our area: a stem cell therapy in which, under anesthesia, the dog has some fatty tissue extracted and overnighted to a lab in California. There they extract stem cells that are immediately returned to the vet clinic to be injected into the arthritic joints while the dog is again under sedation. As you can imagine, a procedure like this is not inexpensive, but after doing some research on this new treatment, I decided the potential benefits outweighed the cost. The theory is that the stem cell injections are delivered directly into damaged tissue, stimulating regeneration and repair wherever necessary — whether tendon, bone, ligament or cartilage. I had to keep reminding myself this therapy will not cure the arthritis. The goal is to ease inflammation, slow cartilage degeneration, damaged tissue and, hopefully, minimize Tessa’s pain. Studies show 80 percent of dogs that have had this procedure have had at least some pain relief within the first few days and weeks, with further improvement as healing progresses. It has been just 10 days since Tessa received the injection of the stem cells and I’ve already seen some limited progress, but it’s still early. Dr. Clark said it may be four to six weeks before we know how much it is helping — if at all. Our fingers are crossed. In the big picture, if this new modern medicine — totally new to the Yakima Valley Veterinary Clinic — is successful, maybe it can help other dogs in our area suffering from chronic arthritis or tendon and ligament injuries. And on a much more personal level, I hope it gives Tessa a few more years doing what she loves to do so much — running through the fields, flushing pheasants and retrieving ducks — without the debilitating pain of her arthritic legs....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178608-8/phillips-column-mans-best-friend-can-be-rough Scott Sandsberry /News/LatestNews/ 8406964@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:11 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:10 GMT
By Doyle McManus Los Angeles Times




An important but often neglected debate broke out in Washington last week: Which political party can do more for the nation’s poor? The occasion was a conference at Georgetown University on how religious groups can alleviate poverty. It turned into an opportunity for a spirited exchange between a leading thinker in the Republican Party’s reform camp, Arthur C. Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute, and a noted leader in the Democratic Party, President Obama. In little more than an hour, Obama and Brooks succeeded in identifying a few encouraging points of common ground between the two parties — among people of goodwill, at least. They also ran up against one basic difference that separates them — and that will remain an obstacle to federal efforts to help families left behind in a winner-take-all economy. First, the good news: Obama and Brooks agreed that poverty is a problem that both parties should address, that its causes are both economic and cultural and that federal programs can do more. “The stereotype is that you’ve got folks on the left who just want to pour more money into social programs, and don’t care anything about culture or parenting,” Obama said. “And then you’ve got cold-hearted free-market capitalist types who are reading Ayn Rand and think everybody are moochers. And I think the truth is more complicated.” Brooks, breaking ranks with some conservatives, said federal “safety net” programs have been essential to protect the poor. “It’s time to declare peace on the safety net,” he said. “In fact, the social safety net is one of the greatest achievements of free enterprise. . We should be proud of that.” And both men agreed to a tacit cease-fire in the debate over whether the principal cause of poverty is a broken economic system, or the broken culture of poor families. “This is not an either/or conversation; it is a both/and,” Obama said. “The reason we get trapped in the either/or conversation is because all too often, (conservatives) have used the rationale that ’character matters’ . as a rationale for the disinvestment in public goods.” But with that statement, Obama dispensed with all the kumbaya and got around to the seemingly unbridgeable gap that divides the two major parties. To Obama, the problem is that Republicans will talk about poverty, but they won’t spend money to back up their words. Brooks and other reform conservatives say they’re willing to spend more money on poverty alleviation — for example, wage subsidies to encourage employers to hire more minimum-wage workers — but they still want federal spending to shrink overall. “If you talk to any of my Republican friends, they will say . they care about the poor — and I believe them,” Obama said. “But when it comes to actually establishing budgets, making choices, prioritizing, that’s when it starts breaking down.” Brooks answered in kind. “Let’s have a rumble over how much money we’re spending on public goods for poor people, for sure,” he said. “But we can’t even get to that when politicians on the left and the right are conspiring to not touch middle-class entitlements.” (He meant Social Security and Medicare, mainly.) “The right (is) saying all the money is gone on this. And the left is saying all we need is a lot more money on top of these things.” But more spending, he warned, is “leading us to fiscal unsustainability.” At least in theory, there’s still room for deal-making here. A few creative Republicans have been willing to consider cutting taxes on the working poor at the cost of modestly higher taxes on some of the affluent. A few creative Democrats have been willing to consider trimming the growth of Social Security and Medicare to free up funds for the truly needy. We’re unlikely to hear much of that kind of bipartisanship in a primary campaign that, so far, has driven candidates on both sides to reaffirm their partisan credentials. Still, voters can use the broad outlines of this debate to frame questions for presidential hopefuls over the next 17 months. If, like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, you say you want to do something for the poor, how serious is that commitment if you also plan to shrink domestic spending? If, like Hillary Rodham Clinton, you believe an activist federal government can do more, would you merely increase spending — or would you look for savings by trimming other programs? Indeed, voters may soon be asking some version of those questions. In New Hampshire, moderate Republicans — abetted by Robert D. Putnam, the Harvard professor whose recent book, “Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis,” helped energize this debate — say they plan to show up at candidates’ events demanding to know what they would do about the poor. The two parties still start with different premises about the proper size and role of government. That’s not going to change. But if candidates on both sides are willing to put poverty unapologetically on their agendas, that will count as progress. Until recently, national politicians rarely talked about the poor. • Doyle McManus is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Readers can email him at doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com. © 2015 Los Angeles Times...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178685-8/doyle-mcmanus-conundrum-of-cutting-poverty By Doyle McManus /News/LatestNews/ 8407158@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:10 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:09 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



YAKIMA — Investigators are still looking into a fire last weekend at an abandoned house in the 300 block of South Ninth Street. The call came in at 9:41 p.m. Sunday. A Yakima Fire Department news release said the blaze significantly damaged the interior, attic and roof of the house, which had been boarded up. The cause is unknown, but officials said the fire was suspicious. They estimated the damage at $60,000. Neighboring properties that were threatened by the flames escaped damage, the release said....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178744-8/suspicious-fire-guts-abandoned-yakima-house David Edwards /News/LatestNews/ 8407300@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:09 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:01 GMT
By Ross Courtney Yakima Herald-Republic



After eight years in office, Prosser Mayor Paul Warden is not seeking re-election, leaving longtime Councilman Randy Taylor running unopposed for the highest elected office in the city of 5,800. Warden, 61, wants to spend more time visiting his grandchildren in Texas, he said. “I’ll be 62 at the end of my term,” he said Monday. “It seemed like a good time to stop.” He does not plan to seek another job, he said. In 2012, the City Council approved paying Warden a full-time yearly salary of $64,000 and letting him run the daily administration of the city after a professional city administrator had resigned. In Prosser’s form of government, voters elect the mayor directly as the city’s CEO, while elected City Council members approve finances and ordinances. When Warden’s term ends, the mayor’s salary will drop back down to the previous $500-per-month stipend as originally planned in 2012, he said. After that, Taylor and the council will have to discuss whether to hire a full-time administrator. Taylor, a councilman since 2002, has a full-time job already and would have to persuade the council to move the salary back up if he wanted to be a full-time mayor. He was not immediately available for comment. Warden served as a councilman from 2005 to 2007 and was elected mayor starting in 2008. He was in office during the construction of a new water reservoir on the northern outskirts of town and construction of a new aquatic center. “I don’t take sole credit for those,” he said with a laugh. City officials wrestled with three main controversial issues during Warden’s tenure: a zoning change allowing low-income apartments in a currently rural area; a decision on whether to allow the state’s first marijuana retail shops to open; and an agreement on contracting dispatch services to a regional communication center in the Tri-Cities. Warden considered the cooperation of City Council members, even those who disagreed with one another, among his fondest memories. “No hard feelings after meetings,” he said. • Ross Courtney can be reached at 509-930-8798 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179176-8/prosser-mayor-does-not-seek-re-election RCOURTNEY /News/LatestNews/ 8408297@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:01 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:00 GMT




Prosser Medical Center Martinez-Lopez — To Crystal Martinez and Rogelio Lopez Jr. of Grandview, a daughter, 6 pounds, 3 ounces, on April 6, 2015. Darbyson — To Jessica and Gabriel Darbyson of Prosser, a son, 8 pounds, 12 ounces, on April 7, 2015. Farias-Rodriguez — To Marisela Farias and Jorge Rodriguez of Grandview, a son, 7 pounds, 11 ounces, on April 8, 2015. Vargas-Bucio — To Maria Vargas and Jorge Bucio of Sunnyside, a daughter, 8 pounds, on April 9, 2015. Robles — To Maria Robles of Sunnyside, a daughter, 5 pounds, 7 ounces, on April 10, 2015. Burger — To Kelsie and Joshua Burger of Prosser, a son, 8 pounds, 10 ounces on April 14, 2015. Verduzco-Calzada — To Alexia Verduzco and Eric Calzada of Grandview, a son, 7 pounds 0.8 ounces on April 23, 2015. Young — To Maribel and Jacob Young of Grandview, a son, 7 pounds, 1.2 ounces, on April 24, 2015. Kelley — To Jessica and Dylan Kelley of Grandview, a son, 6 pounds 0.4 ounces on April 27, 2015. Meraz — To Lucero and Fray Meraz of Benton City, a daughter, 8 pounds, 11 ounces, on May 2, 2015. Beatriz — To Quintana Beatriz of Sunnyside, a daughter, 5 pounds, 15 ounces, on May 2, 2015. Chappell — To Melissa Chappell of Mabton, a daughter, 5 pounds, 10 ounces, on May 3, 2015. Charvet-Munoz — To Nicole Charvet and Miguel Munoz of Grandview, a daughter, 5 pounds, 6 ounces, on May 3, 2015. Myers — To Judith and Michael Myers of Grandview, a daughter, 7 pounds, 7 ounces, on May 4, 2015. Martin — To Lacey and Quinn Martin of Prosser, a son, 9 pounds, 2 ounces, on May 5, 2015. Bueno-Luther — To Karina Bueno and Mark Luther Jr. of Prosser, a son, 8 pounds, 13 ounces, on May 6, 2015. Mendoza — To Ana Mendoza of Grandview, a daughter, 6 pounds, 2 ounces, on May 8, 2015. Aguilar — To Gema and Uriel Aguilar of Sunnyside, a daughter, 7 pounds, 5 ounces, on May 11, 2015. Storms — Ashley Storms of Grandview, a daughter, 7 pounds, 11 ounces, on May 12, 2015. Sunnyside Community Hospital Gallo — To Bethany and Eduardo Gallo of Sunnyside, a daughter, Annalise Gallo, 8 pounds, 5 ounces, at 3:55 p.m. on May 5, 2015. Lopez-Ruelas — To Yessica Ruelas and Abelardo Lopez of Sunnyside, a daughter, Valeria Lopez Ruelas, 8 pounds, 6 ounces, at 6:05 p.m. on May 12, 2015. Toppenish Community Hospital Labra — To Agustina and Santos Labra of Granger, a son, Adrian, 8 pounds, 9 ounces, on May 15, 2015. Piñon — To Yadira D. and Encarnacion Piñon of Toppenish, a son, Junior Piñon, 7 pounds, 8 ounces, at 11:03 p.m., on May 14, 2015. Kindness-McJoe — To Marilyn Jean Kindness and Alonzo Ray McJoe of Toppenish, a daughter, Ava Renee McJoe, on May 12, 2015. Manzo-Barragan — To Maricela Manzo and Gustavo Barragan of Zillah, a son, Daniel Barragan Manzo, 7 pounds, 15 ounces, at 5:50 a.m., on May 9, 2015. Gonzalez — To Megan and Uriel Gonzalez of Granger, a daughter, Italia Noemi Gonzalez, 8 pounds, 9 ounces, at 4:43 a.m., on May 5, 2015. Sanchez-Quintero — To Esmeralda Garcia Sanchez and Antonio Quintero M., a daughter, Bryana Rosa Quintero, 6 pounds, 8 ounces, on May 3, 2015. Bustamante — To Noemi Mendoza Bustamante and Eliud Ochoa Estrada of Granger, a daughter, Sarahi Ochoa-Mendoza, 8 pounds, 3 ounces, at 6:25 p.m., on May 3, 2015. Meshell — To Shantell Meshell and Victor Lamas-Slockish of White Swan, a son, Viktor Maxen Lamas-Slockish, 7 pounds, 14 ounces, on May 4, 2015....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179260-8/births-may-18-2015 Donean Brown /News/LatestNews/ 8408467@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:01:00 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:54 GMT
By Pat Muir Yakima Herald-Republic




The Yakima Symphony Chorus announced Monday it was naming Justin Raffa as chorusmaster, the third in its history. He replaces the retiring Scott Peterson. Raffa, artistic director for the Tri-Cities-based Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, will take the reins of the chorus in July. He will also keep his job with the Tri-Cities group. Peterson, who took over from chorus founder, Brooke Creswell, had led the Yakima Symphony Chorus for 38 years. The chorus is an affiliate of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra and joins the YSO for several performances each year as well as performing in stand-alone concerts and with other groups. “I am very excited to build upon the amazing career of Dr. Peterson and continue his mission to grow the chorus into an outstanding regional ensemble whose artistic quality and professionalism matches that of our great YSO,” Raffa said in a YSO news release. Originally from New Jersey, Raffa holds a master’s in choral conducting from the University of Arizona. He has been with the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers for seven years and is active in the state chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. “His training, skills, experience as a symphony chorus director and enthusiasm for the choral-orchestral repertoire will all result in outstanding performances for our Yakima community,” YSO conductor Lawrence Golan said in the release....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179388-8/yakima-symphony-chorus-names-new-chorusmaster PMUIR /News/LatestNews/ 8408809@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:54 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:51 GMT
By Mike Faulk Yakima Herald-Republic



Selah City Councilwoman Jane Williams has withdrawn her candidacy for re-election, all but handing her Position 7 seat to the only challenger who filed last week. Williams, 64, said her husband’s impending retirement affected her decision. The two plan to travel extensively beginning next year and Williams said she would not have the time to be an effective council member. Williams said she was willing to change those plans when she saw no one else had filed to run for her seat, so she filed Friday. But another last-minute filing by Selah businessman Russ Carlson made it a two-person race. Williams said she met with Carlson afterward and decided she supports his candidacy. She withdrew her candidacy Monday. “I just felt 100 percent comfortable with him on the council,” Williams said. Williams defeated Carl Torkelson in 2013 to finish out the remainder of the term for a council vacancy to which Torkelson was appointed. Carlson, 35, grew up in the Naches area and has a bachelor’s degree in business from the Rexburg, Idaho, campus of Brigham Young University. He and his father operate a sales and marketing company that sells food ingredients to brand name companies. Carlson said he looks forward to being the only candidate on the ballot. “That makes life a lot easier,” he said. Williams is the third Selah City Council member who decided not to return next year. Allen Schmid and Dave Smeback did not file for re-election. Also withdrawing from local elections Monday was Carrie Greenough. Greenough was seeking re-election to the Union Gap School District. Her decision leaves Maria Rosas as the only candidate for the at-large Position 2 director. • Mike Faulk can be reached at 509-577-7675 or mfaulk@yakimaherald.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/Mike_Faulk....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179526-8/williams-exits-selah-city-council-race MFAULK /News/LatestNews/ 8409158@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:51 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:50 GMT
By CAROLYN THOMPSON The Associated Press



A security researcher told federal agents he was able to hack into aircraft computer systems mid-flight numerous times through the in-flight entertainment systems, and at one point he caused a plane he was on to move sideways, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. Although the claims are still being investigated, the airline involved, United, cast doubt on whether it was possible to control an airplane through the entertainment system, while other experts said such cyber threats should be taken seriously given that more airplanes are connected to the Internet. The researcher, Chris Roberts, was questioned upon his arrival at the Syracuse, N.Y., airport April 15. He had suggested on Twitter while on a United Airlines flight from Chicago that he could get the oxygen masks to deploy or interfere with the cockpit’s alert systems, according to the court filing in support of a search warrant. Roberts founded One World Labs, which tries to discover security risks before they are exploited. He had met previously, in February and March, with the FBI to discuss vulnerabilities with in-flight entertainment systems aboard certain aircraft, the affidavit said. During the meetings, Roberts claimed to have compromised the systems 15 to 20 times between 2011 and 2014, using a cable to connect his laptop to an electronics box located beneath passenger seats, the document said. “He stated that he thereby caused one of the airplane engines to climb resulting in a lateral or sideways movement of the plane during one of these flights,” the affidavit said. Roberts declined to comment Monday when reached at his Denver office. In a statement issued through his attorney, he said his “only interest has been to improve aircraft safety.” A report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office last month said some commercial aircraft may be vulnerable to hacking over their onboard wireless networks. “Modern aircraft are increasingly connected to the Internet. This interconnectedness can potentially provide unauthorized remote access to aircraft avionics systems,” the report said. The fact that passengers on flights with in-seat video monitors can shift between television and a map showing the plane’s real-time location indicates a link between the flight control and passenger entertainment networks, said Steven Bellovin, a computer science professor at Columbia University. And airplanes that offer Wi-Fi are likely using the same data link used by pilots to communicate with the airline, he said. “Now the question is, what is the form of isolation between the passenger network and everything else?” Bellovin said. “There is some kind of linkage but there are different ways to do this — really securely and not particularly securely, and I have no way of knowing which has actually been done here.” After stopping Roberts from continuing on from Syracuse to California following his FBI interview last month, the airline cited Roberts’ “claims regarding manipulating aircraft systems.” “However, we are confident our flight control systems could not be accessed through techniques he described,” spokesman Rahsaan Johnson told The Associated Press. In a statement, a Boeing spokesman said in-flight entertainment systems on airliners are isolated from flight and navigation systems. Pilots have more than one navigation system, spokesman Alder said. “No changes to the flight plans loaded into the airplane systems can take place without pilot review and approval,” he said, declining to discuss specific design features for security reasons. Tim Erlin, director of IT security and risk strategy at the cybersecurity firm Tripwire, said it’s possible that systems are connected in some aircraft and not in others. “There are many different types of aircraft in service, with varying levels of technology from different time periods,” Erlin said via email. “If a system was installed well before these kinds of attacks and tools were conceived of, there would have been no reason not to connect them, and it might have been perceived as extra cost and complexity to keep them separate.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179570-8/security-expert-said-he-accessed-plane-controls-mid-flight By CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated /News/LatestNews/ 8409260@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:50 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:49 GMT
The Associated Press



SEATTLE — Getting pinched on the roads is going to hurt a little more in Washington state. Effective July 1, the state Supreme Court is boosting the base fines for most traffic infractions by $12. It’s the first increase since 2007. The money is partly to help cities and counties provide legal defense for poor people accused of crimes, and partly for a new computer system for the state’s district courts. Chief Justice Barbara Madsen said in a news release Monday it was a tough decision, because the operations of the court system should not depend on fines and fees, which disproportionately hurt low-income people. Three of the court’s justices dissented from the order increasing the fines. But Madsen also said the increase is a reasonable amount, and the court will work with the Legislature to reduce the consequences for those who have difficulty paying....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179576-8/washington-supreme-court-boosts-cost-of-traffic-tickets /News/LatestNews/ 8409278@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:49 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:49 GMT
The Associated Press



BELLINGHAM — The Seattle Archdiocese has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a woman who said she was molested by a priest in the 1960s and ’70s. Jeri Hubbard, a 63-year-old from Sedro Woolley, sued in Whatcom County Superior Court in 2012, alleging she was abused by former priest Michael Cody, who was pastor of St. Charles Parish in Burlington and Assumption Parish in Bellingham. In a deposition Cody, now 84, acknowledged having inappropriately touched girls, but said he didn’t have relations with Hubbard until after she turned 18. Her lawyers, including Seattle attorney Michael Pfau and Mount Vernon attorney John Murphy, said a psychiatrist in 1962 advised then-Archbishop Thomas Connelly that Cody had molested at least eight girls. The archbishop sent Cody to treatment but allowed him to return to work. The archdiocese acknowledged negligence. Spokesman Greg Magnoni said Monday the archdiocese regrets the pain it caused Hubbard. Cody, who hasn’t served as a priest since 1979, was defrocked in 2005....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179579-8/priest-abuse-case-settled-with-seattle-archdiocese-for /News/LatestNews/ 8409284@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:49 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:48 GMT
By REPORTER NAME Yakima Herald-Republic



PORT ANGELES — Crews rescued a partially blind dog that fell about 300 feet down a bluff near Port Angeles on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office says its search and rescue team responded Sunday evening to a report that a dog had fallen through thick brush in its backyard, which sits on the edge of bluffs overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Sgt. Randy Pieper says a rescuer was lowered by rope about 300 feet down. He says she wrapped the small dog in a blanket and tucked it into her jacket before both were hoisted up in the darkness to safety. The dog was unhurt. He says the dog’s owner, the poet Tess Gallagher, helped rescuers zero in on the animal in the darkness by calling its name. Gallagher is the widow of writer and poet Raymond Carver who grew up in Yakima, who is buried in Port Angeles. — The Associated Press...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179583-8/rescue-crews-retrieve-poets-dog-after-fall-off /News/LatestNews/ 8409292@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:48 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:45 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



YAKIMA — The forecast is calling for high wildfire danger this summer, so state officials want to make sure people know how to best protect themselves and their property. To that end, the state Department of Natural Resources is hosting a wildfire preparation public meeting in Yakima on Thursday evening. Representatives of local fire districts, emergency responders and experts will explain how clearing brush and trees from around homes can reduce fire risks. The free event will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Yakima County Fire District 12, 10000 Zier Road, right next to West Valley High School. — Yakima Herald-Republic...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179628-8/wildfire-preparation-public-meeting-in-yakima-on-thursday Kate Prengaman /News/LatestNews/ 8409438@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:45 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:43 GMT
By JOAN LOWY The Associated Press


JOSEPH KACZMAREK/Associated Press Emergency personnel work the scene of last week’s deadly train wreck in Philadelphia.


WASHINGTON — Five years ago, federal accident investigators recommended that the government require video cameras in locomotive cabs to record engineers’ actions. But it didn’t happen. Now, that’s left a gap in unraveling last week’s fatal Amtrak derailment. It’s an old story for the National Transportation Safety Board. Accidents occur, people die and there is a clamor for action. Later, when attention moves elsewhere, recommendations frequently lag for years. Some are never realized. In the Amtrak crash, the train was equipped with a “black box” data recorder and a camera focused on the track ahead. Information from those devices shows that in the last minute before the crash the train accelerated rapidly, reaching 106 miles per hour just before entering a curve where the speed limit was 50. Maximum braking power was applied in the last few seconds, but it was too late. The train derailed, leaving eight people dead, about 200 injured and a mangled mess of rail cars. Amtrak service between Philadelphia and New York didn’t resume until Monday. What investigators would like to know is why the train accelerated. Was it a deliberate act by the engineer? An accident? Or was there some other reason? Questions have arisen whether the Amtrak locomotive was hit by a projectile of some kind as it passed through Philadelphia. An engineer for a local commuter railroad reported being hit by something shortly before the crash, and a conductor on the Amtrak train has told investigators she heard the Amtrak engineer, Brandon Bostian, say over a radio that their train had been hit as well. NTSB said Monday that the FBI has concluded no bullet struck the train, and the board is uncertain whether it was hit by anything. Bostian, who suffered a head injury in the crash, has told investigators he can’t remember anything after leaving Philadelphia’s 30th Street station, the last stop before the derailment, until after the crash. It’s exactly the kind of circumstance that the NTSB’s recommendation for inward-facing video and sound cameras was supposed to address, says Jim Hall, who was the board’s chairman in the 1990s. It’s not unusual for engineers to be killed in train crashes, or to be seriously injured and not remember details clearly. “To not have all the investigative tools when people have lost their lives in order to understand what occurred and to prevent it from recurring is a travesty,” Hall said. “The black box can tell us what the controls did, but we don’t know exactly what the operator did.” As recently as 2012, the Federal Railroad Administration had opposed requiring the cameras, citing concern that they might lower employee morale and worrying that the images might be used punitively by railroads. Labor unions representing railroad engineers have also strongly opposed the cameras. “Installation of cameras will provide the public nothing more than a false sense of security,” Dennis Pierce, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said following a December 2013 commuter train crash in the Bronx, N.Y., in which it was later determined the engineer had fallen asleep. “More than a century of research establishes that monitoring workers actually reduces the ability to perform complex tasks, such as operating a train, because of the distractive effect.” The union didn’t immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press. The railroad administration said it supports use of the cameras. In the past year, the agency has told the NTSB that it intends to propose regulations requiring the cameras. However, no regulations have yet been proposed, and it typically takes federal agencies many months, if not years, to move from proposals to final regulations. The NTSB first recommended requiring audio recordings of sound in locomotive cabs in the late 1990s following a commuter rail crash in Silver Spring, Maryland. None of the operating crew members survived the crash, and the board was unable to determine their actions leading up to the crash. The recommendation was repeated in about a dozen more crash investigations since then. It was revised to include video cameras with sound five years ago as the board wrapped up its investigation into one of the worst train collisions in memory — a Metrolink commuter train that failed to obey signals and collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train near Chatsworth, California, in 2008. Twenty-five people were killed, including the Metrolink engineer, and over 100 injured. The NTSB later determined the engineer was distracted and didn’t notice the signals because he had been sending text messages during the trip. But some deduction was involved in that conclusion. “Clearly the visuals would have revealed what actually happened,” said Mark Rosenker, who chaired the NTSB at the time of the Metrolink accident. Over the past five years, the safety agency has repeated the camera recommendation in accident after accident, including as recently as last November when the board concluded its investigation into a collision between Union Pacific and BNSF Railway freight trains near Chaffee, Missouri, in May 2013. “The NTSB remains concerned that the Federal Railroad Administration’s delayed action .... leaves many safety lessons unlearned and further delays improvements for the safety of railroad operations,” the board said at the time....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179687-8/lack-of-video-hampers-amtrak-probe By JOAN LOWY Associated Press /News/LatestNews/ 8409585@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:43 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:42 GMT
By Ryan Divish The Seattle Times


John Froschauer/Associated Press Seattle’s Brad Miller, left, is greeted by third base coach Rich Donnelly after hitting a solo home run Saturday off of Boston’s Rick Porcello in first inning at Safeco Field.


BALTIMORE — Brad Miller never wavers. He’ll tell you without asking, even if the inference is hinted. “I’m a shortstop,” he’ll say bluntly and abruptly in any conversation. Regardless of present role or success, he believes it and isn’t afraid to say it. Meanwhile, his manager thinks of Miller as the next Ben Zobrist — a super-utility player that maximizes the gifts of speed, athleticism and versatility. “My vision was real simple: This guy is a special player and has the ability to move all over the field because he’s very athletic,” Lloyd McClendon said. “He hasn’t disappointed to this point.” But do their visions of the future need to be identical? If anything, this past homestand showed that the situation can work well, even with differing opinions. The thing that has elevated Miller to the big leagues and will keep him there is his bat. It was on display this past week when Miller hit .429 (9 for 21) with four home runs, three doubles, six runs scored and five RBI over six games, earning him American League Player of the Week honors Monday. Really, Miller’s best position is “hitter.” It has been that way since the Mariners selected him in the second round of the 2011 draft out of Clemson. Even then, while scouts debated whether he would make it as a shortstop or should be converted to outfield, there was a consensus that he had the tools to hit at the major-league level. The bat carried him through the minor leagues, despite the errors and fundamental flaws on defense. In 219 minor-league games, Miller hit .334 and had a .924 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). The hope was the defense would catch up to the offense. A year ago, Miller was mired in the worst slump of his professional career. After a solid rookie season in 2013 in which he hit .265 with a .737 OPS and after a monster spring in which he beat out Nick Franklin for the shortstop job, Miller was poised to build on his success. But it didn’t happen. Pitchers had adjusted to him, and he struggled to adjust to those changes. He made changes to his stance, approach and swing. Nothing helped. On May 30, Miller went 0 for 3 in a loss to the Tigers. His batting average was at .158 with a .484 OPS. With 43 strikeouts, he was striking out nearly every third at-bat. By comparison, he’d struck out only 52 times in his 76 big-league games in 2013. But in June, he hit .298 with an .867 OPS. A strong August and September in which he hit a combined .301 with an .894 OPS helped salvage the season. The up and down season at the plate was coupled with 19 errors in 107 games. It’s why the Mariners considered moving Miller to the outfield in the offseason. Miller won the opening-day shortstop competition this spring after Chris Taylor suffered a broken hand when he was hit by pitch. Had Taylor won the job out of spring, it’s likely Miller would have started the season at Class AAA Tacoma and started learning outfield. Instead, Miller started 23 of the first 25 games at shortstop. But after four errors and a few shaky moments in the field, the organization called up Taylor and asked Miller to change his role. McClendon didn’t think it was a gamble to make the move at the big-league level. Some players might not handle it well, but he believed Miller was mature enough. “When you communicate, you talk about it, you let him know what your vision is and what you think ultimately is going to come of this and you get the player to buy into it,” McClendon said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of gamble at all.” It still left Miller admittedly “frustrated.” And he still believes he is capable of being an everyday shortstop. But this is his role, and he’s tried to embrace it. During the past homestand, he started at shortstop, left field and designated hitter, and he hit leadoff and in the No. 2 spot. “I think the biggest thing is just try to treat each opportunity as a new one and go out there and play, and really not try to read too much into where I’m hitting in the order or where I’m playing,” Miller said. “Just kind of go out there and go after it.” It’s a consistent mind-set in a role where few things are the same each day. “You want to focus on your daily activities and putting in your work and kind of let the rest take care of itself,” he said. “Any time you’re worrying about things out of your control, it can take away from your performance. Just try to keep your head down and work and play.” And Miller is going to play. With this recent hot stretch, it’s become apparent that it’s impossible to get keep him out of the lineup, particularly if there is a right-handed starting pitcher. There was some thought a few weeks ago that when Austin Jackson comes off the disabled list sometime this week that Miller might be sent to Tacoma for a week or two to play outfield on a daily basis. But that won’t happen now. Could Miller get back the starting shortstop job? With Taylor struggling at the plate — he has a .129 (4 for 31) batting average — the Mariners could send him back to Tacoma. It would buy them some time from making a more drastic roster decision. But if Taylor stays, the Mariners would have to designate either Willie Bloomquist, Rickie Weeks, Justin Ruggiano or Dustin Ackley for assignment to make room for Jackson....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179713-8/mariners-miller-experiment-paying-off Jerrel Swenning /News/LatestNews/ 8409647@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:42 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:38 GMT
By Brian Bennett Tribune Washington Bureau



WASHINGTON — Alarmed about the growing threat from Islamic State, the Obama administration has dramatically stepped up warnings of potential terrorist attacks on American soil after several years of relative calm. Behind the scenes, U.S. authorities have raised defenses at U.S. military bases, put local police forces on alert and increased surveillance at the nation’s airports, railroads, shopping malls, energy plants and other potential targets. Driving the unease are FBI arrests of at least 30 Americans on terrorism-related charges this year in an array of “lone wolf” plots, none successful, but nearly all purportedly inspired by Islamic State propaganda or appeals. The group’s leader, Abu Bakr Baghdadi, drove home the danger in a 34-minute audio recording released online Thursday. He urged Muslims everywhere to “migrate to the Islamic State or fight in his land, wherever that may be.” The audio was released with translations in English, French, German, Russian and Turkish, signaling the militants’ increasingly ambitious attempts to draw new recruits — and to spark violence — around the world. U.S. officials estimate the Sunni Muslim group has drawn 22,000 foreign fighters to Syria and Iraq, including about 3,700 from Western nations. About 180 Americans have gone, or tried to go. U.S. counterterrorism officials initially viewed Islamic State as primarily a regional security threat, focused on expanding and protecting its self-proclaimed Islamist caliphate in Syria and Iraq, rather than launching attacks abroad. But the analysis has shifted sharply as gunmen inspired by the group, but not controlled or assisted by them, opened fire at the Parliament in Ottawa; at a cafe in Sydney, Australia; at a kosher grocery in Paris; and, on May 3, in Garland, Texas. In the Texas case, two would-be terrorists apparently prompted by Islamic State social media messages tried to shoot their way into a provocative contest for caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. Both gunmen were shot to death, and no one else was killed. Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the assault, the first time it has done so for an attack on U.S. soil. James B. Comey, the FBI director, warned this month that “hundreds, maybe thousands” of Americans are seeing recruitment pitches from Islamic State on Facebook, Twitter and other social media, as well as messages sent to smartphones of “disturbed people” who could be pushed to attack U.S. targets. “It’s like the devil sitting on their shoulders saying, ‘Kill, kill, kill,’ “ Comey told reporters. The United States has entered a “new phase, in my view, in the global terrorist threat,” Jeh Johnson, director of Homeland Security, said Friday on MSNBC. “We have to be concerned about the independent actor, and the independent actor who is here in the homeland who may strike with little or no warning,” he said. “The nature of the global terrorist threat has evolved.” That poses a special challenge for U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, which spent years desperately trying to penetrate and understand al-Qaida’s rigid hierarchy and top-down approach to terrorism. Now they are struggling to detect and prevent lethal attacks by individuals — such as the April 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon by two Russian-born brothers — with little or no outside communication or support. The administration has sought to stiffen homeland defenses, and intelligence gathering, in response. This month, U.S. Northern Command boosted security at all bases in the United States. Officials cited the May 3 shooting in Texas, specific threats against military personnel and the increasing number of Americans communicating with Islamic State supporters. In March, a group calling itself “Islamic State Hacking Division” posted online the names, home addresses and photos of 100 U.S. troops. The group wrote on Twitter that it was posting the apparent hit list “so that our brothers residing in America can deal with you.” More armed guards have been deployed at federal buildings across the country, and Homeland Security officials have quietly urged more security at privately run facilities and infrastructure that could be targeted, including shopping malls, railroads, water treatment facilities and nuclear power generators. “Since last summer we have ramped up security at federal installations across the country, and we have increased our outreach with critical infrastructure operators,” a senior Homeland Security official said in an interview. Authorities have urged companies to conduct more “active shooter” drills to “heighten awareness and make sure people are leaning forward with security protocols,” he said. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss internal communications and security measures. Defeating Islamic State will take not only the ongoing military operations in Iraq and Syria, U.S. officials said, but stronger international efforts to block foreign recruits from joining and to cut the group’s financing networks. Officials acknowledge they also need better messaging to counter a barrage of polished videos, social media and Internet appeals from the militants. “It’s a long-term challenge,” Brett McGurk, deputy assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, told CNN. “We have not seen this before. And it’s going to take a very long time to defeat them.” Still, attacking Western targets is not the group’s top priority, as it was for Osama bin Laden, according to Seth Jones, a former U.S. counterterrorism official now with Rand Corp., the Santa Monica, Calif.-based think tank. The group is far more focused on the battleground in Iraq and Syria, and establishing ties to terrorist groups in Libya, Yemen, Algeria and elsewhere. Without a strong hand to help direct and organize attacks abroad, they are “likely to be less sophisticated,” Jones said. “You actually need a lot of training to conduct a Madrid-style attack or a London-style attack. Those kinds of bombs are hard to put together.” Most of the 30 Americans arrested this year were suspected of aiding or trying to join Islamic State. Many were approached on social media or on chat programs designed for cellphones. In March, for example, a 22-year-old Army National Guard specialist was arrested at Chicago Midway International Airport as he allegedly attempted to join Islamic State in Syria. The FBI said he had downloaded military training manuals to take with him and told an undercover agent he was prepared to “bring the flames of war” to the United States. That same month, a retired Air Force avionics instrument specialist was indicted in Brooklyn, N.Y., on suspicion of trying to travel to Syria to join the group. Prosecutors in Brooklyn also have charged three other men with seeking to link up with the militants. And on Thursday, the FBI arrested a former interpreter for the U.S. military in Iraq, now a naturalized American citizen, who had tried to travel to Syria from Texas. In June he had used Twitter to “pledge obedience” to Islamic State. “As a numbers game, it is pretty easy for ISIS to reach out to a very large number of people using a very robust social media presence,” said J.M. Berger, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution, using a common acronym for Islamic State. “I suspect we should see more plots going forward,” he added....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179719-8/white-house-steps-up-warnings-about-terrorism-in By Brian Bennett /News/LatestNews/ 8409670@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:38 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:37 GMT
By Emily Langer The Washington Post



Elisabeth Bing was not yet a mother when she decided that there must be a better way to become one. She was working as a physical therapist in England, where she had fled at 18 to escape persecution in Nazi Germany, and took an interest in caring for women who had recently given birth. Those patients, like the ones Bing later met as a trend-setting childbirth educator in the United States in the 1950s, experienced none of the joy expectant mothers today have come to hope for. Fathers were absent. Also missing, Bing observed, was the proper regard for laboring women as patients with physical and emotional needs. In that era, mothers gave birth with their “hands and legs strapped down so they would not fall off the delivery table or perhaps touch any of the sterile drapes,” she wrote in an essay published in 1990. “A woman had become an unconscious object from whose pelvis a baby was extracted with no concern for her feelings.” As much or more than any obstetrician, midwife, doula or dog-eared copy of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” Bing was credited with improving standard delivery-room practices for later generations of women. She was 100 when she died Friday at her home in New York City, where she began teaching the Lamaze method and other techniques of “prepared childbirth” more than half a century ago. Bing struggled at times for recognition by the traditional medical establishment, partly because of the once-radical nature of her ideas and partly because she received only limited formal medical training — a result of the time and place of her own birth. She was born at home and in the presence of a midwife on July 8, 1914, in Grünau, a suburb of Berlin, and was named Elisabeth Dorothea Koenigsberger. Her family had converted from Judaism to Protestantism in the early 20th century but still faced anti-Semitic persecution by the Nazi regime, and Elisabeth was expelled from the university three days after she enrolled. Her mother arranged for her to move to England, where Elisabeth trained in physical therapy, treating victims of accidents and disease as well as postpartum mothers. “What I saw I disliked intensely,” she said in a 1999 interview published in the Journal of Perinatal Education. “It was very frightening and upsetting to me. The women either had very heavy anesthesia or nothing at all. They were entirely out of control. And they were treated very roughly.” With travel limited by World War II, she began schooling herself in the philosophy of childbirth. Among the texts she read was “Childbirth Without Fear,” a seminal 1942 work by British obstetrician Grantly Dick-Read, who argued that childbirth was a natural event made painful in large part by fear needlessly induced in women. In 1949, Bing came to the United States. She first joined her sister in Jacksonville, Ill., and worked as a labor coach, later settling in New York City, where she introduced herself to city obstetricians. Alan Guttmacher, chief of obstetrics at Mount Sinai Hospital, hired her for the maternity ward. Bing was deeply inspired by the ideas of Fernand Lamaze, the French physician who created the birthing method that included the breathing techniques for labor that are now widely known. Another influence on Bing was Marjorie Karmel, a woman who gave birth with his assistance and whose book “Thank You, Dr. Lamaze” was published in 1959. The next year, Bing joined Karmel in founding the American Society for Psychoprophylaxis in Obstetrics now known as Lamaze International. For years, Bing gave childbirth classes from a studio in her Manhattan apartment. She said that she preferred terms such as “prepared” or “educated” childbirth to “natural childbirth” because she did not eliminate medication as an option during labor. “There is no absolute goal, no threshold that all or any of us must reach,” she wrote in her book “Six Practical Lessons for an Easier Childbirth,” first published in 1967 and still in circulation. “You certainly must not feel any guilt or sense of failure if you require some medication, or if you experience discomfort.” The feminist movement, by encouraging women to exert greater control over their bodies, helped popularize the Lamaze and other methods that remain popular decades later. “We are not being tied down anymore,” Bing told the New York Times in 2000. “We’re not lying flat on our backs with our legs in the air, shaved like a baby. You can give birth in any position you like. The father, or anybody else, can be there. We fought for years on end for that. And now it’s commonplace. We’ve got it all.” Besides “Six Practical Lessons,” Bing wrote the exercise guide “Moving Through Pregnancy” (1975) and, with co-author Libby Colman, the books “Making Love During Pregnancy” (1977), “Having a Baby After 30” (1980) and “Laughter and Tears: The Emotional Life of New Mothers” (1997). Bing also published a memoir, “My Life in Birth” (2000). Her first marriage, to Norman Brangham, ended in divorce. Her second husband, Jacques Komkomma, died shortly after the end of the war. Her third husband, Fred M. Bing, died in 1984 after 32 years of marriage. Survivors include their son, Peter Bing of Atlanta; and a granddaughter. Peter Bing confirmed his mother’s death and said he did not know the cause. Bing had her son at age 40, after several miscarriages, and said she was medicated during labor. “The important thing I learned from the experience of Peter’s birth,” she told the New York Sun in 2004, “was that the point of childbirth training was not to ‘make it’ through childbirth without anesthesia so much as to teach a woman to help herself as far as she can go.” “Birthing,” she once told the publication Mothering, “is much more than eliminating pain. It’s one of life’s peak experiences.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179791-8/elisabeth-bing-pioneering-childbirth-educator-dies-at-age /News/LatestNews/ 8409915@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:37 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:36 GMT
By MARTHA BELLISLE The Associated Press



SEATTLE — Seattle Tunnel Partners finished disassembling Bertha, the world’s largest tunnel-boring machine, on Monday and said the damage the machine sustained when it broke down in December 2013 was more extensive than previously thought, which means they have to revise their schedule for when they will resume drilling. Also Monday, state transportation officials released the findings of two reports on the ground settlement near the Seattle Tunnel Project. Both said the removal of water near the repair pit that was dug to access Bertha was a factor, but so was natural settlement and the removal of water for other construction projects. Building a two-mile tunnel under Seattle was the project of choice to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which was damaged in a 2001 earthquake. Crews spent much of 2014 digging the 120-foot-deep access pit to reach the front of the machine so it could be pulled out and repaired. Concerns about ground stability were sparked late last year when monitors detected some settlement near the pit. Officials measured 1 inch of settlement since November. They said they plan to expand the overall monitoring program. Program administrator Todd Trepanier said having reliable information is essential to the decision-making process, and the studies will help inform future decisions as they work to replace the State Route 99 viaduct. “We all agree that public safety and protecting infrastructure are our top priorities,” Trepanier said in a release. “This is an incredibly complex issue, but all of us — the state, our contractor, the city — have a shared interest in reaching consensus and acting in the interest of public safety.” Transportation spokeswoman Laura Newborn said the department doesn’t have a set number for how much ground settlement would be considered too dangerous to continue. “It depends on where the settlement occurs, what type of settlement it is — differential vs. uniform,” she said in an email. In addition to the damage to Bertha being more extensive than thought, tunnel officials said the machine suffered some minor damage when it was taken apart. The outer seals and steel retainers that hold them in place were destroyed, they said. The cutter drive motor also suffered damage, they said. Seattle Tunnel Partners has also decided to replace the inner seals to make them more compatible with the new outer seals and easer to access if needed. The new seals were designed and made in Japan and are scheduled to arrive in Seattle in late May, they said. The company will have a revised schedule for the tunnel-boring machine by June, Newborn said....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179846-8/extensive-damage-to-bertha-the-worlds-largest-tunnel-boring By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated P /News/LatestNews/ 8410082@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:36 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:35 GMT
By Bob Condotta The Seattle Times


Color/BlackColor/BlackWilson


SEATTLE — News out of Miami Monday of a contract extension for Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill could have an impact three time zones away as the Seahawks continue to work on their own hoped-for extension for quarterback Russell Wilson. Tannehill’s overall deal is reported as a six-year extension worth $96 million. But that includes the 2015 and 2016 seasons for which he was already under contract. According to multiple reports, Tannehill is getting $77 million over four more years on the deal, from 2017-2020, which in NFL terms is called “new money.” And one salary cap expert says that new money average of $19.25 million per year (sixth among all QBs) and the fact that Tannehill is also getting $45 million guaranteed, are the real keys to the deal that could impact Seattle’s attempts to extend Wilson. “If that (the reported salary and guarantee) is accurate, then Seattle should have gotten a deal done before this one,” said Joel Corry, a former agent who now writes for CBSSports.com. “If I’m Russell Wilson’s agent and Ryan Tannehill is getting close to $20 million in new money and almost half of it is guaranteed, then I’m not budging that I want to be the highest-paid player in football. If he’s coming in at $19 (plus) million a year, then Wilson is coming in at more than $20 million a year, easy.” Seattle’s offer to Wilson is reported to be a four-year extension for roughly $80 million a deal that would start after the 2015 season, when Wilson is due $1.5 million on the final season of his rookie contract. Tannehill is the first of several high-profile QBs from the draft class of 2012 to sign new deals, a group that also includes Wilson and Andrew Luck. Each can now get extensions with three years complete of their original four-year rookie contracts. Miami had already exercised an option on Tannehill for the 2016 season (something Seattle could not do for Wilson since he was not a first-round pick. Tannehill was taken No. 8 overall in 2012). Tannehill’s deal reportedly includes $21.5 million fully guaranteed upon signing. Corry said he assumed Tannehill would get a deal in the $16-17 million per year range, and the fact that it came in higher will reset the baseline for some of the quarterbacks still seeking extensions, especially a player such as Wilson, who has led the Seahawks to two Super Bowls, and one title (Tannehill has yet to lead the Dolphins into the playoffs). “It’s only going to get worse for them (the Seahawks), particularly after this deal,” said Corry. Some have theorized Wilson could play out the 2015 season and at the least force the Seahawks to use an Exclusive Rights Franchise Tag in 2016. Corry said he thinks the Tannehill deal could only increase the odds that Wilson might go that route. “I know he won’t want to play for $1.542 million, but this is a guy who got run out of North Carolina State (eventually transferring to Wisconsin for his senior season) so he has been through worse,” Corry said. Corry says the Exclusive Rights Tag, which would bind Wilson to the Seahawks in 2016, would likely come in around $24 million. Seattle could put additional tags on Wilson in 2017 and 2018, which would increase by 20 and 44 percent each year. “You’re talking basically $53 million for the 2016-17 seasons to play 0n the franchise tag,” he said. “You don’t want to do it for a third year at 44 (percent raise from the 2017 number). So if you’re going to pay him $53 million over those two years, average, you can make a case they should sign him to a long-term deal of $23-25 million (per year).” Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay is the highest-paid player in the NFL on a per-year basis at $22 million. His guaranteed money of $54 million is also the most among quarterbacks....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179954-8/miami-deal-could-impact-wilsons-negotiations-with-seahawks Jerrel Swenning /News/LatestNews/ 8410542@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:35 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:32 GMT
By Bob Condotta The Seattle Times


Color/BlackColor/BlackWilliams


SEATTLE — The Seahawks announced today that defensive tackle Jesse Williams will undergo kidney surgery after being diagnosed with Papillary Type 2 cancer. Williams, 24, is entering his third year with the Seahawks after being taken in the fifth round of the 2013 draft out of Alabama. He has yet to play in a game after missing his first two seasons with knee injuries, but was planning on a return to the field this season and competing for a spot on the defensive line. The team issued the news in a brief statement that did not include a possible timeline. In that statement, Williams said: “Although disappointing, I am a fighter and will handle this. I am going to focus on my health and fighting this battle with a return to football as my ultimate goal. Thank you for your thoughts and support. Go Hawks!” In the same statement, general manager John Schneider said: “Jesse is an extraordinarily tough individual who has overcome a great deal in his life and we will support him in any way possible. He is in our thoughts and prayers.” Williams, dubbed ThaMonstar, is a native of Brisbane, Australia. After beginning his American football career at Arizona Western College he played the 2012 and 2013 seasons at Alabama. Seattle traded fifth round and sixth round picks to Detroit during the draft to move up 28 spots in the fifth round to select Williams. Cancer.net has some information on Papillary Type 2 cancer. The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center defines it this way: “Papillary carcinomas can develop as individual or multiple tumors, appearing either in the same kidney or in both kidneys. There are two types of papillary cancers, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 are more common and usually grow slowly. Type 2 papillary tumors represent more than one category of disease but, as a group, are much more aggressive and may follow an unpredictable growth pattern.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3179964-8/seahawks-williams-has-cancer-will-have-kidney-surgery Jerrel Swenning /News/LatestNews/ 8410576@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:32 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:28 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



MOSES LAKE — West Valley’s Dylan Bissell and Eisenhower’s Holden Backes tied for medalist honors Monday at the CBBN district golf tournament to earn berths in the Class 4A state tourney May 27-28 at Spokane’s Creek at Qualchan. Both players shot identical scores of 151 — 76 at Moses Pointe and 75 at Moses Lake Country Club. Bissell won a tiebreaker for the top seed to state. Also going to state locally are Ike’s Joel Fenich and Tyler Fitchett. At Moses Pointe & ML CC, par 72 Team scores: Eisenhower 465, Wenatchee 465, West Valley 469. Medalists: Dylan Bissell (West Valley) 151 (76-75); Holden Backes (Eisenhower) 151 (76-75). Eisenhower: Joel Fenich 76-83, Tyler Fitchett 83-74, Austin Backes 97-81. West Valley: Max Turnquist 77-88, Santi Almaguer 79-87, Kody Lamb 83-84, Riley O’Brien 83-90. State qualifiers: Bissell; H. Backes; Fenich; Fitchett; Brody Milbrandt, Moses Lake; Trent Jones, Moses Lake; Aaron Seabrook, Eastmont; Brady Kuntz, Wenatchee; Nick Beeson, Wenatchee. --- TENNIS Kinloch, Riehl to state EAST WENATCHEE — Makenzie Kinloch and Elena Riehl finished second Monday at the CBBN district tournament at Eastmont High School to earn a berth in the Class 4A state tournament May 29-30 in Richland. This will be the third straight trip to state in doubles for Kinloch. REPORTED RESULTS West Valley girls Doubles Semifinals: May-Waterhouse (Eastmont) Delaney Robinson/Ashley Hillier(WV) 6-1, 6-3 Championship: Waterhouse-May (Eastmont) d. Makenzie Kinloch-Elena Riehl (WV) 6-3, 6-4. 2nd place: Kinloch/Riehl (WV) d. Qazi-Davenport (W) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Consolation: Robinson-Hillier (WV) d. Moses Lake duo 6-1, 6-2; Qazi-Davenport (W) d. Robinson-Hillier (WV) 7-6 (2), 6-3. CWAC TOP SEEDS ADVANCE: All four of the top seeds advanced Monday to the championship rounds of the CWAC district tournament at East Valley. Selah’s Jared Kieser and the duo of Othon Hamill and Lucas Mahugh advanced in straight sets, as did East Valley’s Emily Hirtle, who will meet teammate Allison Manion in the final, and the Ellensburg team of Jennifer Jackson and Taylor Willis. The finals will be Saturday at Ephrata. All finalists earned berths in the Class 2A state tournament May 29-30 at the University of Washington. Third- and fourth-place finishers will play crossover matches Saturday at Ephrata against the top players from the Great Northern League. MONDAY’S RESULTS At East Valley High School BOYS Singles Semifinals: Jared Kieser (Selah) d. Tim Miller (Ellensburg) 6-1, 6-1; Michael Manion (East Valley) d. Michael Carlton (Othello) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. Consolation: Diego Villarreal (O) d. Carlton (O) 6-3, 6-2; Miller (El) d. Tristan McDevitt (S) 6-1, 6-3. 3rd/4th: Miller (El) d. Diego Villarreal (O) 6-3, 6-4. Doubles Semifinals: Othon Hamill-Lucas Mahugh (S) d. Jon Rapanut-Jonathan Rapanut (Wapato) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Monson-Sears (Ep) d. Garza-Freeman (O) 6-1, 6-7 (2-7), 7-5. Consolation: Ronish-Petersen (Quincy) d. Garza-Freeman (O) 7-5, 6-7 (7-9), 6-1; Rapanut-Rapanut (W) d. Paynter-Pugh (Ep) 6-3, 7-5. 3rd/4th: Rapanut-Rapanut (W) d. Ronish-Petersen (Q). GIRLS Singles Semifinals: Emily Hirtle (EV) d. Alex Bassett (Q) 6-3, 6-2; Allison Manion (EV) d. Angelina Cheznakov (Ep) 6-4, 7-5. Consolation: Jennie DeLeon (Ep) d. Chesnakov (Ep) 6-4. 6-0; Bassett (Q) d. Jennifer Mata (W) 6-2, 6-0. 3rd/4th: DeLeon (Ep) d. Bassett (Q) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. Doubles Semifinals: Jennifer Jackson-Taylor Willis (El) d. Nadia Botello-Meagan Rickert (W) 6-1, 6-1; Lauren McDevitt-Cailin O’Malley (S) Moore-Brekhus (Ep) 6-2, 7-5. Consolation: Moore-Brekhus (Ep) d. Faw-Thomsen (Q) 6-2, 6-4; Botello-Rickert (W) d. Villarreal-Murillo (O) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. 3rd/4th: Moore-Brekhus (Ep) d. Botello-Rickert (W) 6-3, 6-3. --- SCAC THREE NO. 1 SEEDS WIN WEST, ZILLAH GRABS TWO TITLES: Three No. 1 seed won titles at the SCAC West sub-district Monday at West Valley. La Salle’s Sean Singco in boys singles and the girls duo of Jesica Busey and Laura Stewart won their finals, as did Granger’s Sierra Heitzman. Highland’s Wes Welsh and Alejandro Jimenez, a second seed, also won. In the East sub-district at Chiawana High School, Zillah’s Grace Stiles and the team of Deyci Alejandre and Brook Snell were champions. The top four placers in each tournament advance to the SCAC district tournament beginning Friday at Hanford. SCAC West sub-district MONDAY’S RESULTS At West Valley High School BOYS Singles Championship: Sean Singco (La Salle) d. Andy Ramos (Highland) 6-3, 6-3. Consolation: Hunter Gunderson (H) d. Jairus Christensen (Goldendale) 6-3, 7-5; Eduardo Ceballos (Cle Elum) d. Miguel Mariscal (Granger) score not reported. 3rd/4th: Gunderson (H) d. Ceballos (CE) 6-3, 2-6, 6-1. Alternate: Christensen (Go) d. Mariscal (Gr) inj, default. Doubles Championship: Wes Welsh-Alejandro Jimenez (H) d. Jeffrey Vargas-Henry Martin (LS) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. Consolation: Jesse Gonzalez-Oscar Velazquez (H) d. Cotton Long-Juan Santos Cruz (H) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4; AJ Olsen-Jacob Akland (NV) d. Gus Moreno-Angel Mendoza (Gr) 6-3, 6-3. 3rd/4th: Olsen-Akland (NV) d. Gonzalez-Velazquez (H) 6-4, 6-2. Alternate: Moreno-Mendoza (Gr) d. Long-Santos Cruz (H) 8-6. GIRLS Singles Championship: Sierra Heitzman (Gr) d. Madeline Ball (LS) 6-2, 0-6, 7-5. Consolation: Zuley Perez (CE) d. Brooklyn Simmons (CE) 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-4; Laura Quintero (H) d. Sadie Carrell (NV) 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. 3rd/4th: Quntero (H) d. Perez (CE) 6-1, 6-4. Alternate: Carrell (NV) d. Simmons (CE) inj. default. Doubles Championship: Jesica Busey-Laura Stewart (LS) d. Caroline Busey-Isabella James (LS) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). Consolation: Sharan Kaur-Brianna Warner (NV) d. Lauren Robers-Hannah Singco (LS) score not reported; Kylee Sutton-Gianna Schmandt (CE) d. Hanna Hoffman-Talia Johnson (Go) 6-0, 6-1. 3rd/4th: Kaur-Warner (NV) d. Sutton-Schmandt (CE) 6-2, 6-1. Alternate: Roberts-Singco (LS) d. Hoffman-Johnson (Go) 8-4. SCAC East sub-district MONDAY’S ZILLAH RESULTS At Chiawana High School BOYS Singles Consolation: Joe Ponti (Z) d. Jesus Miron (Royal) 6-3, 7-5; Daniel Rosas (R) d. Beau Widner (Z) 7-5, 6-3. 3rd/4th: Ponti (Z) d. Rosas (R) 6-4, 6-4. Alternate: Miron (R) d. Widner (Z) 8-6. Doubles Championship: Clawson-Booker (Connell) d. Jacob Cleveringa-Jared Ellis (Z) 6-4, 6-1. Consolation: Shoman-Salmeron (Kiona-Benton) d. Pablo Medina-Ryan Anderson (Z) score not reported. Alternate: Medina-Anderson (Z) d. Ditty-Broetje (Burbank) GIRLS Singles Championship: Grace Stiles (Z) d. Jolee Booker (C) 6-3, 6-4. Consolation: Allyson Rychman (B) d. Hannah Stewart (Z) 6-2, 6-1. Alternate: Stewart (Z) d. Rebecca Pierret (C) 8-0. Doubles Championship: Deyci Alejandre-Brook Snell (Z) d. Knight-Cooper (C) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. Consolation: Abbie Myers-Abby Sandlin (Z) d. Bagwell-Withers (C) 6-0, 6-0. 3rd/4th: Myers-Sandlin (Z) d. Acevedo-Holt (KB) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180165-8/prep-roundup-wvs-bissell-ikes-backes-top-cbbn Jerrel Swenning /News/LatestNews/ 8411116@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:28 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:20 GMT
By PHUONG LE The Associated Press


TED S. WARREN/AP Protesters accompanied by Seattle police march at the Port of Seattle on Monday. Demonstrators opposed to Arctic oil drilling were showing opposition to a lease agreement between Royal Dutch Shell and the Port to allow some of Shell’s oil drilling equipment to be based in Seattle.


SEATTLE — Foes of Royal Dutch Shell’s use of a Seattle seaport terminal to prepare for exploratory oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean attacked on two fronts Monday as a few hundred protesters blocked port entrances and the City of Seattle declared that Shell and its maritime host lacked a proper permit. The city issued a violation notice, saying use of Terminal 5 by a massive floating drill rig was in violation of the site’s permitted use as a cargo terminal. The 400-foot Polar Pioneer and its support tug Aiviq must be removed from the terminal or Shell’s host, Foss Maritime, must obtain an appropriate permit, the Seattle Department of Planning and Development said. The companies can appeal. Possible fines start at $150 per day and can rise to $500 per day. The notice said the violation must be corrected by June 4. “It remains our view that the terms agreed upon by Shell, Foss and the Port of Seattle for use of Terminal 5 are valid, and it’s our intention to continue loading-out our drilling rigs in preparation for exploratory drilling offshore Alaska,” Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said. “Terminal 5 is permitted to tie up ships while they are being loaded and unloaded,” Foss Maritime spokesman Paul Queary said. “That is exactly what Foss is doing there.” Queary noted that both Foss and the Port of Seattle are appealing an earlier determination by the city that the use of Terminal 5 was not permitted. Monday’s violation notice followed that determination. Earlier Monday, protesters spent several hours blocking entrances to the terminal where the rig will be loaded before heading to waters off Alaska this summer. Holding banners and flags, demonstrators marched across a bridge to Terminal 5, temporarily closing the road during Monday morning’s commute. Once at the terminal, they spread out across the entrances and rallied, danced and spoke for several hours before leaving the site in the early afternoon. Organizers had prepared to engage in civil disobedience to stop work on the drill rig, but Seattle police said Monday afternoon that no one had been arrested and the demonstration remained peaceful. A few dozen officers followed the march on foot and bicycle and kept watch at the terminal. The mass demonstration was the latest protest of the Polar Pioneer’s arrival in Seattle. Protesters greeted the rig Thursday, and then hundreds of activists in kayaks and other vessels turned out Saturday for a protest dubbed the “Paddle in Seattle.” Smith said in an email that the “activities of the day were anticipated and did not stop crews from accomplishing meaningful work in preparation for exploration offshore Alaska this summer.” There were minimal operations at Terminal 5, “so there’s not much to block,” Port of Seattle spokesman Peter McGraw said. The operator of Terminal 18, a major hub of port activity where the march began, closed those gates in anticipation of the demonstration, he said. Officials have been urging people to exercise their First Amendment rights safely, and “that’s what we’ve been seeing so far,” McGraw said. The activists say they are concerned about the risk of an oil spill in the remote Arctic waters and the effects that tapping new frontiers of oil and gas reserves will have on global warming. Officials in Alaska have touted the economic benefits that drilling could bring there and to the Pacific Northwest. On Monday, protesters of all ages sang, rapped and danced at the vehicle gate of Terminal 5. They chanted and held signs saying “Climate Justice For All” and “You Shell Not Pass.” Lisa Marcus, 58, a musician who participated in Saturday’s protest, turned up with her “Love the planet” sign for another day of activism Monday. “We’ve got to wake up” to the dangers of human-caused climate change, she said, ticking off a list of environmental problems that the world is facing. “Shell is trying to make it worse, and that’s not acceptable.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180168-8/drilling-foes-block-seattle-port-entry By PHUONG LE Associated Press /News/LatestNews/ 8411131@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:20 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:19 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



MOSES LAKE, Wash. — West Valley’s Dylan Bissell and Eisenhower’s Holden Backes tied for medalist honors Monday at the CBBN district golf tournament to earn berths in the Class 4A state tourney May 27-28 at Spokane’s Creek at Qualchan. Both players shot identical scores of 151 — 76 at Moses Pointe and 75 at Moses Lake Country Club. Bissell won a tiebreaker for the top seed to state. Also going to state locally are Ike’s Joel Fenich and Tyler Fitchett. At Moses Pointe & ML CC, par 72 Team scores: Eisenhower 465, Wenatchee 465, West Valley 469. Medalists: Dylan Bissell (West Valley) 151 (76-75); Holden Backes (Eisenhower) 151 (76-75). Eisenhower: Joel Fenich 76-83, Tyler Fitchett 83-74, Austin Backes 97-81. West Valley: Max Turnquist 77-88, Santi Almaguer 79-87, Kody Lamb 83-84, Riley O’Brien 83-90. State qualifiers: Bissell; H. Backes; Fenich; Fitchett; Brody Milbrandt, Moses Lake; Trent Jones, Moses Lake; Aaron Seabrook, Eastmont; Brady Kuntz, Wenatchee; Nick Beeson, Wenatchee....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180173-8/wvs-bissell-ikes-backes-top-cbbn-district-golf Stephen Eastham /News/LatestNews/ 8411179@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:19 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:16 GMT
By KRISTIN J. BENDER and SCOTT SMITH The Associated Press


TOMAS OVALLE/Associated Press Extreme athlete Dean Potter stands in front of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park on Nov. 15, 2000. Potter, renowned for his daring and sometimes rogue climbs and BASE jumps, and his climbing partner Graham Hunt were killed Saturday after jumping from Taft Point in Yosemite.


SAN FRANCISCO — Two wingsuit fliers who leaped from a cliff in Yosemite National Park were trying to zoom through a notch in a ridgeline and were airborne for about 15 seconds when they slammed into a rocky outcropping and were killed, a friend said Monday. Dean Potter, 43, and Graham Hunt, 29, were experienced at flying in wingsuits — the most extreme form of BASE jumping, a sport so dangerous enthusiasts keep lists of the dead. On Saturday, wearing the “flying squirrel” outfits that have fabric stitched between the arms and body and between the legs to keep them aloft, Potter and Hunt leaped off Taft Point, 3,500 feet above the valley floor. They would have been traveling at speeds close to 100 mph as they aimed for the narrow gap in the ridge. Their bodies were found in a notch they had already flown through about a dozen times, professional climber Alex Honnold said. No one knows exactly what went wrong. A gust of wind or a slight miscalculation could have sent them off course, hurtling into rock. “What they were doing is pretty routine” for them, Honnold said. “Not like a once-in-a-lifetime performance.” BASE jumping — renegade parachuting off buildings, antennas, spans (such as bridges) and Earth (in this case, the cliffs over Yosemite Valley) — is illegal in national parks. Doing it in a wingsuit is even more dangerous, particularly the form Potter practiced, gliding frighteningly close to cliffs and trees before deploying his chute. Potter was “the big inspiration to the climbing community in the last generation,” and Hunt “was maybe the most prolific BASE jumper in the valley right now,” said Honnold, whose own free-solo ascents of America’s biggest cliffs have made him one of the world’s most recognized climbers. But he has never BASE jumped, and he has no desire to try. Potter thought he had found ways of safely enjoying some of the world’s riskiest endeavors. He scaled the toughest vertical faces without rope, and walked barefoot across lines suspended between cliffs. If he fell or became exhausted, he would deploy a parachute. As if that didn’t provide enough adrenaline, Potter wanted to fly. “Many people consider me crazy for my innovations and changes to climbing saying I’m reckless and taking too many risks,” Potter wrote three weeks ago on Instagram, where he posted a photo of himself leaping from a cliff in Switzerland in 2009 and transforming “dying into flying.” “I’m still injury free after over 30-years of pursuing some of the most dangerous (hash)OutdoorArts known to man, #KnockOnWood and will continue to take the necessary precautions to stack the odds in my favor in order to live a long and happy life,” Potter wrote. “There is a way to play hard and stay safe!” At least five people have died in BASE jumping accidents in national parks since January 2014, including the most recent deaths at Yosemite, said Jeffrey Olson, a National Park Service spokesman. Two of those were at Utah’s Zion and one at Glacier in Montana. The park service celebrates Yosemite’s role as a climbing mecca, but it struggles to stop people from illegally leaping off the cliffs. Jumpers who are caught get fined and see their equipment confiscated, but Honnold compared that to speeding tickets for race-car drivers. “For them, BASE jumping was like their art, their passion,” and they faced a much more powerful repercussion in any case, he said: “The potential down side of BASE jumping is dying.” In 2009, Potter set a record for completing the longest BASE jump, from the Eiger North Face in Switzerland, by staying in flight in a wingsuit for 2 minutes and 50 seconds. The feat earned him the Adventurer of the Year title by National Geographic magazine. Potter’s solo ascent of Utah’s iconic Delicate Arch in May 2006 prompted the National Park Service to ban climbing any of the named arches or natural bridges in Arches National Park. The outdoor clothing company Patagonia stopped sponsoring him, saying his actions “compromised access to wild places and generated an inordinate amount of negativity in the climbing community and beyond.” Clif Bar also withdrew its sponsorship of Potter for taking risks it couldn’t support. But Potter held onto Adidas and other sponsors, even after he packed his miniature Australian cattle dog, Whisper, on his back for some of his jumps and was criticized by animal rights groups. The dog was not with him on Saturday’s fatal jump. “Dean Potter was an inspiration for many of us. He was an innovator and pioneer, always seeking for new creative solutions, an exceptional athlete and artist, who loved what he was doing,” Adidas said in a statement. “We lost a friend. You will be deeply missed Dean.” Another sponsor was Five Ten footwear, whose spokeswoman, Nancy Bouchard, said “Dean would have pursued these activities whether he was supported or not. In the back of our minds, we always knew something terrible could happen, but that didn’t and doesn’t diminish our feelings.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180200-8/wingsuit-fliers-in-yosemite-knew-the-risk By KRISTIN J. BENDER and SCOTT /News/LatestNews/ 8411290@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:16 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:13 GMT
By James Rosen McClatchy Washington Bureau


Associated Press Civilians flee Ramadi on Monday. Islamic State militants searched door-to-door for policemen and pro-government fighters and threw bodies in the Euphrates River in a bloody purge Monday after capturing the Iraqi city.


WASHINGTON — After days of insisting against all evidence that the key Iraqi city of Ramadi was not under Islamic State control, American military officials finally acknowledged Monday that the city had fallen to the militants. But senior officials at the Pentagon and the State Department still contended that Iraqi security forces backed by U.S.-led air power would take back Ramadi and, more broadly, that the United States’ anti-Islamic State strategy in Iraq is working. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, used the word “setback” to describe what had taken place. “ISIL’s gains in Ramadi are a setback for its long-suffering inhabitants,” he said in a statement emailed to reporters, using the Pentagon’s preferred acronym for the Islamic State. “It is also a setback for the Iraqi security forces. Setbacks are regrettable but not uncommon in warfare.” Earlier in the day, Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, found the silver lining: “I think it’s notable that it took ISIL a year to get this far in Ramadi.” And Warren remained optimistic about the eventual outcome. “What this means is that we will now have to, along with our Iraqi partners, retake Ramadi,” he said. Dempsey offered a more sober assessment. “Much effort will now be required to reclaim the city,” he said in his statement. On Sunday, even as elite Iraqi forces fled Ramadi, abandoning U.S.-supplied weapons to the militant invaders, Warren had described the battle status as “fluid and contested” and insisted that it was “too early to make definitive statements about the situation on the ground.” On Friday, as residents reported that Islamic State fighters had seized the main government complex in Ramadi and hoisted their flag above it, Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Thomas Weidley, chief of staff of the anti-Islamic State campaign, called the militants’ gains “temporary” and said that Iraqi security forces “continue to control most of the key facilities, infrastructure and lines of communication in the area.” Within 48 hours, that assessment no longer held, if in fact it had ever been accurate. The shifting statements showed the difficulties U.S. civilian and military leaders confront as they try to maintain a consistent overall narrative about eventual success in Iraq in the face of clear gains by Islamic State fighters who first swept into Iraq from Syria last summer. After the Islamic State captured Mosul, a city of 1.3 million people 250 miles north of Baghdad, last June, U.S. and Iraqi officials vowed to recapture it. A Central Command officer even told Pentagon reporters in February that that offensive could come as soon as April. It never materialized, however, and with the fall of Ramadi any hopes it would come by October seem likely shattered. Iraqi security forces, some of them trained by U.S. special forces, did recapture Tikrit, a city of 390,000 residents 85 miles northwest of Baghdad, in March, nine months after the Islamic State had seized it on the group’s initial march across Iraq. But the Islamic State quickly responded, launching probes at Ramadi and then carrying out an offensive at Baiji that trapped an estimated 200 defenders at the oil refinery there, Iraq’s largest such facility. The facility had produced 40 percent of Iraq’s gasoline supply before it was shut by fighting in the area. Still, U.S. military spokesmen couldn’t decide on their view of its strategic value. In remarks April 16, Dempsey ranked it above Ramadi in value. Warren on May 6, however, disagreed, saying Baiji was not strategically significant, only to be corrected by Dempsey the next day. The confusion from military spokesmen has touched other issues. The United States has refused to acknowledge dozens of civilian deaths reported by local witnesses and monitoring groups as a result of more than 3,000 airstrikes conducted in Syria and Iraq since last summer. With no U.S. military spotters on the ground in either country, the Pentagon has insisted that it uses precision-guided bombs and takes great precautions to avoid civilian casualties. The Pentagon also came under criticism from defense analysts last month when it released maps purporting to show territory held and lost by the Islamic State in Iraq. The analysts challenged the Pentagon’s claim that the militants could no longer operate freely in up to 30 percent of Iraqi-populated territory that it had previously controlled. The experts said the maps were misleading because they showed Islamic State-lost territory but left off areas lost to the jihadists by Iraqi security forces. Citing operational security needs, the Pentagon also has declined to provide detailed information about the location and timing of the U.S.-led airstrikes. Last week, Pentagon reporters and analysts met with skepticism Weidley’s assertion that the Islamic State was “on the defensive through Iraq and Syria, attempting to hold previous gains while conducting small-scale, localized, harassing attacks, occasional complex or high-profile attacks, in order to feed their information and propaganda apparatus.” By Monday, Warren conceded: “ISIL obviously is not on the defensive in Ramadi. That’s fairly clear.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180202-8/ramadi-joins-lengthening-list-of-pentagon-misstatements By James Rosen /News/LatestNews/ 8411298@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:13 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:12 GMT
News Service Reports



MIAMI — Miami Marlins general manager Dan Jennings is the team’s new manager. He succeeds Mike Redmond, who was fired Sunday after the Marlins were nearly no-hit in a 6-0 loss to Atlanta that completed a three-game sweep. The defeat dropped Miami to 16-22. Bench coach Rob Leary was fired along with Redmond. Jennings was in his second season as general manager, and has been with the Marlins on the personnel side since 2002. He briefly coached in high school in the 1980s, but has no experience as a manager or major-league player. --- Judge puts off decision in Orioles, Nationals TV dispute: A New York state judge put off a decision in the television revenue dispute between the Orioles and the Nationals after listening to four hours of arguments. Supreme Court Justice Lawrence K. Marks said he will issue a written opinion. Marks put a preliminary injunction in place last August, preventing the Nationals’ from breaking their deal with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which is controlled by the Orioles. Baltimore wants Marks to overturn an arbitration decision by a panel of three baseball executives, who said last June the network should pay the Nationals about $298 million for their rights from 2012-16, starting at approximately $53 million for the first year and rising to nearly $67 million for 2016. --- Short hops: Bruce Chen announced his retirement after 17 seasons in the major leagues. ... Justin Verlander threw a 45-pitch bullpen session before Detroit’s game. ... Bud Norris was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Orioles with bronchitis. ... Chase Whitley will have Tommy John surgery today and miss the rest of the season....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180257-8/mlb-notes-marlins-gm-dan-jennings-becomes-miamis Stephen Eastham /News/LatestNews/ 8411510@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:12 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:08 GMT
News Service Reports



Football Smith retires after 14 seasons SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers star defensive lineman Justin Smith is retiring. Smith’s decision is just the latest blow to the 49ers this offseason. Two other defensive stars have also retired in linebackers Patrick Willis and Chris Borland. Coach Jim Harbaugh is also gone, along with running back Frank Gore, guard Mike Iupati, receiver Michael Crabtree and cornerback Chris Culliver. Smith played 14 seasons in the NFL after being drafted in the first round by Cincinnati in 2001. After seven seasons with the Bengals, he signed as a free agent in San Francisco and had his best success in seven years with the 49ers. Tannehill signs $77.7 million, 4-year extension: Ryan Tannehill signed a $77.7 million, four-year extension with the Miami Dolphins that keeps him under contract through 2020. He’s the first quarterback to receive an extension from the 2012 draft class that also included the Colts’ Andrew Luck, the Redskins’ Robert Griffin III and the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson. Group recommends Chargers pay $300M, NFL $200M for stadium: The mayor’s advisory group is recommending that the Chargers contribute $300 million toward a new $1.33 billion stadium, with the NFL giving $200 million, the city and county $121 million each and personal seat licenses totaling $120 million. Under intense pressure from the team and the NFL, the advisory group released its financing plan, saying there won’t be tax increases or increases to the city’s general fund, and that the financing plan doesn’t rely on development to pay for the stadium, parking or infrastructure. Basketball Irving says he’ll play Game 1 INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Cavaliers All-Star guard Kyrie Irving returned to practice and says his leg injuries will not keep him off the court for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Irving sat out Cleveland’s practice Saturday and spent the weekend receiving treatment on tendinitis in his left knee and a sprained right foot as the Cavs rested for their series against the Atlanta Hawks. Irving said the time off helped and he feels “pretty good” going into Wednesday’s series opener. Irving said “I’m going to go” when asked about his status for Game 1. Wall says his left hand won’t need surgery: Wizards All-Star point guard John Wall says he does not need surgery for the fractures in his left hand and wrist that kept him out of three playoff games. Wall says that he will head to Cleveland this week or next to see a specialist about the injury and find out what he needs to do to heal properly. Wall says his hand “was very sore” when he returned to action, but “I wasn’t complaining about guys hitting it; I knew it was going to happen.” Wiggins only unanimous pick for All-Rookie team: Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins of Minnesota is the only unanimous selection for the NBA’s All-Rookie first team. Wiggins received all 130 votes from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters in the U.S. and Canada. He averaged 16.9 points, tops in the class, and his 36.2 minutes per game ranked fourth in the NBA. The rest of the first team was Chicago’s Nikola Mirotic, Philadelphia’s Nerlens Noel, Orlando’s Eldrid Payton and Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson. Griner accepts WNBA suspension: Brittney Griner says she accepts the WNBA’s seven-game suspension as a consequence of her actions. The league suspended the Phoenix Mercury’s All-Star center for 20 percent of its 34-game season following her arrest in a domestic violence incident. Briefly Golf: Minjee Lee shook off a three-putt bogey on her first hole with two finishing pars and won the Kingsmill Championship by two shots, her first LPGA Tour victory. Soccer: MLS’s expansion Los Angeles Football Club plans to build a $250 million stadium on the site of the old Sports Arena next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Hockey: Russia faces punishment from the International Ice Hockey Federation after its players left the ice before the victorious Canadian team’s anthem was played after the world championship final. ... The Philadelphia Flyers made a surprise pick for their new head coach, hiring the University of North Dakota’s Dave Hakstol. Auto racing: IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe was taken to a hospital for surgery on his left leg after slamming his car into the wall at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the fourth frightening wreck during practice for the Indianapolis 500. Tennis: A South African judge has sentenced retired doubles tennis champion Bob Hewitt to six years in prison for rape and sexual assault. Olympics: Boston’s troubled bid for the 2024 Olympics took another ding when a key U.S. Olympic leader suggested the city was no sure thing to remain the American candidate to bid for the games....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180294-8/morning-briefing-may-19-2015 Stephen Eastham /News/LatestNews/ 8411676@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 09:00:08 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 05:02:42 GMT
By NOMAAN MERCHANT and DAVID WARREN Associated Press




WACO, Texas — About 170 members of rival motorcycle gangs were charged with engaging in organized crime Monday, a day after a shootout at a Texas restaurant that killed nine people and wounded 18. The crowd of suspects was so large that authorities opened a convention center to hold them all before they were arrested, police said. Sunday’s melee at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco drew a broad police response that included placing officers atop buildings and highway overpasses to watch for other bikers rushing to the scene to retaliate. McLennan County Justice of the Peace W.H. Peterson set bond at $1 million for each suspect. He defended the high amount, citing the violence that quickly unfolded in a shopping market busy with a lunchtime crowd. “We have nine people dead, because these people wanted to come down and what? Drink? Party?” Peterson said. “I thought it was appropriate.” Peterson also performed inquests on the nine dead bikers but declined to identify them pending notification of family. Peterson says all nine were from Texas. Police acknowledged firing on armed bikers, but it was unclear how many of the dead were shot by gang members and how many were shot by officers. Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said the Waco Convention Center was used to hold the suspects temporarily as police rushed to secure many parts of the city amid reports of rival bikers going elsewhere to continue the fight. Those at the convention center were later taken to jail. It’s too early to determine how many motorcycle gang members will face murder charges, Swanton said. Five gangs had gathered at the restaurant as part of a meeting to settle differences over turf and recruitment. Prior meetings had been held at the restaurant, and managers there had dismissed police concerns over the gatherings, he said. “They were not here to drink and eat barbecue,” Swanton said. “They came here with violence in mind.” Twin Peaks — a national chain that features waitresses in revealing uniforms — on Monday revoked the franchise rights to the restaurant, which opened in August. Company spokesman Rick Van Warner said in a statement that the management team chose to ignore warnings and advice from the company, and did not establish the “high security standards” that the company requires. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission on Monday issued a seven-day suspension of the restaurant’s liquor license, but owners had the option of reopening to serve meals. Police and the restaurant operators were aware of Sunday’s meeting in advance, and 18 Waco officers in addition to state troopers were outside the restaurant when the fight began, Swanton said. McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara, whose office is involved in the investigation, said the nine dead were members of the Bandidos and Cossacks. However, Swanton has repeatedly declined to identify which gangs were involved in a fight that began with punches then grew to include chains, knives and then guns. “I am not about to give them the respect of mentioning their names,” Swanton said. Many men detained in the hours after the shooting were seen wearing leather vests that read Bandidos or Cossacks. More than 100 motorcycles were in the parking lots around the restaurant Monday, along with an additional 50 to 75 vehicles that probably belong to gang members, Swanton said. Authorities were having them towed from the scene, 95 miles south of Dallas. Swanton said authorities had received threats against law enforcement “throughout the night” from biker groups and stood ready to confront any more violence. Officials stopped and questioned motorcycle riders. Agents from the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting local and state authorities. In a 2014 gang-threat assessment, the Texas Department of Public Safety classified the Bandidos as a “Tier 2” threat, the second highest. Other groups in that tier included the Bloods, Crips and Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. The Bandidos, formed in the 1960s, are involved in trafficking cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Bandidos conduct their activities as covertly as possible to avoid publicity, according to the DPS assessment. Members aren’t covert, however, about making their presence known by wearing their colors and insignia, and riding in large groups. The Texas assessment does not mention the Cossacks. In a bulletin issued May 1, the Texas Joint Information Center run by the DPS warned of increasing violence between the Bandidos and Cossacks. Dallas TV station WFAA obtained the bulletin and reported that it said the conflict could stem from Cossacks refusing to pay Bandidos dues for operating in Texas and for wearing a Texas patch on their vests without the Bandidos’ approval. DPS spokesman Tom Vinger declined to comment on the authenticity of the bulletin, citing agency policy. The bulletin also outlined several recent incidents between the two groups, including about 10 Cossacks forcing a Bandido to pull over along Interstate 35 near Waco in March and attacking him with “chains, batons and metal pipes before stealing his motorcycle,” WFAA reported. That same day, a group of Bandidos confronted a Cossack member fueling up at a truck stop in Palo Pinto County, west of Fort Worth, the bulletin said. When the Cossack member refused to remove the Texas patch from his vest, the Bandidos hit him in the head with a hammer and stole the vest. ——— Associated Press Writer Diana Heidgerd in Dallas and videographer John L. Mone contributed to this report....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3180265-8/charges-filed-against-170-motorcycle-gang-members-in By NOMAAN MERCHANT and DAVID WA /News/LatestNews/ 8411550@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 05:02:42 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 02:55:33 GMT
By Geoff Folsom Tri-City Herald



Marian Roberts of Kennewick had one request before skydiving to celebrate her 80th birthday. “I said to make it last as long as they could,” she said Saturday afternoon, hours after jumping 12,500 feet. And the instructors at West Plains Skydiving in Ritzville obliged, allowing Roberts to glide and move around in circles before landing safely. It was her second time skydiving. She last jumped 20 years ago in Mount Vernon, Mo. “That wasn’t nearly as much fun as this one,” she said. “This one, we did all kind of whirligigs in the air.” Having her granddaughter, Jen Roberts, 30, of West Richland, with her as they zipped through the air also made this jump more enjoyable. “It was just wonderful to have her up in the plane with me,” Marian said. The younger Roberts relished the experience, as well. “I was the first out of the plane, and Granny was right behind me,” Jen said. “It was fantastic.” Marian Roberts’ actual birthday is May 17, but the jump was pushed up a day because of rain forecast for Ritzville. She has taken part in other high-octane sports, riding dirt bikes and para-sailing into her 50s and 60s. She started slowing down the excitement when she and her husband, Lester, started taking care of their disabled granddaughter, Hope, in 1985. “She’s an adrenaline junkie,” Jen said of her grandmother. But none of Marian’s previous adventures compared to this one, she said. “Everyone should try it,” she said. The family celebrated her birthday afterward with a barbecue party at her son’s house in West Richland. It was attended by 22 people, including five of her siblings from Boise. “It was a very big day,” said daughter-in-law Pati Roberts. Marian, a retired cook with the Richland School District, said she started thinking about skydiving again as her birthday approached. “I just got to thinking about how much fun it was 20 years ago and I said, ‘I’m going to be 80,’ ” she recalled. She and Lester have been married since 1953. They met while Lester, originally from Missouri, was stationed at Camp Hanford, and Marian, who was from Boise, was working as a nanny in Connell. Marian refuses to look at age as something that limits her abilities, she said. “As long as I want to do something, I do it,” she said. “If you’re able to, do it.” She is already thinking about skydiving again on her 81st birthday. “They told me to come back, and I said, ‘I just might,’ ” she said....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3175809-13/kennewick-woman-celebrates-80th-birthday-with-sky-dive ctroianello /News/LatestNews/ 8400517@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 02:55:33 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 02:55:33 GMT
By Ty Beaver Tri-City Herald



What will it take to win free doughnuts for a year from the Tri-Cities’ first Krispy Kreme store? A specially issued wristband and the ability to stand in line for up to 15 hours, for starters. As part of the new doughnut shop’s promotions, the first customer in the door at 6 a.m. May 19 will receive a free dozen glazed doughnuts each week for a year, along with a commemorative T-shirt and the distinction of turning on the “Hot Doughnuts NOW” sign. The next 99 people will receive a dozen glazed doughnuts each month for a year. But the opportunity to be among the first customers begins the day before. There are a list of rules for folks wanting to wait for that first batch to roll off the line. And, yes, there will be line checks. Starting at 3 p.m. May 18, store employees will begin registering customers and doling out wristbands for folks who want to stand in line at the outlet in Richland’s Queensgate district. Then a free pizza party with a DJ and other activities starts at 6 p.m. Franchise owners Scott and Crystal Carroll, creators of MyFroYo frozen yogurt shops, announced in June plans to open three of the North Carolina-based shops in Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties in the next three years. Krispy Kreme has more than 260 U.S. shops that serve 42 doughnut varieties, including cake, glazed and filled. Right now, the closest outlets to the Tri-Cities are in Spokane, Seattle and Portland. “I ran a 10K race with my daughter last Saturday and the people standing in front of us were talking about Krispy Kreme,” Crystal Carroll said. “Everywhere in town people are talking about it.” So if you’re all in on trying to score some of those famous glazed pastries, here’s Krispy Kreme’s rules: • Participants must be at least age 10 to be in line. Those under 16 must have a parent or guardian with them throughout the event and have a signed consent form. No pets, no illegal drugs and no alcohol are allowed in line and anyone under the influence will be asked to leave. • Registration starts at 3 p.m. at the store at 2805 Duportail St. and includes signing a waiver and release from Krispy Kreme, which requires participants to follow the company’s rules and employee directions during the event. The first 100 to register will receive a bracelet showing their position in line. People can line up before 3 p.m. if they like but they “do so at their own risk.” • Once you’ve registered and received a bracelet, people in the line may leave the line to participate in the festivities or use the restroom. However, they must be back in line before a line check occurs — a warning of such checks are announced 10 minutes before. And you can’t leave the premises once you’re registered until after the opening without forfeiting your position in line. “We will do line checks randomly,” Carroll said. There’ll be food and fun to start at the preopening May 18, but it won’t last. It’s up to participants to meet their own needs for food, shelter and warmth, the rules state. There is a slight chance of rain showers that night, so you might want to bring a raincoat. • Didn’t make it to the store in time to be among the first 100 to register? There’s still hope. You can still register and be given a number and added to a waiting list as an alternate. They can move up into the first 100 if those ahead of them are disqualified or drop out before the store opens. • Fair warning: lining up for a prize doesn’t give you an ironclad claim to some doughnuts. The company reserves the right to change or cancel the event or prizes “for any reason.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3175811-13/krispy-kreme-opens-tuesday-in-tri-cities ctroianello /News/LatestNews/ 8400522@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 02:55:33 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:55 GMT
JoNel Aleccia The Seattle Times



Most parents of preschoolers would swear their kids can’t sit still, but a new Seattle-based study finds that little ones in day care spent most of their time in sedentary activities, with too few chances for active play. Overall, 3- to 5-year-olds enrolled at 10 Seattle-area child-care centers were offered opportunities to move around, either indoors or outside, only 48 minutes, or 12 percent, out of every eight-hour day. That’s far less than the two hours of physical activity recommended by national guidelines, and it’s only a fraction of 88 percent of the time kids spent in quiet activities or taking naps, according to research led by Dr. Pooja Tandon, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington. “I would say it’s surprising,” said Tandon, who is also a scientist with Seattle Children’s Research Institute. “When you think of 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds, most people would assume they’re spending a much higher proportion of their day moving around.” It’s an important question in Seattle and the United States, where about 5 million young children attend preschools or structured child-care programs, with the average child spending more than 30 hours a week in that care, according to federal statistics. “The amount of physical activity a child gets is dependent on the program,” said Kyle Snow, director of the Center for Applied Research at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The results, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, point to a need for more attention, resources and training for child-care directors and teachers to help boost kids’ physical activity, he added. Tandon and her colleagues spent two years between 2012 and 2014 observing activity types and levels for nearly 100 children at the 10 local child-care centers. They excluded government-run centers such as Head Start programs. The researchers spent at least four full days at each preschool, watching and recording data from kids outfitted with devices that measure activity through hip movement. The goal was to see whether the youngsters were actually getting the two hours of activity a day (24-hour period) recommended by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. “Physical activity is important for a wide range of reasons,” Tandon said. There’s the matter of weight, obviously, in a nation where one-third of adults and about 17 percent of kids ages 2 to 19 are considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among those aged 2 to 5, about 8 percent were obese in 2011-2012, down from about 14 percent in 2003-2004, CDC figures showed. But weight isn’t the only concern, Tandon said. “Physical activity, independent of weight status, has numerous benefits as far as cardiovascular health, muscular health, even learning and brain function,” she said. So the researchers were concerned to learn that preschoolers spent 73 percent of their day in sedentary activities, 13 percent in light movement and only 14 percent engaged in moderate to vigorous activities such as running and skipping. The kids were most active when they were sent outside for free play, but that amounted to only about 8 percent of the day. Tandon revealed the research results to the centers, which she declined to identify. The managers and directors recognized the problem, but said there are barriers to offering active play. One is the push for academics at ever-younger ages. Most parents believe preschools should prepare their kids for kindergarten and beyond, so schools feel pressure to focus on sit-down skills such as reading and math. “I think the role of active play or movement has been deprioritized at the expense of these other activities,” Tandon said. Weather is another obstacle to outdoor play in rainy Seattle, the teachers told Tandon. And many kids don’t come to school with coats or other appropriate clothing. Those concerns are echoed by staffers at Child Care Resources of Seattle, a nonprofit that works with parents and providers to ensure quality care. Deeann Burtch Puffert, chief executive officer, said child-care centers work for kids to be active at least an hour a day, according to state guidelines. But the pressures of practicality sometimes get in the way, especially when there are as many as 10 children for every teacher. “About half the kids can operate zippers and tie their shoes,” she said. “It’s a profound workload issue.” Adrienne Wingo, who provides technical assistance, said that the group encourages providers to take children outside every day, regardless of weather. “We encourage our providers to think of the outside environment as a classroom,” she said. Still, some parents object when kids go outside in bad weather, or when they come home dirty, Puffert added. “Teachers don’t want parents to be upset with them,” she said. But Tandon and Snow, from the NAEYC, said it’s important to try to find solutions to such obstacles. “I do not want to diminish their importance, but they ultimately are surmountable,” Snow said. “Part of it is thinking about, not do we do this or do we do that, but can we do multiple things at once that are mutually beneficial?” “On the count of three, everybody find the blue tree stump across the yard,” he suggested, noting that such curriculum teaches colors while also engaging kids in physical activity. The study should prompt parents to ask child-care providers about activity opportunities and to make sure they send their kids to school prepared for outdoor play, Tandon said. “Think about it just like a balanced diet,” she said. “Is my child getting enough outdoor time?”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178290-8/what-does-your-preschooler-do-in-day-care /News/LatestNews/ 8406297@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:55 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:55 GMT
By Mary Clare Jalonick Associated Press



WASHINGTON — Labels on packaged steaks and other cuts of meat in the United States that say where the animals were born, raised and slaughtered will have to be dropped or revised after a World Trade Organization ruling. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Monday that the WTO has rejected a final U.S. appeal, deciding that the U.S. “country of origin” labels put Canadian and Mexican livestock at a disadvantage. The Obama administration has already revised the labels to try to comply with WTO obligations. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said that if the WTO ruled against the final U.S. appeal, Congress will have to weigh in to avoid retaliation from the two neighbor countries. The ruling is a victory for the U.S. meat industry, which has said the labels are burdensome. Congress required the labels in 2002 and 2008 farm laws, mostly at the behest of ranchers in the northern United States who compete with the Canadian cattle industry. Originally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture allowed the labels to say simply “Product of U.S.” or “Product of U.S. and Canada,” but the WTO rejected that approach in 2012. So USDA made the labels more specific in an attempt to win WTO approval. Now the labels say, for example, that the animal that produced the meat was “born in Mexico, raised and slaughtered in the United States” or “born, raised and slaughtered in the United States.” The WTO rejected those revised rules last year, and the United States filed one last appeal, rejected Monday by the WTO. Tim Reif, chief counsel for the U.S. Trade Representative, said that the administration is “considering all options going forward, and will continue to consult with members of Congress and interested members of the public regarding possible next steps.” The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees have indicated they are ready to step in on the issue. Both Texas Rep. Mike Conaway and Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts have supported past efforts to repeal the labeling laws, siding with the meat industry....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178421-8/world-trade-body-rejects-country-of-origin-labels By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associat /News/LatestNews/ 8406567@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:55 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:55 GMT
Naomi Martin The Dallas Morning News



WACO, Texas — Waco police arrested 192 accused biker gang members in the shootout at a Twin Peaks restaurant here that killed nine and wounded 18, authorities said Monday. The suspects were still being booked Monday morning into the county jail here and will be charged with engaging in organized crime, police said. The shootout between rival gang members and police came as at least five groups gathered around noon Sunday at the restaurant right off Interstate 35. All nine men killed were members of the two main rival groups, the Bandidos and the Cossacks, authorities have said. Police spokesman Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said authorities are still investigating and aren’t sure yet whether additional charges, such as murder or attempted murder, will come. The McLennan County district attorney’s office is involved in the police investigation and has been assisting the department throughout the night, police said. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is implementing a “summary suspension” closing Twin Peaks for at least seven days, police said. “This is not a punitive action on TABC’s part but done due to the ongoing danger it presents to our community,” police said. “They are conducting a parallel investigation and further action may be forthcoming.” Police are also issuing warnings that they have received “credible information about threats toward law enforcement,” Swanton said. A photo of an internal bulletin sent to police Sunday at 10:13 p.m. reads: “Our agency has recieved (sic) information that the Cosaks and Banditos have issued an order to kill anyone in uniform.” The photo, showing the message in a police squad car computer, was posted to the police news website GoHeroes.us. For months, police say they tried to thwart danger by boosting security inside or having the restaurant deny service to the gangs. But police say that local managers at the restaurant refused to cooperate. The managers disputed that claim after the shooting. The gangs involved Sunday are well-known organized criminal enterprises, some with national affiliations, police said, that make money through drug dealings, extortion, robbery and violence. Police had been aware for several months that gang members were gathering to address recruitment and turf, areas where the groups have clashed. At least 10 uniformed SWAT officers from Waco and the Texas Department of Public Safety were in marked cars outside the restaurant, but no plainclothes officers were inside because they felt they weren’t welcome by restaurant managers, Swanton said....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178272-8/in-waco-shooting-192-accused-biker-gang-members By Naomi Martin /News/LatestNews/ 8406253@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:55 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:55 GMT
Christi Parsons Tribune Washington



WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to stop the federal government from distributing some military equipment to law enforcement agencies around the country, trimming back a practice that drew scrutiny amid concerns about the militarization of local police forces. The decision follows a set of recommendations from a working group Obama set up after the unrest last year in Ferguson, Mo., where police wearing body armor and riding in armored trucks subdued protesters. The federal government will stop providing weaponized aircraft, bayonets, grenade launchers, large-caliber firearms and armored vehicles that run on tracks, according to White House officials. Obama will make the announcement during an appearance Monday in Camden, N.J., where he will also talk about the community policing initiative of the Camden County police department and the city’s embrace of programs designed to improve the quality of life for children, youth and families. The changes to the military equipment program practices are part of Obama’s broader effort to improve relations between law enforcement officials and their communities, the focus of growing concern about police brutality, especially against African-American men and boys. Obama has expressed deep concern about the endemic social attitudes and problems that have stoked the simmering anger in many communities. He recently called it a “slow-rolling crisis.” “We have seen too many instances of what appears to be police officers interacting with individuals, primarily African-American, often poor, in ways that raise troubling questions,” Obama said in April. “This has been going on for a long time. This is not new, and we shouldn’t pretend that it’s new.” In December, Obama set up a task force to figure out how to reduce crime while building public trust. The group’s report recommends sweeping changes to officer training and police transparency, including adding body-worn cameras for police. At the same time, a separate federal interagency working group reviewed programs that facilitate the distribution of military and other equipment to state and local law enforcement agencies. Obama is directing the government to implement the recommendations, starting with the ban on grenades, bayonets and other equipment. The president is also putting some gear on a “controlled” list, available only to police who get specific local approval and get special training. The controlled list includes non-track armored vehicles, tactical vehicles, riot gear and specialized firearms and ammunition. Some police departments who received Pentagon equipment in the past had gotten approval from local officials, who were persuaded by the “what-if” arguments of post-9/11 policing in efforts to prevent terrorism. The White House did not say how its new “controlled” list would help local governments decide what to approve or whether any restrictions would be put in place to match communities’ needs with the right equipment....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178278-8/obama-to-limit-military-style-equipment-for-local-police By Christi Parsons /News/LatestNews/ 8406269@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:55 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:55 GMT
Associated Press



HELENA, Mont. — Five Washington state men have been stripped of hunting privileges in Montana for five years and ordered to pay $41,000 in fines and restitution for illegally shooting elk. The case stemmed from a yearlong, two-state poaching investigation by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks into six bull elk shot on private land in a closed hunting district on the Rocky Mountain Front. Five of the elk were trophy size. Washington Fish and Wildlife Department police assisted in the investigation. The Great Falls Tribune reports (http://gftrib.com/1AdXCuH ) that the elk shootings occurred in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Montana game officials described it as a scheme to shoot trophy elk and get them out of the state secretly....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178251-8/5-washington-men-stripped-of-montana-hunting-privileges /News/LatestNews/ 8406206@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:55 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:54 GMT
Associated Press



PORT ANGELES, Wash. — Crews have rescued a partially blind dog that fell about 300 feet down a bluff near Port Angeles. The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office says its search and rescue team responded Sunday night after a dog fell through brush in its backyard, which sits at the edge of bluffs. Sgt. Randy Pieper says a rescuer was lowered on a rope about 300 feet down the bluff and crews helped pull the dog up. The dog was shaken but safe....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178247-8/crews-rescue-dog-that-fell-down-bluffs-near /News/LatestNews/ 8406196@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:54 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:54 GMT
By Katherine Skiba Tribune Washington Bureau



WASHINGTON — Full Amtrak service has resumed in the nation’s busy Northeast rail corridor, almost a week after a derailment in Philadelphia killed eight passengers and injured more than 200. Since the May 12 crash of an Amtrak train headed from Washington to New York City, Amtrak officials “have been working around the clock” to make repairs that would allow full service to resume through Philadelphia, Amtrak President and Chief Executive Joe Boardman said Sunday in a statement. The possibility that a rock or other projectile hit Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 moments before it derailed is one of many that safety officials are exploring as they seek a cause for the deadly accident, a top federal official said Sunday. The FBI will be at the accident scene Monday to examine the wreckage and try to determine what may have hit the train, said Robert Sumwalt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. So far, officials have interviewed dispatchers and listened to dispatch tapes and have “heard no communication at all from the Amtrak engineer to the dispatch center to say that something had struck his train,” Sumwalt said as he made the rounds of Sunday morning news programs. Nor did the engineer of a nearby commuter train that was struck recall any conversation between the crew of his train and Amtrak 188, he added. “We’re just in the fact-finding stage of the investigation,” he said. “We’re just slowly starting to gather the information and then slowly start ruling things out.” Sumwalt said crew members on the commuter train operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority reported being hit by a projectile. The NTSB does not know how many other trains had been struck, he said. Sumwalt, a former airline pilot, said the investigation would have been “significantly” helped if the Amtrak train had been equipped with inward-facing video cameras. Sumwalt urged that advanced technology, known as positive train control, be implemented soon to avoid future derailments. He called it “very troubling” that positive train control might not be installed on passenger railways until year’s end. Positive train control utilizes GPS technology to monitor a train’s location and can enforce speed limits. “We have seen countless accidents over the years that could have been prevented had positive train control been implemented,” Sumwalt said. After the crash of a Metrolink commuter train in Southern California seven years ago, Congress ordered the nation’s rail operators to install positive train control by the end of this year. Progress toward that goal has been slow. Amtrak is closer to achieving the goal than many other railroads, with the train controls installed on parts of the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, but not in the section where the derailment happened. Most of the nation’s freight lines have lagged behind, and several have asked Congress for an extension of the deadline. Federal regulators have ordered Amtrak to install a less advanced system, known as automatic train control, before reopening the line through the area where the derailment took place. Amtrak officials have said they will do so. (Staff writer Matt Pearce in Los Angeles contributed to this report.)...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178263-8/full-rail-service-resumes-at-site-of-fatal By Katherine Skiba /News/LatestNews/ 8406233@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:54 GMT
Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:54 GMT
Eric Florip The Columbian



AMBOY — When Tedd Huffman started his new job this month, he didn’t start slowly. He didn’t have time. Taking over as manager of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is a big undertaking in itself. Taking over in early May — right before the anniversary of the volcano’s catastrophic 1980 eruption, and the events that come with it — is something else entirely. “It’s been both overwhelming and completely awesome,” Huffman said. Thirty-five years ago today, a massive landslide on Mount St. Helens uncorked an eruption that forever altered the Northwest landscape. The disaster leveled miles of forest, darkened skies and claimed the lives of 57 people. The volcano had been showing signs of unrest for several weeks before May 18, 1980. But no one expected the kind of catastrophe that shattered a calm Sunday morning and changed modern volcanology. Huffman doesn’t have any particular memories of that eruption. He was 5 years old in 1980, living in the Midwest, so the event didn’t register for him at the time. As the Mount St. Helens monument manager now, Huffman sees sharing and preserving the story of the 1980 eruption as one of his key roles, he said. Huffman noted a good portion of the people who work in the monument’s Amboy headquarters today either weren’t living in the area or weren’t born in 1980. Many scientists see a shrinking window to preserve first-hand accounts of the eruption as years pass. “I think I’ve become aware of how precious those eyewitness stories are,” said Peter Frenzen, the Mount St. Helens monument scientist. “It’s a part of history that is being lost.” Scientists continue to stress the importance of keeping those stories alive. On Sunday, the Mount St. Helens Science and Learning Center planned to host a series of presentations recounting the experiences of people who saw the 1980 eruption themselves. Also featured was Richard Waitt, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey who recently published a book detailing many witness and survivor stories. Waitt worked on “In the Path of Destruction” off and on for more than three decades, conducting hundreds of interviews. The book was released this year. ’In awe’ Huffman spent time exploring the Mount St. Helens area even before he started his new job. He brought a fresh perspective — Huffman had never actually been to the volcano before he was hired to oversee the 110,000-acre monument dedicated to its preservation and study. Huffman described himself as “pretty much in awe” seeing the mountain up close for the first time. “To be able to see the after-effects ... to see what it’s done to the landscape, it’s hard to put into words,” he said. Huffman has spent the past 14 years working for the U.S. Forest Service at various posts across the country. Most recently, the Ohio native served as soil and water program manager in Oregon’s Umpqua National Forest. The Mount St. Helens National Monument is also managed by the forest service, sitting within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. In his new office, Huffman is surrounded by the history of Mount St. Helens. Walls are lined with historic photos of the volcano from before, during and after the 1980 eruption. A variety of informational materials and other items greet visitors who walk in the front door. And the office is home to professionals of many disciplines — some employees of the monument, some not. Community engagement is a crucial part of the national monument and its mission, Huffman said. But it’s also important to balance recreation with research as scientists continue to closely watch the area as it evolves and recovers, he added. Some of those efforts involve data collection and observation in five-year increments, Frenzen said. That means many researchers will return to the volcano this year, 35 years after the 1980 eruption, to gather fresh insight and fresh information, he said. Scientists also know the volcano will stir again. Mount St. Helens went through an eruptive phase from 2004 to 2008 before returning to relative slumber. Last year, the USGS confirmed that magma under the volcano is repressurizing, quietly recharging for the next eruption. Frenzen encouraged anyone who has never been to Mount St. Helens to make the trip. Even people who have visited before might find something new in an area that now boasts an “incredibly rich” array of plant and animal life, he said. “Every time I go out there,” Frenzen said, “I see something different.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178420-8/baptism-by-fire-for-mount-st-helens-monument /News/LatestNews/ 8406563@yakimaherald.com Tue, 19 May 2015 02:29:54 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 23:30:52 GMT
Crop Lines



So, I hope by now you have read my story today about the potato psyllid and the search for its winter hiding spots in the Northwest because I want to share a little back story. I stumbled across Jenita Thinakaran, one of the USDA researchers featured in the story, while she was beating bushes earlier this month along Selah Loop Road. She wore a lab coat, so I guessed she was searching for bugs. More importantly, the plant she was poking through looked oddly familiar. It was a matrimony vine. I have some in my yard in Prosser, and I’ve been trying for 15 years to kill it. It always grows back. She asked if she could search my yard for potato psyllids. I said yes. I asked if I could film her doing it. She said yes. I figured a little video with a two-sentence blog entry would be enough, but after learning how much threat the pesky bug posed, the story crept onto Page 1. I even received an email this morning from a Yakima hobby gardener who suspects the potato psyillid has decimated her tomatoes and tomatillos the past two years. You can still watch the video and see Thinakaran search my yard for psyllids. She found one and a cluster of eggs under the very first leaf she turned over and caught more as the morning went on. I found the whole experience surreal, knowing that my poor gardening skills somehow both threatened the state’s fourth most lucrative crop and contributed to agricultural research....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3178697-8/science-stuff-in-my-own-yard RCOURTNEY /News/LatestNews/ 8407183@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 23:30:52 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:46:37 GMT
By Jayson Jenks The Seattle Times


TED S. WARREN/Associated Press Mariners starting pitcher James Paxton works against the Red Sox in the sixth inning Sunday at Safeco Field in Seattle.


SEATTLE — There has never been any doubt about James Paxton’s singular talent, or his potential. It was only eight starts into his career that Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon felt confident enough in what he’d seen from Paxton — and what he saw on the horizon — to declare, “I think this kid has greatness written all over him.” Paxton, the Mariners’ 26-year-old starting pitcher, has always had “the stuff” — the power fastball and off-speed pitches. But two problems have slowed Paxton’s rise. One has been injuries. The other has been his command, his trust, in his fastball. What Paxton showed against the Red Sox on Sunday was his raw talent come to life, and he looked every bit as good as McClendon has projected in shutting down Boston for a 5-0 Mariners win. Paxton pitched eight scoreless innings, stretching his career-high streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 20. He lowered his ERA to 3.59 after it soared to 6.18 less than two weeks ago. He found himself in trouble only twice, and both times quickly and decisively emerged unscathed. McClendon said it was the best he has seen from Paxton this season. Catcher Mike Zunino agreed. “By far,” Zunino said. What impressed McClendon and Zunino was Paxton’s fastball command. He challenged hitters with that funky delivery that looks like a catapult reaching back and whipping a fastball at 97 miles per hour into the catcher’s glove. “Command the fastball and you’re going to win and it’s going to make everything else better,” McClendon said. “And when you command a 98-mile-per-hour fastball, it’s going to make everything special. I thought you saw that today.” A month ago, after allowing seven runs in just 2 2/3 innings, Paxton raised the idea that the root of his problems rested with his mechanics. McClendon sharply brushed off that idea then, and did so again Sunday after Paxton turned in his fourth straight start of six-plus innings with two runs or less. “It has nothing to do with mechanics,” McClendon said. “It has everything to do with commanding their fastball and believing in it.” Paxton’s interpretation: “Just go after guys and make them prove they can hit the fastball. That’s what I did.” Paxton threw 71 of his 105 pitches for strikes, and Zunino said one difference from earlier this season is that Paxton didn’t nibble on the outer-thirds of the plate. He trusted that if he worked both halves of the plate, his pitches would be good enough to finish the job. “The more he can trust it,” said Zunino, who had a two-out RBI single, “the better he will be.” Paxton also got the run support that has lately eluded the Mariners. Brad Miller hit his third home run in two games, all solo shots, in the fifth inning. Kyle Seager delivered the dagger with a two-run homer in the eighth inning. And the Mariners scored more than two runs for the first time in five games and finished the homestand 6-3. The next step for Paxton is long-term consistency, both with his on-field production and his health. He was injured during spring training this year, and McClendon said he is only now finding his groove. But with Paxton settling in, and with Seattle’s other starters doing the same, the rotation is beginning to look like the group McClendon thinks sets the Mariners apart in the American League West, as long as the offense delivers like Sunday. “I like our rotation one through five,” McClendon said the other night, even before Paxton looked so sharp. “It gives us a good chance every game. From a manager’s standpoint, that’s a good feeling.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177543-14/james-paxton-leads-mariners-over-red-sox By CURTIS CRABTREE Associated P /News/LatestNews/ 8404303@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:46:37 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:46:37 GMT
By Kristie Rieken The Associated Press


JAMES NIELSEN/Houston Chronicle via AP Rockets guard James Harden points skyward as he comes off the court at the end of Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday in Houston.


HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets are heading to the Western Conference finals for the first time in 18 years after overcoming a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate the Los Angeles Clippers. “It’s the ultimate confidence-booster,” James Harden said. “There’s only a handful of teams that’s done that. We fought back. We fought three really hard games and came away with it.” Harden scored 31 points, Dwight Howard had 16 points and 15 rebounds and the Rockets never trailed in a 113-100 victory over the Clippers on Sunday, sending them to the conference finals for the first time since 1997. It’s the ninth time in NBA history that a team has overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win a playoff series. The Rockets overcame a 19-point third-quarter deficit in Game 6 on Thursday night to stay alive. No such heroics were needed Sunday when they were up by 17 after three and Howard opened the fourth quarter with a 3-point play to push it to 88-68. “When you’re down 19 on the road, it’s easy to give in and just say, ‘Maybe next year,”’ Harden said. “But I think the injuries throughout the entire year kind of made us fight through adversity no matter what. We always find a way to fight, and another case was being down 3-1.” Blake Griffin scored five points in a 9-0 run to cut the lead to eight points with less than 2 1/2 minutes remaining. Harden made a pair of free throws after that, but a dunk by DeAndre Jordan got the Clippers within eight again. This time, Trevor Ariza hit a 3 from the corner to secure the victory. Howard was nervous until Ariza hit the final 3 and worried the Clippers might be the ones to orchestrate an unlikely comeback this time. “Please, we can’t let them pull an us on us,” Howard said he was thinking during their late run. Griffin had 27 points and Chris Paul had 26 points and 10 assists. The Western Conference finals begin Tuesday night at Golden State. Ariza finished with 22 points and made six 3-pointers. Every fan in the arena was given a red shirt emblazoned with the words “Clutch City” in yellow letters, bringing back the moniker of the 1994 and ‘95 teams that won back-to-back titles. These Rockets lived up to the nickname, winning their third straight game to become the first team to win a playoff series after trailing 3-1 since the Phoenix Suns did it in 2006 against the Lakers. After taking a two-game lead after four games the Clippers looked destined to be heading to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history. But they failed in all three chances to put Houston away and are now left to ponder their collapse as they head home early yet again. “It’s disappointing,” Griffin said. “We were close, but close doesn’t really count. Almost doesn’t count. We were up 3-1 and didn’t put them away. We can’t look at anybody but ourselves.” Los Angeles never led, but tied it twice in the first 4 minutes. The Clippers insisted Saturday that they’d gotten over Thursday’s loss, but looked listless early in this one as Houston built the lead. “I love my team,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “I love the fact that they wanted to win so bad that, in my opinion, we almost couldn’t win. We have to fix that part. It requires great trust in each other. Our guys were trying to do it on their own.” Little went right for the Clippers for most of the game and when a dunk by Jordan early in the fourth quarter simply bounced out of the rim, the big man could only look at the basket in disgust. The frustration was evident with Paul too, as he angrily threw the ball after picking up an offensive foul later in the fourth. Harden was under the weather and on the bench in the fourth quarter when Josh Smith and Corey Brewer helped Houston outscore Los Angeles 51-20 to close out the win in Game 6. The MVP runner-up looked back to full strength on Sunday, scoring 12 points in the first quarter and finishing with eight assists and seven rebounds. A 3-pointer by Jamal Crawford with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter cut the lead to eight points. Houston scored the next nine points, with five from Ariza, to push it to 83-66. Pablo Prigioni grabbed two straight steals from Griffin in that span. Griffin fell to the court on the second one and shook his head as Prigioni darted away with the ball. Crawford made a layup for L.A. but Harden shook off Austin Rivers and stepped back for a jump shot near the buzzer to leave Houston up 85-68 entering the fourth. The Clippers opened the second half with an 11-4 run, with five points from Paul, to get to 60-57 with 8 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. Harden got Houston going after that, driving into the lane and finishing with a one-handed dunk before dishing to Smith on the next possession and he swished a 3-pointer to make it 65-57. The Rockets remained up by 8 midway through the quarter when Howard was called for a three second violation. But Griffin launched a bad pass that Prigioni snatched up and converted on the mistake with a 3-pointer to make it 70-59. The Rockets led 56-46 at halftime....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177588-8/rockets-back-in-conference-finals-first-1st-time By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Wri /News/LatestNews/ 8404445@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:46:37 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:46:37 GMT
By MICHAEL MAROT The Associated Press


SAM RICHE/Associated Press Scott Dixon, center celebrates with wife Emma, left, and daughter Tilly, 3, after qualifying on the pole Sunday for the Indianapolis 500. The race is scheduled for May 24.


INDIANAPOLIS — One minute, Scott Dixon thought the numbers were a mistake. The next, he was sitting on the Indianapolis 500 pole. On one of the strangest qualifying days in Indy history, Dixon overcame rules changes, a revised schedule, the threat of rain and Team Penske’s powerful four-car lineup to earn his second Indy pole with a four-lap average of 226.760 mph. Will Power and Simon Pagenaud, who drive for Roger Penske, will start second and third on May 24 after going 226.350 and 226.145. Penske had won eight straight poles. “I was definitely a little shocked with the first number when I saw it,” Dixon said. “I thought the steering wheel was broken but broken in a good way. Yeah, it’s a tough week, no matter which way you look at it, the curveballs that you get with the weather, but you understand that’s part of the month of May.” That meant he had to adapt on the fly. Heading into Sunday, the Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver thought his No. 9 car was good enough to end the Penske monopoly. But when Ed Carpenter’s primary car went airborne in the morning practice, the third Chevrolet car to do that this week, team owners, engine manufacturers and series officials huddled in Gasoline Alley to find a solution. They settled on removing the extra horsepower for qualifying and instructed all teams to use race setups, a combination that sent 34 drivers trying to make the May 24 race scrambling. The 5-hour, 15-minute delay forced everyone to scramble. Despite the steep drop in speeds, Dixon somehow had enough to move into the top spot 25 minutes into qualifying, then hung on as 29 other drivers took shots at knocking him down a notch on the 33-car starting grid. None could. His winning average was more than 4 mph slower than last year’s pole-winning speed and almost 7 mph slower than the fastest laps turned this month. “It’s nerve wracking because you’re getting in a car you that you haven’t really driven,” the New Zealander said. “I’m ready to go home and go to bed and have a good night’s sleep.” Others might not rest as easily. Power’s dream of a May sweep — winning both poles and both races at Indy — ended when the Australian couldn’t catch Dixon. As the speeds slowed, nobody else could, either. Three-time Indy champ Helio Castroneves thought he had a shot at a fifth Indy pole but never topped 226 and will start fifth, the middle of Row 2 after averaging 225.502. The Brazilian was trying to break a tie with A.J. Foyt and Rex Mays for the second-most Indy poles behind Rick Mears (six). Juan Pablo Montoya, the 2000 Indy winner and another of the pole favorites, qualified 15th, the outside of Row 5, with a speed of 224.657 Carpenter’s crash ended his quest at becoming the first driver to win three straight poles at Indy. The delay did give his team time, however, to get a backup car ready and he wound up in the No. 12 starting spot after going 224.883. He was the third car out and held the top spot for a few minutes, until Dixon, the fourth driver in qualifying line, finished his run. Because the revised schedule gave each car only one shot at the pole, Dixon didn’t even have to worry about anybody getting a second chance. And some of the Honda drivers were understandably upset with the changes. “I just feel like it’s playing into Chevy’s hands,” Graham Rahal predicted during the delay. “Chevy’s really, because of their problems with the aero kits lifting, that’s really what forced this issue in the first place. So I don’t fully understand why the Hondas should be penalized.” He was right. Chevy took eight of the first 10 starting spots with the top Honda driver being England’s Justin Wilson. He will start sixth, the outside of Row 2, after going 225.279....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177685-8/dixon-claims-indy-500-pole By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writ /News/LatestNews/ 8404743@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:46:37 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:46:37 GMT
News Service Reports



Football Carroll: Irvin misinterpreted LOS ANGELES — Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin’s recent declaration that he would be playing in Atlanta in 2016 doesn’t mean what everyone thinks it does, according to coach Pete Carroll’s interpretation of those remarks. Speaking with reporters prior to his induction into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame, Carroll said Irvin was not announcing a move to the Falcons next season. Irvin told BlackSportsOnline.com, “I’m going to be in Atlanta next season,” at an Atlanta Hawks playoff game. “I’m really glad you asked me that, because he didn’t say that,” Carroll said. “We’ve been talking all along. He has been working out in Atlanta for these three weeks, and he said (that) in response to the question ‘Do you want to come back home?’ He said everybody likes to come back home, and it’s a dream to come back home. It wasn’t in reference to leaving us and coming back (to the Falcons). He was really adamant about it, and I asked him to leave it and not go at it anymore.” The Seahawks declined to exercise Irvin’s fifth-year option earlier this month, which would make the former first-round pick a free agent after this season. Irvin, who has 161/2 career sacks in three seasons, took to Twitter to express his unhappiness with that decision, and has been linked to a move to the Falcons ever since. Not only is Irvin an Atlanta native, but former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is now the Falcons head coach. Atlanta has a glaring need for edge pass-rushers to improve a defense that ranked tied for 30th in sacks last season. Carroll said the furor over Irvin’s comments on social media and to internet outlets merely reflected the new media landscape. --- Softball UW ends season with loss to Tide TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Washington’s season came to a close following an 11-1 loss to No. 6 overall seed and region host Alabama at Rhoads Stadium. Washington fell behind 1-0 in the first inning on Haylie McCleney’s solo home run, the first of four Tide homers in the game. Alabama starting pitcher Alexis Osorio worked seven innings allowing two hits and one run, while striking out five Huskies. Washington’s Casey Stangel drove in Taylor Van Zee for the Huskies’ lone run in the fourth. --- Hockey Canada routs defending champ Russia PRAGUE — Sidney Crosby led Canada to its first hockey world championship title since 2007 with a goal and an assist in a dominant 6-1 victory over defending champion Russia in the final. In a meeting of the two most decorated teams in world championship history, Canada claimed its 25th title with another attacking display that Russia simply couldn’t cope with. Canada outshot the Russians 15-5 in the opening period and 14-1 in the second. Goaltender Mike Smith stopped 11 shots. --- Briefly Soccer: Sydney Leroux and Abby Wambach each scored twice and the United States beat Mexico 5-1 in the second send-off match for the team in advance of the Women’s World Cup next month. Golf: Rory McIlroy became the first two-time winner in the Wells Fargo Championship with a seven-shot victory. ... Minjee Lee opened a four-stroke lead when final-round play was suspended because of darkness in the Kingsmill Championship. ... Jeff Maggert won the Regions Tradition for his first Champions Tour major title, beating Kevin Sutherland with a 3-foot par putt on the first hole of a playoff. ... James Morrison won the Spanish Open for his second European Tour title. Motorsports: Chris Buescher pulled away on a restart in a green-white-checkered finish to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Iowa Speedway. ... Tim Wilkerson raced to his first Funny Car victory since 2011. Antron Brown won in Top Fuel, Jason Line in Pro Stock, and Hector Arana in Pro Stock Motorcycle. ... Jorge Lorenzo made it back-to-back wins after an impressive victory in the French Moto Grand Prix. Tennis: Novak Djokovic bolstered his clay-court credentials with a convincing 6-4, 6-3 win over Roger Federer to capture his fourth Italian Open title. Sailing: The six sailing teams in the Volvo Ocean Race have departed Newport heading for Lisbon, Portugal. Cycling: Injured Alberto Contador made it through another day in the mountains as he retained the overall lead after nine stages of the Giro d’Italia but lost a precious second to closest challenger Fabio Aru. ... Peter Sagan won the Tour of California by three seconds with a third-place finish. Track and field: Defending world champion David Oliver won the men’s 110-meter hurdles at the Shanghai Diamond League meet....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177748-8/morning-briefing-may-18-2015 Stephen Eastham /News/LatestNews/ 8405024@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:46:37 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:46:37 GMT
News Service Reports



MIAMI — Mike Redmond was fired Sunday as manager of the Miami Marlins, moments after they were nearly no-hit in a loss that completed a three-game sweep. Atlanta’s Shelby Miller was one out from a no-hitter when Justin Bour singled in the Marlins’ 6-0 defeat, which dropped them to 16-22. Redmond’s replacement will be announced Monday, the Marlins said. Bench coach Rob Leary also was fired. “I feel bad for them,” reliever Steve Cishek said. “It’s not their fault.” Owner Jeffrey Loria might be recalling that a managerial change paid off once before when the Marlins were 16-22. He fired Jeff Torborg after 38 games in May 2003, and replacement Jack McKeon led a turnaround that resulted in an improbable run to the World Series title. The Marlins haven’t been to the postseason since. “We are looking for a new voice,” president of baseball operations Michael Hill said. “We haven’t played up to our abilities, and we hope that a new voice will spark our team.” --- Montreal mayor to meet with Manfred: Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre says he plans to meet baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred in New York on May 28 as part of the city’s quest for a return of the sport. In an interview with the Canadian Press, Coderre said “we will show Mr. Manfred our love for the sport. I don’t want to negotiate openly, but we’ll clearly talk about Montreal.” The Expos joined the National League as an expansion team for the 1969 season and remained in the big leagues through 2004 before moving to Washington. --- Short hops: Third baseman Kris Bryant has left the Cubs’ game against the Pirates because he was feeling ill. ... The Cardinals are giving lefty Jaime Garcia his first start of the season on Thursday. Garcia had a setback in spring training from thoracic outlet surgery. ... Phillies right-hander Sean O’Sullivan was hit in the throat on a throw back from catcher Cameron Rupp in the sixth inning....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177750-8/mlb-notes-redmond-fired-as-manager-of-marlins Stephen Eastham /News/LatestNews/ 8405048@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:46:37 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:40:24 GMT
By Lindsey Bahr AP Film Writer


Anna Kendrick reprises her role as Beca in “Pitch Perfect 2.” RICHARD CARTWRIGHT Universal Pictures via AP


LOS ANGELES — The ladies of “Pitch Perfect 2” hit all the right notes opening weekend, amassing a $70.3 million debut, according to Rentrak estimates Sunday. The Elizabeth Banks-directed sequel to the 2012 sleeper hit and video-on-demand phenomenon cost Universal Pictures only $29 million to produce and was expected to open in the $50 million range. The first film, for comparison, grossed only $65 million domestically across its entire run. “It’s aca-awesome,” said Universal Pictures’ President of Domestic Distribution Nick Carpou, using one of the catchphrases of the film about a cappella singing. “We knew that the film would be a success, but there’s something that happens when movies grow in their success beyond a range that’s easily predictable. When that happens, the sky’s the limit.” Audiences for the musical comedy starring Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson were 75 percent female and 62 percent under the age of 25, according to Universal. Carpou attributed some of the massive success to savvy positioning and the widespread appeal of the popular music and the charismatic, diverse cast. He noted that ads during the NBA playoffs and a Super Bowl spot helped to grow the film’s audience base. George Miller’s critically acclaimed “Mad Max: Fury Road” landed a distant second in its debut weekend with a solid and expected $44.4 million from 3,702 locations. The high-octane, post-apocalyptic film cost a reported $150 million to make and stars Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy. Although it cost significantly more than “Pitch Perfect 2” to produce and didn’t come close to matching its opening, “Mad Max: Fury Road” still had a promising and successful first weekend in theaters — especially considering the fact that it is R-rated. “We’re very excited about the opening,” Warner Bros. President of Domestic Distribution Dan Fellman said. “We’re going to have some long legs and some great success on this movie.” The film, which also played in IMAX and 3-D, is one of the best reviewed in the studio’s history. Fellman said that many of the showings ended with applause, only adding to the hope that word of mouth will contribute to a lengthy and successful run. Audiences for the film were 70 percent male and 46 percent under the age of 35, according to Warner Bros. For Rentrak’s Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian, the weekend is an undisputed success for both studios. “Mad Max: Fury Road” also made $65 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $109.4 million. “Each film absolutely found its target audience,” Dergarabedian said. “They were running on parallel tracks, and both exceeded expectations by not cannibalizing each other. It was the perfect release strategy for two very different, high-profile films ... it really paid off handsomely.” Holdovers “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Hot Pursuit” and “Furious 7” claimed the rest of the spots in the top five. After opening in China six days ago, the “Avengers” sequel brought in $185 million internationally in its fourth weekend. The film has now grossed $1.1 billion globally. ——— Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released today. 1.”Pitch Perfect 2,” $70.3 million ($26.9 million international). 2.”Mad Max: Fury Road,” $44.4 million ($65 million international). 3.”Avengers: Age of Ultron,” $38.8 million ($185 million international). 4.”Hot Pursuit,” $5.8 million. 5.”Furious 7,” $3.6 million ($6.6 million international). 6.”Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2,” $3.6 million ($1.7 million international). 7.”The Age of Adaline,” $3.2 million ($1.5 million international). 8.”Home,” $2.7 million ($4.5 million international). 9.”Ex Machina,” $2.1 million ($300,000 international). 10.”Far from the Madding Crowd,” $1.3 million ($828,000 international). ——— Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak: 1. “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” $185 million. 2. “Mad Max: Fury Road,” $65 million. 3. “Pitch Perfect 2,” $26.9 million. 4. “Furious 7,” $6.6 million. 5. “Chronicles of Evil,” $6.3 million. 6. “Home,” $4.5 million. 7. “Cinderella,” $3.3 million. 8. “Ostwind 2,” $2 million. 9. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2,” $1.7 million. 10. “The Age of Adaline,” $1.5 million....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3176564-8/pitch-perfect-2-leaves-mad-max-in-the By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer /News/LatestNews/ 8402124@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:40:24 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:40:24 GMT
By Stephen Singer The Associated Press




NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Vice President Joe Biden urged graduating Yale University students on Sunday to avoid questioning the motives of others in the search for common ground. At a time when critics say Washington, D.C., is hamstrung by partisanship and an inability to compromise, Biden told the more than 1,200 students and their families and friends to “try to look beyond the caricature of the person with whom you have to work.” “It gets in the way of being able to reach consensus for things that matter to you and many other people,” he said. Biden said he learned early in his first term as a senator from Delaware to not find fault based on what he believed motivated others. He recalled that he objected angrily to criticism by then-Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., of a proposal for broader rights for disabled citizens. Then-Sen. Mike Mansfield, D-Mont., told Biden that Helms had adopted a disabled youngster. “I felt like a fool,” Biden said. The vice president recalled Mansfield telling him it’s appropriate to question another man’s judgment, but to not question what’s behind his decisions “because you simply don’t know his motives.” As a result, Biden said he’s equipped to work with Democrats and Republicans because “whether they like me or not they know that I don’t judge them for what I think they’re thinking.” “When you question a man’s motives, when you say they’re acting out of greed or in the pocket of an interest group, it’s awful hard to reach consensus,” he said. The vice president, speaking under a canopy of elm trees before hundreds of students taking part in a venerable Yale tradition of wearing off-beat hats capped by stuffed animals, ersatz slices of cheese and an oversized beer mug, poked fun of himself and his occasional gaffes. “I realize no one ever doubts I mean what I say. The problem occasionally is I say all that I mean,” he said. “I have a bad reputation for being straight, sometimes at inappropriate times.” And he jokingly used Yale’s sports program to hint at his unfulfilled presidential ambitions. “Look, you know it’s tough to end a great man’s basketball and football season one touchdown away from beating Harvard this year for the first time since 2006. So close to something you wanted for eight years. I can only imagine how you feel. I can only imagine. So close. So close,” he said to laughter, cheers and applause....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177682-8/biden-urges-yale-grads-to-question-judgment-not By STEPHEN SINGER Associated Pr /News/LatestNews/ 8404735@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:40:24 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:40:13 GMT
By George F. Will Washington Post Writers Group



WASHINGTON — A near miss can be a sharp spur, so Rick Santorum wants to say something to those who profess condescending puzzlement about his persistence in pursuing the Republican presidential nomination: You probably have no idea how close I came to defeating Mitt Romney in 2012. Since 1968, he notes, the Republican presidential nominees emerging from contested primaries have been either former or sitting vice presidents (Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush), an incumbent president (Gerald Ford), a son of a president (George W. Bush), or men who previously were runners-up for the nomination (Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain, Mitt Romney). Santorum intends to join this last group, starting in Iowa next February. It was there in 2012 that he won the caucuses about two weeks too late. On the night of the caucuses, Romney was declared the winner by eight votes. Late-certified results from eight (of 1,774) caucuses made Santorum the winner by 34 votes. Had this result been recorded on caucus night with the donors and journalists paying rapt attention, his stunning upset — a few weeks earlier he had barely registered in those polls that bothered to mention him — would, he thinks, have triggered a deluge of contributions. This, he thinks, would have enabled him to win in Romney’s native state, Michigan. Santorum insists “I crushed him on [the primary] Election Day,” and that Romney’s margin of victory came from absentee ballots cast early. Winning Michigan (Romney got 409,522 votes, Santorum 377,372) would have validated Santorum as more than a product of Iowa quirkiness. Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s 2013 book “Double Down” says that Romney believed that if he lost Michigan his campaign would have been doomed. Even without a financial and political boost from a Michigan victory, seven days after Michigan, Santorum lost Ohio by just 0.8 percent of the vote, even though he had so little money he ran no ads in Cincinnati or Cleveland. But as the poet said, “for of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘it might have been!’” Santorum, like the winner of the 2008 caucuses, Mike Huckabee, cannot be a fresh face in Iowa twice. Still, Santorum will be backed by a super PAC that will enable him to survive some defeats, and he thinks this year’s crowded field will be “like a cycling race: You don’t want to be the lead cyclist, with all the wind resistance and the bugs in your eyes. You want to lay back in the pack.” He will be back there while trying to change the perception of him as a one-note crusader on social issues. The achievements of which he is most proud from his 16 years in Congress concerned other matters — he was floor manager of the most important legislation of the 1990s, welfare reform, and helped create term limits for Republican committee chairs. Today he speaks to the approximately 70 percent of Americans “who don’t have a college degree and are competing with the unskilled workers who are coming into this country.” Americans whose incomes have been stagnating for many years deserve a spokesman, but one with better ideas than Santorum’s proposal to reduce legal immigration by 25 percent. Santorum is, alas, not alone in speaking for a timorous America in a defensive crouch: Scott Walker, too, is questioning current levels of legal immigration. Furthermore, Santorum also flinches from free trade. This is another consequence of subscribing to the “lump of labor” theory — that there is a static supply of jobs, so immigration and foreign competition is a zero-sum transaction. In 2016, he says, he must do “exceptionally well” in Iowa. New Hampshire is uncongenial because it is, he says, “the second-most secular state” measured by church attendance (second only to contiguous Vermont). South Carolina Republicans, however, might feel remorse about favoring Newt Gingrich in 2012. Santorum is sure he would have won Michigan if Gingrich (65,027 votes) had not won South Carolina. Santorum must get on stage for the televised debates. The first is in August, hosted by Fox News, which might need to formulate admission criteria to filter the field, lest candidate congestion make the event ridiculous. Santorum thinks qualifying for the debate should be like qualifying for the Masters golf tournament: Past winners, or those who did particularly well in the previous year’s Masters, are automatically admitted. Last time he was the last one standing against Romney. • George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. © 2015 Washington Post Writers Group...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3168747-8/santorum-the-return-of-the-gops-runner-up Karen Troianello /News/LatestNews/ 8381083@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:40:13 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:40:13 GMT
The Washington Post



This editorial appeared in Thursday’s Washington Post. It’s not yet clear why Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 derailed Tuesday night, killing eight and wounding more than 200. The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday afternoon that the train was traveling more than 100 mph in a 50 mph zone in North Philadelphia, where the tracks take a sharp turn. At first glance, in other words, this would appear to be a story of human failure. But no matter what the investigation yields, there almost certainly will be lessons about the United States’ negligent stewardship of its roads, rails, bridges and tunnels. Amtrak long ago should have installed automatic safeguards against reckless driving on a route like the Northeast Corridor, which is heavily trafficked and passes through dense urban centers. The technology exists. But Amtrak hasn’t finished installing its “positive train control” system, even along its busiest line. It is also astonishing that Amtrak appears to have no reasonable alternative travel route while this line is closed, badly snarling transportation between Philadelphia and New York, a key section of rail. Airlines and regional bus carriers have scrambled to pick up the slack, but delays and hassles have already cost untold amounts of money and time. Officials haven’t said when trains will begin running again, although Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, D, has warned that it could take several days before things get back to normal. Members of Congress were quick to promise help Wednesday. They can start by ending their perpetual neglect of the country’s infrastructure. Their most basic task is to put the transportation budget on sound footing, which Congress has failed to do, year after year. The Highway Trust Fund relies on the federal gasoline tax to finance all sorts of transportation needs, but the revenue stream hasn’t covered the country’s spending requirements for years. The obvious solution is to raise the gas tax, which has been at the same level since 1993. But neither President Barack Obama nor Congress has the courage to say this aloud. Legislators are poised to patch together several billion dollars to keep the fund solvent for a short while longer, while they continue to debate second-best solutions. Instead, they should fix the problem now. Congress also should reduce the time and hassle it takes to get infrastructure projects approved. Meanwhile, Amtrak, which is budgeted separately, requires special attention. Top on the list would be more investment in Northeast Corridor rail service, a crucial transportation line that needs attention. Had Obama devoted his high-speed rail initiative to this corridor, instead of attempting to sprinkle the funds across many states, something might have been accomplished by now. Such steps would not lessen the burden of Tuesday night’s tragedy. They might prevent others, however. © 2015 The Washington Post...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3169378-8/amtrak-crash-shows-why-its-important-to-address /News/LatestNews/ 8382892@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:40:13 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:39:02 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic


Photo by Terry Winetsky Ash clouds hover over Yakima on May 18, 1980.


EDITOR’S NOTE: The eruption of Mount St. Helens was 35 years ago Monday, but judging from the response from readers who were asked to send us their recollections, the event remains freshly etched in their minds. More than three dozen sent us letters recalling that Sunday morning of May 18, 1980. Following is a small selection of the letters and photographs we received; all the letters and many of the photographs will be published Tuesday at yakimaherald.com. Our thanks to those who took the time to record and send their experiences. Glenn Rice, Yakima On May 18, 1980, my family was on the way to a summer home in the Cascades. As we approached the “Y” at the intersection of Highway 12 and State Route 410, the sky became dark with clouds, wind, dust, thunder and lightning. This was different because the air also smelled of sulfur. I said, “Turn the radio on; something is happening.” And indeed it was! We turned around, and it took an hour and a half to return to Yakima because of poor visibility. The sun seemingly set in the east, it was dark, the streetlights came on, the birds were silent and the crickets were out. I called my mother, who lived in Selah, to see if she was all right. She said yes. But she added: “I have lived through two world wars, Prohibition, the Great Depression and cancer. If this is the end of the world, the hell with it. I’m ready.” It wasn’t, of course, and life went on. Ramona Murray, Selah May 18, 1980, looked like the beginning of a beautiful spring day in the Wenas Valley. The hay fields looked good on our cattle ranch and our cattle were grazing on the other side of the hill. Suddenly, the sky turned black with red and green lightning and something was falling from the sky. We thought it was rain, but it was ash. Mount St. Helens had erupted. The sparrows clustered by our rooftop near the porch light. Thank goodness the power stayed on and radio station KIT kept us informed. In the afternoon, my husband, Austin, and our son Dave tied kerchiefs over their noses, took flashlights and left in the pickup to see about our cattle. The cattle had broken down the fence and were coming home. One cow died. My daughter Valerie and I went to bed for a while. At about 7:30 p.m., the ash stopped falling and the sky was light. We stepped outside. It smelled like a chemical lab and it looked like the moon. Everything was gray. A red tailed hawk was searching in the sky, cawing. The little bantam rooster was crowing. These were welcome sounds. Nancy M. Burgess, Yakima I went out to take the covers off the tomatoes, and when I went in, I told my wife, “There’s a big storm coming. A really black cloud in the southwest is heading our way.” Later, at church, we were sitting in the choir, and the ash started falling like rain on the slanted window above us. Our priest told us not to worry. He had been in Italy during World War II and Mount Vesuvius had erupted. He said this was not nearly as bad. He was the only one who didn’t make it home. When we got home, I went next door to check on my 80-year-old mom. I was worried she would be frightened. Instead, she had set out all of her candles and filled the bathtub with water. My sister in New York told me later that she had tried to call our mom when she heard about the eruption. The operator told her that all circuits were down and that Yakima had been wiped out. She was frantic before she finally got through to me. I was in the State Patrol. It was my day off, but all off-duty personnel had been called in to work. They sent me out to the Naches junction to turn back any cars heading up toward the mountains. We stopped one car, and the man said his kids were camping up that way and nobody was going to keep him from going to find them. We let him pass. Lightning was flashing all around us, but it wasn’t like it usually is. This lightning flashed horizontally. The hair on our heads was standing straight up. It was really pretty scary. We finally went into the gas station to get out of the ash and wind. Dana Russell Jones, Yakima Do I remember? Of course I remember. I was spending the weekend with my parents in Buckley, along with my husband at the time, two dogs and four small children, the oldest with chickenpox. As we were getting ready to leave for Grandview, my mother came to tell us the mountain had blown. Afraid that we wouldn’t make it home and would become stuck somewhere, we borrowed my parents’ pop-up camper, loaded supples and headed out, hoping to make it over Snoqualmie Pass. Chinook Pass was already closed, and we heard on the radio that Snoqualmie Pass was closed at North Bend. We stayed Sunday night in Carnation with friends, watching the horrific aftermath and plotting our course for the following day. Waking up, we heard Stevens Pass was still open. We headed out, hoping to make it home by that night. Halfway across the pass, though, we wondered why we weren’t seeing any cars. We found out the pass had closed, trapping us with ash all around, which made it almost impossible to see. Going very slowly, we made it to Quincy. We were stopped by police and told we had to go to the school, where stranded motorists were staying. When I told the police officer one of our children had chickenpox, all that changed. The hospital agreed to let us camp in their parking lot. But the janitor saw our flimsy pop-up trailer and knew ash would seep in, so he called his wife, and they took all six of us in — chickenpox, dogs and all. These wonderful people gave us housing and food without taking a cent. Three days later, we were able to travel on back roads past the barricades and make it back to Grandview. Bette Schlagel Rogers, Yakima At 4 p.m., I left work, only to see the sun darkened and snow falling from the sky. It was already hot and humid in Kansas City in May, so why snow? On the drive home, a fine gray material continued to fall and swirl around the cars. It was an eerie event in the Midwest, where we had lived for four years. Kansas City had many extremes in weather and this was tornado season, but never had snow fallen in May. Some folks panicked. Of course, I knew what it was. Two days earlier, Mount St. Helens, southwest of my childhood home in Yakima, had erupted, spewing gray ash all over the state. And now, two days later, the ash cloud had reached the Midwest. The next day, my parents, Gordon and Hazel Schlagel, arrived at my home by car, having left Yakima at 5 a.m. Sunday, May 18, for a granddaughter’s graduation. As they traveled, a gas station attendant in Ontario, Ore., asked if they had left Yakima because of the eruption. My parents were stunned to hear that their hometown was covered with ash. Hasty phone calls were made to check on family, pets and their East Selah orchards. After a two-week visit, my folks drove back to Yakima to find their farm covered with ash. The apple trees were no longer green. In spite of the fear of financial ruin, that year’s apple crop was wonderful, and Mom’s famous flower beds produced bountiful blooms. My parents sent many little jars of ash, which were used by my teacher co-workers during science classes. No doubt somewhere in Kansas City there are still jars of St. Helens ash from our Yakima farm. Clar Pratt, Yakima Just before the 18th, I had been to a large camp out north of Ellensburg. I headed home to Yakima, but when I got to the Interstate 82 junction I found the way south closed. I drove into Ellensburg and spent the night, figuring to drive home through the canyon. But that way was closed to all traffic. I then elected to sneak over Durr Road into the Wenas Valley. No signs there, and I proceeded south. The sky had largely cleared, but ash in this area was several inches deep. As I drove all alone, I wondered if I was being a little too confident should I experience a car malfunction of some sort. But I continued south. About halfway through and longing for the sight of Selah, I noted a small sandpiper moving around just on the edge of the road. I looked down on the bird from my truck and noted that it gave every appearance of frustration. It did not seem to even notice my truck beside it. The bird ran around in a small area, apparently frustrated — if birds can get that way. And I guessed that ash had buried its nest. There was nothing I could do, and I drove on. But I’ve never forgotten the pathetic sight of that seemingly frantic small bird trying to deal with the effects of the Mount St. Helens eruption. Susan La Riviere, Yakima Once the new year of 1980 hit, seismologists and volcanologists became alerted to steam coming out of Mount St. Helens’ dome. Small earthquakes were noted and citizens were warned that there might be a volcanic eruption within the year. Here in Yakima, we were not warned about emergency precautions to take if an eruption happened. Although volcanic activity was part of our conversations, no one seriously considered that the mountain would explode. On Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, I was on the phone talking long distance to my parents who were visiting relatives in south Louisiana. I said, “It looks like a terrible dust storm is coming from the west. The sky is black in that direction and it isn’t yet noon. I also heard some thunder so we might get ... Mom? Dad? Are you there?” All phone connections were cut off. I heard a loud clap of what sounded like thunder, the windows shuttered and a storm of darkness surrounded the house. We could not see the street lamp at the corner of Barge and North 36th Avenue. The television was not working, but KIT radio announcers came in clearly with news about the volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens. We were told to fill the bathtub with water because it was unknown if the ash was radioactive. Farmers were warned to shelter their animals, and owners of domestic animals were instructed to bring all the pets into the house. The sky rained sand the rest of May 18. Water did not wash the san...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3166326-8/ash-and-aftermath-of-mount-st-helens-our ctroianello /News/LatestNews/ 8374917@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:39:02 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:41 GMT
By SAMEER N. YACOUB The Associated Press




BAGHDAD — The contested city of Ramadi fell to the Islamic State group on Sunday, as Iraqi forces abandoned their weapons and armored vehicles to flee the provincial capital in a major loss despite intensified U.S.-led airstrikes. Bodies, some burned, littered the streets as local officials reported the militants carried out mass killings of Iraqi security forces and civilians. Online video showed Humvees, trucks and other equipment speeding out of Ramadi, with soldiers gripping onto their sides. “Ramadi has fallen,” said Muhannad Haimour, a spokesman for the governor of Anbar province. “The city was completely taken. ... The military is fleeing.” With defeat looming, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered security forces not to abandon their posts across Anbar province, apparently fearing the extremists could capture the entire desert region that saw intense fighting after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple dictator Saddam Hussein. Sunday’s retreat recalled the collapse of Iraqi security forces last summer in the face of the Islamic State group’s blitz into Iraq that saw it capture a third of the country, where it has declared a caliphate, or Islamic State. It also calls into question the Obama administration’s hopes of relying solely on airstrikes to support the Iraqi forces in expelling the extremists. Earlier Sunday, al-Abadi ordered Shiite militias to prepare to go into the Sunni-dominated province, ignoring U.S. concerns their presence could spark sectarian bloodshed. By late Sunday, a large number of Shiite militiamen had arrived at a military base near Ramadi, apparently to participate in a possible counter-offensive, said the head of the Anbar provincial council, Sabah Karhout. “We welcome any group, including Shiite militias, to come and help us in liberating the city from the militants. What happened today is a big loss caused by lack of good planning by the military,” a Sunni tribal leader, Naeem al-Gauoud, told the Associated Press. He said many tribal fighters died trying to defend the city, and bodies, some charred, were strewn in the streets, while others had been thrown in the Euphrates River. Ramadi mayor Dalaf al-Kubaisi said that more than 250 civilians and security forces were killed over the past two days, including dozens of police and other government supporters shot dead in the streets or their homes, along with their wives, children and other family members. The U.S.-led coalition said Sunday it conducted seven airstrikes in Ramadi in the last 24 hours. “It is a fluid and contested battlefield,” said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. “We are supporting (the Iraqis) with air power.” The final push by the extremists began early Sunday with four nearly simultaneous bombings that targeted police officers defending the Malaab district in southern Ramadi, a pocket of the city still under Iraqi government control, killing at least 10 police and wounding 15, authorities said. Among the dead was Col. Muthana al-Jabri, the chief of the Malaab police station, they said. Later, three suicide bombers drove their explosive-laden cars into the gate of the Anbar Operation Command, the military headquarters for the province, killing at least five soldiers and wounding 12, authorities said. Fierce clashes erupted between security forces and Islamic State militants following the attacks, and the extremists later seized Malaab after government forces withdrew, with the militants saying they controlled the military headquarters. A police officer who was stationed at the headquarters said retreating Iraqi forces left behind about 30 army vehicles and weapons that included artillery and assault rifles. He said some two dozen police officers went missing during the fighting. The officer and other officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorized to talk to journalists. On a militant website frequented by Islamic State members, a message from the group claimed its fighters held the 8th Brigade army base, as well as tanks and missile launchers left behind by fleeing soldiers. The message could not be independently verified by the AP, but it was similar to others released by the group and was spread online by known supporters of the extremists. Last week, the militants swept through Ramadi, seizing the main government headquarters and other key parts of the city. It marked a major setback for the Iraqi government’s efforts to drive the militants out of areas they seized last year. Previous estimates suggested the Islamic State group held at least 65 percent of the vast Anbar province. On Friday, with Ramadi on the brink of collapse, the U.S. military command downplayed IS gains there, describing them as fleeting. “We’ve seen similar attacks in Ramadi over the last several months which the (Iraqi security forces) have been able to repel,” said Marine Brig. Gen. Thomas D. Weidley, chief of staff for the campaign fighting the militants, adding that the U.S. was confident the Iraqi government will be able to take back the terrain it lost in Ramadi. Backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters have made gains against the Islamic State group, including capturing the northern city of Tikrit. But progress has been slow in Anbar, a Sunni province where anger at the Shiite-led government runs deep and where U.S. forces struggled for years to beat back a potent insurgency. American soldiers fought some of their bloodiest battles since Vietnam on the streets of Ramadi and Fallujah. U.S. troops were able to improve security in the province starting in 2006 when powerful tribes and former militants turned against al-Qaida in Iraq, a precursor to the Islamic State group, and allied with the Americans. But the so-called Sunni Awakening movement waned in the years after U.S. troops withdrew at the end of 2011, with the fighters complaining of neglect and distrust from the Shiite-led government in Baghdad....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177012-14/islamic-state-completes-takeover-of-ramadi By SAMEER N. YACOUB Associated /News/LatestNews/ 8403063@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:41 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:41 GMT
By NOMAAN MERCHANT The Associated Press


ROD AYDELOTTE/Waco Tribune-Herald via AP A McLennan County deputy stands guard Sunday near a group of bikers in the parking lot of a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas.


WACO, Texas — A shootout among rival motorcycle gangs at a popular Central Texas restaurant left nine bikers dead and 18 injured, and it sent panicked patrons and bystanders fleeing for safety, a police spokesman said Sunday. The violence erupted shortly after noon at a busy Waco shopping center along Interstate 35 that draws a large lunchtime crowd. Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said eight people died at the scene of the shooting at Twin Peaks restaurant and another person died at a hospital. The nine killed were all members of biker gangs, he said, as were the 18 people who were taken to hospitals with injuries that include stab and gunshot wounds. Some victims are being treated for both, he said. “This is probably one of the most gruesome crime scenes I’ve ever seen in my 34 years of law enforcement,” Swanton said, later adding, “I was amazed that we didn’t have innocent civilians killed or injured.” At least 100 people have been detained for questioning, Swanton said late Sunday night. Swanton said at least five rival gangs gathered at Twin Peaks for a meeting that he said focused on turf and recruitment, two areas where the groups have often clashed. Preliminary findings indicate a dispute broke out in a bathroom, escalated to include knives and firearms and eventually spilled into the restaurant parking lot, he said. There were 150 to 200 gang members inside the restaurant at the time. Shots were fired inside and outside the restaurant, he said. McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara, whose office is involved in the investigation, said all nine who were killed were members of the Banditos or Cossacks gangs. Swanton described the interior of the restaurant after a Sunday night walk-through, saying it was littered with bullet casings, knives, a club, bodies and pools of blood. Authorities would be working the rest of the night to process the reams of evidence, he said. Police were aware of the meeting in advance, Swanton said, and at least 12 Waco officers in addition to state troopers were outside the restaurant, part of a national chain that features scantily clad waitresses, when the fight began. “We’ve been made aware in the past few months of rival biker gangs ... being here and causing issues,” Swanton said. Swanton said that the restaurant’s operators also were aware of the meeting in advance, and he described the management as uncooperative with authorities in addressing concerns. “Apparently the management (of Twin Peaks) wanted them here and so we didn’t have any say-so on whether they could be here or not,” Swanton said. A statement sent Sunday night on behalf of Jay Patel, operating partner for the Waco franchise, said, “Our management team has had ongoing and positive communications with the police,” and added that the restaurant was cooperating with the investigation. Swanton addressed Patel’s statement late Sunday night, calling it a “fabrication.” Rick Van Warner, a spokesman for the Dallas-based corporate franchisor, said the company is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the shooting and is “seriously considering revoking” the Waco location’s franchise agreement. Van Warner said he couldn’t address what the franchise owners “did or didn’t do leading up to this,” but added that the company is “very upset that clearly our standards of safety and security were not upheld in this particular case,” he said. Doug Greeness, a biker from Belton, Texas, was near the scene Sunday evening. He said he’s a member of a family riding club and was waiting for friends to be released from custody so he could return home. Greeness, who was not inside the restaurant when the melee broke out, described the event as a meeting of a biker association called the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents. He said the group meets to “discuss issues within the biker community.” Officers with numerous law enforcement agencies were seen parked along the service road for I-35 near the city and were stationed in several points in downtown Waco around the local convention center. Swanton said authorities are increasing security in the area to prevent further violence among the gangs. In addition to local and state police, agents from the FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also at the scene about an hour and a half south of Dallas. ———— Associated Press videographer John L. Mone in Waco contributed to this report....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177439-14/texas-shootout-among-rival-biker-gangs-leaves-9 By NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated P /News/LatestNews/ 8404052@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:41 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:41 GMT
By AHMED AL-HAJ The Associated Press




SANAA, Yemen — Saudi-led coalition airstrikes targeting Shiite rebels resumed early today in the southern port city of Aden after a five-day truce came to a close following talks on the war-torn country’s future that were boycotted by the rebels. Coalition airstrikes hit rebel positions and tanks in several neighborhoods of Aden after the cease-fire expired at 11 p.m. Sunday, Yemeni security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The cease-fire hadn’t halted all fighting in Yemen between the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, and government forces loyal to exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Earlier Sunday, hundreds of Yemeni politicians and tribal leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia for three days of talks on Yemen’s future, but the Houthis refused to participate. The Shiite rebels reject the main aim of the talks — the restoration of Hadi, who fled the country in March in the face of rebel advances — and the location of the negotiations in Saudi Arabia, which is leading an air campaign against the Houthis and their allies. The absence of the Houthis means the national dialogue is unlikely to end the violence. The U.N. envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, opened the meeting in Riyadh by calling on all parties to ensure that the shaky cease-fire leads to a lasting truce. “I call on all parties to refrain from any action that disturbs the peace of airports, main areas and the infrastructure of transport,” said Ahmed, speaking on behalf of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Since late March, Saudi Arabia has led airstrikes against the Houthis and allied military units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The campaign is aimed at weakening the Houthis and restoring Hadi, who addressed the talks Sunday. “This conference taking place today is in support of politics and community, and rejects the coup,” Hadi told the gathering. He urged a return to the political road map through which Saleh stepped down after more than three decades in power following a 2011 Arab Spring-inspired uprising. Saleh’s ouster and the road map was backed and overseen by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which is headquartered in Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.N. and the U.S. Among those taking part in the conference are members of Saleh’s former ruling party. Yemen’s conflict has killed more than 1,400 people — many of them civilians — since March 19, according to the U.N. The country of some 25 million people has endured shortages of food, water, medicine and electricity as a result of a Saudi-led blockade. Humanitarian organizations had been scrambling to distribute aid before the end of the truce. That includes an Iranian cargo ship carrying humanitarian aid en route to Yemen. Iranian state television quoted Nasser Charkhsaz, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent’s Relief and Rescue Organization, as saying that the ship is currently sailing in international waters near Oman’s Salalah port and will arrive at the Bab el-Mandeb strait between Yemen and Djibouti and Eritrea in two days. According to the report, the ship is scheduled to reach Yemen’s port city of Hodeida by Thursday if plans go smoothly. Western countries accuse Shiite power Iran of backing the Houthi rebels, something the Islamic Republic and the rebels deny. Meanwhile, a suspected U.S. drone strike hit a car carrying a group of people believed to be al-Qaida fighters, Yemeni security officials said. The strike was in Shabwa province, where the extremist group has sent reinforcements. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177440-14/saudi-led-coalition-airstrikes-resume-in-yemen By AHMED AL-HAJ Associated Pres /News/LatestNews/ 8404056@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:41 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:41 GMT
By DAISY NGUYEN The Associated Press



LOS ANGELES — Extreme athlete Dean Potter, renowned for his bold and sometimes rogue climbs and BASE jumps, was one of two men killed while attempting a wingsuit flight in Yosemite National Park, a park spokesman said Sunday. Someone called for help late Saturday after losing contact with Potter, 43, and his climbing partner, Graham Hunt, 29. They had jumped from a 7,500-foot promontory called Taft Point, park ranger Scott Gediman said. He said a search-and-rescue team looked for the men overnight but couldn’t find them. On Sunday morning, a helicopter crew spotted their bodies in Yosemite Valley. No parachutes had been deployed. BASE jumping is an acronym for fixed objects in which someone can parachute from: building, antenna, span, and Earth (such as a cliff). The sport is illegal in all national parks, and it was possible the men jumped at dusk or at night to avoid being caught by park rangers. Potter and Hunt, who lived near Yosemite, were prominent figures in the park’s climbing community, Gediman said. “This is a horrible incident, and our deepest sympathies go out to their friends and family,” Gediman said. “This is a huge loss for all of us.” Potter is famous for pushing the boundaries of climbing by going up some of the world’s most daunting big walls and cliffs alone, using his bare hands and without ropes. He took the sport to an extreme level with highlining — walking across a rope suspended between towering rock formations while wearing a parachute for safety in the event of a fall. He drew criticism in May 2006 after he made a “free solo” climb of Utah’s iconic Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. Though the climb was not illegal, outdoor clothing company Patagonia dropped its sponsorship of him, saying his actions “compromised access to wild places and generated an inordinate amount of negativity in the climbing community and beyond.” Potter defended his ascent, saying his intention was to inspire people to “get out of their cars and experience the wild with all their senses.” Last year, Clif Bar withdrew its sponsorship of Potter and four other top climbers, saying they took risks that made the company too uncomfortable to continue financial support. In more recent years, he combined his love of climbing and flying with BASE jumping. He also produced a film that chronicled his adventures BASE jumping with his dog, Whisper. In 2009, he set a record for completing the longest BASE jump from the Eiger North Face in Switzerland by staying in flight in a wingsuit for 2 minutes and 50 seconds. The feat earned him the Adventurer of the Year title by National Geographic magazine. A photographer who documented that jump, and has known Potter for more than 15 years said Potter stood out from other climbers not only for his skills but his boldness. “In the adventure world, I’ve lost a lot of friends to climbing and BASE jumping,” Corey Rich said. “On one level, you lose a friend. But it’s also difficult to be surprised because BASE jumping is the most dangerous thing you can do. The odds are not in your favor, and sadly Dean pulled the unlucky card.” Potter indicated in his writings that he knew the inherent danger of his sport. “Though sometimes I have felt like I’m above it all and away from any harm, I want people to realize how powerful climbing, extreme sports or any other death-consequence pursuits are,” he wrote in an October 2014 blog posted on his website. “There is nothing fake about it whether you see it in real life, on YouTube or in a glamorous commercial.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177595-8/extreme-athlete-dies-in-jumping-accident By DAISY NGUYEN Associated Pres /News/LatestNews/ 8404466@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:41 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:41 GMT
By MESFIN FEKADU AP Music Writer


CHRIS PIZZELLO/Invision/AP Taylor Swift, right, hugs Calvin Harris after winning the award for top Billboard 200 album Sunday at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas.


LAS VEGAS — Taylor Swift dominated the Billboard Music Awards with eight wins, including top artist, while Kanye West was booed during his performance that closed the three-hour event. Swift also won top Billboard 200 album and top female artist Sunday night. “Oh, this is such a good night!” she said after winning the top prize, besting One Direction, Ariana Grande, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran. “Early this morning I watched my brother Austin graduate from Notre Dame ... (and) to anyone who’s graduating this year ... this is for you.” “This is kind of a graduation for us,” Swift said to the audience of top musicians. West, however, was booed during his smoky performance of “All Day.” “And now a doctor,” Kylie Jenner said while introducing the rapper, who earned an honorary doctorate from the Art Institute of Chicago. Swift kissed her rumored boyfriend Calvin Harris on the cheek and gave him a hug at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Swift, who sat next to the DJ-producer-singer, kicked off the awards by debuting her action-filled music video for “Bad Blood,” which stars Selena Gomez and Lena Dunham and showcases Swift as a fighting vixen. The video opened with Swift and Gomez fighting men in an office and then fighting each other. It ended with Swift’s and Gomez’s armies going head to head. Other stars in the clip included Mariska Hargitay, Ellen Pompeo, Jessica Alba and Ellie Goulding, and Hayley Williams of Paramore. Swift swapped her first two verses with new ones from rapper Kendrick Lamar for “Bad Blood,” a song rumored to be about Swift’s friendship with Katy Perry. “I am so excited I got to show the world,” Swift told the audience. One Direction, which recently downsized to four members, won the night’s first award for top duo/group. “There is one more person to share this with, and that’s our brother Zayn,” Liam Payne said of Zayn Malik, who left the group. The boy band also won top touring artist. Iggy Azalea won top rap song for “Fancy” as her NBA player boyfriend, Nick Young, watched her with emotion. Azalea also won top streaming artist and rap artist. Van Halen was the night’s first performance and rocked the crowd with its 1984 hit “Panama.” Mariah Carey sang her first hit, “Vision of Love,” which was pitchy. She followed it with new single, “Infinity,” where she also struggled. She ended with a strong high note, though. Britney Spears was energetic when she performed her new single, “Pretty Girls,” in a sheer black cat suit alongside Azalea. Swift and Zendaya sang along as Nicki Minaj mainly danced, barely singing or rapping live and relying on a backing track during “Hey Mama” and “The Night Is Still Young.” Meghan Trainor performed a duet with John Legend and won hot 100 song for “All About That Bass.” She was teary and shaky onstage, as was her friend and collaborator Charlie Puth, who performed “See You Again” with Wiz Khalifa earlier in the show. Other performers included Pitbull with Chris Brown and Little Big Town with Faith Hill. Hosts Ludacris and Chrissy Teigen offered some jokes Sunday night: The rapper described why he’s a good host, namechecking his music and acting credits. Teigen, a model, replied, “And I bang a musician” as her husband, John Legend, stood up. Legend later won top radio song for his No. 1 hit, “All of Me.” “I have to thank, of course, my beautiful co-host, my lovely wife, Chrissy Teigen,” he said. “I am so proud that we won this award together tonight.” Co-host Ludacris offered some words about the late B.B. King and his renowned career while the camera panned to a guitar on an empty stage. Swift was the lead nominee with 14 nominations. Smith, who recently had vocal surgery, didn’t attend the show. He won top male artist and wrote his thank you speech on cue cards, which aired via video....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177660-8/taylor-swift-wins-8-at-billboard-awards By MESFIN FEKADU AP Music Write /News/LatestNews/ 8404639@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:41 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:25 GMT
By CONNIE CASS The Associated Press




WASHINGTON — A dozen years later, American politics has reached a rough consensus about the Iraq War: It was a mistake. Politicians hoping to be president rarely run ahead of public opinion. So it’s a revealing moment when the major contenders for president in both parties find it best to say that 4,491 Americans lost their lives in a war that shouldn’t have been waged. Many people have been saying that for years, of course. Polls show most of the public have judged the war a failure by now. Over time, more and more GOP politicians have allowed that the absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq undermined Republican President George W. Bush’s rationale for the 2003 invasion. It hasn’t been an easy evolution for those such as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, who voted for the war in 2002 while serving in Congress. That vote, and her refusal to fully disavow it, cost her during her 2008 primary loss to Barack Obama, who wasn’t in the Senate in 2002 but had opposed the war. In her memoir last year, Clinton wrote that she had voted based on the information available at the time, but “I got it wrong. Plain and simple.” What might seem a hard truth for a nation to acknowledge has become the safest thing for an American politician to say — even Bush’s brother. The fact that Jeb Bush, a likely candidate for the Republican nomination in 2016, was pressured this past week into rejecting, in hindsight, his brother’s war “is an indication that the received wisdom, that which we work from right now, is that this was a mistake,” said Evan Cornog, a historian and dean of the Hofstra University school of communication. Or, as Rick Santorum, another potential Republican candidate, put it: “Everybody accepts that now.” Santorum didn’t always see the war that way. He voted for the invasion as a senator and continued to support if for years. Last week, he mocked Jeb Bush’s reluctance to give what now seems the obvious answer when he was initially asked to reconsider the war in light of what’s known today. “I don’t know how that was a hard question,” Santorum said. It’s an easier question for presidential hopefuls who aren’t bound by family ties or their own congressional vote for the war, who have the luxury of judging it in hindsight, knowing full well the terrible price Americans paid and the continuing bloodshed in Iraq today. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz weren’t in Congress in 2002 and didn’t have to make a real-time decision with imperfect knowledge. Neither was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who served an earlier stint in Congress. All these Republicans said last week that, in hindsight, they would not have invaded Iraq with what’s now known about the faulty intelligence that wrongly indicated Saddam Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, in an interview Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” summed up that sentiment: “Knowing what we know now, I think it’s safe for many of us, myself included, to say, we probably wouldn’t have taken” that approach. Rubio, in a long exchange on “Fox News Sunday,” tried to navigate the Iraq shoals once again, making a glass-half-full case that while the war was based on mistaken intelligence, the world still is better off with Saddam gone. Those politicians didn’t go as far, however, as war critics such as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a declared Republican candidate who says it would have been a mistake even if Saddam were hiding such weapons. Paul says Saddam was serving as a counterbalance to Iran and removing him from power led to much of the turmoil now rocking the Middle East. Former President George W. Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney, still maintain that ousting a brutal and unpredictable dictator made the world safer. In his 2010 memoir, “Decision Points,” Bush said he got a “sickening feeling” every time he thought about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction and he knew that would “transform public perception of the war.” But he stands by his decision. The war remains a painful topic that politicians must approach with some care. Jeb Bush, explaining his reluctance to clarify his position on the war’s start, said “going back in time and talking about hypotheticals,” the would-haves and the should-haves, does a disservice to the families of soldiers who gave their lives. Cornog, the historian, said even if a majority of Americans have turned their backs on the war, many never will. “I think if I had lost a loved one in that war I would be unwilling to say it was a futile effort or destructive of America’s security,” he said. “How we interpret it depends on how we are invested in the question at hand.” When he finished withdrawing U.S. troops in December 2011, Obama predicted a stable, self-reliant Iraqi government would take hold. Instead, turmoil and terrorism overtook Iraq and American leaders and would-be presidents are struggling with what to do next. The U.S. now has 3,040 troops in Iraq as trainers and advisers and to provide security for American personnel and equipment. For the most part, the public and the military — like the politicians — are focused less on decisions of the past than on the events of today and how to stop the Islamic State militants who have overrun a swath of Iraq and inspired terrorist attacks in the West. “The greater amount of angst in the military is from seeing the manifest positive results of the surge in 2007 and 2008 go to waste by misguided policies in the aftermath,” said retired U.S. Army Col. Peter Monsoor, a top assistant to Gen. David Petraeus in Baghdad during that increase of U.S. troops in Iraq. “Those mistakes were huge and compounded the original error of going into Iraq in the first place,” said Monsoor, now a professor of military history at Ohio State University. “There’s plenty of blame to go around. What we need is not so much blame as to figure out what happened and use that knowledge to make better decisions going forward.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177317-14/iraq-war-judged-a-mistake-by-todays-white By CONNIE CASS Associated Press /News/LatestNews/ 8403737@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:25 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:25 GMT
By RON TODT the Associated Press


PATRICK SEMANSKY/Associated Press Emergency personnel work at the scene of a deadly train wreck Tuesday in Philadelphia.


PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor trains will resume service today in “complete compliance” with federal safety orders following last week’s deadly derailment, officials announced Sunday. Company president Joseph Boardman said Amtrak staff and crew have been working “around the clock” to restore service along the route between Washington and Boston following Tuesday night’s crash that killed eight people and injured more than 200 others. “Our infrastructure repairs have been made with the utmost care and emphasis on infrastructure integrity including complete compliance with Federal Railroad Administration directives,” Boardman said in a statement Sunday. Federal regulators on Saturday ordered Amtrak to expand use of a speed-control system long in effect for southbound trains near the crash site to northbound trains in the same area. The agency also ordered the company to examine all curves along the Northeast Corridor and determine if more can be done to improve safety, and to increase speed limit signs along the route. Service along the corridor will resume with departures from New York City at 5:30 a.m. today and Philadelphia at 5:53 a.m. today, and all Acela Express, Northeast Regional and other services will resume for the first time since the accident, the company said. Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board, meanwhile, have focused on the acceleration of the train as it approached the curve, finally reaching 106 mph as it entered the 50-mph stretch north of central Philadelphia, and only managing to slow down slightly before the crash. “The only way that an operable train can accelerate would be if the engineer pushed the throttle forward. And ... the event recorder does record throttle movement,” board member Robert Sumwalt told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We will be looking at that to see if that corresponds to the increase in the speed of the train,” Sumwalt said. The Amtrak engineer, who was among those injured in the crash, has told authorities that he does not recall anything in the few minutes before it happened. Investigators have also been looking into reports that the windshield of the train may have been struck by some sort of object, but Sumwalt said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program on Sunday that he wanted to “downplay” the idea that damage to the windshield might have come from someone firing a shot at the train. “I’ve seen the fracture pattern; it looks like something about the size of a grapefruit, if you will, and it did not even penetrate the entire windshield,” Sumwalt said. Officials said an assistant conductor on the derailed train said she heard the Amtrak engineer talking with a regional train engineer and both said their trains had been hit by objects. But Sumwalt said the regional train engineer recalls no such conversation, and investigators had listened to the dispatch tape and heard no communications from the Amtrak engineer to the dispatch center to say that something had struck the train. “But, nevertheless, we do have this mark on the windshield of the Amtrak train, so we certainly want to trace that lead down,” he told CNN. Sumwalt acknowledged, however, in an interview on Fox News Sunday that train engines are routinely struck by various projectiles without catastrophic consequences. Sumwalt said the agency had long called for inward-facing video cameras on trains which he said would help provide crucial information about such crashes. And he said the kind of next-generation speed control systems that Congress has ordered installed by the end of the year could have prevented countless accidents over the years. The systems use transponders, wireless radio and computers to prevent trains from going over the speed limit. Almost 20 people injured in the train crash remain in Philadelphia hospitals, five in critical condition but all expected to survive....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177324-14/amtrak-to-restore-full-service-today By RON TODT Associated Press /News/LatestNews/ 8403756@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:37:25 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:26:45 GMT
By Nadja Brandt and Brian Louis Bloomberg News


Elin McCoy/Bloomberg News A record increase: Chicago hotels see an unprecedented rise in hotel reservations as fans snap up rooms ahead of the Grateful Dead’s farewell shows. Shown above, the label from a bottle of The Grateful Dead Steal Your Face red blend by winemaker Mark Beaman in 2011.


LOS ANGELES — Stephen Prime paid a steep price for the hour it took to win his wife’s approval to go to Chicago for three Grateful Dead shows billed as the band’s final concerts. By the time the television-show editor got back to his computer, the cost for his four-night hotel stay — $1,200 before spousal negotiations began — had gone up by about $240, and all rooms that allowed him to use his customer-loyalty points had been booked. “This kind of demand just felt unreal,” said Prime, 53, of Pasadena, Calif.. who’s worked on “Friends” and “Mike & Molly” and has been to more than 200 Dead shows since his first, in 1980. Tickets sold out quickly for the three “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead” shows at Chicago’s Soldier Field on July 3, 4 and 5. A similar frenzy is under way at hotels in the third-biggest U.S. city, with concertgoers paying a premium as rooms fill up. Chicago hotels had a record 11-fold increase in reservations the day the shows were announced, according to Orbitz Worldwide Inc. The surge in demand — the capacity at Soldier Field is 71,000 for the concerts — boosted the average room rate to $282 as of this week, up 86 percent from a year earlier, according to the online travel company. That’s the biggest increase on record for a July 4 weekend. Premiums at some hotels are even steeper. A room at the downtown Holiday Inn Express is selling for $509 a night, up from $128 last year, according to Orbitz. At the Warwick Allerton Hotel Chicago on Michigan Avenue, room rates more than tripled to $484 a night. “It’s hands down the biggest spikes I’ve ever seen,” said Reid Webster, regional sales director at Chicago-based Orbitz. “At this point, we anticipate a record in revenue and occupancy for the city.” The Dead has since announced two additional shows, on June 27 and 28 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., and a similar onslaught is now hitting hotel rooms in the Silicon Valley area with availabilities “extremely tight,” Webster said. It will be the first time Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir will perform together as the Grateful Dead in 20 years. Demand isn’t restricted to hotel companies. For Airbnb, the San Francisco-based site for people to list accommodations, Chicago bookings for the July 4 weekend are up 95 percent from a year earlier as of this week, said Cristina Calzadilla, a company spokeswoman. “This concert is going down as one of the top three demand drivers at Airbnb,” said Andrea La Mesa, Airbnb’s regional director for North America. South by Southwest, the annual film and music festival, and the Super Bowl have been the company’s other two top events, he said. Holly Gitlin, 41, and her partner started using Airbnb in 2012 to rent out a room in their Chicago apartment. After buying another unit in the building in 2013, the couple have also been offering that apartment to travelers. Both were spoken for faster than ever. “We’ve never been booked this quickly,” said Gitlin, an operations manager at a human-resources firm. “This year, our rooms for the Fourth of July weekend were taken by January.” Gitlin said she didn’t know if her renters are coming to Chicago for the Dead shows. The Chicago concerts are sold out, and travel packages for two offered by CID Entertainment LLC, including three nights at a downtown hotel and show tickets, were completely spoken for at prices as high as $5,700. Resale website TicketNetwork Inc. listed more than 1,100 tickets available for each Chicago show as of this week, and StubHub Inc. had about 1,900 tickets offered for each night. The large number of Dead tickets being offered for resale is making some hotel operators worried, said Marc Gordon, president of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association. “Chicago hotels are very concerned about cancellations and that third parties made many of the reservations with the idea of reselling them and maybe not actually ending up using them,” Gordon said. The additional concerts planned for California “might also soften some of the demand that would have ended up here,” said Kevin Mallory, the Chicago-based global head of CBRE Group Inc.’s lodging business. Prime, the television editor, struck out when he tried to buy tickets for the Chicago shows when they first went on sale. In desperation, he jumped on a $5,000 package from an eBay seller that includes three hotel nights and VIP concert tickets. Like many of his fellow Deadheads, as fans of the band are known, Prime has traveled across the U.S. to see the group perform. But he wasn’t willing to go to any length to see the Dead one last time, with a decent hotel room being one condition for the trip. “I’ve never left the U.S. to see them, I never quit my job and I always took a shower,” Prime said. “I am keeping it that way.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3149604-13/deadheads-set-for-reunion Bloomberg News. /News/LatestNews/ 8330424@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:26:45 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 20:26:45 GMT
By Cecilia Kang and Will Hobson The Washington Post


“Piracy isn’t a Periscope thing, it’s an Internet thing,” Periscope co-founder Kayvon Beykpour says. Periscope and similar streaming services are threatening to compete for live broadcast viewers. Michael Nagle/ Bloomberg News


Since the advent of the VCR and then YouTube, the media industry’s No. 1 enemy has been piracy. But while Hollywood and the TV networks have fought one technology after another, one type of entertainment has been safe from illegal broadcasts: live sports. That’s because fans hated waiting for illicit recordings to be posted online. Sporting events offered the rare assurance that millions of viewers would still gather at a scheduled time in front of their televisions to watch games unfold live. Now, live-streaming apps such as Periscope and Meerkat threaten TV’s golden egg. Just hold a smartphone up to a television to record and stream what’s airing, and suddenly piracy is easier than ever. That stunning recognition arrived this past weekend when droves of boxing fans skipped the $100 pay-per-view fee and watched the much-anticipated match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao for free in early May. Dozens of live streams of the fight were available through Periscope, and even though the app shut down 30 illegal streams, users gloated about their ability to watch. Sports leagues have so far tolerated some fan use of these apps, and media organizations say the services are not yet hurting their bottom lines. But the implications of the new technology are clear. “This is a breaking-of-the-dam moment because everyone has massively powerful computers in their hands that can shoot HD-quality video and live stream it to thousands of people simultaneously,” said Jesse Redniss, a co-founder of media consulting firm BraveVentures. “There are major rights implications, and Periscope is treading over very thin ice because they have the ability to police the streams.” Just 1 year old, Periscope and Meerkat threaten a remaining staple of the television business. Network audiences are shrinking, and even cable TV has suffered as viewers flock to online video, which is more convenient to watch but brings in far less revenue for providers. The one area that continues to thrive is live events — especially sports, where every Super Bowl or Final Four brings massive audiences. Networks and sports leagues are trying to control the migration of viewers to digital streaming services. Baseball, basketball and tennis are already putting some of their events online. MLB.tv offers access to most Major League Baseball games starting at $95 a year. The NFL plans to live stream a game between the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars this fall. But given the slow pace and the hefty fees associated with those efforts, fans are inevitably attracted to alternatives that are more convenient — and free. So while the quality of videos on Periscope and Meerkat are crude compared with a 50-inch HDTV, the threat is real. Both services allow users to broadcast their own feeds and watch streams created by others. On a recent evening, former TV morning show anchor Katie Couric broadcast herself live from the red carpet of the Met Gala in New York, and the New York Stock Exchange posted a video of Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan’s visit. Other streams are more mundane, such as a student asking whether to study or watch Netflix and a woman posting a video of her husband wearing hot-pink shorts. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred told journalists in April that he is aware that some fans use Meerkat and Periscope during games. ”We know it happens, and we haven’t done anything about it,” he said. ”We haven’t done it because it’s in very limited chunks of times. If somebody tries to stream a whole game from his phone, there’s probably going to be a problem.” Games are the property of Major League Baseball — thus the boilerplate language about telecasts being “for the private use of our audience.” Fans are prohibited from taking live video, and teams are encouraged to police the policy as they see fit. The same is true in other leagues. “It has been on our radar. We’ll spend some time this offseason evaluating the technology and how it applies to us,” said Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL. Last week, the PGA Tour revoked the press credential of Stephanie Wei, a blogger who posted video of golfers practicing. Tour officials had earlier this year admonished Wei for posting video of Tiger Woods’s play at a tournament in Phoenix and said their decision didn’t have anything to do with the use of Periscope. But their actions show the challenge facing the PGA Tour to keep control over its valuable product. Music trade groups are also debating how to approach the apps, which can make concerts or Broadway shows as readily available as sporting events. “Yes, there is general concern that these apps could be used to commit copyright infringement,” said a music industry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the app is being evaluated by music labels. “Is it a massive problem yet? No. Hopefully Twitter and other services that employ these apps are proactively taking steps to prevent infringement from happening so that it doesn’t become a massive problem for the music community.” What worries media organizations is how difficult it is to police the new apps. Because Periscope broadcasts live, it is harder to stop streams before users see them. “One of the challenges now is just the logistics of managing the takedown process. ... We’re talking about real-time activity. Taking something down in half an hour may be half an hour too late,” said Douglas Masters, an intellectual property lawyer at Loeb & Loeb in Chicago. Media firms say the onus should be on Periscope and similar apps to police themselves. Twitter, which owns Periscope, required HBO and Showtime, who co-produced the pay-per-view telecast, to alert it to illegal streams of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Only then did it take down those accounts. The policy frustrates media executives, who question Twitter’s stance as it relies more heavily on hosting content from partners such as cable networks and sports leagues. Indeed, HBO worked with Periscope for weeks on a marketing campaign around the fight. A couple of hours before the start of boxing’s most anticipated fight in years, HBO announced in a tweet that fans could watch on Periscope as Pacquiao warmed up in his locker room. It was a marketing deal carefully worked out long before the fight, bringing together a cable television powerhouse and social media giant Twitter, which increasingly sees its future hinging on media partnerships. That was where the relationship was supposed to end. But once the first-round bell rang, users of Periscope, Meerkat and other live-streaming apps stayed on, finding what was estimated to be thousands of illegal streams from users who recorded and simultaneously broadcast the TV footage on their smartphones. After the match, Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo declared in a tweet that Periscope was the night’s winner. Since then, the company has tried to dial back its bravado, noting that HBO reported 66 illegal streams and that Twitter took down 30 of them. “We respect intellectual property rights,” Twitter said in a statement. But critics say Twitter should focus on creating technologies that help identify material that violates copyrights, in the same way that YouTube developed an identification system that made it easier to spot and take down pirated videos. In an interview at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York in early May, Periscope co-founder Kayvon Beykpour said there are tools that can be created to help stop piracy on the service. “Piracy isn’t a Periscope thing, it’s an Internet thing,” Beykpour said. “We are genuinely interested in working with partners to figure that out.” He said a team of people on his 13-member staff worked to respond to takedown demands from HBO and Showtime. But he acknowledged that the problem could grow. “The proliferation of mobile devices and that I can take my phone out right now and stream changes the process,” Beykpour said. “But I will say the boxing match was the exception.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3149635-8/tv-industry-fighting-upstream /News/LatestNews/ 8330509@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 20:26:45 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 18:52:11 GMT
By Ross Courtney Yakima Herald-Republic


ROSS COURTNEY/Yakima Herald-Republic Jenita Thinakaran, a research associate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, uses a rubber beater and a catch screen to search a matrimony vine for potato psyllids on May 1 on Gap Road in Prosser. Potato psyllids are a new pest that can potentially harm Washington’s potato crop, which ranks second nationally to Idaho.


PROSSER — As a warm morning grows warmer along Gap Road north of town, Jenita Thinakaran and Rodney Cooper whack a stringy patch of matrimony vine with 2-foot sections of rubber hose, catching leaves, dust and bugs on white screens. The U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers then inspect the surfaces for potato psyllids, a new pest that has the potential to harm the Northwest potato crop. Cooper spots one, pointing to a tiny green insect crawling across his white screen. “This is a newly emerged potato psyllid adult, and this is exactly what we’re looking for, because this is evidence that it overwintered on these plants,” said Cooper, a research entomologist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service laboratory in Wapato. Thinakaran is a post-doctoral research associate at the same facility. They have teamed up to literally beat the bushes to find the pesky bugs’ winter hiding spots. The potato psyllid is another agricultural pest new to the area that could, if left unchecked, damage the state’s crops and throw off growers’ Integrated Pest Management, a delicate balance of timing, biological controls and targeted spraying to control bugs. The same worry surrounds the Brown Marmorated stink bug, the spotted wing drosophila and other newly arrived bugs that could upend years of balance in the Yakima Valley’s fruit orchards. Potato psyllids don’t eat potato plants. That’s not the problem. The bugs, however, sometimes carry a bacteria that causes zebra chip disease, a brown, streaky condition inside the flesh of the tubers most noticeable after they’ve been sliced and fried, such as for potato chips. Researchers don’t believe the infected potatoes pose any health threat, but farmers know customers won’t buy them. Research is underway, but the stakes could be high. The disease shows up in several countries around the world. In New Zealand, zebra chip cost growers $22.5 million in 2010 and 2011, according to a 2012 paper by Joseph Munyaneza, a Wapato laboratory colleague of the two researchers. In northern Mexico, zebra chip has been known to wipe out 60 percent of the crop, forcing farmers to abandon entire fields. Tomato and pepper farmers throughout the world have noticed crop losses due to the same bacteria. In the United States, growers spend an average of $300 per acre to spray for the psyllid, while the Texas industry estimates about $25 million worth of potatoes a year are at risk. In controlled field trials, crop loss has sometimes reached 93 percent, Munyaneza reported. For 20 years, the disease has been creeping north into Texas, California and other southern and central states, Munyaneza said. However, in September 2011, farmers began finding zebra chip in Idaho, Washington and Oregon, the three states that produce half of the nation’s potatoes. In 2013, Washington ranked second behind only Idaho in production, while the starchy tubers were Washington’s fourth-most valuable crop at $792 million, according to USDA statistics. Damage has stayed close to the Columbia River, near Paterson, Kennewick and Pasco, said Robert Halvorson Jr., who grows potatoes in the Lower Valley. “We haven’t noticed the impact,” said the Yakima resident and a commissioner for the Washington State Potato Commission. Potatoes are big for the state, but not so much for the Yakima Valley. In 2012, the year of the most recent USDA crop census, Yakima County had 1,691 acres of potatoes, a far cry from the tens of thousands in the Columbia Basin counties of Grant, Benton and Franklin, known for sandier soil that’s easier to irrigate and cool for a longer growing season, Halvorson said. Grant County alone grows 45,494 acres, 28 percent of the state’s total of 163,925. Also, Lower Valley growers harvest earlier, sometimes in early July, before the disease shows up, Halvorson said, while most of the potatoes grown in the Yakima Valley are sold on the fresh market, making zebra chip less of a concern than for processed potatoes. “Fortunately that’s the one good thing about being here,” he said. In a potentially alarming find, researchers began noticing that psyllids were living in the Northwest throughout the winter, instead of dying off in the fall, giving them the potential to dramatically boost in population each spring. “The previous school of thought was that these psyllids are coming in from Texas and California” each year, Thinakaran said. They are. Each spring, the tiny bugs take to the air currents and fly north, said Thinakaran, who previously worked in Texas. “By March, they are all gone,” she recalled. “I can’t find a single psyllid.” However, she and Cooper believe two invasive vines imported from Asia and Europe, the matrimony vine and bittersweet nightshade, are acting as year-round hosts for the potato psyllid in the Northwest. Nightshade appears most often as a volunteer near rivers and creeks, while the more drought-tolerant matrimony vine usually has been planted deliberately along fence lines and homes, Thinakaran said. Cooper first suspected psyllids were hiding in matrimony vine while searching a stand at a bend in Selah Loop Road near his home during a walk one evening. The psyllids he and Thinakaran have been finding on the two vines have tested negative for Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum, the bacteria that causes zebra chip. That would be good news, if the results hold, Thinakaran said. It would mean that only the migrating psyllids cause zebra chip, and local farmers would not have to start hunting and killing the two vines to protect their crops. But they keep looking, using their rubber beaters and trays, as well as a special vacuum to slurp bugs off plants through a filter. It looks like a leaf blower that sucks instead of blows. “We’ll take these psyllids back to the lab and we’ll run more tests to see if this vine or this plant is actually an important source of psyllids that growers need to worry about,” Cooper said. • Ross Courtney can be reached at 509-930-8798 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3143199-8/researchers-look-for-potato-psyllid-hideouts RCOURTNEY /News/LatestNews/ 8313122@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 18:52:11 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 17:18:06 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic




Finance • The American College has granted the Retirement Income Certified Professional designation to Neal Springer, a Northwestern Mutual representative in Yakima. With the designation, Springer has demonstrated ability to help clients develop appropriate retirement distribution plans and advise them on key retirement financial issues such as taxation, housing, annuities and insurance. Health and Fitness • Dianne Harris recently attended the three-day IDEA Personal Trainer Institute in Seattle. The continuing education focused on personal training research and trends. Harris has been a personal trainer for Yakima Athletic Club and YAC Fitness since 1991. Nonprofit • Secretary of State Kim Wyman has invited Elizabeth Fitzgerald, owner of Kronstadt Consulting in Yakima, to serve on the Washington State Charities Advisory Council. The 16-member council advises Wyman on training and educational needs and model policies related to governance and administration of nonprofits and charities and trends affecting these organizations. Real Estate • Cyndi Tolliver recently passed her Limited Practice Officer exam. Tolliver, who has worked for Pacific Alliance Title for 10 years, is now authorized to select, prepare and complete documents approved by the State Bar Association for use in closing a loan, extension of credit, sale, or other transfer of real or personal property. • To have an item published in In Basket, email an announcement with a photo to business@yakimaherald.com. The deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday for the following Monday....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3170697-8/in-basket-finance-health-and-fitness-real-estate Mai Hoang /News/LatestNews/ 8387007@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 17:18:06 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 17:18:06 GMT
By Ross Courtney Yakima Herald-Republic


GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic Jesus Ramos and Estela Gonzalez place just-made rice pudding paletas on a packaging line at Paleteria La Norteña on Friday in Sunnyside. On this day, they made and packaged 6,700 rice pudding paletas.


SUNNYSIDE — In 1989, when Jesus Ramos first wanted to quit his job at the dairy and focus full time on his ice-cream-making business, his wife balked. “I told him, ‘You can’t do that, we’re going to starve,’” Rocio Ramos said. But he did, and the gamble paid off. His Paleteria La Norteña has grown into the biggest south-central Washington manufacturer of paletas, cranking out 500,000 Mexican-style ice cream bars and popsicles a year, sold by mobile vendors and corner stores from Wenatchee to the Tri-Cities to Othello. So, in 2008, when Jesus wanted to borrow money to add a retail shop, dining area, fruit cups, frozen yogurt and Italian sodas, Rocio agreed. “That time, I believed him,” she said with a laugh. “That time I had faith in him.” Sales have increased 50 percent since then. “He’s always been a risk taker,” Rocio said of her husband. For 26 years, Jesus Ramos has been rewarded for his risks, long hours and humility with a thriving business and a tender spot in the hearts of two generations of Sunnyside residents who refer to him as El Paletero — The Ice Cream Man. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s something I like to do,” said Jesus, 54. “It makes me happy when my customers tell me, ‘Hey, I love your ice cream. I love the strawberry or I love the coconut.’” Jesus and Rocio rode as grand marshals earlier this month in Sunnyside’s annual Cinco de Mayo parade. Thank-you notes from children decorate the walls of his warehouse on Rohman Street. Parents bring their kids into his store and tell them about their own favorite flavors as children. Jesus moved to the United States from Mexico in 1977 and eventually landed work at a dairy. He first started selling ice cream bars he picked up from a California manufacturer, then began making his own in 1989 with his partner, a cousin who has since left the business. In 1990, Jesus married Rocio, who grew up in Prosser. In 1993, he brought up the idea of quitting his graveyard shift at the dairy, even though he still owed a lot of money. Finally persuaded, Rocio urged him to learn English and improve his overall literacy. He had never attended much school at any level, she said. So, listening to her this time, Jesus studied in part by reading along with their daughters to books like “The Cat in the Hat” and “Are You My Mother?” With the expansion, they now have eight employees, mostly family friends, who help with both the production and retail portions of this business. Rocio, an account coordinator at Inspire, the child-development centers, pitches in with record keeping and other administrative chores. Their daughters, 34 and 19, have helped off-and-on over the years. Jesus leads the production but still picks up a broom and mop and does his own janitorial work toward the end of his 16-hour days, Rocio said. New customers walk right by him without knowing he’s the owner. They are pleased with the results of the retail shop, a 1,200-square-foot space with hard ice cream sold by the scoop, fruit cups, strawberries and cream desserts, and hard candy that families and high school students eat at diner-style tables. They take the cover off the espresso stand in the winter. However, the bulk of their profit still comes from distributing the ice cream bars, sold for roughly $1 each in flavors both traditional and exotic — strawberry, mocha, cucumber with chile, mango. Each one bears a see-through package with the name of the business. “There’s a little piece of Sunnyside there,” Rocio said. • Ross Courtney can be reached at 509-930-8798 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3168195-8/paleteria-la-norteña-grows-with-hard-work-risk RCOURTNEY /News/LatestNews/ 8379851@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 17:18:06 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 17:18:05 GMT
By Mai Hoang Yakima Herald-Republic




The Yakima Farmers’ Market marked the start of its 17th season with major news: plans for a new home. Organizers want to relocate the outdoor market from its longtime site in front of The Capitol Theatre on South Third Street to a new site on North Third Street, about a block away. Market manger Don Eastridge said earlier he wanted the outdoor market next to an indoor market that has been in operation at 16 N. Third St. since December. In a letter to vendors, Eastridge also cited a need to avoid prospective construction related to the city of Yakima’s proposed downtown plaza. (City officials later clarified that the move was initiated by market organizers and the plaza would not impact the market this season). The move, planned for Sunday, is noteworthy as the market has been at the same location since its first season in 1999. But Karen Kinney, executive director for the Washington State Farmers Market Association, said such relocations are common, especially in Seattle, where the association is based. There, she said, many, if not all, markets have had to relocate at least once, some multiple times, for a variety of reasons including pending development or the end of a lease. It happens on this side of the Cascades, too. The Roslyn Farmers Market will start its new season next month at a new site, a move organizers say will provide room for more food and farm vendors. In Wenatchee, the opening of Pybus Public Market in 2013 provided a permanent home for the Wenatchee Valley Farmers Market, which had migrated to several different sites over the years. When I told Kinney about the mixed reactions from Yakima market vendors regarding the planned move, she wasn’t surprised. She said while it is for Eastridge and other market organizers to hear vendor concerns, she was also sympathetic to a market manager seeking out the best interests for the market as a whole. “There’s no way that everyone is going to be happy at the beginning,” Kinney said. Still, she expects a major adjustment period for the Yakima market, even though the new site is just a block away. She shared how the 2013 relocation of the University District Farmers Market in Seattle from a parking lot to the street just about two dozen feet away came with major impact. Some of it was positive: Operating on the street, rather than a parking lot, attracted a bigger crowd and more vendors. The move also turned out to be costly: The market had to pay for a new King County Metro bus stop because it blocked an existing one. “That is one thing that is hard to anticipate: how the market will feel (after a move),” she said. Business expansions • By this summer, Tom Tom Espresso will have gone from one to four locations. The coffee stand had operated near 40th Avenue and Tieton Drive for many years. Earlier this year, owners Cassie and Kim Gordon took over a stand at the Medical Office Plaza at 111 S. 11th Ave. near Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center. Last Monday, the owners opened Tom Tom Espresso on Washington Avenue after taking over a stand at 10th and Washington avenues. Tom Tom Espresso’s expansion will head south to Union Gap with a new location inside the Valley Mall. Caffe Capri, which ran in a temporary spot near Kohl’s in anticipation of returning to a remodeled space, ended up closing for good in March. Tom Tom Espresso plans to open at the Valley Mall by Aug. 1 after a remodel of the space, located behind Buffalo Wild Wings. In the meantime, the Tom Tom stand at Medical Office Plaza is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Tom Tom Espresso at Washington is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. • Vape Spot, which sells products used for vaping, has expanded to a second location at 1300 N. 40th Ave. near Fred Meyer. The business opened its first location at 711 Summitview Ave. more than a year ago. (Vaping is the act of inhaling water vapor through a vaporizer or electronic cigarette.) Store owner Carrie Bertrand said her focus is on customers using vaping to quit smoking. Bertrand said she had been looking for a larger location but decided to act sooner after touring the new space. The new location is larger — 1,400 square feet compared with 800 square feet at the Summitview location — and has a more upscale look. The larger space will also accommodate a lounge that serves coffee, and there are plans to apply for a liquor license. Both locations are open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays. New developments • Along with the new coffee shop, the Valley Mall gained another new tenant with the opening of PLAYlive Nation, a video game entertainment facility located next to Macy’s. The facility offers areas for customers to play Xbox One games and also sells various video game merchandise. It also offers screen repair for iPads and iPhones. The Union Gap location of PLAYlive Nation, which joins several locations throughout the West, are co-owned by longtime Yakima Valley residents Bruce and Glenda Frazier. PLAYlive Nation is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. • Local music fans may know Landon and Sean Wilkinson and Kylon Gienger as musicians for local band Village (and The Village Musicians before that). Now the trio — along with Gienger’s sister, Chelann Gienger — are co-owners of a new venture: NUYU Juice Bar, which is under construction at 2209 W. Nob Hill Blvd. Landon Wilkinson and Kylon Gienger are also co-owners of ReNu Hot Yoga Studio, which opened in the same remodeled building earlier this year. The shop will offer a variety of juices and smoothies along with some light food items. The owners aim to open by the start of next month with hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. • For many years, an adult video store has operated quietly in an old building at 25 S. Front St., on the corner of Front Street and Chestnut Avenue. But now the business and property owner is planning a major face-lift. The existing 10,000-square-foot building would be demolished to make way for a new 5,080-square-foot building with parking, according to land use documents submitted to the city of Yakima. Ron Pelson of Traditional Designs, a Yakima-based building design firm, submitted the application on behalf of the California-based owner, First Street Real Estate Holdings. According to the state corporations website, Steve Wiener serves as the company’s president. Pelson said the owner, who likes to stay out of the public eye, plans to wind down his business in the coming years and wanted a new building to attract new tenants. • Mai Hoang’s Reporter’s Notebook is published Mondays. To reach her, call 509-759-7851 or email maihoang@yakimaherald.com....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3167845-8/reporters-notebook-changes-in-the-offing-with-relocation Mai Hoang /News/LatestNews/ 8379040@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 17:18:05 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 16:48:30 GMT
By Scott Sandsberry Yakima Herald-Republic


MASON TRINCA/Yakima Herald-Republic Kristi Vlieger runs through DuBrul Vineyard in Sunnyside on Thursday. Vlieger gave bone marrow on April 14 after being on the international bone marrow registry for four years. Despite giving bone marrow, Vlieger continues to be active, climbing Mount St. Helens earlier this month and training for the Gap2Gap Relay on May 31. ay 31.


The odds were stacked against her. This was a long shot, big time. So it’s easy to understand why Kristi Vlieger feels like she won the lottery. She gets to help save a person’s life. All it cost her was a little soreness, which is gone. And she was sluggish for a little while. That, too, was so temporary that less than three weeks later, she climbed Mount St. Helens. Four weeks after that — next Sunday — she’ll be soloing the Gap2Gap as an Ironman competitor. Here’s what Vlieger won: the news that her blood was a biological match for a teenaged girl battling leukemia. And simply by donating a portion of her own bone marrow, she could give that teenaged girl a fighting chance to live a long and fruitful life. No, she doesn’t know the girl. No, she doesn’t even know what country the girl lives in — only that it’s not the United States. So why do it? Why allow doctors to poke a couple of holes through her pelvic bone in order to stick in needles to remove some of her own blood marrow? “Because you get to save a life. I think that’s pretty self-explanatory,” says Vlieger, a 29-year-old horse trainer in Granger. “That’s all you need to know.” • • • Vlieger didn’t know much about the bone marrow registry system four years ago, when her sister was signing up as a prospective donor and prompted Kristi to do the same. She did enough research to learn she’d probably never get the call to donate. Fewer than one in 500 registered donors are ever found to be a suitable biological match for a patient facing some sort of blood cancer. But the more she learned, the more she wanted to be that match for someone. “It’s overall likely that most people find a match,” she says, adding that for Caucasians — who comprise more than 7.1 million of the 11 million in the registry — the likelihood of finding a donor are estimated at roughly 93 percent. That may sound like excellent odds. But then again ... “It’s a long way from 100 if you’re in that 7 percent who doesn’t have a match,” Vlieger says. That’s why her excitement was so palpable when she got the email informing her she had been found to be a possible match. Per instructions from registry officials, Vlieger had blood drawn at Memorial Hospital to be retested and verified, after which she was flown to a physical examination at a hospital on the East Coast where the marrow harvest would take place. The date and hospital of the operation, like the name and location of the marrow recipient, are kept confidential because of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations. When the physical confirmed she was healthy enough to make the donation, Vlieger’s ecstatic emotion could be described in four words: “I get to help!” • • • What surprised and disappointed Vlieger was the reaction of people who just didn’t get it. “I was receiving so much negative feedback from people I really didn’t expect it from,” she says. “People saying, ‘I’d never do that.’ People seemed surprised that I’d do it for a stranger, but ... what does it matter if I know somebody? A person’s life is valuable whether I know them or not.” Vlieger’s day job entails hoisting a 35-pound saddle on and off horses many times a day, not to mention the 100-pound hay bales she tosses around as part of her horse-training job. To donate the marrow, though, she’d have to take two weeks away from that physical work to enable her pelvic bone to recover from the needle punctures. So she was understandably gratified when her clients were entirely supportive. One had a sibling diagnosed with leukemia who had received a stem cell donation from another family member. Another client had lost a daughter and donated her organs, and the recipient of the daughter’s heart turned out to be another little girl. So, yes, Vlieger’s clients definitely got it. Vlieger fully believes the people who responded negatively to her donation decision would get it, too — if only they thought it through. “I really think the majority of them would give this gift if it came down to them being the only match for somebody,” she says. “I think they just haven’t considered the whole situation.” • • • OK, here’s the whole situation in a nutshell: The 1,300 milliliters of bone marrow taken from Vlieger — roughly 1.4 quarts — will naturally regenerate within six weeks. The procedure itself wasn’t really all that painful. “The highest I ever rated it was a 3 (out of 10),” Vlieger says. “I wouldn’t call it a good day — I don’t seek out surgery. But honestly, the pain is not bad.” Yes, the procedure left her temporarily anemic and she experienced general fatigue for a couple of weeks, “which was a big difference for me, being an active person used to being perfectly healthy.” And yes, she had some soreness along the pelvic bone for a week or so, “but not anything that would normally stop me from working.” Certainly, it didn’t stop her from climbing Mount St. Helens with a bunch of her brother’s Army buddies barely 2 1/2 weeks after her marrow procedure — by which time she said she was already “at about 90 percent energy level by now — just about all the soreness is gone. ... St. Helens was a good climb!” She expects her Ironman effort in Sunday’s Gap2Gap race to be a good experience as well. It might not even feel like a long day for Vlieger, who has completed the Coeur d’Alene Ironman Triathlon — a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike course and 26.2-mile marathon run. Actually, Vlieger says she would have preferred that part not be mentioned. “I just think if you say, ‘Ironman did a bone-marrow (transplant), people would think, ‘Well, of course SHE did — she’s weird.’” Nope. Not weird at all. Just insightful enough — and caring enough — to see the lifelong gift beyond the temporary discomfort. And to hope more people will see the same thing and sign up for the marrow registry. “People think of it as this big, scary, painful thing,” she says. “And it’s really not. “And hey: How much pain is that (leukemia) patient going through right now?”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3109576-13/grangers-vlieger-set-for-gap-2-gap-after Scott Sandsberry /News/LatestNews/ 8223382@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 16:48:30 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:57 GMT
By Ross Courtney Yakima Herald-Republic



A long-awaited modernized way to track livestock, especially diseased animals, as they move through the supply chain should come to fruition under legislation signed recently by Gov. Jay Inslee. Dairy farmers are gearing up to make use of a newly signed state law that will allow them to electronically register cattle sales. The legislation allows ranchers to use a Web-based electronic database to report cattle transactions and thereby skip a veterinary brand inspection that otherwise would be required. Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, sponsored Senate Bill 5733 with the support of dairy and livestock industries, hoping to streamline and modernize the ability of state agriculture authorities to trace diseased animals. The law finalizes a long-running effort to fill gaps in animal record-keeping, said Jay Gordon, policy director for the Washington State Dairy Federation. “It was surprisingly much more difficult than I thought it would be,” Gordon said. Last December, the state Department of Agriculture announced other changes, namely charging a fee to pay for upgrades to the agency’s computer tracking system and eliminating an inspection exemption to dairy cow owners privately selling 15 or fewer unbranded head. That decades-old exemption, set to expire this year, has always left a gap in record keeping. The new legislation, which authorities hope to start using in January 2016, will once again allow producers to bypass the inspection but only if they record their sales with the state Agriculture Department through the new electronic database. “It’s one or the other,” Gordon said. Records are crucial in the wake of an outbreak of diseases such as bovine tuberculosis and hoof-and-mouth disease. In December 2003, state and federal authorities spent seven weeks scrambling to track down the herd history of a slaughtered Mabton dairy animal that tested positive for mad cow, a brain-wasting disease that had been blamed overseas for economic catastrophes. They recalled about 1,000 pounds of beef from store shelves and slaughtered 704 cows searching for animals that likely shared the same feed. Exports markets closed their ports to U.S. beef for many years. Investigators eventually closed the investigation without finding all the suspect cows, stymied at times by imperfect record keeping. Feed regulations tightened, but a controversial push for a national identification system failed to take root. Beef cattle industry officials supported Warnick’s legislation, too, though it doesn’t affect them. They’ve always been required to have a brand inspection for sales. “Animal disease traceability is critically important to both the beef and dairy industries here in Washington and throughout the country,” said Jack Field, executive vice president of the Washington Cattlemen’s Association in a news release from Warnick’s office. “This law will help provide a meaningful tool in traceability.” Washington’s livestock industry is a major sector in Washington’s agriculture, including $1.16 billion in milk production and $624 million in cattle and calve operations, according to the state Department of Agriculture. • Ross Courtney can be reached at 509-930-8798 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3169145-8/new-law-creates-electronic-dairy-cattle-sales-database RCOURTNEY /News/LatestNews/ 8382211@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:57 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:50 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



Renegade Raceway FRIDAY’S RESULTS Diesel Truck Drags Class 8 — Winner: Jerry Wright 22.40 dial-in, 0.304 r/t, 24.210 ET, 65.87 mph. Runner-up: Craig Vogel 21.20, 0.198, 21.079, 69.26. Semis: Curtis Clark. Diesel Pickup — Winner: Devin Bouchey 14.69, 0.076, 14.800, 97.88. Runner-up: Michael Howard 14.20, 0.409, 14.250, 97.93. Semis: William Madsen. Yakima Dirt Track SATURDAY’S RESULTS Junior Hornets — Heat 1: Eddie Smith, Kyle Sisk, Blaze Wilhelm; Heat 2: Smith, Sisk, Wilhelm; Dash: Smith; Main: Smith, Wilhelm, Sisk. Hornets — Heat 1: Larry Norman Jr., Josh Parmentier, Chris Wiley, Robert Patton, Ashley Butler, Jeff Mullins, Zeke Stiennet; Heat 2: Norman, Parmentier, Patton, Mullins, Wiley, Stiennet; Dash: Norman; Main: Parmentier, Mullins, Butler, Stiennet, Norman, Wiley. Pure Stock — Heat 1: Steven Dickerson, Blair Shoemaker, Todd Nunn, Dan Garcia, Jeff Ball; Heat 2: Nunn, Dickerson, Shoemaker, Ball, Garcia; Dash: Nunn; Main: Garcia, Nunn, Shoemaker, Ball, Dickerson. Super Stocks — Heat 1: Brian Chouinard, Dyran LePoidevin, Pat Hambling, Joe Estep, Josh Shay, Tim Sutton, Zach Whittlesey; Heat 2: Estep, Hambling, LePoidevin, Sutton, Chouinard, Whittlesey, Shay; Dash: Hambling; Main: Hambling, Estep, Whittlesey, Shay, Chouinard, LePoidevin, Sutton. Jalopy — Heat 1: Jim Taylor; Heat 2: Taylor; Dash: Taylor; Main: Taylor....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3175302-8/auto-racing-results-may-18-2015 Scott Spruill /News/LatestNews/ 8398811@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:50 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:48 GMT



Photos by KAITLYN BERNAUER/Yakima Herald-Republic Sharks player Rodney Coronado, 10, celebrates a goal during his team’s Survivor Sunday game against Pumafied 1 during the annual Yak Attack 5-on-5 soccer tournament at Ahtanum Youth Park in Union Gap. MORE PHOTOS AT YAKIMAHERALD.COM


YAKIMA, Wash. -- 222 teams took to the field for the Yak Attack 5-on-5 soccer tournament this weekend to benefit the Yakima Youth Soccer Association....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3175688-8/2015-yak-attack-photos Jerrel Swenning /News/LatestNews/ 8400262@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:48 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:46 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



MABTON, Wash. — A fire that caused an estimated $300,000 worth of losses at a farm shop late Saturday afternoon remains under investigation. The fire was reported about 5:40 p.m. at 990 Bond Road, about 4 miles west of Mabton, according to a news release from Yakima County Fire District No. 5. When the first of 11 firefighters arrived, the building was engulfed in flames, the release said. The building, owned by Eric Lyyendekker, and all its contents were destroyed, the release said. Firefighters, however, were able to keep flames from spreading to a nearby home. An investigation into the cause of the fire has been turned over to the county fire marshal’s office, the release said....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3175805-13/cause-of-mabton-fire-under-investigation ctroianello /News/LatestNews/ 8400505@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:46 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:46 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



SNOQUALMIE PASS, Wash. — A wrong-way driver was killed and two others were injured early this morning in a crash that shut down the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 for several hours, according to the Washington State Patrol. A 23-year-old Puyallup man died after driving a 2012 Ford Fiesta east in the westbound lanes just east of Snoqualmie summit about 4 a.m., the State Patrol said in a news release. The car struck a westbound 1993 GMC Suburban being driven by Soeun Am, 50, of Seattle. Am and a passenger, Kheam Cheam, 69, of Seattle, were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Hospital staff said Sunday afternoon that Am was in critical but stable condition in the ICU, while Cheam had been treated and released from the emergency room. The dead man’s identity is being withheld until relatives can be notified, the State Patrol said. The accident shut down the interstate’s westbound lanes for about five hours before being reopened about 9 a.m. Investigators say they don’t know if drugs or alcohol played a role....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3175871-13/one-killed-two-injured-in-crash-on-snoqualmie ctroianello /News/LatestNews/ 8400650@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:46 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:45 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



YAKIMA, Wash. -- The top seeds all advanced Saturday to the semifinals of the CWAC district tennis tournament at East Valley High School. Selah freshman Jared Kieser dropped just three games in winning his two matches, while the Vikings duo of Othon Hamill and Lucas Mahugh had to fend off their opponents 7-5 in the second set of their two matches. On the girls side, East Valley’s Emily Hirtle dropped her first set, before rolling in the next four to claim two victories. The Ellensburg duo of Jennifer Jackson and Taylor Willis were dominant in their victories, dropping just three games and posting 6-0 scores in their second sets. The tournament wraps up today at East Valley with the winners and runners-up earning state berths. The third- and fourth-place finishers will play crossover matches with the top placers from the Great Northern League for state berths on Saturday in Ephrata. Saturday at East Valley BOYS Singles Single elimination: Jared Kieser (Selah) d. Logan Alvarez (Grandview) 6-1, 6-0; Diego Villarreal (Othello) d. Justin Swearngin (Wapato) 6-4, 6-2; Austin KickingWoman (Toppenish) d. Shane Andreas (East Valley) 6-0, 6-1; Tim Miller (Ellensburg) d. Randy Hodges (Quincy) 6-2, 6-1; Michael Carlton (O) d, Ivan Mireles (Prosser) 6-0, 6-0; Tristan McDevitt (S) d. Alfonso Granados (G) 6-1, 6-3; Adrian Zavala (W) d. Ian McDonnell (Ep) 7-5, 6-2; Michael Manion (EV) d. Omar Zaragoza (T) 6-4, 6-0. Quarterfinals: Kieser (S) d, Villarreal (O) 6-2, 6-0; Miller (El) d. KickingWoman (T) 6-2, 6-2; Carlton (O) d. McDevitt (S) 6-2, 6-3; Manion (EV) d. Zavala (W) 6-1, 6-0. Consolation: Villarreal (O) d. KickingWoman (T) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2; McDevitt (S) d. Zavala (W) 6-1, 6-1. Doubles Single elimination: Othon Hamill-Lucas Mahugh (S) d. Martinez-Taylor (O) 6-0, 7-5; Miller-Merchant (Ep) d. Stephen Chmelewski-Sam Lanza (E) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; Jon Rapanut-Jonathan Rapanut (W) d. Freeman-Roylance (O) 6-1, 6-3; Ronish-Peterson (Q) d. Jeremy Baker-Alex Perez (T) 6-1, 6-1; Monson-Sears (Ep) d. Plascencia-Hyer (Q) 6-1, 6-0; Jask Khinda–Danny Scherschligt (EV) d. Shine Sun-Nick DeHollander (El) 6-1, 6-0; Paynter-Pugh (Ep) d. Eliab Garza-Parker Reynolds (T) 6-4, 7-5; Garza-Freeman (O) d. Nick Foster-Cesar Solis (P) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Quarterfinals: Hamill-Mahugh (S) d. Miller-Merchant (Ep) 6-2, 7-5; Rapanut-Rapanut (W) d. Ronish-Peterson (Q) 6-2, 6-3; Monson-Sears (Ep) d. Khinda-Scherschligt (EV) 6-2, 6-1; Garza-Freeman (O) d. Paynter-Pugh (Ep) 6-3, 7-5. Consolation: Ronish-Peterson (Q) d. Miller-Merchant (Ep) 6-3, 6-3; Paynter-Pugh (Ep) d. Khinda-Scherschligt (EV) 6-4, 7-5. GIRLS Singles Single elimination: Emily Hirtle (EV) d, Zoee Roylance (O) 3-6, 6-0, 6-1; Jennie DeLeon (Ep) d. Ruby Palomino (T) 6-2, 7-5; Alex Bassett (Q) d. Alexandra Gonzalez (G) 6-4, 6-0; Chloe Howell (S) d. Katy Palma (W) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1; Jennifer Mata (W) d, Abbey Archer (S) 6-0, 6-2; Angelina Chesnakov (Ep) d, Rachele Barker (El) 6-2, 6-3; Kylee Hawley (O) d. Veronica Cruz (T) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4; Allison Manion (EV) d. Joslyn Felicijan (P) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Quarterfinals: Hirtle (EV) d. DeLeon (Ep) 6-2, 6-1; Bassett (Q) d, Howell (S) 6-4, 6-3; Chesnakov (Ep) d. Mata (W) 2-6, 6-1, 7-5; Manion (EV) d. Hawley (O) 7-5, 6-2. Consolation: DeLeon (Ep) d. Howell (S) inj. default; Mata (W) d. Hawley (O) 6-1, 6-2. Doubles Single elimination: Jennifer Jackson-Taylor Willis (El) d. Bayleigh Harris–Rebecca Faulkner (EV) 6-2, 6-0; Allison Huylar-Jovannah Gudino (T) d. Eva Hamill-Magaly (S) 6-2, 6-3; Faw-Thomsen (Q) d. Andersen-Walker (O) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; Nadia Botello-Megan Rickert (W) d. Klipardt-Rodriguez (Ep) 6-4, 7-5; Lauren McDevitt-Cailin O’Malley (S) d. Vanessa Gudino-Cassandra Hernandez (W) 6-4, 6-1; Tovar-Tovar (O) d. Kyrsten Wiggins-Sugeyn Gonzalez (P) 6-3, 7-5; Villarreal-Murillo (O) d. Julie Gray-Sam Whitney (El) 6-3, 6-4; Moore-Brekhus (Ep) d. Erin Herzog-Desteny Fowler (S) 6-0, 6-1. Quarterfinals: Jackson-Willis (El) d. Gudino-Huylar (T) 6-1, 6-0; Botello-Rickert (W) d. Faw-Thomsen (Q) 6-3, 6-4; McDevitt-O’Malley (S) d. Tovar-Tovar (O) 6-1, 6-3; Moore-Brekhus (Ep) d. Villarreal-Murillo (O). Consolation: Faw-Thomsen (Q) d. Gudino-Huylar (T) 6-2, 6-4; Villarreal-Murillo (O) d. Tovar-Tovar (O) 7-5, 6-4. --- SCAC EAST SUB-DISTRICT Zillah’s Stiles, two duos advance to final round: At Pasco, Zillah’s two No. 1 seeds — Grace Stiles and the duo of Deyci Alejandre and Brook Snell — as well as the third-seeded team of Jacob Cleveringa and Jared Ellis advanced Saturday to the championship round of the SCAC East sub-district tournament at Chiawana High School. The tournament concludes today with the top four placers advancing to districts starting Friday at Hanford High School. ZILLAH RESULTS Saturday at Chiawana BOYS Singles Single elimination: Beau Widner (Zillah) d. Edgar Estrada (Burbank) 6-1, 6-0. Quarterfinals: Joe Ponti (Z) d. Tanner Empey (Connell) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4; Pat Hadley (C) d. Widner (Z) 6-2, 6-1. Consolation: Widner (Z) d. Empey (C) 6-3, 6-2. Doubles Single elimination: Leonel Wessilius-Payton Whitaker (Z) d. Schultz-Miller (C) 6-4, 6-3; Pablo Medina-Ryan Anderson (Z) d. Elliott-Scevers (Kiona-Benton) 6-4, 6-3. Quarterfinals: Jacob Cleveringa-Jared Ellis (Z) d. Kastle-Ingersoll (KB) 6-2, 6-4; Clawson-Booker (C) d. Wessilius-Whitaker (Z) 6-1, 6-0; Wilder-Humphreys (KB) d. Medina-Anderson (Z) 6-0, 6-1. Semifinals: Cleveringa-Ellis (D) d. Wilder-Humphreys (B) 7-6 (7-1), 7-5. Consolation: Ditty-Broetje (B) d. Wessilius-Whitaker (Z) 6-2, 6-2; Medina-Anderson (Z) d. Kastle-Ingersoll (KB) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. GIRLS Singles Quarterfinals: Grace Stiles (Z) d. Karen Castaneda (B) 6-2, 6-1; Zoe Brucell (KB) d. Hannah Stewart (Z) 1-6, 7-6, 6-1. Semifinals: Stiles (Z) d. Allison Rychman (B) 6-0, 6-4. Consolation: Stewart (Z) d. Marciela Nevarez (Wahluke) 6-1, 6-0. Doubles Single elimination: Bagwell-Withers (C) d. Gaby Marquez-Daisy Marquez (Z) 6-4, 6-3; Abbie Myers-Abby Sandlin (Z) d. Tirado-Nevarez (W) 6-1, 6-2/ Quaterfinals: Deyci Alejandre-Brook Snell (Z) d. Bagwell-Withers (C) 5-7, 6-1, 6-1; Myers-Sandlin (Z) d. Acevedo-Holt (KB) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Semifinals: Alejandre-Snell (Z) d. Zucher-Rowley (C) 6-1, 6-4; Knight-Cooper (C) d. Myers-Sandlin (Z) 6-4, 6-2....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3176244-14/top-seeds-hold-serve-at-cwac-district-tennis Jerrel Swenning /News/LatestNews/ 8401429@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:45 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:33 GMT
By JoNel Aleccia The Seattle Times



SEATTLE — When Paige Ellens was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a newborn in 1998, Seattle doctors were quick to reassure her parents that there was hope for patients with the life-threatening genetic disorder. Even then, 17 years ago, there were inklings that research might one day produce a treatment that could target the underlying cause, not just the symptoms of the disease that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs, making it hard to breathe. “It was devastating, but I just remember that I was going to get to watch her grow up to be big,” recalled Paige’s mom, Sharla Ellens, 47, of Lynden. “Our surgeon assured us that we would find a cure in her lifetime.” No one’s calling it a cure, but results of two large clinical trials co-led by a Seattle researcher find that a new drug may successfully treat the problem protein in nearly half of people with cystic fibrosis — and reduce the leading cause of death from the disease by 40 percent. “It is a breakthrough,” said Dr. Bonnie Ramsey, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at Seattle Children’s. “This is the beginning of effective therapy for cystic fibrosis associated with the most common mutant form of CFTR,” wrote Dr. Pamela Davis, dean of the school of medicine at Case Western University, in an editorial that accompanies the study published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The disease is caused by mutations in the gene that encodes the problem protein — the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). How the drug helps Ramsey is one of four lead authors of two Phase 3 clinical trials that confirmed that Orkambi, a new drug from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, can help people age 12 and older with two copies of the most common mutation, known as F508del. Vertex helped fund the trials. The trial results were part of the evidence that led a federal advisory committee last week to recommend approval of Orkambi by the Food and Drug Administration. In a 12-to-1 vote, the panel agreed that the drug was safe and effective enough to use. The FDA’s decision is expected July 5. The trials — which studied more than 1,100 cystic-fibrosis patients from six countries between April 2013 and April 2014 — showed that Orkambi helped achieve a 3 percent improvement in lung function over placebo. “Even though it was only a 3 percent change, once that change happened, there wasn’t a dramatic bump up, but it was absolutely rock solid for 48 weeks,” Ramsey said. In addition, the drug reduced pulmonary exacerbations by 40 percent, dramatically cutting those sudden and life-threatening declines in lung function. Paige was hospitalized four or five times in the past three years with these debilitating episodes. But with the drug that requires nine pills every day, that’s gotten much better. “This is the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life,” said Paige, a junior at Lynden Christian School who managed its soccer team last fall and sings in campus musicals. Who might benefit Orkambi is intended for the 14,000 cystic-fibrosis patients in the U.S. with two copies of the defective gene. Initially, though, the drug would be used only in the 8,500 people who are older than 12. Tests are being conducted in children as young as 6, Ramsey said, and the eventual hope is that Orkambi may be used in infants with cystic fibrosis soon after diagnosis. It’s only the second drug in the world that targets the underlying cause of the disease. Vertex also makes the first such drug, called Kalydeco, but it’s only applicable to about 4 percent of the 30,000 cystic-fibrosis patients in the U.S. Orkambi combines Kalydeco, known generically as ivacaftor, with an experimental drug called Lumacaftor, which is not approved by the FDA. Together, the two medications work to correct the genetic defect by allowing the protein within the cell to fold correctly and rise to the surface — and work properly to move sodium in and out of the cell, Ramsey said. “It’s a very complicated process to make this protein,” she said. “It has to fold up in a certain way and, as it folds, it has little sugars on the outside to stabilize it and then it has to get moved to the surface, where it works.” Separately, the two drugs don’t have a very strong effect on most cystic-fibrosis patients, research has shown. Kalydeco alone showed a 10 percent gain of function, but only in the select group of patients, Ramsey noted. Together, though, the two drugs could become a primary treatment — and a big profit boost for Vertex. Dr. Ronald Hsu, an analyst at the firm Sanford C. Bernstein, estimated Orkambi could generate $2.2 billion in sales by 2018, increasing total Vertex revenue to $5 billion that year. Huge interest in trials Paige is one of about 25 Washington state patients who participated in the trials. There was so much interest in the treatment that doctors told Sharla Ellens they resorted to pulling names out of a hat. “Her name was the first one drawn,” Sharla Ellens said. The trial tested changes in the amount of air a patient can blow from his or her lungs in one second. Orkambi increased that volume by 3 percent overall, but it also cut life-threatening pulmonary exacerbations by 40 percent. For Paige and others, the drug offers hope after a lifetime of daily lung treatments, dozens of medications and frequent hospitalizations. “She doesn’t cough like she used to cough,” Sharla Ellens said. “For the last three years, her lung functions have been as good as a normal 17-year-old’s.” Officials with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation said they have supported the drug’s development. Despite improvements in care, 90 percent of deaths in people with the disease are caused by declining lung function. In 2013, the median age of death from cystic fibrosis was 27.5, the group told the FDA. “We are encouraged by the FDA advisory committee’s recommendation to approve Orkambi,” said Laurie Fink, a spokeswoman for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. “We know that our mission is as urgent as ever — ensuring that all people with CF have access to the therapies and the support they need to stay healthy and lead fulfilling lives.” There’s a worry on the horizon, however, for patients like Paige: the potential cost of the drug. She will continue to receive Orkambi from Vertex for free as the drug undergoes FDA review. But if it’s approved, the new drug could cost between $250,000 and $300,000 a year, according to Geoff Porges, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. The medication should be covered by the family’s health insurance. Paige is covered under Washington state’s Apple Health plan, through Sharla Ellens’ teaching job and father Eric Ellens’ work as a general contractor. But, Sharla Ellens said, what if it’s not? “I’m just literally not going to let myself think of that,” she said. “We have a lot of people who pray for us. We believe that God has a special plan for Paige and maybe this is it.” • JoNel Aleccia can be reached at 206-464-2906 or jaleccia@seattletimes.com....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177539-14/breakthrough-drug-trials-give-new-hope-on-cystic Jeff Garretson /News/LatestNews/ 8404292@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:33 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:29 GMT
News Service Reports



TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Washington’s season came to a close Sunday following an 11-1 loss to No. 6 overall seed and region host Alabama at Rhoads Stadium. Washington fell behind 1-0 in the first inning on Haylie McCleney’s solo home run, the first of four Tide homers in the game. Alabama starting pitcher Alexis Osorio worked seven innings allowing two hits and one run, while striking out five Huskies. Washington’s Casey Stangel drove in Taylor Van Zee for the Huskies’ lone run in the fourth. Washington ends the season with a 42-17 record. Alabama advances to face Oklahoma in a best of three super regional series for a berth in the Women’s College World Series....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177544-14/uw-ends-season-with-loss-to-tide Marcus Michelson /News/LatestNews/ 8404308@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:29 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:27 GMT
By Jim Brunner The Seattle Times


Color/BlackColor/BlackEyman


SEATTLE — Last year, Tim Eyman’s failure to qualify an anti-tax measure for the ballot had some wondering whether the controversial initiative sponsor was finished. Some traditional Eyman benefactors had yanked their support after accusing him of siphoning their donations for an initiative they didn’t support. Without paid signature gatherers, his 2014 measure flopped. But like it or not, Eyman is back. Buoyed by new wealthy patrons, Eyman’s Initiative 1366 — which would punch a $1 billion a year hole in the state budget unless lawmakers refer a tax-limiting constitutional amendment to voters — looks well on its way to the November ballot. The latest Eyman campaign already has raised more than $1.1 million and spent $750,000 on paid signature gatherers. “We’re not there yet, but there does seem to be a lot of momentum,” said Eyman. I-1366 would lower the state sales tax from 6.5 to 5.5 percent unless the Legislature places a constitutional amendment on the ballot by next April 15 requiring two-thirds legislative approval — or majority voter approval — for any tax increases. Voters have endorsed that supermajority requirement several times in initiative votes. But the two-thirds rule was struck down as unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court in 2013. Critics are likening Eyman’s latest effort to revive the supermajority rule to blackmail. They also argue I-1366 may be struck down by courts even if it passes, citing the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision finding lawmakers in violation of their duty to amply fund public schools. Enshrining the two-thirds restriction in the state constitution would freeze Washington’s current tax structure in place and give a minority of anti-tax lawmakers veto power, opponents argue. “That seems like a pretty serious barrier to achieving full funding of basic education in the state,” said state Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, an attorney and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that voided the two-thirds requirement. “Aside from the legal question, I think it’s just terrible policy.” But Eyman and supporters say you only need to look at what’s going on in Olympia these days to see why the initiative is needed. They point to Gov. Jay Inslee and Democrats in the Legislature proposing $1 billion or more in new taxes, despite the state having $3 billion in additional tax revenue coming in due to the rebounding economy. The proposals, including a potential capital-gains tax on wealthy investors, appear to have motivated large donations from some new faces, as well as more traditional Eyman backers. More than half the money raised by the I-1366 effort has come from seven donors. Clyde Holland, a Vancouver-based real-estate developer, is the largest contributor at $300,000. Holland, who declined interview requests, is a new Eyman patron but has supported Republican candidates and recently hosted GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush at a Seattle fundraiser. Although Eyman is unpopular with most Seattle voters, I-1366 also has picked up big donations from two Seattle property mavens, Fremont’s Suzie Burke, who has given $47,000, and North Aurora’s Faye Garneau, who donated $50,000. Both said they’re fed up with the Legislature’s desire to raise taxes and the hostility by lawmakers to the two-thirds requirement — despite its popularity with voters. “They need to remember who’s the boss,” said Garneau. “When the people have spoken and said something, that means it’s not to be overrun by individuals in Olympia.” Burke said it’s up to legislators to figure out how to live within the state’s means without new taxes. “That’s what we send them down there to do,” she said. I-1366 also has received $100,000 from Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman, a longtime Eyman supporter. Another $100,000 came from the Puget Sound chapter of the National Association of Electrical Contractors. The executive director of that group, Barry Sherman, said in an emailed statement the contractors have supported the two-thirds policy for over a decade “because it gives individuals and businesses predictability and stability, helping our economy thrive.” As he’s done before, Eyman has borrowed $250,000 against his house to loan to the campaign. Andrew Villeneuve, executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, said given the fundraising numbers, he and other Eyman foes are preparing for I-1366 to be on the ballot. “Eyman is very good at convincing people to part with their money for really bad ideas,” he said. Investigation unresolved Although he’s attracted new financial support, some business associations that have funded past Eyman efforts are staying away for now. Some of the groups say Eyman inappropriately used money they donated to past efforts to finance an initiative they did not support in 2013. That proposal, Initiative 517, sought to give signature gatherers more leeway in front of stores. It was overwhelmingly rejected by voters in 2013. The Washington Food Industry Association donated to Eyman initiatives in 2010 and 2012. But Jan Gee, president of the grocery-store group, said, “At this time we have a policy not to give any money that would go to Tim Eyman’s financial handling.” The state Public Disclosure Commission has been investigating whether Eyman violated campaign laws during the I-517 campaign. Gee said her group and others have been frustrated with the slow pace of that probe. The Association of Washington Business, which has spent big on prior Eyman anti-tax initiatives, also has stayed away so far. AWB spokesman Jason Hagey said the group has not yet decided whether to support the measure. To qualify for the November ballot, I-1366 needs to gather 246,372 valid signatures from registered Washington voters by July 2. If it makes the ballot and passes, the initiative is sure to face legal challenges. Hugh Spitzer, who teaches constitutional law at the University of Washington, said the state constitution makes quite clear that the power to place constitutional amendments on the ballot rests solely with the Legislature. Courts may view I-1366’s effort to strong-arm lawmakers as a violation of that. “As usual, there may be a constitutional defect in this proposal,” Spitzer said. But, he said, Eyman has proved over the years “he doesn’t care” whether his measures are struck down by courts. “He wants to get the Legislature’s attention.” Eyman said the public has shown its appetite for the supermajority requirement on taxes and deserves a constitutional amendment vote. “It seems like the voters have earned the right to finally make the final decision,” he said....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177546-14/eymans-latest-anti-tax-initiative-has-the-backing-of David Kaye /News/LatestNews/ 8404318@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:27 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:21 GMT
By Hal Bernton The Seattle Times


Steve Ringman/The Seattle Times Standing on a mound of filtered sediment in Castle Rock, Greg Miller from Walwrath Trucking runs his hands through the porous sand that came from the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption. His company sells and trucks the sand to play fields and golf courses around the state.


CASTLE ROCK — In this southwest Washington community, a 60-acre pile of sediment dredged out of the Cowlitz River is a reminder of the titanic power of the Mount St. Helens eruption. This is a tiny sliver of the largest landslide in recorded history, which cut loose on May 18, 1980, to trigger the blast, and flushed downstream a roiling mass of earth and debris. Thirty-five years later, these mountain remnants are once again on the move. All spring long, trucks have been hauling off loads of volcanic sands sifted from the pile and transporting them to the Puget Sound region. Some is worked into the greens of manicured golf courses, and other loads are mixed with compost to spread on homeowner yards or help grow the turf for playing fields. “It’s a beautiful clean product that comes right out of the belly of the earth,” said Greg Miller of Walrath Trucking. “Safeco Field, the Seahawks training facility, they use it. There have been some very famous shoes that have trod upon this material.” The sediment pile is managed by the city of Castle Rock, which earns thousands — and in some years, tens of thousands — of dollars a year selling the volcanic sands. This money helps fund a broader effort to turn dredge sites around the town from liabilities to surprisingly versatile assets that have helped this aging logging town carve out a new niche in outdoor recreation. Over the years, Castle Rock has reformed dredge piles to create a skateboard park, a boat launch and a trail system. Volunteers donated some 3,000 hours of labor to turn dredge sediments into a mountain-bike park. And, in the most ambitious transformation, the city planted sod on a large dredge pile and created five baseball diamonds and two soccer fields. “We’ve kind of defined our economic development as quality of place. You can be fishing, playing ball or just enjoying the view,” said Dave Vorse, director of Castle Rock’s public works department. Castle Rock at risk After the 1980 eruption, Castle Rock’s future was far less secure. The community was spared the severe flooding from the landslide’s initial downstream rush of mud and debris. But north of the mountain, a transformed Spirit Lake posed more long-term risks. The lake received enough sediment to raise the surface level by 210 feet and block the outflow. There was concern that the dam formed by this debris might fail, sending enough water downstream to put Castle Rock under dozens of feet of water. Even if the lake stayed put, there was a greater likelihood of severe flooding from winter rains and snow melt. That’s because debris that settled in the Cowlitz River drastically reduced the flow capacity by more than 90 percent. “There was a lot of fear of what was going to happen. A lot of anxiety,” recalls Vorse. In the year after the eruption, Castle Rock’s population declined from 2,100 to 1,800 people, he said. Over time, the fears eased. By 1985, a 1.6-mile outflow tunnel had been drilled through Spirit Lake so the water level could be maintained at a safe level. The Army Corps of Engineers built a retention dam on the North Fork of the Toutle River that helped slow the downstream flow of sediments. The corps also carried out a marathon dredging effort that began right after the eruption and continued through the early 1980s. The dredging removed enough material from the Toutle, Cowlitz and Columbia rivers to build a 12-lane highway from New York City to San Francisco, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Vorse says some of the first dredge piles had higher contents of ash and set up almost like concrete as they piled on the banks. So it was difficult to get grass to grow. But later dredging produced much lighter, almost fluffy materials. “If you weren’t careful you could sink into them,” Vorse said. Threat re-emerges In the first few years after the volcano, the 60-acre dredge pile sat stark and bare. Then, scotch broom, a yellow-bloming invasive shrub from Europe, took hold on top, along with mosses, grasses and eventually alders and willows. The cover lured rabbits. And that attracted beagle, basset hound and dachshund clubs for seasonal field trials. Others used the area as a dump site, leaving the landscape strewn with trash. The state owned the land. But it was viewed as such a liability that part of the acreage was transferred to Castle Rock, which eventually assumed management responsibilities for the entire property and worked to clean up the trash. “They required us to lease the property for 40 years, and be responsible for whatever happens out there,” Vorse said. Early on, the market for dredge sediment was weak. By the late 1980s, across the river, one of the city’s dredged piles began to be used as fill for southwest Washington construction projects. It didn’t pay to transport the material very far. But as sand supplies in the Puget Sound area played out, prices rose high enough that Walrath Trucking could make money hauling the St. Helen’s material north. Last year, with Puget Sound growth surging, Walrath began excavating sand out of the 60-acre mound and separating out multicolored volcanic rock for use in landscaping. No one can say how long it will be until the mound disappears. “It’s all market dependent. It could be six years. It could be 60,” Vorse said. If Castle Rock should run low on dredge materials, more keeps washing downstream. The Army Corps has proposed raising the retention dam to capture more of the sediments. Meanwhile, an old threat has re-emerged that again could put Castle Rock at risk. Army Corps inspections have found significant narrowing of a midsection of the tunnel. The agency’s engineers are concerned that during high water the tunnel could back up, creating pressures that could destroy it and — in a worst-case scenario — lead to the failure of the dam and catastrophic flooding in the area. Officials say there is no imminent danger. But the Corps is pushing to undertake a short-term repair this fall and also working to come up with a long-term fix. “That tunnel is very important to Castle Rock, and everyone else who lives downstream,” Vorse said. “We’re encouraged that the Corps has identified the problem and come up with a plan. But if they don’t get funding, things won’t happen.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177606-8/mount-st-helens-sand-turns-from-bane-to David Kaye /News/LatestNews/ 8404499@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:21 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:20 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



WENATCHEE — Yonathan Rodriguez’s goal in the 14th minute was enough to lift Wenatchee FC past Yakima United 1-0 on Sunday at Wenatchee Valley Community College. Further details on Sunday’s match were not available. Yakima (1-2-1) returns home to Marquette Stadium on May 24 to face Bellingham....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177639-8/yakima-united-falls-to-wenatchee Marcus Michelson /News/LatestNews/ 8404572@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:20 GMT
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:12 GMT
Yakima Herald-Republic



YAKIMA, Wash. -- The top seeds all advanced Saturday to the semifinals of the CWAC district tennis tournament at East Valley High School. Selah freshman Jared Kieser dropped just three games in winning his two matches, while the Vikings duo of Othon Hamill and Lucas Mahugh had to fend off their opponents 7-5 in the second set of their two matches. On the girls side, East Valley’s Emily Hirtle dropped her first set, before rolling in the next four to claim two victories. The Ellensburg duo of Jennifer Jackson and Taylor Willis were dominant in their victories, dropping just three games and posting 6-0 scores in their second sets. The tournament wraps up today at East Valley with the winners and runners-up earning state berths. The third- and fourth-place finishers will play crossover matches with the top placers from the Great Northern League for state berths on Saturday in Ephrata. Saturday at East Valley BOYS Singles Single elimination: Jared Kieser (Selah) d. Logan Alvarez (Grandview) 6-1, 6-0; Diego Villarreal (Othello) d. Justin Swearngin (Wapato) 6-4, 6-2; Austin KickingWoman (Toppenish) d. Shane Andreas (East Valley) 6-0, 6-1; Tim Miller (Ellensburg) d. Randy Hodges (Quincy) 6-2, 6-1; Michael Carlton (O) d, Ivan Mireles (Prosser) 6-0, 6-0; Tristan McDevitt (S) d. Alfonso Granados (G) 6-1, 6-3; Adrian Zavala (W) d. Ian McDonnell (Ep) 7-5, 6-2; Michael Manion (EV) d. Omar Zaragoza (T) 6-4, 6-0. Quarterfinals: Kieser (S) d, Villarreal (O) 6-2, 6-0; Miller (El) d. KickingWoman (T) 6-2, 6-2; Carlton (O) d. McDevitt (S) 6-2, 6-3; Manion (EV) d. Zavala (W) 6-1, 6-0. Consolation: Villarreal (O) d. KickingWoman (T) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2; McDevitt (S) d. Zavala (W) 6-1, 6-1. Doubles Single elimination: Othon Hamill-Lucas Mahugh (S) d. Martinez-Taylor (O) 6-0, 7-5; Miller-Merchant (Ep) d. Stephen Chmelewski-Sam Lanza (E) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; Jon Rapanut-Jonathan Rapanut (W) d. Freeman-Roylance (O) 6-1, 6-3; Ronish-Peterson (Q) d. Jeremy Baker-Alex Perez (T) 6-1, 6-1; Monson-Sears (Ep) d. Plascencia-Hyer (Q) 6-1, 6-0; Jask Khinda–Danny Scherschligt (EV) d. Shine Sun-Nick DeHollander (El) 6-1, 6-0; Paynter-Pugh (Ep) d. Eliab Garza-Parker Reynolds (T) 6-4, 7-5; Garza-Freeman (O) d. Nick Foster-Cesar Solis (P) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Quarterfinals: Hamill-Mahugh (S) d. Miller-Merchant (Ep) 6-2, 7-5; Rapanut-Rapanut (W) d. Ronish-Peterson (Q) 6-2, 6-3; Monson-Sears (Ep) d. Khinda-Scherschligt (EV) 6-2, 6-1; Garza-Freeman (O) d. Paynter-Pugh (Ep) 6-3, 7-5. Consolation: Ronish-Peterson (Q) d. Miller-Merchant (Ep) 6-3, 6-3; Paynter-Pugh (Ep) d. Khinda-Scherschligt (EV) 6-4, 7-5. GIRLS Singles Single elimination: Emily Hirtle (EV) d, Zoee Roylance (O) 3-6, 6-0, 6-1; Jennie DeLeon (Ep) d. Ruby Palomino (T) 6-2, 7-5; Alex Bassett (Q) d. Alexandra Gonzalez (G) 6-4, 6-0; Chloe Howell (S) d. Katy Palma (W) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1; Jennifer Mata (W) d, Abbey Archer (S) 6-0, 6-2; Angelina Chesnakov (Ep) d, Rachele Barker (El) 6-2, 6-3; Kylee Hawley (O) d. Veronica Cruz (T) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4; Allison Manion (EV) d. Joslyn Felicijan (P) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Quarterfinals: Hirtle (EV) d. DeLeon (Ep) 6-2, 6-1; Bassett (Q) d, Howell (S) 6-4, 6-3; Chesnakov (Ep) d. Mata (W) 2-6, 6-1, 7-5; Manion (EV) d. Hawley (O) 7-5, 6-2. Consolation: DeLeon (Ep) d. Howell (S) inj. default; Mata (W) d. Hawley (O) 6-1, 6-2. Doubles Single elimination: Jennifer Jackson-Taylor Willis (El) d. Bayleigh Harris–Rebecca Faulkner (EV) 6-2, 6-0; Allison Huylar-Jovannah Gudino (T) d. Eva Hamill-Magaly (S) 6-2, 6-3; Faw-Thomsen (Q) d. Andersen-Walker (O) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; Nadia Botello-Megan Rickert (W) d. Klipardt-Rodriguez (Ep) 6-4, 7-5; Lauren McDevitt-Cailin O’Malley (S) d. Vanessa Gudino-Cassandra Hernandez (W) 6-4, 6-1; Tovar-Tovar (O) d. Kyrsten Wiggins-Sugeyn Gonzalez (P) 6-3, 7-5; Villarreal-Murillo (O) d. Julie Gray-Sam Whitney (El) 6-3, 6-4; Moore-Brekhus (Ep) d. Erin Herzog-Desteny Fowler (S) 6-0, 6-1. Quarterfinals: Jackson-Willis (El) d. Gudino-Huylar (T) 6-1, 6-0; Botello-Rickert (W) d. Faw-Thomsen (Q) 6-3, 6-4; McDevitt-O’Malley (S) d. Tovar-Tovar (O) 6-1, 6-3; Moore-Brekhus (Ep) d. Villarreal-Murillo (O). Consolation: Faw-Thomsen (Q) d. Gudino-Huylar (T) 6-2, 6-4; Villarreal-Murillo (O) d. Tovar-Tovar (O) 7-5, 6-4. SCAC EAST SUB-DISTRICT Zillah’s Stiles, two duos advance to final round: At Pasco, Zillah’s two No. 1 seeds — Grace Stiles and the duo of Deyci Alejandre and Brook Snell — as well as the third-seeded team of Jacob Cleveringa and Jared Ellis advanced Saturday to the championship round of the SCAC East sub-district tournament at Chiawana High School. The tournament concludes today with the top four placers advancing to districts starting Friday at Hanford High School. ZILLAH RESULTS Saturday at Chiawana BOYS Singles Single elimination: Beau Widner (Zillah) d. Edgar Estrada (Burbank) 6-1, 6-0. Quarterfinals: Joe Ponti (Z) d. Tanner Empey (Connell) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4; Pat Hadley (C) d. Widner (Z) 6-2, 6-1. Consolation: Widner (Z) d. Empey (C) 6-3, 6-2. Doubles Single elimination: Leonel Wessilius-Payton Whitaker (Z) d. Schultz-Miller (C) 6-4, 6-3; Pablo Medina-Ryan Anderson (Z) d. Elliott-Scevers (Kiona-Benton) 6-4, 6-3. Quarterfinals: Jacob Cleveringa-Jared Ellis (Z) d. Kastle-Ingersoll (KB) 6-2, 6-4; Clawson-Booker (C) d. Wessilius-Whitaker (Z) 6-1, 6-0; Wilder-Humphreys (KB) d. Medina-Anderson (Z) 6-0, 6-1. Semifinals: Cleveringa-Ellis (D) d. Wilder-Humphreys (B) 7-6 (7-1), 7-5. Consolation: Ditty-Broetje (B) d. Wessilius-Whitaker (Z) 6-2, 6-2; Medina-Anderson (Z) d. Kastle-Ingersoll (KB) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. GIRLS Singles Quarterfinals: Grace Stiles (Z) d. Karen Castaneda (B) 6-2, 6-1; Zoe Brucell (KB) d. Hannah Stewart (Z) 1-6, 7-6, 6-1. Semifinals: Stiles (Z) d. Allison Rychman (B) 6-0, 6-4. Consolation: Stewart (Z) d. Marciela Nevarez (Wahluke) 6-1, 6-0. Doubles Single elimination: Bagwell-Withers (C) d. Gaby Marquez-Daisy Marquez (Z) 6-4, 6-3; Abbie Myers-Abby Sandlin (Z) d. Tirado-Nevarez (W) 6-1, 6-2/ Quaterfinals: Deyci Alejandre-Brook Snell (Z) d. Bagwell-Withers (C) 5-7, 6-1, 6-1; Myers-Sandlin (Z) d. Acevedo-Holt (KB) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Semifinals: Alejandre-Snell (Z) d. Zucher-Rowley (C) 6-1, 6-4; Knight-Cooper (C) d. Myers-Sandlin (Z) 6-4, 6-2. --- EPL SOCCER Yakima falls to Wenatchee WENATCHEE, Wash. — Yonathan Rodriguez’s goal in the 14th minute was enough to lift Wenatchee FC past Yakima United 1-0 on Sunday at Wenatchee Valley Community College. Further details on Sunday’s match were not available. Yakima (1-2-1) returns home to Marquette Stadium on May 24 to face Bellingham. --- AUTO RACING Renegade Raceway FRIDAY’S RESULTS Diesel Truck Drags Class 8 — Winner: Jerry Wright 22.40 dial-in, 0.304 r/t, 24.210 ET, 65.87 mph. Runner-up: Craig Vogel 21.20, 0.198, 21.079, 69.26. Semis: Curtis Clark. Diesel Pickup — Winner: Devin Bouchey 14.69, 0.076, 14.800, 97.88. Runner-up: Michael Howard 14.20, 0.409, 14.250, 97.93. Semis: William Madsen. --- Yakima Dirt Track SATURDAY’S RESULTS Junior Hornets — Heat 1: Eddie Smith, Kyle Sisk, Blaze Wilhelm; Heat 2: Smith, Sisk, Wilhelm; Dash: Smith; Main: Smith, Wilhelm, Sisk. Hornets — Heat 1: Larry Norman Jr., Josh Parmentier, Chris Wiley, Robert Patton, Ashley Butler, Jeff Mullins, Zeke Stiennet; Heat 2: Norman, Parmentier, Patton, Mullins, Wiley, Stiennet; Dash: Norman; Main: Parmentier, Mullins, Butler, Stiennet, Norman, Wiley. Pure Stock — Heat 1: Steven Dickerson, Blair Shoemaker, Todd Nunn, Dan Garcia, Jeff Ball; Heat 2: Nunn, Dickerson, Shoemaker, Ball, Garcia; Dash: Nunn; Main: Garcia, Nunn, Shoemaker, Ball, Dickerson. Super Stocks — Heat 1: Brian Chouinard, Dyran LePoidevin, Pat Hambling, Joe Estep, Josh Shay, Tim Sutton, Zach Whittlesey; Heat 2: Estep, Hambling, LePoidevin, Sutton, Chouinard, Whittlesey, Shay; Dash: Hambling; Main: Hambling, Estep, Whittlesey, Shay, Chouinard, LePoidevin, Sutton. Jalopy — Heat 1: Jim Taylor; Heat 2: Taylor; Dash: Taylor; Main: Taylor....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177718-8/local-report-top-seeds-hold-serve-at-cwac Jerrel Swenning /News/LatestNews/ 8404842@yakimaherald.com Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:12 GMT
Sun, 17 May 2015 23:12:29 GMT
By Molly Rosbach Yakima Herald-Republic



YAKIMA, Wash. — Marketgoers and curious pedestrians passed through the Feet in the Street event downtown Yakima on Sunday, where local advocates talked about ways to get more people biking, walking and being active in public streets. The event included outdoor Zumba, a yoga class, hula hooping, informational tables about city planning, bike safety and bike-to-bus options, and a “Tour de Farce” bike ride around downtown....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3177116-13/light-turnout-but-high-enthusiasm-at-feet-in Molly Rosbach(MROSBACH) /News/LatestNews/ 8403292@yakimaherald.com Sun, 17 May 2015 23:12:29 GMT
Sun, 17 May 2015 18:02:53 GMT
By Kate Prengaman Yakima Herald-Republic


ROBERT KRIMMEL/U.S. Geological Survey file photo Mount St. Helens erupts on May 18, 1980, sending a plume of ash east to Central Washington. Below, the volcano vents steam on Oct. 10, 2004.


When Mount St. Helens erupted 35 years ago Monday, killing 57 people and blanketing much of Central Washington in ash, officials were ill-prepared for the magnitude of the emergency. “When the mountain blew, everyone was kind of out there on their own,” said Charles Erwin, emergency management specialist for the city of Yakima. “That’s what got the county started on doing disaster planning and coordinating with all the local jurisdictions.” The explosion caused two different disasters on either side of the mountains. While the west side was dealing with mud and debris flows taking out bridges and roads, the prevailing winds pushed an estimated 520 million tons of ash eastward, turning Sunday morning in Yakima into midnight. Local, state and federal officials say the eruption and the disorganized response prompted the development of planning and response protocols that officials say have made the region more prepared for a future eruption — because it’s only a matter of time before the volcano erupts again. “We know we have recharge of magma chamber right now,” said Carolyn Driedger, scientist with the Cascade Volcanoes Observatory. “We’re fairly confident that the monitoring equipment we have there now will give us about as good a warning as we can get that there is magma rising. We could have an eruption with a few days of warning; it could be 100 years from now.” And Mount St. Helens isn’t the only volcano Washington has to worry about. Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker and Glacier Peak are also capable of producing destructive mud and debris flows, known as lahars, and spewing ash. Although Mount St. Helens has the most recent and most destructive activity, all five have generated ash or lahars in the past 300 years, according to the state’s hazard mitigation plan. But in Yakima County, the primary danger is ash, according to the county’s emergency management plan. Countless tons of it fell across much of the county during the 1980 eruption. It clogged waterways and cut visibility on roads to levels so dangerous that highways were closed for days. Merely walking in it kicked up clouds of ash. Inhaling ash can cause lung damage, especially for those with existing respiratory conditions. Volcanic ash is acidic and when it combines with water it can create a form of sulfuric acid that can, in some cases, be strong enough to burn skin, damage crops and corrode machinery. Preparing to deal with ash is the most important thing communities in Yakima County can do, Erwin said. “What we’re trying to do again, since it’s far from people’s memory now, is to encourage all the cities to have plans for clearing ash from the streets and where to dump it and how to answer citizens’ questions about what to do with it,” Erwin said. He recommended that all area residents add dust masks and goggles to their emergency kits to be prepared for an ash event. Across the state, communities at risk from volcanoes work together on coordinated response plans, said Mark Stewart, spokesman for the Washington Military Department’s Emergency Management Division. Each plan is different because each volcano is different, he said. “Our five volcanoes have what I would call a different eruptive personality,” Stewart said. “We all know Mount St. Helens is a big exploder. Mount Rainier, on the other hand, is a lahar producer, and hundreds of thousands of people live in harm’s way of those lahars.” One coordination plan addresses both St. Helens and Mount Adams, because the at-risk areas overlap. It’s developed by the Forest Service, state and federal geologists, and the emergency management officials from the surrounding tribes and counties, including Yakima and Klickitat. The plan divides up responsibilities and channels of communication. For example, the Forest Service will make road closures as needed to protect public safety, and the state Emergency Management Division will coordinate the use of aircraft for emergency responses. This multi-agency response plan simply didn’t exist 35 years ago, said Doug Ficco. When St. Helens blew, Ficco was a maintenance engineer with the state Department of Transportation from Southeast Washington to Southwest Washington, where he was trying to figure out how to save bridges from the vast amounts of water and debris gushing down from the mountain. Now as a DOT regional administrator in Vancouver, he said much has changed in terms of disaster preparedness. “Back then, we didn’t do a lot of pre-planning for emergencies. We didn’t have relationships in place with the Corps of Engineers and the National Guard,” Ficco said. “It was a little chaotic.” Now, he said, multi-agency emergency drills are part of the routine. Putting the response plans into action starts with observational data of the volcanic activity from the Cascades Volcano Observatory, which is run by the U.S. Geological Survey. Driedger said the 1980 eruption also triggered increased investment in monitoring equipment for the mountain and more research to understand what’s normal volcano behavior and what’s a warning sign that an eruption could be imminent. “That eruption really changed the way we as scientists do business; we realized we need to work with emergency managers,” Driedger said. “We can draw a direct line from the St. Helens eruption to those coordination plans and awareness that we know today.” Advances in volcano monitoring and communication technology mean that the region is more prepared today to get people out of harm’s way in time before an eruption, Stewart said. “I have a high level of comfort that if it should happen again, procedures are in place to get critical infrastructure up and running and keep people safe,” Erwin said of Yakima County’s response plan. But even with preparations to protect water supplies and power substations, and plans to get the roads cleared quickly, ash is still likely to cause problems. In 1980, farmers were worried about the potential impacts to crops and there was little information about how best to respond. “It was such an unknown. Very few people have gone through being covered up by volcanic ash,” recalls Alan Taylor, who was then sales promotion manager for Northwest Cherry Growers in Yakima. “Going through that was all uncharted territory in agriculture.” He said farmers tried a variety of techniques to remove the ash from crops quickly and to quell rumors that the ash could poison the cherry crop. But he said the biggest lesson farmers learned probably wasn’t how to be prepared, but realizing that sometimes Mother Nature just has the upper hand. There are so many variables to a potential eruption — from what time of year to how much ash — that the ideal response from the industry will just depend on the conditions, agreed James Michael, vice president of Marketing for the Washington Stone Fruit Commission. “In the case of the mountain blowing up, it’s not an exact science,” Michael said. “The technology in our industry is changing so rapidly that it’s hard to predict, but some of those investments in cleaning and washing technology could help salvage fruit after an incident.” Driedger said the way Eastern Washington handled the ash challenge in 1980 provided a lot of important insight for scientists about the best way to protect water supplies and coordinate cleanup efforts. “It was really the first modern eruption in U.S. history, and the people in Eastern Washington made a worldwide contribution by documenting their experiences in 1980,” she said. “One really important thing as we move on in time from that memorable eruption is that memory really needs to be transmitted down through time so future generations don’t forget that these are active volcanoes, and you need to be prepared for them to act up from time to time.” • Kate Prengaman can be reached at 509-577-7674 or kprengaman@yakimaherald.com. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/kprengaman....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3159517-8/we-were-unprepared-in-1980-planning-and-coordination KPRENGAMAN /News/LatestNews/ 8356439@yakimaherald.com Sun, 17 May 2015 18:02:53 GMT
Sun, 17 May 2015 09:02:15 GMT
By Scott Sandsberry Yakima Herald-Republic



YAKIMA, Wash. -- The reason Kristi Vlieger’s odds of being selected as a prospective donor was simply because suitable biological matches are so rare. It certainly isn’t because of an overabundance of registered donors in the bone marrow registry system. The Be The Match Registry, the official registry of the United States operated by the National Marrow Donor Program, also includes all donors who register as donors through the Delete Blood Cancer program, through which Vlieger registered. In the three decades since its formation, the registry now has more than 11 million potential donors, thus dramatically improving the odds a patient facing blood cancer will find a match. But that 11 million accounts for fewer than 7 percent of the 160 million Americans in the optimal donor age range between 18 and 55. And, worse, only about half of people on donor registries actually donate when they’re found to be a match. Some have moved and can’t be located; some are facing an illness of their own, or a pregnancy. Still others simply change their mind about donating. In 2010, a 37-year-old New York woman with leukemia was matched by donor registries with four suitable donors, any one of whom might save her life. But when it came to actually donating their marrow, each of the four — having already signed up for the registry — found a reason to back out. The woman died. Ethnicity also matters in finding a blood match, and the need for minority donors is particularly critical. While the likelihood of Caucasians finding a match ranges from 93 to 97 percent, the numbers drop for Hispanic/Latino (83 percent), American Indian/Alaskan Native (90 percent), Asian/Pacific Islander (84 percent) and African American/Black (76 percent). Joining the marrow registry is a simple process that can be done by completing a form online (DeleteBloodCancer.org or BeTheMatch.org) and ordering a registration kit; the kit comes with instructions to collect a swab of cheek cells and return the kit. Then perhaps you’re one of the lucky one in 500-plus who gets the chance to give a person facing a life-threatening disease a chance to overcome it. As Vlieger is doing. “I was the only match available for that patient, and that made the decision that much easier,” Vlieger says. “I’m not going to tell somebody, ‘No, I have the capacity to help you — but I won’t.’...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3122950-13/registering-to-be-donor-a-quick-way-to Scott Sandsberry /News/LatestNews/ 8259162@yakimaherald.com Sun, 17 May 2015 09:02:15 GMT
Sun, 17 May 2015 09:02:13 GMT




The following area students are 2015 graduates of Heritage University in Toppenish. Buena: Francisco Lara, BA, Business Administration Ellensburg: Edgar Cruz, BS, Computer Science; Jennifer Inman, MIT, Elementary Education (GR) Grandview: Amelia Alcala-Castaneda, MIT, Elementary Education; Maximillian Becker, BA, Criminal Justice; Irma Bissonette, BAED, Elementary Education; Noe Gonzalez, BA, Business Administration; Blanca Granados, BAED, Elementary Education; Jennifer Lopez, BAED, Elementary Education; Olivia Marquez, MA, Medical Sciences; Andrea Mireles, BA, Psychology; Alyssa Munoz, BA, Psychology; Luz Nunez, MED, Organizational Leadership; Beatriz Ocampo, BAED, Elementary Education; Jesus Orozco, BS, Biology: Specialization Medical Biol; Cruz Orozco-Alvarez, BA, Applied Computer Science; Angelica Perez, BA, Early Childhood Studies; Carmen Perez, CERT, Practical Nursing (Cert); Emperatriz Rivas, BAED, Elementary Education; Kathy Scott, CERT, Practical Nursing (Cert) Granger: Yesennia Diaz, CERT, Practical Nursing (Cert); Francisco Ramirez Amezcua, BA, Environmental Studies; Dalia Romero, BA, English ; Bianca Roscom, BSW, Social Work; Aric Washines, BA, Environmental Studies; ; HARRAH; Pablo Contreras, BA, Criminal Justice; Dennis Fiander III, BAED, Elementary Education Mabton: Blanca Navarro, BA, Early Childhood Studies; Hilda Ramirez, BA, Early Childhood Studies; Stephanie Sanchez, BSW, Social Work; Erin Whitmore, MIT, Elementary Education (GR) Mattawa: Yesenia Fernandez, BSW, Social Work Moxee: Cristal Bernal, BSW, Social Work ; Courtney Deats, BS, Biomedical Science; Monica Estrada, BAED, Elementary Education; Benjamin Montano, AA, Social Science; Nicole Williams, MIT, Elementary Education (GR); Olga Zuniga, BSW, Social Work Naches: Sarah Maybee, CERT, Practical Nursing (Cert); Tonya Welch, BAED, Elementary Education Outlook: Ana Lopez, MIT, Elementary Education; Kim Shannon, BS, Medical Laboratory Science Selah: Christy Doan, BAED, Elementary Education; Rodney Eshelman, MIT, Elementary Education; Corey Gunderson, MA, Medical Sciences; Arin Haghverdian, MA, Medical Sciences; Marizol Huitron, BAED, Elementary Education; Jesse Ingram, BAED, Elementary Education; Tyler Johnson, MED, Organizational Leadership; Kristi Kennard, BS, Medical Laboratory Science; Tanner LaTour, BAED, Elementary Education; Brooke Steadman, MA, Medical Sciences; Brian Van Dyke, MIT, Elementary Education (GR) Sunnyside: Nereida Acevedo, BAED, Elementary Education; Juan Aguilar, BA, Business Administration; Raul Alvarez, BA, Applied Computer Science; Ernesto Carrasco, MED, Counseling; Tabitha Chambers, BAED, Elementary Education; Alma Garcia, CERT, Practical Nursing (Cert); Victoria Garza, BSW, Social Work; Margarita Gutierrez, BA, Psychology; Devina Hernandez, MIT, Elementary Education; Mitzi Herrera, BAED, Elementary Education; Marissa Howat, MED, Counseling, Sunnyside; Silbia Mondragon, ADN, Registered Nurse; Mical Moreno, BAED, Elementary Education; Paula Rowley, MIT, Elementary Education; Marcy Salinas, BA, Early Childhood Studies; Juanita Tellez, MIT, Elementary Education; Joana Vasquez, BAED, Elementary Education Toppenish: Christal Brown, MIT, Elementary Education; Eva Carl, BA, Environmental Studies; Laura Day, BA, English; Aaron Etherington, MA, Medical Sciences; Danielle Fish, BSW, Social Work; Perla Garcia, BA, Business Administration; Sarah Garza, MIT, Elementary Education; Marisela Gonzalez, BA, Business Administration; Alejandro Gutierrez, BA, Business Administration; Artemio Gutierrez, BA, Business Administration; Maria Guzman, CERT, Practical Nursing (Cert); Tana Johnson, BA, Criminal Justice; Denise Macias, BAED, Elementary Education; Graciela Medelez, BA, Mathematics (5-12 Credential); Vincente Medelez, BA, Interdisciplinary Contract; Harli Moran, BA, Criminal Justice; Gabriel Pinon, BA, Interdisciplinary Contract; Cristal Reyes, BA, Psychology; Cheriese Rhode, BAED, Elementary Education; Kristin Sak, CERT, Practical Nursing (Cert); Noemi Sanchez, BSW, Social Work; Corbin Schuster, AA, Interdisciplinary Studies in Sciences; Geneva Smiskin, BA, Visual Arts Union Gap: Diana Torres-Serrato, BA, Business Administration Wapato: Ariana Allen, BA, Visual Arts; Edith Alvarez, MED, Counseling; Sergio Avila, BSW, Social Work; Richard Dionne, MED, Counseling; Grace Draculan, CERT, Practical Nursing (Cert); Jonathan Escamilla, BA, Psychology; Dionna Estrada, BSW, Social Work; Charlie Fiander, BAED, Elementary Education; Willow Jim, BA, Criminal Justice; Guadalupe Jimenez, BA, Business Administration; Kayla Johnson, BS, Biomedical Science; Carlos Mendez, MA, Multicultural English Literature and Language; Guadalupe Mendez, BA, Interdisciplinary Contract; Samantha Olney, AA, American Indian Studies; Valerie Onessimo, BA, Interdisciplinary Contract; Maricruz Sauceda, BA, Criminal Justice; Felix Torres, AA, Business; Valerie Valdez, BAED, Middle-Level Education (Levels 4-9) White Swan: Joel John, BA, Business Administration; Cialita Keys, BA, Environmental Studies; Larena Van Pelt, BSW, Social Work Yakima: Terra Ambrose, BA, Criminal Justice; Saul Arambul, BA, Criminal Justice; Cassey Aranda, BSW, Social Work; Cecilia Arellano, BA, Business Administration; Yesenia Arias, BA, Business Administration; Serena Avila-Mott, MA, Medical Sciences; Curtis Beebe, CERT, Medical Laboratory Science; Sarah Bewley, MA, Medical Sciences; Elizabeth Bobb, MIT, Elementary Education; Tanya Britt, CERT, Practical Nursing (Cert); William Collins, MIT, Elementary Education; Mark Coulter, MA, Medical Sciences; Andrew Crandall, MA, Medical Sciences; Francisca Cuevas, CERT, Practical Nursing (Cert); Jamie Davis, BSW, Social Work; Alma Delgado Guerrero, BAED, Elementary Education; Flor Flores, AA, Interdisciplinary Studies in Sciences; Katie Fox, BAED, Elementary Education; Brenda Garcia, BAED, Elementary Education; Kathleen Gibbons, MIT, Elementary Education; Gabriel Gonzalez, BAED, Elementary Education Vicky Gonzalez, BAED, Elementary Education (UG); Amanda Griggs, BSW, Social Work; Luis Jaimes-Anaya, BA, Criminal Justice; Alexander Johnson, MA, Medical Sciences; Mark Johnson, CERT, Medical Laboratory Science; Felicia Kondor, BA, Early Childhood Studies; Jayla Krause, BAED, Elementary Education; Tina-Marie Lasha, BAED, Elementary Education; Mellissa Leaf, MA, Medical Sciences; Artemio Madrigal, BA, Business Administration; Michelle McKay, MA, Medical Sciences; Llesenia Mendez, CERT, Practical Nursing (Cert); Amy Moloso, BAED, Elementary Education; Nicholas Novakovich, MA, Medical Sciences; Guadalupe Padilla, BA, Psychology; Susan Penhallegon, BSW, Social Work; Jessica Raigoza, MED, Professional Studies in Teaching & Learning in ESL; Maria Ramos, BSW, Social Work; Laurie Robledo, BS, Accounting; Lilianna Rodriguez, BA, English; Herlinda Ruvalcaba, MED, Organizational Leadership; Florencia Sanchez, BA, Interdisciplinary Contract; Vicente Sanchez, MIT, Elementary Education; Sonia Serrano, BA, Psychology; Irina Sivkov, CERT, Medical Laboratory Science; Craig Smith, MIT, Elementary Education; Lauren St Clair, MIT, Elementary Education (GR); Melissa Valencia, BAED, Middle Level Education (Levels 4-9); Erik Vargas, MIT, Elementary Education; Griselda Vargas, MIT, Elementary Education; Talia Venera, MED, Counseling; Eralda Vidrio, MIT, Elementary Education; Siobhan Wagner, MIT, Elementary Education; Jessica Whiteplume, BA, Applied Computer Science; Anna Zamudio, BA, Criminal Justice Zillah: Veronica Allen, MED, Organizational Leadership w/ProTeach; Lindsay Barnes, MIT, English Lang Arts (5-12); Aubrey Crider, BAED, Elementary Education; Michael Pierre, AA, Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities; Alma Sanchez, BSW, Social Work; Rodney Treece, BA, Criminal Justice; Adriana Villafan Munguia, BA, Business Administration....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3142905-13/school-news-may-17-2015 Donean Brown /News/LatestNews/ 8312385@yakimaherald.com Sun, 17 May 2015 09:02:13 GMT
Sun, 17 May 2015 09:02:11 GMT
By Kate Prengaman Yakima Herald-Republic


Photos by GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic Eric Peña plants peppers at a community garden in Buena on May 7. The new garden is a collaboration between Buena residents and Yakima County Master Gardeners. So far, five families have signed up for the garden.


Even though he works in the fields for a living, Eric Peña says growing his own vegetables is fun and relaxing. This summer, he’s growing his vegetables in the new Buena Community Garden, even though he’s owned property just down the street for 15 years. “I enjoy being with people, not at home working alone,” he said. “It’s fun and it’s a good way to teach others.” That’s exactly what garden organizers hoped for when they started work last fall to turn a horse pasture along Buena Road across from Bill’s Tavern into a garden and gathering place, said Ginny Obert, a local resident and Washington State University/Yakima County Master Gardener volunteer. The garden plots are filling up even faster than she expected, Obert said, with six or seven families already involved. Earlier this month, they gathered to plant tomatoes, peppers and other seedlings grown and donated by the Master Gardeners group. “Every time we are out there, there’s so many kids,” said Diana Pieti, another Master Gardener volunteer. “And the kids work. They shoveled. They planted. It’s so good to see.” In downtown Yakima, another new community garden is sprouting this spring, led by the Restoration Church. Pastor Kevin Deyette said his vision for the garden was to help the church build ties to the downtown community. “This is a pretty diverse city. We’re asking ourselves, how do you be a church that reflects that diversity, how do you connect with people who are different than you?” Deyette said. “The goal of the garden is not just to grow vegetables but to grow relationships.” The idea for gardening as a community is growing both locally and around the country. It’s certainly not a new idea, but the National Gardening Association says participation has been on the rise since the start of the recession, especially among younger adults, lower-income families and urban residents. Participation in community gardens has tripled since 2008, a recent survey by the association found. Several other community gardens have been operating quietly for several years. Tucked behind the offices of the OIC of Yakima on Fruitvale Avenue, Lea Draven has been organizing a group of gardeners in collaboration with Garfield Elementary School for several summers. She works with a small group of regular volunteers, but she’s hoping to expand. Her vision was to provide a garden where people could volunteer their time, then share in the harvest of free, healthy food. The group gardens together a couple times a week, shares the harvest and donates the leftover produce to the OIC food bank. For Draven, the best part is watching the kids get excited about learning and experience the magic of making things grow. Even her 17-month-old son helps by spreading mulch and pulling weeds. “I grew up in the realm of children who think food comes from McDonald’s,” Draven said. “Then, I had a nutrition revolution, and when I found out where my food came from, I wanted to show other people how to grow stuff instead.” The goal of providing access to healthy food for low-income people also inspired a community garden that started in Wapato in 2013 and one in Ellensburg that’s been growing for a local food bank since 2007. Back in Buena, an unincorporated community of about 1,000 that’s largely low-income, providing access to healthy food was one motivation to get the garden project started, Obert said. But they also wanted to start something that the community could support for years to come. And it’s thanks to community support that the garden even came to be, she said. The land and access to water was donated by resident Sammy Henry and the Master Gardener volunteers built fences out of scrap wood. Walt’s Hauling and Excavation, a local trucking company, brought over loads of dirt and another contractor leveled out the land. Farmers donated old tools, wood and PVC piping. A $2,000 grant from Northwest Farm Credit Services paid for hoses and other tools. “This is a very giving community. People came and said, ‘How can I help?’” Obert said. “When folks see what they can grow, that everything they need is here for them, I believe they will come.” Indeed, on the night that several families were out planting, a woman who stopped by to check out the activity ended up signing up for a garden box of her own. Karen Herrara came with her daughter, Emily, to plant onions, garlic, radishes, cantaloupe and tomatoes. She said it’s more motivating to work in the community garden than at her home nearby. Jesus and Sylvia Estrada helped their kids plant dozens of hot peppers. They live just across the street, he said, close enough to make checking on the new seedlings easy, but they decided to join the group garden to meet more of their neighbors. This summer, the Master Gardener volunteers plan to be at the garden weekly to help and teach, Obert said. But she hopes that in a few years, this garden will be self-sustaining, led by locals like Peña who are eager to share their love of growing things with all the neighbors. • Kate Prengaman can be reached at 509-577-7674 or kprengaman@yakimaherald.com. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/kprengaman....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3145581-13/community-gardens-around-the-yakima-valley-bring-neighbors KPRENGAMAN /News/LatestNews/ 8319995@yakimaherald.com Sun, 17 May 2015 09:02:11 GMT
Sun, 17 May 2015 09:02:00 GMT




JA VOLUNTEERS — Junior Achievement of Central Washington is looking for volunteers to assist with the JA BizTown and JA Finance Park programs. JA BizTown, for fifth-graders, is an actual city run entirely by students who are engaged for a day as business owners, employees, consumers and city officials. JA Finance Park, eighth-graders, focuses on personal financial skills such as budgeting, saving and investing. These capstone programs require volunteering with JA to support the staff and the program manager; supervising four to eight students through the simulation; and working with a standard class for in-school instruction. The in-school program requires following curriculum and implementing instruction one hour per day for five to seven lessons. Hours needed vary per program. Must be at least 18. Training provided. Call Sirena at 509-574-1933. GREET AG MUSEUM VISITORS — Central Washington Agricultural Museum needs dependable hosts/greeters. Good computer and people skills are important. The museum operates April 1 through Oct. 31 and is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. Volunteers may work as many hours as they choose and pick any day or days they want Tuesday-Saturday. For more information, call Paul Strater at 509-457-8735. DRIVERS — Temporary drivers needed ASAP at the Yakima Union Gospel Mission. The regular, full-time driver was recently injured, so volunteers are needed to help until he is able to return. Volunteers are needed Mondays through Fridays. A potential volunteer will be driving an automatic transmission box truck to pick up donated items and bring them back to the mission. No CDL is required, but a good driving record is needed. Other men will ride along to help with loading and unloading. Volunteer for one day or more per week. For more information, call Sirena at 509-574-1933. BLOOD DRIVE HELP — The American Red Cross Blood Services is seeking volunteer couriers and blood drive volunteers in Yakima. Couriers safely pick up and deliver blood to hospitals. Requirements include excellent driving skills with a good driving record for the past two years and good customer service skills to interact with hospital and blood drive personnel. Call Sirena at 509-574-1933. VISITOR CENTER HELP — Yakima Valley Visitor information Center needs travel counselors. Volunteers need to be helpful, knowledgeable and excited about the Yakima Valley. Volunteers needed noon to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Call Pam Lakman, Visitor Center manager, at 509-573-3388. SENIOR CENTER — Highgate Senior Living is currently looking for volunteers to show and tell about their specialty craft or travel adventure or to even teach a music or art, photo or language class. Possibilities are endless with activities and outings to engage with our residents helping them provide a life of purpose. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and pass a background check. For information, come to Highgate Senior Living, 5605 W. Chestnut Ave. in Yakima, to fill out the volunteer application. DISCOVERY SHOP — American Cancer Society Discovery Shop needs volunteers to assist with various duties such as sorting and ironing clothes and being a cashier. Training offered. Must be at least 16 years old. Volunteers needed Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; shifts are four hours. For more information, call Sirena at 509-574-1933. YOUTH GOLF — The First Tee of Yakima youth development and golf program is looking for volunteers to help with the spring golf session. Volunteers needed at Yakima sites. Golf skills not required. Coaching, supervision, office and other help needed. Call Mollie at 509-731-2722. IN-HOME ASSISTANCE — Volunteer Chore Services seeks volunteers to provide basic in-home assistance to low-income elders and adults with disabilities. Volunteers are needed to provide transportation to medical appointments, cut firewood, build wheelchair ramps, provide transportation to medical appointments, help with grocery shopping and errands, moving and hauling, light housekeeping and laundry, assisting with yard work and mow lawns. Mileage reimbursement can be provided. No minimum time commitment. Volunteers must have a background check before starting to volunteer. Call Sirena at 509-574-1933. FOOD BANK HELP — OIC of Washington is in need of volunteers that will work with food bank staff to provide support in distribution of food Tuesdays, Wednesdays and/or Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Volunteer responsibilities include preparing the food bank so that visitors can be served efficiently during the distribution hours. Volunteers will need to fill out an agency volunteer application and have a criminal background check. Volunteers are asked to commit to a minimum of once a week for three months. Call Sirena at 509-574-1933. DRIVERS NEEDED — People for People Meals-On-Wheels needs volunteer drivers to deliver meals to homebound seniors. Volunteers needed from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and/or Fridays. Training provided. Volunteer who would assist in packing meals for the home-delivery program and help prepare food at the Southeast Community Center from 7-10 a.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and/or Friday is also needed. Required: current driver’s license and insurance; copy of WSP driving record; food handler’s card (agency will pay); ability to lift 25 pounds. Volunteers must have a background check and drug test. Call Sirena at 509-574-1933. AVIATION MUSEUM HELP — McAllister Museum of Aviation has volunteer openings for greeters and tour guides. An interest or background in aviation is useful but not required. Training provided. Shifts are 3 to 31/2 hours on Thursdays, Fridays or Saturdays. Contact Liggett Taylor at 509-453-6904 or ltaylor6904@msn.com HOSPITAL HELP — Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center and Toppenish Community Hospital need volunteers. For information about joining the team of committed, caring volunteers, call Kathy DeGooyer at 509-575-5194 or visit www.yakimaregional.com. NORTHWEST HARVEST — Northwest Harvest is in need of volunteers in its Yakima warehouse sorting, labeling and packaging bulk donations of canned goods and fresh produce; sorting and boxing grocery bags for use by food bank clients; creating thank you cards and items needed for events and fundraisers; and holding signs and unloading food out at food drives. Evening and Saturday shifts available with no minimum time commitment. Call Debbie at 509-453-4407 or email debbier@northwestharvest.org. HUMANE SOCIETY — Save the lives of homeless animals in Yakima County. The Yakima Humane Society is looking for compassionate and dedicated volunteers to help provide a stress-free environment to enhance the adoptability of animals in the Humane Society’s care. Volunteer hours range from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Each volunteer must first attend an information session to learn more about YHS opportunities and receive an application. All volunteers must be 16 or older and able to commit to eight hours of service per month for at least four months. Experience with animals is a plus. Volunteers must have a calm, positive attitude, excellent customer service skills and the ability to lift 15 pounds. Call Bethany VonSeggern at 509-457-6854 ext. 107 or email volunteer@yakimahumane.org. Search dog team — The Yakima County Search and Rescue Dog Team is looking for new members. The team is composed entirely of volunteers who are willing to dedicate several hours per week to training with search dogs and other team members. Potential new members need not have their own dog, but should be comfortable working with dogs. You may have a desire to eventually train and own a dog of your own, or just want to help as a valuable support member. Training and working with a search dog is a rewarding experience usually involving working outdoors, hiking and using navigational and radio communications skills. Visit the SAR website, sites.google.com/site/yakimacountysearchdogs, and click on “Join Our Team.” COMMUNITY SERVICE — The Kiwanis Club of West Valley is recruiting new members interested in making a difference in our community. Kiwanis members support numerous youth activities and participate in a wide range of community service projects. The club meets at 7 p.m. Mondays at the Wide Hollow Elementary School Library. Call Jim Borst at 509-966-0317. SENIOR CENTER — Highgate Senior Living is looking for volunteers to help with our Senior Theatre Productions, including working on backdrops, props and costumes. Volunteers are also needed to show and tell about their specialty craft or travel adventure, or even teach a music or art, photo or language class. Possibilities are endless with activities and outings to engage with our residents helping them provide a life of purpose. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and pass a background check. For information, come to Highgate Senior Living, 5605 W. Chestnut Ave. in Yakima, to fill out the volunteer application. MADISON HOUSE — Tutors are needed to help students grades K-12 with homework. Volunteers are needed for two to three hours, once a week. Adults are also needed to play indoor soccer, other indoor games and (in nice weather) outdoor soccer, flag football, basketball, softball, volleyball, tennis or other games on our fields. Help is also needed in serving dinner, cleaning and preparing the dining room. In July, Christian counselors, swimming pool lifeguards, nurses and kitchen and crafts helpers are needed for five days at Lost Creek Camp on the Naches River for two different weeks. Call Sirena, 509-574-1933. • Volunteer Opportunities is prepared by Sirena Phillips. Contact her at 509-574-1933 or sirena.phillips@co.yakima.wa.us....]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3160375-8/volunteer-opportunities-may-17-2015 Frank Purdy /News/LatestNews/ 8358749@yakimaherald.com Sun, 17 May 2015 09:02:00 GMT
Sun, 17 May 2015 09:01:59 GMT
By Kate Prengaman Yakima Herald-Republic


High school graduating senior Katie Dick wants to get out of her White Swan comfort zone. GORDON KING/ Yakima Herald-Republic


WHITE SWAN — Tokyo is worlds away from White Swan. But when White Swan High School senior Katie Dick spent a month in the Japanese metropolis last summer as part of a 4-H Club exchange, she became hooked on travel to faraway places. “I got a taste of going somewhere worlds away and I loved it, I just absorbed everything because it felt so different,” the 17-year-old said. “After going to Japan and seeing how amazing things are, I really want to see the world.” But planning for a future with global perspective also means moving away for college from a close-knit family and community in White Swan. This fall, Dick is planning to study international relations at Mount Holyoke College, an all-women’s liberal arts school in Massachusetts. It’s a prestigious school with a strong international focus and Dick will be attending for free, thanks to the Gates Millennium scholarship she won a few weeks ago. She opted for a school few in this part of the state have ever heard of because of her English teacher, Courtney Lear, a Mount Holyoke graduate. “I went to visit and it seemed like everything I want in an education,” Dick said. “It’s a really diverse school, with about a fourth of the students from outside of the U.S.” Dick’s plans stand out at White Swan, where most graduates tend to stay relatively close to home for college, said Ken Olden, an instructional coach at the high school. He credited Dick’s success to her hard work. “She didn’t do anything impossible, she just worked her butt off to take advantage of opportunities that were available to her and she really earned that scholarship,” Olden said. “I’m incredibly proud of her and I know she’s going to be incredibly capable at whatever she wants to do.” For example, she took Japanese classes online for two years, in her spare time, to prepare for the trip to Japan — even as she kept up with all her regular classes and band practice and taking a leadership role in the local 4-H Club. She’s also the kind of thoughtful person who offered to switch from baritone sax to alto sax in the school band to keep the brass section in balance. And the kind of person who likes to rise to the challenge, such as navigating a major city, living with a host family and holding conversations in a foreign language. Dick said her parents’ support played a big role in her decision to move across the country for college. They both grew up on the reservation in difficult circumstances — her father is Yakama and her mom moved to the area from Mexico when she was young — and they wanted more for their children. “My parents always wanted us to have all the opportunities we can,” Dick said. “My mom really pushed me to apply (for the scholarship) because she believed I could get it.” By heading out on her own, to Japan, to Mount Holyoke, to whatever comes next, Dick said she hopes to be an example for her two younger sisters and other kids from White Swan to dream big. “Coming from White Swan, even in our Valley, people don’t always expect a lot from us,” Dick said. “But they should.”...]]> http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/latestnews/3162959-8/graduating-seniors-itinerary-white-swan-to-east-coast KPRENGAMAN /News/LatestNews/ 8365721@yakimaherald.com Sun, 17 May 2015 09:01:59 GMT