7:11 PM Thu, Jul 24, 2008 | Permalink
|
It's so rare to see a seaplane land on Lake Nahwatzel, John Acocks had to take a picture of it. He didn't know seconds later it would be in flames.
The two people on board died upon impact. The subsequent explosion triggered a wildfire.
John and his wife, Carol have a summer home along the lake west of Shelton. They watched the two people on board standing on the plane's pontoons moments before taking off. He thought about offering...
4:59 PM Fri, Jul 11, 2008 | Permalink
|
For years Celia Gorski helped others as a registered nurse. Now, friends say, it's Celia that needs the help.
We featured the Lacey mother in a story last month. She was seriously injured when a hit and run driver slammed into her car in Olympia. The driver who caused the crash sped off, but left behind a piece of his bumper. That evidence and the subsequent news coverage helped Washington State Patrol detectives identify and arrest a su...
6:46 PM Wed, Jul 09, 2008 | Permalink
|
"If something's on the World Wide Web, the world can see it!"
That's something an FBI agent told me during an interview a long time ago, and people are still learning that lesson the hard way.
Take, for example, 24-year-old Elyse Umemoto.
Pictures of her acting like lots of women in their twenties have her in hot water because she's also Miss Washington 2007. And they were on the very popular TMZ.com.
The photos were ta...
10:27 PM Thu, Jun 19, 2008 | Permalink
|
Patrick and Lisa McCarthy have suffered the worst loss for two parents. Their 16 year old daughter is dead from an ecstasy overdose. But her case could help other families who face the same loss and prevent kids from making the same mistake.
Dona Huertas and Danielle McCarthy went to a New Years Eve party and did what too many kids do: they each took ecstasy. But over the next ten hours as Danielle vomited and went into seizures, prosecu...
4:35 PM Tue, Apr 29, 2008 | Permalink
|
Police and animal control agencies across Western Washington are overwhelmed with reports of abused and neglected horses.
But we were skeptical when we heard these allegations leveled at Dean Marie Solomon.
Her rescue facility - Pacific Equestrian Center in Kent/Auburn - was promoted as a place where everything from thoroughbred race horses to backyard pets could get a second chance.
Yet, as we talked with people who used to ...
5:24 PM Thu, Mar 27, 2008 | Permalink
|
I was an embedded reporter in Iraq during April and May of 2003. While I was assigned to the U.S. Army's 555th Combat Engineer Group, I spent most of my time with one of its subordinate units, the 14th Combat engineers. It's hard to believe that five years have gone by.
I was back out at Ft. Lewis today, and the 14th engineers are going back to Iraq, for their third tour. But because of the way the military moves people around, and so...
11:04 AM Mon, Dec 10, 2007 | Permalink
|
I love Centralia.
It's where I first learned to hit a fastball, at the old "Hit-a-Ton".
It's where I first learned to shoot a basketball.
I've had several meals at the "Country Cousin" and I have run around the "Yard Birds" down the road.
It's where I returned this weekend, to help my grandmother dig out after the flood waters swallowed her home.
...
8:53 AM Mon, Oct 15, 2007 | Permalink
|
Last month, we told you about the heroic actions of two good samaritans. Tony Murphy and his former co-worker at the time, John Preston, saw a burning home in Kent and flew into action. The two raced inside to rescue one of the residents trapped inside. They were confronted with "A wall of smoke. This isn't like TV, you couldn't see anything," said Murphy.
Fortunately, the two heroes were able to pull the disoriented man from his ho...
10:27 PM Thu, Aug 23, 2007 | Permalink
|
Douglas Lee Merino is a man of many hats. And most of them were bought with tax dollars.
The one-time Westport mayor and accused insurance thief is still working for the State of Washington. And he’s still collecting plenty of compensation.
...
9:35 PM Mon, Aug 13, 2007 | Permalink
|
Today, the South Bureau (Photographer Tom Tedford and myself) got up early...really early. Like before the crack of dawn early.
We had to. That's what you do when you want to catch the Sounder Transit train as it makes its first run out of Tacoma.
Astonishingly, other people were up too. A lot of other people.
It seems everyone was trying to dodge the forecasted traffic mess on I-5 by training it to work.
That was cool ...
12:26 AM Tue, Jun 19, 2007 | Permalink
|
The rape trial of a Tacoma middle school principal and his friend, an ex-con with a knack for being accused of sexual assault, should prove fascinating.
The story starts three years ago.
On January 31, 2004 a 19-year-old woman court documents refer to as “S.F.” was with a couple friends at a bar.
“S.F.” spotted some men she knew. Guys she thought she could trust. Herald Wright Jr. had been the Dean of Students at her high s...
11:43 PM Wed, May 30, 2007 | Permalink
|
On May 17th, KING-5 ran a story about how the Tacoma Police Department mishandled more than 71 cases of serious violence against people.
The story showed how some of the suspects that went free as the result of the mishandled cases are still a danger to the community. In one case, an accused rapist went on to allegedly rape another woman.
The report also showed how the derelict cases eluded the attention of Tacoma Police supervis...
9:40 PM Mon, May 28, 2007 | Permalink
|
Memorial Day. A national holiday. That usually means it's going to be a slow news day.
Or so I thought until about 8:40 this morning.
The police scanner I keep just above the computer in my office at home crackled with a disturbing report.
"Victim with a gunshot wound...scene unsecure," said the dispatcher in a most professional tone (dispatchers always sound remarkably dispassionate).
...
6:14 AM Thu, May 17, 2007 | Permalink
|
The ambulance was rolling out of a gravel driveway. At the end of it, a blonde woman with mascara streaming down her cheeks was standing in a semi-hunched position. She was sobbing into a cell phone.
Even the State Patrol Troopers who were the first to greet us at the scene wore those extra sad expressions reporters know means only a handful of things. Most commonly that look means a >> Continue reading: Parents in reverse: the tragedies
11:02 AM Mon, May 07, 2007 | Permalink
|
I think when most people pass a cop, two things happen: their head looks down at the speedometer and their right foot comes up from the accelerator. Nobody wants a ticket.
The moment usually lasts for a second or two. Then by the next intersection, no lights, no problems; the cop is forgotten.
But if Friday taught us anything, it is the importance of remembering police officers.
...
9:14 PM Mon, Apr 23, 2007 | Permalink
|
For cops, it's a drug case that cuts too close to home.
Narcotics officers like their privacy. In fact, many will tell you their lives depend on them maintaining their anonymity.
So that's why a situation in Lewis County involving a heavily armed drug suspect is quite disturbing.
...
1:42 AM Thu, Apr 05, 2007 | Permalink
|
As reporter, I've been around the block - at least most of the way around. I got my start as intern at KOIN-TV in Portland. For ten years, I've been covering news.
Of course, that means there have been a lot of stabbings, car wrecks, and murders. You name it, if it involves the cops, I would have told you, I've probably covered it at some point.
That's what I would have told you until today.
...
10:49 PM Tue, Apr 03, 2007 | Permalink
|
Detectives in Thurston County are looking for the thief who cleaned out a recreation vehicle resort. Someone stole more than 7,000 feet of copper wire worth about $21,000 from Lost Lake Resorts on the 1500 block of Reservation Road SE, between March 5th and 6th.
...
9:53 AM Wed, Mar 28, 2007 | Permalink
|
The call came from a Thurston County Sheriff's Lieutenant: "If you're interested, we've got a human skull in the woods. And we've got search teams in the area."
This is one of those stories that's a challenge for TV reporters.
...
9:25 PM Thu, Mar 22, 2007 | Permalink
|
As a Bureau Chief, the day starts early. We find our own stories; I usually start looking around 7:30. Sometimes it's easy, and they come fast. Sometimes it's not, and it's the deadline to find a story that seems to come fast.
...
11:12 PM Wed, Jun 07, 2006 | Permalink
|
It was dinner last night. Two Army officers were at my table talking about a fellow soldier who was about to defy orders by refusing to deploy to Iraq. Both of my neighbors, especially the one who is also set to deploy later this month, seemed to feel betrayed.
As we digested our meals and found ourselves engaged in candid conversation, a soft spoken yet resolute commander told me, “He can disagree all he wants, but he better do ...
3:48 PM Tue, Mar 14, 2006 | Permalink
|
Monday we did a report about an Olympia bar owner who is openly defying Washington’s new smoking ban. After 15 complaints, the Thurston County prosecutor is seeking a court order to stop Frank Schnarrs, owner of Frankie’ Sports Pub.
Schnarrs says he’ll ignore any court order and keep smoking. “Tell the prosecutor, he...
