Washington news

• Lead testing inconsistent in Washington schools, survey shows

  10-05-2016 23:13
  
  The Associated Press asked all 295 Washington school districts plus tribal districts whether they test for lead in the water. Of the 174 districts that responded to AP, nearly 40 percent said they do not do test for lead. Many small districts do not test.
  
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• Oregon parents sue for $3 million after given wrong baby’s cremated ashes

  10-05-2016 23:03
  
  An Oregon couple is suing for $3 million after they say they were given the wrong baby’s cremated ashes.
  
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• Rhode Island bishop: Legal pot leads to ‘land of oblivion’

  10-05-2016 22:01
  
  PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island’s Roman Catholic bishop says he wants to smell holy incense, not cannabis, in Providence’s cathedral and warns state lawmakers against transporting young people to “the land of oblivion” by legalizing marijuana. Bishop Thomas Tobin shared his opinions in an essay titled “Nope to Dope.” The essay was published Tuesday […]
  
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• Death of Muslim teen was an accident, not a hate crime, police investigation finds

  10-05-2016 21:12
  
  The death of an Islamic teen in December, which fueled wide speculation about an anti-Muslim attack, was the result of a fall that followed the teen’s first use of marijuana, according to an investigation released Tuesday by Seattle police.
  
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• It’s not just Alberta: Warming fueled fires are increasing

  10-05-2016 20:57
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Alberta’s unusually early and large fire is just the latest of many gargantuan fires on an Earth that’s grown hotter with more extreme weather. Earlier this year, large wildfires hit spots on opposite ends of the world — Tasmania and Oklahoma-Kansas. Last year, Alaska and California pushed the U.S. to a record […]
  
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• NASA’s official exoplanet count more than doubles

  10-05-2016 20:48
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Milky Way has just gotten a lot more crowded — with planets. NASA announced Tuesday that the Kepler Space Telescope has validated 1,284 worlds orbiting stars outside our solar system — called exoplanets. That’s on top of the 984 previously confirmed exoplanets detected by Kepler. A statistical analysis led […]
  
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• Cyclist seriously injured in collision with Metro commuter van

  10-05-2016 20:42
  
  A bicyclist was seriously injured Tuesday morning in a collision with van in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood.
  
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• Bicyclist seriously injured in collision with Metro commuter van

  10-05-2016 20:42
  
  A bicyclist was seriously injured Tuesday morning in a collision with van in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood.
  
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• ‘Ban Islam from America’ fliers posted at Mosque site in Mukilteo, police say

  10-05-2016 19:36
  
  A sign was toppled at the site of a proposed mosque in Mukilteo. Two fliers with what police called “anti-Islamic sentiment” were left, along with a United States flag.
  
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• Dozens killed in Ethiopia landslides, flooding amid rains

  10-05-2016 19:34
  
  ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — A state-affiliated broadcaster in Ethiopia says at least 50 people have been killed in flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rains. Fana Broadcasting Corporate cited local officials who said roads have been washed away, bridges have collapsed and tens of thousands of people are affected by heavy rains in many […]
  
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• Positive move in right direction made on possibly saving salmon fishing seasons

  10-05-2016 19:02
  
  Coming to an agreement on the 2016-17 salmon fishing seasons has taken a small step in the right direction, but to say state and tribal fishery managers are close might still be a reach at this point. “We are not there yet,” a spokesman with state Fish and Wildlife who is close to the negotiation […]
  
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• Camera boat making digital map of Capt. John Smith’s travels

  10-05-2016 18:49
  
  The project, likened to "a Google Street View of the river," aims to get people to use the area, and protect it.
  
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• This stings: Winter death rate for America’s honeybees jumps

  10-05-2016 18:05
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s honeybees had another tough and deadly winter. A new federal survey shows the winter death rate for colonies jumped to 28 percent after dropping for a couple of years. University of Maryland bee scientist and survey leader Dennis vanEnglesdorp said tiny mites — one of many problems killing bees — are […]
  
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• This stings: Winter death rate for America’s bees jumps

  10-05-2016 18:05
  
  Death rates had dropped for two consecutive winters but now have gone up again.
  
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• School bullying is serious public-health problem, federal panel says

  10-05-2016 17:02
  
  Long considered nothing more than an unpleasant part of growing up, bullying is now attracting attention as a major public-health problem with long-term effects — on the same scale as youth concussions.
  
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• Federal Way police find man dead in car, apparently shot

  10-05-2016 16:16
  
  In Federal Way, police found a man slumped over dead in a vehicle parked in a residential neighborhood. The 27-year-old Tacoma man apparently had been shot.
  
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• Scientists: Mussels, without noses, use smell to find homes

  10-05-2016 15:33
  
  Scientists aren't sure exactly how the shellfish receive smells, but they definitely respond to odor.
  
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• Thousands watch Pittsburgh falcon feed young to fellow chick

  10-05-2016 15:21
  
  Thanks to a live feed by the National Aviary, thousands watched the bird infanticides.
  
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• Flagrant, foul tantrums after Sodo arena vote are all too familiar

  10-05-2016 15:00
  
  Misogynistic missives launched against five Seattle City Council women show that, despite what Mayor Ed Murray says, Seattle is really no better than anywhere else.
  
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• FDA to re-evaluate definition of ‘healthy’

  10-05-2016 14:47
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration will re-evaluate its definition of “healthy,” which could eventually upend how a range of foods are marketed. An FDA spokeswoman, Lauren Kotwicki, said in an email Tuesday that that the agency believes “now is an opportune time to re-evaluate the regulations concerning nutrition content claims, generally, […]
  
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• Study: Long-term care costs continue to rise

  10-05-2016 14:37
  
  Long-term care grew more expensive again this year, with the cost of the priciest option, a private nursing home room, edging closer to $100,000 annually, according to a survey from Genworth Financial. Americans also are paying more for other care options like home health aides and assisted living communities, while adult day care costs fell […]
  
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• Scientific basis for laws on marijuana, driving questioned

  10-05-2016 09:36
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Six states that allow marijuana use have legal tests to determine driving while impaired by the drug that have no scientific basis, according to a study by the nation’s largest automobile club that calls for scrapping those laws. The study commissioned by AAA’s safety foundation said it’s not possible to set a […]
  
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• Tornadoes hit Plains; 2 dead, homes destroyed in Oklahoma

  10-05-2016 08:36
  
  OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Tornadoes destroyed homes, overturned vehicles and stripped the bark from trees as they churned across Oklahoma, part of a strong series of storms that hit the Plains. At least two people died Monday in weather so violent that forecasters declared a “tornado emergency” for communities in the path of one of […]
  
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• Seattle seventh-grader wins national math bee

  10-05-2016 04:45
  
  Edward Wan of Lakeside Middle School won on the question: What is the remainder when 999,999,999 is divided by 32?
  
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• A lofty calling: Crew sets holds for climbing wall

  10-05-2016 04:01
  
  Gino Garcia and Gary Mattos are building a puzzle on a climbing wall at Stone Gardens in Ballard. They’re setting holds for routes with different challenges and varying degrees of difficulty. “It’s problem solving,” says Garcia. “Every time we set a route you surprise yourself.” He’s wearing climbing shoes with a close fit and sticky […]
  
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• U.S. Denies Permit for Coal Terminal in Washington State

  10-05-2016 03:59
  The $665 million project, called the Gateway Pacific Terminal, would interfere with a Native American tribe’s ancestral fishing rights, the Army Corps of Engineers concluded.
  
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• Return to local control to test charter schools’ gains in New Orleans

  10-05-2016 03:25
  
  The move represents a big challenge for the city’s school system, which has driven the fractious national debate over education.
  
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• Painting on a ‘second skin’ of polymers may smooth wrinkles, ease other skin conditions

  10-05-2016 03:24
  
  Researchers say an invisible film of polymers can be applied to the face and could make bags under the eyes, wrinkles and other dermatologic problems vanish.
  
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• Investigators identify man fatally shot in Des Moines

  10-05-2016 03:13
  
  The 41-year-old man died at Harborview Medical Center.
  
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• KCSO: Deputy shoots knife-wielding man near White Center gas station

  10-05-2016 03:01
  
  The deputy shot the man after he reportedly did not follow commands to drop the knife, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office.
  
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• Newly released records: SPD officers who killed Che Taylor said they feared for lives

  10-05-2016 02:59
  
  In newly released statements, the two Seattle police officers who fatally shot Che Taylor during a Feb. 21 confrontation told investigators they saw Taylor reach for a handgun.
  
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• Newly released records: SPD officers who fatally shot Che Taylor ‘feared’ for their lives

  10-05-2016 02:59
  
  In newly released statements, the two Seattle police officers who fatally shot Che Taylor during a Feb. 21 confrontation told investigators they saw Taylor reach for a handgun.
  
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• Snohomish County voters to decide on sales-tax hike to fight heroin epidemic

  10-05-2016 02:45
  
  The Snohomish County Council approved sending a 0.2 percent sales-tax increase to add sheriff deputies and treatment resources to address what leaders called “an unprecedented heroin epidemic.”
  
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• Testing of new malaria vaccine shows some success

  10-05-2016 02:40
  
  An experimental malaria vaccine tested in varying doses provided 55 percent protection for one year to a few volunteers.
  
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• Guns, beer and vomit: Rampage leaves endangered fish dead in Death Valley

  10-05-2016 02:02
  
  Park officials found a dead pupfish — one of only 115 that now inhabit Devils Hole. Pupfish, which grow to just 1 ½ inches long, are the tenacious descendants of fish that inhabited an ancient lake that once covered Death Valley.
  
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• Teen charged in fatal shooting of Burien girl, 17

  10-05-2016 01:35
  
  A 17-year-old Burien boy was charged Monday with second-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Kaylynn Voegele, 17.
  
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• She’s not about to blow, but magma is moving under Mount St. Helens

  10-05-2016 01:33
  
  Seismologists are using swarms of small quakes under Mount St. Helens as a natural laboratory to study the way magma moves through chambers deep under the mountain.
  
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• Roosevelt High senior shares top soloist prize in Ellington jazz competition

  10-05-2016 00:08
  
  Trombonist Porter Jones was one of two students to receive the top soloist award at the Essentially Ellington competition in New York.
  
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