News

A new bill will be proposed this week in the Washington state Legislature that aims to limit access to the criminal records of juvenile offenders.

The Seattle Housing Authority is preparing to redevelop Yesler Terrace, a 30-acre site that houses 1,200 low-income residents near the city’s downtown. Vulcan Real Estate is one of two private companies competing to become the lead development partner. The Seattle Housing Authority Board is scheduled to choose the winning bidder today.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board is kicking off a series of six public hearings around the state. The board wants public input on how to create a legal, taxed distribution system for marijuana. Budding members of the new marijuana economy say they’ll be in attendance.

After weeks of rumors, it appears Seattle may have a new professional basketball team to replace the SuperSonics. Investor Chris Hansen said his group has entered an agreement to purchase a controlling interest in the Sacramento Kings. Seattle sports fans seemed pleased by the deal, but confessed they don’t know much yet about their new home team.

Chris Hansen announced Monday that his investment group has a "binding agreement" to buy controlling interest in the Sacramento Kings basketball team from the Maloof family. The announcement ends weeks of rumor and speculation. 

King County is facing a major problem. It doesn’t have enough beds for mentally ill people going through the court system. The county has nowhere to send them, and some are being released without treatment.

Outside the Boeing plant in Everett, newly assembled 787s sit ready for delivery. The lineup includes new planes for LOT Polish Airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.  Inside, the production line rolls on despite this week’s setbacks for the company’s newest jetliner. Dreamliner number 94 stands at the front of the line. It’s an order for Thomson Airways, which is set to be the first British airline to fly the Dreamliner.

Attorneys for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales say they’re unsure if they’ll pursue a mental health defense in the case. 

But if they do, the judge has ordered that the soldier must undergo a so-called sanity board review.

Bales is accused of murdering 16 Afghan civilians and wounding six others in an overnight rampage last March.

The American marten is a small elusive member of the weasel family. People trap them and sell their pelts on the fur market where they’re known as “sable.” Their numbers are healthy across places like Canada and northern parts of the US, but scientists worry that marten populations have severely declined in coastal mountain ranges -- like the Olympic National Forest -- but they don’t know for sure. A group of volunteers is working with scientists to help monitor the martens and gather data to help determine their future.

The Boeing 787’s lithium-ion batteries are now the subject of intense scrutiny. The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded the entire 787 fleet in the US until it can get to the root cause of a fire hazard involving the batteries.