Washington News

Washington Homeowner Fights to Keep Treehouse

Zeb Postelwait always wanted to build a treehouse for his sons. He got the chance last summer after moving into a Wenatchee, Wash., home with a big tree in the front yard. Two months later he received his first notice …

Washington Landscaper Caught Working While Claiming Workers’ Comp

A Bothell, Wash., landscaper who claimed he was suffering from an on-the-job injury has admitted to stealing state workers’ compensation benefits. Jose De Jesus Bernal-Ruiz pleaded guilty to second-degree theft this week in King County Superior Court, according to the …

Washington Landscaper Fails to Pay for Workers’ Comp Coverage

A Pierce County, Wash., landscaper has been charged with failing to pay workers’ compensation insurance after one of his employees was injured on the job. Kenneth Ivan Winters faces one count of doing business without workers’ comp insurance and seven …

Washington County Billed $2.5M in Legal Fees in Wrongful Conviction Case

A lawyer wants a federal judge to order Clark County to pay $2.5 million in legal fees on top of the $9 million a jury awarded to a former Vancouver, Wash., police officer who was wrongfully convicted. In a motion …

Yakima Paying $250,000 for Fatal Police Chase

The Yakima City Council, in Washington, is expected to approve a $250,000 settlement with the family of a man killed by a driver fleeing police in a stolen pickup truck. The payment would resolve the claim from the family of …

Fatigue, Fog Factored in Fatal Washington Fishing Vessel Crash

A new report from Canadian officials says fog, fatigue and an “unfamiliarity with safety issues” factored into a pre-dawn collision between two fishing vessels that left a Port Angeles, Wash., man dead. The Peninsula Daily News reports that the Transportation …

Washington Senate Panel Considers New Felony DUI Bill

A Washington Senate panel is weighing a measure that would make it a felony charge to drive under the influence when the driver has three prior offenses within 10 years. The Senate Law & Justice heard testimony on Senate Bill …

Washington Jurors Award $390K in Case of Boy Killed at Party

Jurors have awarded $390,000 in damages to the estate of a teenager fatally shot in 2011 at an after-hours party in Tacoma, Wash. The News Tribune reports that the estate of 17-year-old Billy Ray Shirley III sued Bill’s Towing and …

Tornado Destroys 250 Homes in Washington, Illinois

The mayor of the central Illinois community of Washington says storms and tornadoes destroyed or heavily damaged between 250 and 500 homes in the Tazewell County community. Gary Manier says hundreds of residents of Washington spent the night in shelters …

Winds Blow Down Washington School Under Construction

Some of the worst damage from Saturday’s windstorm in Washington appears to be a school under construction in Pasco. Work had started in June but only wall frames and a few girders were in place and they toppled in winds …