Author: Rachel La Corte
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Washington state ends death penalty
OLYMPIA, Wash. • Washington’s Supreme Court unanimously struck down the state’s death penalty Thursday as arbitrary and racially biased, making it the 20th state to do away with capital punishment. Execution was already extremely rare in Washington, with five prisoners put to death in recent decades and a governor-imposed moratorium blocking its use since 2014.…
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Experts: Employees pose big potential threat to avaition
OLYMPIA, Wash. • The theft of an empty plane by an airline worker who performed dangerous loops before crashing into a remote island in Puget Sound illustrated what aviation experts have long known: One of the biggest potential perils for commercial air travel is airline or airport employees causing mayhem. “The greatest threat we have…
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Eagle Scout, other commuters rush to Amtrak train wreckage to help survivors
DUPONT, Wash. — A neurosurgeon and an Eagle Scout. A college student and military medics. Commuters and emergency workers alike rushed to help survivors when an Amtrak passenger train derailed Monday south of Seattle and hurtled off an overpass onto a busy interstate below. Oregon Health & Science University neurosurgeon Dr. Nathan Selden was headed…
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New Amtrak train derails onto I-5 in Washington State
DUPONT, Wash. — An Amtrak train making the first-ever run along a faster new route hurtled off an overpass south of Seattle on Monday and spilled some of its cars onto the highway below, killing at least three people, injuring more than 100 and crushing two vehicles, authorities said. Attention quickly turned to the train’s…
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Canadian officials hope to put “death grip” on fire
FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta — Officials said Sunday they reached a turning point in fighting an enormous wildfire, hoping to get a “death grip’” on the blaze that devastated Canada’s oil sands town of Fort McMurray amid cooler temperatures. Meanwhile, a massive evacuation of residents displaced by the blaze came to an end. Chad Morrison of…
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Officials fear massive Alberta wildfire could double in size
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save LAC LA BICHE, Alberta — Canadian officials feared a massive wildfire could double in size by the end of Saturday as they continue to evacuate residents of fire-ravaged Fort McMurray from work camps north of…
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Missing Mount Rainier climbers ‘likely buried’
MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. — It’s too dangerous right now to search for the bodies of six climbers who likely plummeted to their deaths while attempting one of the more technical and physically grueling routes to the peak of Mount Rainier in Washington state, park officials said Sunday. Like others who have died on…
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Washington state has 1st death under new suicide law
OLYMPIA, Wash. – A 66-year-old woman with terminal cancer has become the first person to die under Washington state’s new assisted suicide law, an advocacy group said today. Linda Fleming, of Sequim, died Thursday night after taking drugs prescribed under the “Death with Dignity” law that took effect in March, said Compassion & Choices of…
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Assisted-suicide law to take effect in Washington
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Terminally ill patients with less than six months to live will soon be able to ask their doctors to prescribe them lethal medication. But those who might seek the life-ending prescriptions once Washington’s “Death with Dignity” law takes effect Thursday could find their doctors conflicted or not willing to write them. Dr.…