www . theskaNNer . COm
J aNuary 11, 2012
s eattle , w ashiNgtON
V Olume XXXiV, N O . 2
25
CeNts
C hallenging P eoPle to S haPe a B etter F uture n ow
Celebration
schools
top
Budget
Legislature prepares
to bring up policy
issues in new session
SuSan Fried photo
By donna gordon Blankenship
the associated press
members of the green Party of seattle celebrated the birthday of the rev. harriet walden, founder of mothers for
Police accountability and long time seattle activist on saturday Jan. 7. the event was both a celebration of rev.
walden’s many contributions to the community and a fund raiser for mFPa, the organization she started over 20 years
ago.
report on Prison guard murder
Three jail staff found in dereliction of duty in officer’s strangling at jail
eVerett, Wash. (AP) —
One of three Washington state
prison guards fired after the
slaying of a corrections officer
was away from his post during
the attack, and officials still
don’t know where he was, doc-
uments state.
The officer was supposed to
be watching inmates as they
filed out of the Monroe
Correctional Facility’s prison
chapel on Jan. 29. In his
absence, inmate Byron Scherf
was able to re-enter the chapel,
where he’s accused of stran-
gling officer Jayme Biendl.
Officials believe the guard
was still on prison grounds, doc-
uments released at the request of
The Daily Herald show.
He said he was helping with
pat-down searches and talked
with two other guards, but the
documents state that neither
remembers seeing him.
The documents indicate that
prison Superintendent Scott
Frakes told the officer he
“severely compromised an
essential safeguard” for Biendl
and an inmate “took full advan-
indeX
News .....................2,3,8
Calendar ....................2
Opinion ....................4,5
Bids/Classifieds.........6-7
tage of your failure.”
Scherf, 53, is charged with
aggravated first-degree murder
and could face the death penalty
if convicted.
The three officers who were
fired are appealing their termi-
nations. It’s unclear whether
they could face criminal
charges. The newspaper did not
include the names of the fired
officers.
The Monroe complex includes
five prisons on one campus.
About 25 miles northeast of
Seattle, it’s the state’s largest
prison and houses more than
2,500 offenders. Biendl worked
inside the Washington State
Reformatory, a medium-securi-
ty prison, now more than a cen-
tury old.
Since Biendl’s slaying, the
prison says it has increased
training, changed staffing and
improved how inmates are clas-
sified.
Scherf was serving a life sen-
tence. His file contained warn-
ings that his criminal history
and indicated he could present a
See guard on page 3
Seattle (AP) — With nearly a billion
dollar shortfall and a Washington Supreme
Court ruling on inadequate education spend-
ing hanging over their heads, one might
expect lawmakers preparing for the 2012
Legislative session to be focused exclusive-
ly on money.
While money is expected to be the top
issue in Olympia this year, lawmakers who
focus on education are just as happy to talk
about policy ideas, including some that may
address court concerns about education dol-
lars.
The Legislature convened Monday for a
60-day legislative session, just a few weeks
after lawmakers left Olympia after a special
session on the state’s budget situation.
Although they made some cuts to the state
budget, they still have a shortfall to resolve.
Among her budget proposals, Gov. Chris
Gregoire has suggested a couple of unpopu-
lar education cuts — including cutting the
money that helps some school districts
make up for an inability to raise enough
local taxes — that she would like to see off-
set by an increase in the state sales tax.
Rep. Bruce Dammeier, R-Puyallup, bris-
tles when he hears the governor talk about
buying back these education cuts.
``They shouldn’t be used as fodder to jus-
tify a tax increase. They should be `buy
firsts,’’’ said the leader of House
Republicans on the issue of education.
Cuts to levy equalization dollars are not
likely to get much of a hearing in Olympia
this session, because the chair of the Senate
Education Committee says she doesn’t sup-
port the idea.
``That’s probably one of the last cuts I
want to make,’’ said Sen. Rosemary
McAuliffe, D-Bothell.
McAuliffe would prefer to talk about sci-
ence, technology engineering and math pro-
grams and expanding a pilot program to
See legiSlature on page 3
mortality statistics reveal surprising improvement
Homicide drops off national list of top causes of death
By Mike Stobbe
ap Medical Writer
atlanta (AP) — For the first time in
almost half a century, homicide has fallen
off the list of the nation’s top 15 causes of
death, bumped by a lung illness that often
develops in elderly people who have choked
on their food.
The 2010 list, released by the government
Wednesday, reflects at least two major
trends: Murders are down, and deaths from
certain diseases are on the rise as the popu-
lation ages, health authorities said.
Homicide was overtaken at No. 15 by
pneumonitis, seen mainly in people 75 and
older. It happens when food or vomit goes
down the windpipe and causes deadly dam-
age to the lungs.
This is the first time since 1965 that homi-
cide failed to make the list, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC’s latest annual report on deaths
contained several nuggets of good news:
-The infant mortality rate dropped to an
all-time low of 6.14 deaths per 1,000 births
in 2010. It was 6.39 the year before.
-U.S. life expectancy for a child born in
See death on page 3