WWW . THESKANNER . COM
M AY 23, 2012
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 21
25
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
FIRE MEN
Breaking
Election
Rules?
Files show McKenna
used office resources
for campaign bid
By Mike Baker
The Associated Press
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
U
Shane joins his son Tony 4, in the cab of a fire truck at the annual Open House at Fire Station 13 on Beacon Hill, on
Saturday May 19.
Last Call to Halt State Liquor Law
Opponents try striking it down using ‘more than one subject’ rule
By Mike Baker
The Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) —
Opponents of Washington
state’s liquor-privatization ini-
tiative made a final bid Thurs-
day
to
invalidate
the
voter-approved law just two
weeks before it is set to take
effect.
An attorney argued before the
Washington Supreme Court that
the measure violates rules that
require initiatives to address
only one subject, since it
includes extraneous issues such
as a provision to set aside $10
million for public safety.
Lawyer Michael Subit also con-
tended the initiative’s title mis-
led voters, hiding what he
described as taxes on those who
distribute and sell liquor.
The initiative called those new
payments ``fees,’’ even though
they were based on volume.
``That is verbal sleight of
hand. That’s like calling the
B&O tax `a fee for the privilege
of doing business,’’’ Subit said,
referring to the Business and
INDEX
News .......................2,4,
Calendar ....................2
Opinion .......................3
A&E .......................2,5,7
Bids/Classifieds............7
Occupation tax.
Justice Charles Wiggins
seemed to agree, telling an
attorney arguing in support of
the initiative, ``It sure looks like
a sales tax.’’
Subit is hoping for an expedit-
ed decision from a court that
typically takes months to publi-
cize its opinions. The initiative
takes effect June 1, and the
Washington Liquor Control
Board already has auctioned off
the rights to sell liquor at many
of its state-run stores and issued
layoff notices to 1,200 employ-
ees.
Voters approved the initiative
last fall to privatize liquor sales
and dismantle Washington’s
state-run liquor system, which
was formed in the 1930s in the
aftermath of Prohibition. The
measure, backed by retailing
giant Costco, allows stores larg-
er than 10,000 square feet to sell
liquor, though it could allow
smaller stores to sell liquor if
there are no other large retail
outlets in their area.
A Cowlitz County judge in
See LIQUOR on page 3
sing a fax machine and letterhead
from the King County Council in
April 2002, the office of then-Coun-
cilman Rob McKenna sent off an invitation
to the U.S. secretary of the interior.
McKenna, listed as the sender on both the
fax cover page and underlying note,
requested on behalf of the Washington State
Republican Party that the Cabinet leader
speak at the party’s annual convention. It
was a political memo that may have placed
McKenna’s office afoul of state or county
ethics laws, which bar the use of govern-
ment facilities for “personal convenience”
and political campaigns.
An Associated Press review of thousands
of pages of official McKenna documents
stored at the King County Archives identi-
fied hundreds of records that have no place
in government files: fundraising lists, candi-
date strategy ideas, a voided campaign
check and a packet titled “Rob McKenna
For Attorney General.” And there are strong
indications that McKenna himself was at
least aware of how his District 6 office
mixed campaign and government docu-
ments.
McKenna, now the attorney general and
Republican favorite in this year’s race for
governor, said in an interview that many of
the documents were likely left accidentally
in the office by someone doing outside cam-
paign work. Questioned about the fact that
political issues were scheduled for discus-
sion during staff meetings, McKenna said
the office inevitably discussed politics but
that they were careful not to use county
resources for personal or campaign matters.
“Part of what you do in the county coun-
cil business is politics, but that’s not the
same thing as running a campaign,” he said.
A few days before the faxed invitation to
the interior secretary, McKenna himself sent
an officially headlined memo to his legisla-
See MCKENNA on page 3
Army Soldier Faces Murder Charges
Sgt. accused of killing four soldiers, officer in mental health clinic
By Doug Esser
The Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — Murder charges have
been filed against a sergeant accused of
killing four other soldiers and a Navy offi-
cer in May 2009 at a mental health clinic in
Iraq, the Army said Friday.
The charges against Sgt. John Russell
were referred Wednesday and announced
Friday in a statement from Joint Base
Lewis-McChord. He faces five charges of
premeditated murder, one of aggravated
assault and one of attempted murder.
If convicted, he could face the death
penalty.
The charges result from an investigation
into the shooting at the Camp Liberty Com-
bat Stress Center near Baghdad.
No date for the court-martial has been set.
Russell is being held at the base about 40
miles south of Seattle.
Russell is from Sherman, Texas, and is
now about 47 years old, said Lt. Col. Gary
Dangerfield. The delay since the killings
has been filled with the process of deter-
mining whether Russell is fit to stand trial.
Russell has an Army defense attorney but
See MURDER on page 3