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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2012)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM J UNE 6, 2012 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 23 25 CENTS For The Skanner news alerts Text "NEWS" to 503-715-0890 or scan this QR code C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW Bales: Steroid Use? BEACON HILL FEST Army adds charges against Afghan shooting suspect By Gene Johnson The Associated Press PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED The Dearborn Elementary SCATS (Seattle Cirque & Acrobat Teams) performed Saturday, June 2, at the annual Beacon Hill Community Festival. The event featured a variety of entertainment, vendors, children’s games and food. Inslee: Vague on Major Issues Rob McKenna stealing Democrat’s thunder in Governor’s race By Mike Baker The Associated Press OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Jay Inslee launched his cam- paign for governor 11 months ago with some vague and incon- clusive policy statements. He’s still leaving a lot to the imagina- tion. With just three months before Washington State’s primary election and six months before voters will choose the next gov- ernor, Inslee demurred on sever- al issues during an interview with The Associated Press, leav- ing uncertainty on how he would handle taxes, transporta- tion, immigration and marijuana policy. The Democrat’s fuzzy state- ments on how he would handle the state’s school system also contributed recently to an edu- cation advocacy group endors- ing Republican rival Rob McKenna. Shannon Campion, the executive director of Stand for Children who says she typi- cally supports Democrats, said the group was impressed by INDEX News ........................2,4 Calendar ....................2 Opinion .......................3 Bids/Classifieds............3 McKenna’s ``clarity and speci- ficity’’ and found that Inslee lacked detail in his policy posi- tions, how he would work to implement them and what track record he had of being a change agent. ``In all three of those areas, with no disrespect to the con- gressman, we just didn’t feel that the level of deep thinking on these issues or the thought- fulness on how to execute as governor was there,’’ Campion said. Stand for Children backed Democratic Gov. Chris Gre- goire in 2008. Inslee’s unclear policy views come on other issues in which McKenna has voiced explicit positions, even on some that would be unpopular with his fel- low Republicans. Here are some of their opinions, as described in AP interviews: — Inslee said the state needs to find a way to fund major transportation projects but that he doesn’t have a proposal on how to pay for them and wasn’t ready to support any sort of tax See INSLEE on page 3 SEATTLE (AP) — The Army dropped a murder charge, but added others, including steroid use, against a soldier accused in a deadly shooting rampage in Afghanistan, his lawyer said Friday. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is now accused of gunning down 16 civilians in a pre-dawn raid on two Afghan villages in March. Initial reports pinned the number of dead at 16, but the Army put the figure at 17 when it first charged Bales. Due to discrepancies in the names on lists of the victims, officials had apparently counted one of them twice, but are now cer- tain there were 16 killed, said Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield, a spokesman for Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle, where Bales is based. His attorney, Emma Scanlan, said there was nothing surprising in the new charges, which also accuse Bales of assaulting an unidentified Afghan male with his hands and knees the month before the shooting. ``We’re looking forward to putting on a defense and seeing what they can prove,’’ she said. The Army dropped off 5,000 pages of discovery materials at the defense team’s office on Friday, she said. Bales now faces 16 counts of premeditat- ed murder; six of attempted murder; seven of assault; one of possessing steroids; one of using steroids; one of destroying a laptop computer; one of burning bodies; and one of using alcohol. ``At some point, steroid use could become an issue in this case, and where he got it could become an issue in this case,’’ said Bales’ other lawyer, John Henry Browne. He declined to comment further. The charges said Bales used steroids or alcohol in the months before rampage. A 2008 survey by the Department of Defense showed that 2.5 percent of Army personnel had illegally used steroids within See BALES on page 3 Seattle Bike Transportation Plan Up for New policies aimed at newer, less experienced bicyclists By Phuong Le The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — For many in Seattle, the image of a typical cyclist is a Spandex- clad, yellow-jacketed two-wheeled warrior who braves the steep streets of this city. But as the city prepares to overhaul its five-year-old bike plan, some want to make the city safer and friendlier to those not so accustomed to navigating the streets on two wheels. There’s a new push to get ``willing but wary’’ cyclists on their saddles with protect- ed bike lanes buffered from traffic, desig- nated bicycling boulevards where traffic is slowed and walkers and bikers have priori- ty, and traffic calming features like speed bumps. ``We want to make sure we’re building infrastructure for people who are eight or 80,’’ and not just for the more experienced commuters, said Blake Trask, statewide pol- icy director for the Washington Bicycle Alliance who formerly headed Seattle’s bike advisory board. The city is planning to build seven miles of walking and biking boulevards in five See BIKES on page 3
