Local News
Bales
War Hero, Fans
the past year — a jump of a full percentage
point from three years earlier. Anecdotal
reports have suggested that use is not
uncommon among soldiers in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Increased irritability and aggression —
”`roid rage’’ — is a side effect of steroid
use.
According to documents obtained in 2010
under a public records request by The Seat-
tle Times, several soldiers in a Lewis-
McChord battalion, including a captain,
admitted using steroids to bulk up just
before a 2009 deployment. They estimated
that at least half of the 700 soldiers in their
battalion had used steroids.
Bales was assigned to a different battal-
ion.
Dan Conway, a military defense lawyer
who has handled several high-profile cases,
said he recently had a client who was sen-
tenced to five months after being convicted
of steroid use. The soldier reported that
many in his chain of command — including
his first sergeant and his battalion’s execu-
tive officer — used the drugs.
Witnesses testified that German and Lat-
vian soldiers were frequently seen using
steroids at the gyms, and steroids were sold
at all of the bazaars, both on and off base, in
Afghanistan, Conway said.
Dr. Richard Adler, a Seattle psychiatrist
who is a consultant for Bales’ defense team,
said the Army has not publicly provided
enough information to judge how signifi-
cant a role, if any, steroids may have played
in the massacre.
``The presumption that the alleged steroid
use is somehow the magic answer to what
transpired. I am skeptical,’’ Adler said.
``There are still many, many issues that will
need a thorough review’’ — including
reports that Bales had suffered a head injury
during one of his three prior deployments
and whether he was taking any other med-
ications.
Bales, a father of two, is accused of walk-
ing to two local villages, where he killed the
villagers and then burned some of their bod-
ies.
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
continued from page 1
Tuskegee airman Lt. Col. Edward Drummond 85, has his picture taken with
some young fans at the Northwest African American Museum Saturday,
June 2, at the opening of the museum’s exhibition, “The Test: The Tuskegee
Project.”
Inslee
continued from page 1
package. McKenna said he supports send-
ing voters a tax package to pay for projects
in the next couple of years, though he was-
n’t sure yet what would be included in it.
— Inslee wouldn’t commit to a position
on whether the state will use more toll
roads, though he said they can’t be taken off
the table. McKenna said tolls will be neces-
sary to rebuild large transportation facili-
ties, specifically mentioning the 520 bridge.
— Inslee didn’t have a position on
whether Washington should require proof of
legal residence to get a driver’s license, say-
ing he would seek a bipartisan solution to
address that issue, though his spokesman
later said that he only supports requiring a
person to show that they live in the state.
McKenna said he thinks the state should
require proof that their residency is legal,
noting that Washington is one of only two
states that don’t.
The former congressman has been forth-
coming on other matters. He declared his
support for gay marriage, for example,
before the issue came up this year in the
Legislature. He’s also proposed specific
ideas such as a $4,000 tax credit for small
business hiring.
On education, the group Stand for Chil-
dren has touted charter schools along with
McKenna, but Inslee thinks the state can
pursue innovative teaching within the exist-
ing system by using a competitive grant
``Jay Inslee has offered a detailed set of
proposals to improve Washington schools,’’
said Inslee spokesman Sterling Clifford.
``He sought consensus in preparing the
plan, and Jay’s proposals have been praised
by all sides of the education debate.’’
Along with not taking positions on some
issues, other statements from Inslee have
been inconclusive. Asked whether he would
The Democrat’s fuzzy statements on how he
would handle the state’s school system also
contributed recently to an education advocacy
group endorsing Republican rival Rob McKenna
program to incentivize new ways of instruc-
tion. He also wants to shift more resources
to education by growing the economy, find-
ing savings in state medical costs and
improving state government efficiency.
support moving the state from a sales tax to
an income tax, Inslee didn’t give a ``yes’’ or
``no’’ answer.
``I am not proposing an income tax for the
state of Washington,’’ he said.
Seattleites rejected.
``We don’t have a problem with the city
investing in bike infrastructure,’’ said
Michael Ennis, transportation director for
the conservative Washington Policy Center.
``It’s just when it’s at the expense of auto
lanes, then we start running into issues of
fairness.’’
streets and perceive that as evidence that the
city is spending more on bicycles than
cars,’’ said Seattle City Councilmember
Tom Rasmussen, who heads the transporta-
tion committee.
Most of the city’s transportation dollars
go to streets, potholes and other street
improvements, he said. Seattle spent about
When a reporter followed up and asked
whether he might propose an income tax in
the future, Inslee repeated his answer by
focusing on the past and present.
``I’m not proposing an income tax, and I
did not support an income tax in the last
election cycle,’’ he said. McKenna said he
opposed an income tax.
Along with the governor’s race, voters
this year are likely to decide on a major ini-
tiative that would legalize the recreational
use of marijuana. Inslee said last year that
he opposed the measure, but walked that
back a bit in an AP interview last month by
saying he had recently had a conversation
with some people about it.
``From what I know right now, it is not
my intention to vote for it,’’ he said.
McKenna was a firm ``no’’ vote on the
measure.
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Bikes
continued from page 1
neighborhoods this year, with more likely
on the way. So-called neighborhood green-
ways modeled after ones in Portland, Ore.,
are designed to make it safer for walkers
and bikers to get between their home and
school, the grocery store and park.
The city is taking public comment on the
new plan, which would also consider fea-
tures that separate cyclists from cars, called
cycle tracks. They’re common in bike-
friendly European cities like Copenhagen
and Amsterdam, but more U.S. cities such
as Washington, D.C., and New York City
are trying them out.
Still, any talk of bike improvements in
Seattle is sure to stoke resentment from
some, who believe the city’s policies favor
bike and transit over cars. Local talk-show
hosts and columnists have ranted against
what they call the city’s anti-car campaign.
It hasn’t helped that the city’s most
famous biker, Mayor Mike McGinn, some-
times known as ``Mayor McSchwinn’’ for
his enthusiasm about two-wheeled trans-
portation, has irked some by increasing
parking rates downtown and backing a
measure to tax cars to pay for transit and
bike improvements that even tax-friendly
On the table: protected bike lanes buffered
from traffic, designated bicycling boulevards
where traffic is slowed and walkers and bikers
have priority, and traffic calming features like
speed bumps
Seattle is losing unrestricted highway car
lanes to transit and carpool lanes in various
highway projects, including the Alaskan
Way Viaduct and State Route 520, he noted.
The city also put some streets on ``road
diets,’’ shrinking car lanes to improve safe-
ty for cars and pedestrians.
``People see the visible painting of bike
lanes and in some cases the narrowing of
$9 million annually for the past four years
on bicycling improvements, a small fraction
of the city’s total transportation budget of
$300 million, Rasmussen said.
Councilmember and frequent bike com-
muter Mike O’Brien dismisses any talk of a
``war on cars.’’
``No one is trying to force anyone to pick
mode of transportation,’’ said O’Brien. ``It’s
not about taking away someone’s car keys
and demanding they get on a bike. But for
people who do want to do it, they have a
right to be safe getting back and forth to
where they need to go.’’
As the city overhauls a plan currently
aimed at tripling the number of cyclists in
the city, many say they’d want features that
cater to a broad range of riders.
The current plan ``is working great for
people who are already comfortable biking
in the city,’’ said Dylan Ahearn, who helped
form Beacon BIKES after feeling the plan
did a lot for commuters getting downtown
but not as much for those getting around
neighborhoods. ``There’s a wider segment
of the population that could be served if
they (the streets) were safer.’’
Ahearn says he understands the angst that
motorists can feel toward cyclists. Neigh-
borhood greenways with slower speed lim-
its, signs, crosswalks and other features
could help resolve some tension between
them, he said.
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June 6, 2012 The Seattle Skanner Page 3