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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2012)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM N OVEMBER 7, 2012 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXV, N O . 5 25 CENTS Election News C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW OBAMA! Historic Election Night Washington races beat out Oregon for groundbreaking wins By Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED H Louis Swan and his sister Henrietta Price celebrate at an election party at First AME Church after Obama gets enough electoral college votes to put him over the top. Find more election photos on pages 4 and 5. Fight Intensifies Over NW Coal Should the region become the hub for exporting U.S. coal to Asia? By Phuong Le The Associated Press BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — The progressive college town of Bellingham, Wash., is known for its stunning scenery, access to the outdoors and eclectic mix of aging hippies, students and other residents. But lately it’s turned into a battle- ground in the debate over whether the Pacific Northwest should become the hub for exporting U.S. coal to Asia. Five ports proposed for Wash- ington and Oregon could ship as much as 140 million tons of coal, mostly from the Rockies, where it could travel by rail through communities such as Spokane, Seattle and Eugene, Ore., before being loaded onto ships bound for Asia. The Cherry Point marine ter- minal would be the largest coal- export port in the U.S., exporting up to 54 million tons of bulk commodities, mostly coal. With so much at stake, critics and supporters have intensified INDEX News ...........................2 Calendar ....................2 Election Photos.........4,5 A&E .......................2,6,8 Bids/Classifieds............7 their pitches in recent weeks, running TV and radio spots, doorbelling homes and turning to phone banks and social media to rally support for their side. Hundreds packed a public hearing in Bellingham last week to tell regulators what should be analyzed during the environ- mental review process. Hear- ings in Seattle, Vancouver and Spokane are also expected to draw crowds. ``This flies in the face about what are we about as a region, as far as our leadership on build- ing a clean economy and saying no to coal. We’re seen as a region that leads with innova- tion,’’ said Kimberly Larson, with the Power Past Coal cam- paign. ``Are we going backward or forward?’’ Environmentalists, some Northwest tribes and others want regulators to study the cumulative effects all five proj- ects: increased train traffic, car- bon emissions from burning coal overseas and other health and environmental concerns. See COAL on page 3 istory was set Tuesday night in Washington State, where same sex couples will now be allowed to marry and marijuana has been legalized, to be regulated like alcohol. Also in Washington, in what national pun- dits called the most competitive race for governor in the nation, Democrat Jay Inslee narrowly bested Republican Rob McKenna in unofficial results, 51 percent to 49 per- cent – despite a controversial last-minute ad campaign by the Seattle Times newspaper in support of McKenna. In Clark County, voters turned down a sales tax increase for C-Tran; turned down a bid to create a metropolitan parks district by a margin of two to one; and voted to put David Madore on the City Commission. The race for Washington State Senate Dis- trict 17 showed Wednesday morning that Tim Probst and Don Benton are both at about 50 percent of the vote. In Oregon, the incredible roller coaster of an Election Night that swept President Barack Obama back into office saw a paltry 54.98 percent voter participation in Mult- nomah County; by contrast, Oregon’s statewide voter participation rate soared to over 70 percent. Big winners in Portland included mayoral candidate Charlie Hales and City Commis- sioner Amanda Fritz, who won their races by big — in Hales’ case landslide — mar- gins. Meanwhile every proposed tax and bond measure passed in the City of Portland, including the Arts Tax, the Portland Schools bond and the Multnomah County Library district. Oregon’s hot-potato statewide measures may be the reason for the higher state turnout, with a major battleground erupting around the Cannabis Tax Act, Measure 80. While Multnomah County voters passed the See ELECTIONS on page 3 US Soldier Had Blood of Victims on Him Hearing helps determine whether the case goes to a court martial Gene Johnson The Associated Press JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. (AP) — The soldier accused of killing 16 villagers in a nighttime rampage in Afghanistan returned to his base wearing a cape and with the blood of his victims on his rifle, belt, shirt and pants, a military prosecutor said Monday. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was incredulous when fellow U.S. soldiers drew their weapons on him when he returned to Camp Belambay in southern Afghanistan last March, prosecutor Lt. Col. Jay Morse said as a preliminary hearing opened at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Bales then turned to one sergeant at the scene and said: ``Mac, if you rat me out ...’’ Morse said. Bales, 39, has been charged with 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder in one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Nine of the victims were children. The hearing will help determine whether the case goes to a court martial. Bales has not entered a plea. His attorneys See SOLDIER on page 7
