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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2013)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM J ULY 24, 2013 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXV, N O . 42 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 Fuel Terminal Fight UNITY GARDEN Luxury Vancouver development snags on crude oil plan Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News H PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Wilford Bradford, a Kappa Alpha Psi alumni, Ray Williams with the Central Area Farm Trust and David Harris, also with Kappa Alpha Psi, work on turning the unused beds at the Horace Mann School in the Central district into a community garden. Governor Toughens DUI Law Spate of fatal crashes brings scrutiny and mandatory interlock rule By Ravhel La Corte The Associated Press TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Joined by family members of victims, the governor signed a measure on Thursday toughen- ing impaired driving laws in Washington after a spate of fatal crashes. Gov. Jay Inslee said the state was taking an important step in strengthening laws to protect people. “No law can bring these loved ones back,’’ said Inslee, who also was joined by lawmakers and law enforcement officials. “But we must move forward in preventing even more loss of life on our roads.’’ The Washington State Patrol said there are about 40,000 DUI arrests a year, with half made by the patrol and others by local law enforcement. Under the new law, a driver suspected of a second impaired driving offense faces mandatory arrest and will have an interlock device installed on their vehicle within five days of being INDEX News .....................2,3,6 Opinion .......................4 A&E .......................2,5,8 Auto ............................6 Bids/Classifieds............7 charged. The state also will begin a pilot program in as many as three counties and two cities not in those counties to conduct daily alcohol monitoring of any- one convicted twice under the DUI law. Additional money will be put toward ensuring that local jurisdictions prosecute and punish more offenders more quickly. “Today we refuse to be help- less victims of impaired driv- ers,’’ Inslee said. ``We choose to take action.’’ Most of the law takes effect Sept. 28, with some compo- nents, including the monitoring program, taking effect Jan. 1. The measure is a scaled-back version of a plan that would have increased minimum jail times for offenders. Lawmakers, citing the costs of implementing the move in a tough budget year, revised the measure to remove some of the more costly ele- ments, such as making driving under the influence a felony on the fourth conviction. The new See DUI on page 3 undreds of protesters are expected in the Columbia River and at the Van- couver waterfront this Saturday to protest the Port of Vancouver’s vote to build a super-terminal for crude oil. The Port, in a unanimous vote Tuesday, approved a crude oil shipping and storage facility that, if it gains environmental approvals, would be the biggest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. The project, headed by petroleum refining company Tesoro and its partner, Savage, which specializes in supply chain logistics, will bring crude oil shipped by train from across North America to Vancouver, where it will be shipped by water o refineries in California, Washington and Alaska. The proposed 42 acre-site was red-flagged by activists – already mobilizing against use of the Columbia River corridor for coal shipments – after a massive explosion of a runaway crude oil train in Quebec July 6 almost leveled a small town, killing dozens of residents and leaving some bodies unidentified even today. Port officials say the 10-year lease they approved with the Tesoro-Savage Joint Ven- ture is expected to create between “80 and 120 permanent jobs and 250 temporary con- struction jobs,” with projected profits of some $45 million over the decade to the Port itself. Officials say the corporate partners are expected to invest $100 million in the facil- ity. The workshops and floating demonstra- tion planned for Saturday is one is a slate of similar protests slated around the country by the climate-change watchdog group www.530.org. The Portland/Vancouver-area organizing website for the project is www.PortlandRis- ingTide.org . The local protest is at Vancouver Landing, See OIL on page 3 Guardian Wins Suit in Elder Care Case Guardian not guilty of neglect for refusing to force client into facility By Donna Gordon Blankenship The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday ruled the guardian of an elderly Pierce County woman was not negligent when she didn’t force her into a nursing home against her wishes. The court explained in the unanimous rul- ing that even if the bed-bound woman could have gotten better care in such an institu- tion, she should not have been forced to move into one. Following her wishes was not neglect. In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court reversed a decision by the Washington Court of Appeals, citing the Legislature’s mandate against placing incapacitated per- sons against their will. The guardian sued the state after DSHS determined she had failed as a guardian and neglected the elderly woman. The court did not agree with the guardian, however, that she was entitled to be reim- bursed for her attorney’s fees. The justices said the Department of Social and Health Services was justified in its investigation, See SUIT on page 3
