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