Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2013)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM N OVEMBER 6, 2013 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXVI, N O . 5 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 NAACP 100 McGinn Out, Murray In Hundreds of thousands of ballots are still left to count Of the Skanner News PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED M Out-going president of the "oldest NAACP branch west of the Mississippi," James Bible, flanked by national NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous and newly-elected Seattle President Gerald Hankerson, speaks at the Seattle King County NAACP Centennial Celebration Nov. 2 at the Double Tree Hilton in Seatac. See more photos of the 100th anniversary celebration of the Seattle NAACP on page 6. More Electric Car Stations, Faster Confusion as electric car drivers find the best places to recharge By Phuong Le The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Electric car drivers are increasingly plugging in and charging up at Washington state’s network of public car-charging stations, according to new data from the Washington state Department of Transportation. But while drivers report line- ups at some heavily-used sta- tions along Interstate 5, other electric-vehicle charging sites on the state network are rarely getting used, the data show. Since May 2012, when the first fast-charging station began operating in Washington as part of the so-called West Coast Green Highway, drivers have used the state’s 14 charging sta- tions more than 10,000 times. Monthly usage for all those sites doubled to 1,125 charging ses- sions last September from 528 the previous September. Drivers hit stations in Belling- ham, Burlington and Tumwater the most, while there was much lighter traffic along the I-5 net- INDEX News .....................2,3,6 Opinion .......................4 A&E .............................5 Bids/Classifieds............7 Food ...........................8 work at Castle Rock and Ridge- field. Charging stations along Highway 2 in Wenatchee and at a rest stop along I-5 in Ferndale saw the least usage — on aver- age about 10 sessions each month over the past year. Fast charging stations have been installed along Interstate 5 and other corridors in Washing- ton and Oregon as part of an ambitious plan to allow drivers of electric vehicles to cruise the 580 miles from the southern border of Oregon all the way to Canada. “The usage is steady and strong and the numbers keep climbing,” said Tonia Buell, a state transportation spokes- woman. The purpose of the fast charging network is to give electric vehicle owners the con- fidence to know they can find public-access charging, even for longer-distance travel, she added. “The actual number of times the stations are used is not the best indicator of performance,” Buell said, noting there are now See CHARGING on page 3 ike McGinn is out and state Sen. Ed Murray is in as mayor of Seat- tle. County Executive Dow Constantine, Rod Dembowski, Pete von Reichbauer and Rea- gan Dunn remain, Dave Upthegrove is in on the Metropolitan King County Council. In Vancouver, Mayor Tim Leavitt won re- election and will be joined on the council by upstart Alishia Topper, Anne McEnerny- Ogle and Jack Burkman. A ballot initiative to require labeling for genetically modified foods appeared headed for a loss statewide – after nearly $8 million was spent to defeat it – but advocates were not giving up on the measure by Wednesday afternoon. “This race is not over yet,” said Delana Jones, Campaign Manager for Yes on 522, in a press statement. “Due to Washington State’s vote-by-mail system, there are hun- dreds of thousands of votes still to be count- ed.” And Initiative 517, a Tim Eyman-pro- duced effort to make it easier to get initia- tives on the ballot, failed. Another initiative in King County to revamp the Public Defender system passed, creating a new office of County Public Defender and bringing attorneys who serve indigent clients into the county government; that’s a change from contracting with a handful of nonprofit groups to provide attor- neys for poor people. King County also passed its levy to fund ambulance services, which Constantine praised. “People love their King County Medic One program, and for good reason,” he said in a statement. “The survival rate from car- diac arrest in King County this year reached an all-time high of 57 percent. Our record is the envy of the nation. People are alive today in King County who would not have survived in most other places in the coun- See ELECTION on page 3 ‘Pot Law’ Emerges as a New Practice Lawyers gear up to represent pot users – against federal law By Gene Johnson The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle attorney Kurt Boehl is happy to think he’s contributing to the success of Washington’s grand experi- ment in regulating marijuana by advising his clients on how to navigate the industry’s legal complexities. But there’s a worry that his efforts could earn him an ethics complaint. After all, mar- ijuana is illegal under federal law, and lawyers aren’t supposed to help their clients break the law. Washington’s Supreme Court could put his mind at ease. The justices on Wednesday are taking up an emergency proposal to change the state’s ethics rules for lawyers to make clear that attorneys complying with state law won’t get in trouble for giving pot- related legal advice — or for smoking up themselves, as long as they’re not high at work. The Supreme Court in Colorado, the other state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, has been presented with a similar pro- posal. “I really like the concept,” Boehl said. See ISSUES on page 3
