WWW . THESKANNER . COM
N OVEMBER 6, 2013
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXVI, N O . 5
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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