Top Stories Seattle

TACOMA, Wash. – You might be taking a boat to get to work following a big earthquake that knocks some or most of our bridges out of commission.

As the recent magnitude 8.8 magnitude quake in Chile points out, bridges, even well built ones, can collapse or become unusable. To get around that, Bill Lokey is planning detour routes on land and on the water.

“We’ve inventoried what vessels might be available. We’ve worked with the Coast Guard about what rules they will have to follow. We’ve looked at the places where they can be docked,” said Lokey, project manager for the Regional Transportation Recovery Planning Project.

Think of the old Mosquito fleet that connected small isolated Puget Sound communities to Seattle by water. We have some of those kinds of passenger vessels now. After a disaster, you could end up taking a tourist boat from Edmonds to Downtown Seattle instead of a car or bus.

“If all the bridges are out, in the short term, you’re probably not going to work for a while. And we’ve determined short term to be those things that happen within 72 hours,” said Lokey.

Tugs pulling barges may bring utility and construction trucks to help put your neighborhood back together and begin rebuilding. Emergency planners are also looking at docks and landing facilities because a lot of land around water is particularly vulnerable in an earthquake.

Temporary solutions may evolve. And what we’re looking at, is how many of these can we pre-plan,” said Lokey.

Water transportation has been looked at before, but not to this extent.  In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the federal government targeted ten areas in the country, including eight counties surrounding Seattle, to beef up their ability to deal with a true catastrophe.

Lokey is former chief of Pierce County Emergency Management. He’s also a consultant with James Lee Witt Associates, headed by the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

 

SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. – A school bus with children on board rolled over Wednesday afternoon, but all the kids on board just have minor bumps and bruises.

The accident happened around 4 p.m. near the intersection of Buckland Road and Nelson Road near Conway, south of Mount Vernon. Thirty-six children, ages 6 to 14-years-old, were from Conway K-8 school.

Video from SkyKING shows the bus on its side in a ditch.

The Washington State Patrol says no children were hospitalized. Investigators are looking at whether the driver, who has been on the job for two days, was somehow distracted.

No other vehicles were involved.

SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. – A school bus with children on board rolled over Wednesday afternoon, but all the kids on board just have minor bumps and bruises.

The accident happened around 4 p.m. near the intersection of Buckland Road and Nelson Road near Conway, south of Mount Vernon. Thirty-six children, ages 6 to 14-years-old, were from Conway K-8 school.

Video from SkyKING shows the bus on its side in a ditch.

The Washington State Patrol says no children were hospitalized. Investigators are looking at whether the driver, who has been on the job for two days, was somehow distracted.

No other vehicles were involved.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A little boy from Seattle is touching the hearts of thousands of people who came to Washington D.C. Tuesday to protest the health insurance industry.

Marcelas Owens turns 11-years-old Wednesday and all he wants for his birthday is health care reform. Three years ago, Marcelas lost his 27-year-old mother to pulmonary hypertension. She became too sick to work and, when she lost her job, she lost her health insurance.

“She was in pain and she could barely walk,” said Marcelas. “I think if she had health care, they could have given her the medicine that she needed and the treatment.”

Marcelas’ Grandmother, Gina Owens, now cares for him and his two younger sisters. She says her daughter would be proud.

“I’m sure she’s walking with him every step of the way,” said Owens.

Marcelas joins thousand of other people who rallied in front of the hotel where the health insurance industry is holding their annual conference.

They say their profits are between three and four percent – tiny compared to what the pharmaceutical companies make.

“Our industry includes hundreds of thousands of men and women who work hard every day to make the system work better and they don’t deserve to be vilified as some political strategy,” said Robert Zirkelbach of America’s Health Insurance Plan.

Even though health insurance companies says their profits are not outrageous, holding their conference at the Ritz-Carlton where the standard room goes for $599 a night is not sitting well with protesters.

Marcelas will spend his 11th birthday on Capitol Hill to testify in front of a Congressional committee.

“Even if the health care bill doesn’t pass, I’m gonna still march for health care, ’cause I know it’s the right thing,” said Marcelas.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A little boy from Seattle is touching the hearts of thousands of people who came to Washington D.C. Tuesday to protest the health insurance industry.

Marcelas Owens turns 11-years-old Wednesday and all he wants for his birthday is health care reform. Three years ago, Marcelas lost his 27-year-old mother to pulmonary hypertension. She became too sick to work and, when she lost her job, she lost her health insurance.

“She was in pain and she could barely walk,” said Marcelas. “I think if she had health care, they could have given her the medicine that she needed and the treatment.”

Marcelas’ Grandmother, Gina Owens, now cares for him and his two younger sisters. She says her daughter would be proud.

“I’m sure she’s walking with him every step of the way,” said Owens.

Marcelas joins thousand of other people who rallied in front of the hotel where the health insurance industry is holding their annual conference.

They say their profits are between three and four percent – tiny compared to what the pharmaceutical companies make.

“Our industry includes hundreds of thousands of men and women who work hard every day to make the system work better and they don’t deserve to be vilified as some political strategy,” said Robert Zirkelbach of America’s Health Insurance Plan.

Even though health insurance companies says their profits are not outrageous, holding their conference at the Ritz-Carlton where the standard room goes for $599 a night is not sitting well with protesters.

Marcelas will spend his 11th birthday on Capitol Hill to testify in front of a Congressional committee.

“Even if the health care bill doesn’t pass, I’m gonna still march for health care, ’cause I know it’s the right thing,” said Marcelas.

LAKEWOOD, Wash. – A crash between a FedEx truck and a WSDOT attenuator truck spent packages spilling onto northbound Interstate 5 at the height of rush hour Monday afternoon.

The accident near 84th Street happened just after 3 p.m. Two hours later, the backup extended at least five miles.

There was no immediate word on what led to the crash or how severe the injuries were.

 

LAKEWOOD, Wash. – A crash between a FedEx truck and a WSDOT attenuator truck spent packages spilling onto northbound Interstate 5 at the height of rush hour Monday afternoon.

The accident near 84th Street happened just after 3 p.m. Two hours later, the backup extended at least five miles.

There was no immediate word on what led to the crash or how severe the injuries were.

 

SEATTLE – Ten-year old Marcelas Owens packs for Washington D.C. Carefully he puts in some of his most precious possessions – pictures of his mother, Tifanny.

Marcelas’ mother died three years ago at the age of 27.

“It’s been sad when I go somewhere that I have a memory with her it comes back and then I just feel this emptiness inside my heart,” he said.

Left behind were Marcelas and his two younger sisters, Monique and Myanna. All three now live with their grandmother Gina.

“My mom was a good person; she was a believer in people,” said Marcelas.

Tiffany had pulmonary hypertension. Her illness forced her to stop working and she lost her health care coverage.

Before Tifanny died she took up the cause of affordable health care coverage for all, testifying in Olympia. Now her son is determined to carry on her legacy.

“I want to say health care should be passed so we can save another family from having to go through the pain we’ve gone through and save another child from losing their mom or dad,” said Marcelas.

Marcelas wonders at times if things would have been different if his mom had had health care coverage.

“I think she would have lived a little bit longer so I could have at least said bye to her in the proper way,” he said.

Marcelas hopes to meet with Democrats and Republicans and maybe even the president himself.

“And even if they say no I’m going to still say that it should be health care still for all,” said Marcellas. “My mom always said to never give up and keep on trying.”

Marcelas will speak at a health care rally and will meet with Sen. Patty Murray. He will also celebrate his 11th birthday while he’s in Washington D.C.

SEATTLE – Ten-year old Marcelas Owens packs for Washington D.C. Carefully he puts in some of his most precious possessions – pictures of his mother, Tifanny.

Marcelas’ mother died three years ago at the age of 27.

“It’s been sad when I go somewhere that I have a memory with her it comes back and then I just feel this emptiness inside my heart,” he said.

Left behind were Marcelas and his two younger sisters, Monique and Myanna. All three now live with their grandmother Gina.

“My mom was a good person; she was a believer in people,” said Marcelas.

Tiffany had pulmonary hypertension. Her illness forced her to stop working and she lost her health care coverage.

Before Tifanny died she took up the cause of affordable health care coverage for all, testifying in Olympia. Now her son is determined to carry on her legacy.

“I want to say health care should be passed so we can save another family from having to go through the pain we’ve gone through and save another child from losing their mom or dad,” said Marcelas.

Marcelas wonders at times if things would have been different if his mom had had health care coverage.

“I think she would have lived a little bit longer so I could have at least said bye to her in the proper way,” he said.

Marcelas hopes to meet with Democrats and Republicans and maybe even the president himself.

“And even if they say no I’m going to still say that it should be health care still for all,” said Marcellas. “My mom always said to never give up and keep on trying.”

Marcelas will speak at a health care rally and will meet with Sen. Patty Murray. He will also celebrate his 11th birthday while he’s in Washington D.C.

ARLINGTON, Wash. – Who would trash a church truck used to feed the homeless? That’s what police and members of the Point Church in Arlington are asking.

For Pastor Mike Zachman and Patty Kellogg, it was a heartbreaking sight to see.

“They destroyed the trailer hitch,” said Pastor Zachman, “They tried to start a fire, they cut the wires trying to steal the truck. They dumped all of the silverware and pancake mix and they also damaged our bus, sprayed it with fire extinguisher as well.”

“I felt very sad because we had 60 70 guys waiting for breakfast this morning,” said Kellogg.

Every Saturday for the last six years, volunteers have driven the van to Everett to feed close to 100 men and women.

“Here we are helping people and you know kids are out having some fun supposedly but they’re taking away from people who literally need to eat right now, especially in this economy,” said Pastor Zachman.

The church will now have to raise money for a new van. Pastor Zachman says he’s OK with that. He’s bothered that whoever did this would have such disregard for others.

“I just warn them to watch – if it doesn’t catch with them on this side of eternity it will when they face their maker,” he said.

The pastor estimates they lost about $500 to $600 worth of food. They haven’t gotten an estimate on how much it will cost to repair the van, but they suspect it might cost less to just buy another one. If you have any information on who might have done this, call Arlington Police.