Tag: Washington State
Inslee requests federal funding for National Guard through end of year to help with COVID response
OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee has asked the federal government to continue paying for the use of National Guard soldiers through the end of the year to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
Inslee’s request Monday comes as cases of coronavirus have begun to climb across Washington and hospitalizations involving the virus have also started creeping back up.
The governor’s request, made in a letter to the U.S. Department of Defense, seeks an extension through Dec. 31 of federal funding currently paying for the more than 1,000 guard members assisting with various parts of the COVID-19 outbreak response.
“They are critical to our efforts to slow the spread of the virus by supporting COVID-mapping missions, assembling test kits, and operating community-based test sites,” Inslee wrote in the letter.
“Additionally, uniquely skilled National Guard planners are assisting my COVID-19 food security team and other state agencies to ensure that we meet the health and welfare needs of Washingtonians through our phased re-opening plan,” Inslee added.
The current federal funding is set to expire Aug. 21, according to Inslee spokeswoman Tara Lee.
Even without federal reauthorization, the state could still deploy Guard members at the request of local governments, Lee wrote in an email.
“However, they’d need to be on State Active Duty and the cost burden would shift to the state and local level,” she wrote.
Guard members have been a part of Washington’s pandemic response since early April.
At that time, 130 members deployed to help staff food banks in King, Pierce, Chelan, Franklin and Walla Walla counties. In Issaquah, for example, Guard members unloaded deliveries, repackaged food and then staged 44-pound boxes so food supplies were ready for distribution.
The state has also trained more than 720 National Guard members to help with contact tracing, also known as COVID mapping. Those members call people who have tested positive for the virus, to learn who they have been in close contact with.
Then, in an effort to halt the spread of the virus, contact tracers call those people and encourage them to get tested and to quarantine for two weeks.
In her email, Lee wrote that some food banks are now able to have volunteers return, which could cut down on the need for Guard members in that role.
But, “we anticipate more will be needed to conduct the covid mapping mission,” Lee wrote, and, “Test kit assembly and the operation of community based test sites will be an ongoing need.”
Also on Monday, Inslee participated in a call between governors and members of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response efforts, including Vice President Mike Pence. The call came after Trump on Saturday appeared in public for the first time wearing a mask.
On the call, Inslee told Pence that he appreciated that the president wore a mask, according to an account of the call provided by Inslee’s office.
Pence responded by saying that the administration would keep using masks whenever possible, according to the account, and that he would be wearing a mask when he disembarked on Tuesday from Air Force Two during a schedule stop in Louisiana.
Original Article here???? https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/inslee-requests-federal-funding-for-national-guard-through-end-of-year-to-help-with-covid-response/
Washingtion State Gov Inslee gives LIVE conference coronavirus update
Georgia needs to take notes from Governor Inslee he has the right idea I’m proud of my state!! Opening slowly and picking in choosing essential businesses is the safest way to go. Hair salons are not essential businesses. Casinos are not essential businesses. SOME of you Georgians need to learn to be happy bein’ nappy and you can do without that Begin for a little while longer. Click the link below ??
Washingtion GOV. Jay Inslee Updates On Coronavirus Rresponse
To all Washingtion State TiSippers!
Mother stopped possible school massacre by turning in her own son
A Washington state mom turned her 17-year-old son in to police upon finding plans in his journal to carry out a school shooting on the anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.
“It’s devastating. I know I did all I can do and that I made the right choice,” the mother, who only identified herself as Nicole, told CBS News about the decision that led to her son’s Sept. 17 arrest on harassment and bomb threat charges.
The teen, in his journal, said he’d use guns and a variety of explosives to carry out the attack on College Place High School, according to police records obtained by KTEL News.
With the weapons, he’d “blast anyone in sight” and “kill everyone possible,” some of his notebook entries read, the outlet reported.
The teen made a note to “kill self after maximum damage” in the writings.
His mother said he told her that he was just being imaginative. The entries were “just a story,” Nicole said was his response.
But Troy Tomaras, College Place police chief, wasn’t buying it.
“Well, he’s plotting to attack and kill people,” Tomaras told CBS News.
“That’s beyond creative writing. That’s beyond normal.”
Tomaras commended Nicole for speaking up.
“She’s very courageous,” he said. “It’s clearly very emotional for her. She loves her son.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/10/07/mother-stopped-possible-school-massacre-by-turning-in-her-own-son/
Photo Credit: CBS
Student, teacher charged with sex crime plan to be together once he’s 18
A teacher’s aide at a high school in Washington state had sex with a 17-year-old boy who told deputies the two plan to be together once he turns 18, authorities said.
Wendy Wagoner, a 49-year-old paraprofessional at Graham Kapowsin High School in Pierce County, was charged Thursday with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor and communication with a minor for immoral purposes after a school employee caught her kissing the teen last month, according to charging documents obtained by the Tacoma News Tribune.
Wagoner, who oversaw the teen’s specialized educated plan, later resigned from her job after the district launched an investigation into the allegation, saying she “did not deserve” the probe, records show.
The teen, meanwhile, told deputies that he and Wagoner planned to be together romantically once he turns 18, according to charging documents.
“She is my everything,” the teen said — although both he and Wagoner denied having a sexual relationship.
The teen even used his cellphone to search for the legal age of consent in Washington, as well as possible penalties for a student-teacher relationship, the newspaper reports.
The age of consent in Washington state is 16, but there are several exceptions, including when sex acts occur between a teacher and a student. The state Supreme Court has ruled that the law applies to students up to the age of 21.
Investigators also found explicit text messages between Wagoner and the teen, including some sent during school hours.
“I knew what I was doing was wrong, and I’m beating myself up really bad right now,” Wagoner told detectives.
Pierce County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Scott Peters told KIRO that Wagoner told the teen to delete any record of messages they exchanged. Peters said several messages show that they had a sexual relationship, but Wagoner was not charged with raping the teen because he was 17 when the alleged contact occurred.
“For a child rape charge, you need a child under the age of 16,” Peters told the station.
Wagoner also ignored orders by detectives to stay away from the student multiple times, instead opting to use different phones to continue communicating with the teen. A neighbor later reported seeing her hugging the teen last week, deputies said.
Wagoner, of Spanaway, has pleaded not guilty. She was released from Pierce County Jail after posting $50,000 bail, online records show. She could not be reached for comment Friday.
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Moms claim daycare workers waxed their kids’ eyebrows
A hairy mystery is unfolding in Washington state, where a pair of distressed moms claim a daycare center waxed their children’s eyebrows.
One of the moms told local outlets she noticed her 2-year-old daughter, Lilayiah, was missing a patch of hair and had reddened skin when she picked her up last week.
“I knew she was missing her patch of hair because she has a unibrow and she was born like that,” Alyssa Salgado, 19, told WLTX News.
“She had a couple of tears in her eyes,” she added.
The concerned mom reached out to the nursery, run by the Boys and Girls Club of Benton and Franklin counties on the Columbia Basin College campus in Pasco.
She also spoke with other moms, including Glenda Maria Cruz, who said her toddler son’s unibrow was plucked the same day.
“I tried to touch his face. He doesn’t let me touch his face. He says, ‘No, no, stop,’ and it hurts me because that’s my baby,” said Cruz.
The moms, who said the center’s director scoffed at their concerns, filed a report with police Monday, KNDO reported.
Officials with the Washington State Department of Early Learning, which licenses the daycare, visited Monday and said their investigation would likely take about 30 days.
The Boys and Girls Club said in a statement that it would cooperate in the probe.
“I hope they figure out who did that to my daughter,” Salgado said.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/02/07/moms-claim-daycare-workers-are-waxing-kids-eyebrows/
Escort says she shot client because he was bad at oral sex
An escort in Washington state says she shot her client twice in the head — because he was lousy at oral sex, according to reports.
Marissa Wallen, 21, then allegedly stole her john’s wallet and gun, left him for dead and went on a $12,000 spending spree in Skagit County, according to the Herald of Everett, Wash.
The 36-year-old North Everett man’s employer grew concerned when he didn’t log in for his stay-at-home job on the morning of Oct. 24.
When police were sent to check on him, he was found alive — slumped against a wall with dried blood on his head. Two shell casings nearby did not match the caliber of his missing handgun, officials said.
He was unable to speak, so police communicated with him using hand signals, according to the news outlet. He indicated he knew his attacker but could not provide a name.
Security footage from the apartment revealed that Wallen had visited five times in October. She was last seen entering at 8:45 p.m. Oct. 21, and then fleeing at 10 p.m. clutching what appeared to be credit cards, officials said.
Store security cameras showed Wallen using the cards, according to authorities, who tracked her down at a home in Mount Vernon, Wash., on Tuesday.
When confronted with evidence, Wallen kept changing her story before finally admitting she shot the man twice in the back of the head, “because he was performing (a sex act) wrong,” according to her statement.
Wallen, who has an 11-month-old child, was ordered held on pending charges of first-degree assault, first-degree robbery and first-degree identity theft.
“I was stunned on Tuesday when the first detective came to our door,” next-door neighbor Mark Barnum told KIRO-TV. “He said, ‘Your neighbor was shot twice in the head.’”
He said he “heard what sounded like two or three taps coming from the wall. It was notable because we don’t usually hear anything.”
He said he initially thought the noise could have been from a hammer.
“It’s just kind of shocking to think perhaps that was maybe — maybe those were the shots. Maybe it was [the victim]. And I feel really badly that I was unable to help,” Barnum said.
Other neighbors said the victim works in high tech.
“He keeps to himself a lot, he’s got his computer stuff up there. He handles a lot of websites, IT security,” Erik Buxton told KIRO.
According to documents, the man “had been hiring female escorts and frequenting a strip club in Seattle, where he was bragging about how much money he earned and belongings he had at his house.”
Buxton said the victim “liked to kind of flash his money a little bit. It’s what’s going to happen — you’re going to attract negative people along the way.”
On Wednesday, a judge said Wallen had outstanding warrants for her arrest and set her bail at $1 million.
Her public defender, Pooja Vaddadi, said medical problems have prevented her from appearing in court several times, according to the Herald.
Another suspect, Jenner Matthews, was arrested in the case, KIRO reported. The probable-cause document said Wallen made payments to him through Facebook using the victim’s accounts.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/11/09/escort-says-she-shot-client-because-he-was-bad-at-oral-sex/
Virginia Couple Faked Wife’s Death, Fraudulently Bought at Least 20 Luxury Vehicles
Alexandra Hatcher pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal conspiracy and fraud charges in connection with an elaborate bank fraud scheme, according to KTLA sister station WTKR in Norfolk, Virginia.
According to court documents, the 49-year-old Portsmouth, Virginia, woman conspired with her husband, Albert Hatcher Jr., to collect on life insurance policies the two had obtained to insure her life.
In 2015, the couple submitted false death claims on at least two of them and then went on to buy at least 20 luxury vehicles by using counterfeit checks and forged documents.
Prosecutors say they even created fake death certificates and published a death notice in a newspaper to support the claims.
Hatcher traveled to Washington state and changed her legal name in August 2015, according to the court documents. Hatcher and her husband also re-titled the cars and used them as collateral for loans and other vehicles.
Documents show that the Portsmouth woman used the legal name she adopted just prior to faking her death to purchase, title, and resell vehicles.
Alexandra Hatcher and her husband both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, possessing and uttering a counterfeit security of an organization, and conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
They each face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, with sentencing for both set for early next year.
via: http://ktla.com/2017/11/02/woman-faked-own-death-to-go-on-shopping-spree-with-her-husband/
Washington Teen Charged With Raping 7-Year-Old On School Bus
We have a sick case coming out of Port Townsend, Washington where a 13 year old boy has been charged with 3 counts of first-degree rape to a 7 year old girl.
The assaults were reported after the young girl told her aunt who then took her to the doctor and then notified the police.
If convicted this boy could face up to only 108 weeks in Juvenile Detention Center which is a little over 2 years, The young man has since been expelled from his middle school.
I think that this is absolutely disgusting and this boy should face more time for a crime like this. The police should also be investigating his parents to see if they’ve done anything to him sexually as well.
Tell me your opinions….