Briefly

Offices, services affected by holiday

Government offices and other services will be affected by the Memorial Day holiday:

Schools: All area schools will be closed Monday.

Mail: Will not be delivered Monday.

Buses: Buses will run Monday on a holiday schedule, which is the same as the Sunday schedule.

Banks: Closed Monday.

Government: Spokane city and county offices will be closed Monday, as will state and federal offices.

Garbage: Will not be picked up Monday. Services will be a day late.

Liquor stores: Closed Monday.

Parking meters: Need not be fed on Monday.

Libraries: Spokane Public Libraries and Spokane County Library District branches will be closed Monday.

Sex offender charged with fondling patient

Seattle King County prosecutors filed rape and indecent liberties charges Tuesday against a Level 3 sex offender accused of fondling a female patient while working at Virginia Mason Medical Center.

Raymond Lee Kupfer, 28, was working as patient transporter at the hospital when he fondled the 48-year-old woman by reaching underneath her hospital gown, Seattle police Detective Debra Brown wrote in charging papers.

At the time, Kupfer was wheeling the woman to the hospital’s CT scan room; she was groggy from pain medication but aware of what was happening, Brown wrote.

Following the scan, Kupfer again fondled the woman as he adjusted her position on a bed, Brown wrote. The woman told him to stop and reported the incident to the nursing staff, the detective said.

Hospital officials subsequently determined Kupfer was a sex offender with nine felony convictions on his record.

He was charged Tuesday with second-degree rape and indecent liberties and was ordered held on $250,000 bail. His next court appearance was scheduled for Thursday.

Cruise ship boosts town’s economy

Port Angeles, Wash. A visit by the Holland America cruise ship MS Zaandam earlier this month was an economic boon for this Olympic Peninsula community, although not necessarily for the port.

The ship brought as many as 1,200 tourists to downtown businesses during the seven hours it was docked May 12, said Dave Hagiwara, Port of Port Angeles deputy executive director.

But Hagiwara said the port itself “basically broke even” on the visit. He said the port received $17,000 in revenue from the Zaandam’s visit, including $9,500 in dockage fees and $7,500 in head taxes for the 1,650 passengers.

The revenue was offset by expenses for extra labor, security, portable toilets, fencing and other costs, he said.

The ship was on a round-trip cruise out of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Hearing set over homeless camp

Bothell, Wash. A King County Superior Court hearing is scheduled June 9 on this city’s challenge to a homeless camp set up on church land.

The city is seeking a determination on whether St. Brendan’s Catholic Church violated municipal zoning regulations by inviting the Tent City 4 homeless camp to open on church land last week without a permit.

The church said it accepted the encampment under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, interim City Manager Manny Ocampo said earlier. The federal law limits local zoning restrictions on religious institutions.

The homeless camp is the latest in a series organized by the Seattle Housing and Resource Effort and the Women’s Housing, Equality and Enhancement League.

The camp was originally to be placed on King County-owned property near a Park-and-Ride location south of the city.

Local residents strongly opposed the original location, saying they were not consulted before a decision was made.

Eye surgeon faces sex charges

Seattle A local eye surgeon was charged Tuesday with fondling 10 of his patients, many while they were under anesthesia.

King County prosecutors filed eight counts of indecent liberties charges, one of attempted indecent liberties and one of fourth-degree assault against Dr. Richard Toby Sutcliffe, 49.

Acting on reports of misconduct, the state Medical Quality Assurance Commission barred Sutcliffe in April 2003 from seeing female patients.

The Seattle Police Department then began a criminal investigation, aided by statements from an anesthesiologist who said she saw Sutcliffe touch the breasts of four patients on May 20, 2002.

The 10 women – including a 75-year-old – were identified in charging documents by their initials only. Several said they awoke following surgery to find Sutcliffe touching them inappropriately, wrote Detective Debra Brown. Others reported being touched during office visits.

Jeff Robinson, Sutcliffe’s attorney, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

Sutcliffe was released on personal recognizance, but does not have a listed telephone number.

He is scheduled to be arraigned June 2 in King County Superior Court.