In brief: Washington gets piece of Skechers settlement
OLYMPIA – State residents shouldn’t take advice from Kim Kardashian, at least not about shoes that supposedly help build you up just by walking in them, Attorney General Rob McKenna said.
Washington got a piece of the settlement between the states and Skechers shoe manufacturers over several models of “Shape Up” footwear that don’t deliver what Kardashian promises in an ad.
“There’s no good evidence to show the shoes work as advertised,” McKenna said in a press release. “Don’t cancel your gym membership.”
Washington will get about $117,000 in the settlement and Idaho about $76,000. Consumers who bought Shape Ups, Tone Ups or Resistance Runners can apply for a partial refund by going on www.ftc.gov.
Judge OKs payment of $193 million to tribe
A federal judge has approved a $193 million settlement agreement between the United States and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation over decades of mismanagement of tribal trust funds and income-generating assets.
The funds should be released to the tribe within the next two months, Michael Finley, the tribe’s chairman, announced Wednesday.
Twenty percent of the settlement will be distributed to the tribe’s 9,500 members, Finley said. The tribe’s governing body is working on a long-term plan for the remaining money.
“We recognize that a portion of the money should go directly to our members,” he said. “It’s also appropriate that we use the bulk of the settlement proceeds to improve the long-term health of our natural resources and provide a lasting benefit to our people for generations to come.”
The settlement is one of the largest Indian trust mismanagement settlements in U.S. history. The Colvilles’ tribal trust lawsuit was one of several dozen similar cases against the federal government that have been pending for the past decade. The court also approved settlements in more than 40 other tribal trust cases.
Oregon inmate accused of CdA bank robbery
An Oregon man already serving 22 years in prison for bank robbery is accused of robbing a North Idaho bank at gunpoint in August 2010.
A grand jury on Tuesday indicted Bradley W. Monical, of Bend, for the Aug. 27, 2010, holdup of Wells Fargo, 114 E. Appleway in Coeur d’Alene.
Monical, 41, was sentenced in July 2011 to 22 years in prison for robbing a bank in Coos Bay, Ore., in April 2011.
Surveillance photos released by Coeur d’Alene police in August 2010 show a masked gunman wearing a bicycle helmet and denim shorts climbing on furniture at the bank. He had a cloth bag that said “Freedom is not free.”
Employees said he told them to hurry while waving a large handgun. He left on a gray, three-speed bicycle.
It’s unclear how authorities identified Monical as a suspect, but previous news reports in Oregon say the FBI suspected him of being a serial robber.
Steven Powell guilty of 14 counts of voyeurism
TACOMA – Steven Powell, father-in-law of missing Susan Cox Powell of Utah, was convicted Wednesday of all 14 counts of voyeurism charges filed against him.
Sentencing has been set for June 15. The normal maximum sentence would be about five years in prison, but prosecutors said they will ask for an “exceptional sentence” to try to get a longer term.
Powell was found guilty of surreptitiously taking photos through windows of a next-door neighbor and her daughters, ages 8 and 10 at the time, while they were bathing and using the toilet.
The jury in the case began deliberating Tuesday and returned the verdict Wednesday.