In brief: Former judge found with child porn
WALLA WALLA – A former judge in Walla Walla County has been charged with possessing child pornography.
The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reported that charges were filed Thursday against John Junke Sr., accusing him of several counts of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Junke will have a first appearance on Jan. 13.
A police report filed in court says child pornography was discovered after Junke took his computer to a store because it was running slowly. Authorities obtained a search warrant for Junke’s home, and the police report says he eventually told officials that he had a long battle with viewing pornography that had spiraled out of control.
Junke served as a District Court judge from 1991 through 1994. During that time, the state’s judicial conduct commission reprimanded him for losing his temper and improperly gathering evidence outside of a trial.
Cause of inmate’s death to be probed
SEATTLE – Officials are investigating how a 39-year-old man died at a King County jail.
The King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention said Friday the inmate died Thursday evening at the Maleng Regional Justice Center detention facility in Kent. Officials said the Seattle man was found unresponsive by jail staff and that life-saving measures weren’t successful.
The department did not identify the man but said he was booked into jail by the Renton Police Department earlier this month on a felony probation violation and investigation of violation of a protection order.
The King County Medical Examiner’s office is determining the cause and manner of death.
Health officials test shellfish for toxins
OLYMPIA – State health officials are in the process of testing shellfish samples following toxicity concerns that prompted China to ban West Coast shellfish.
KOMO-TV reported that Washington state Department of Health technicians are now testing 36 shellfish samples from the Poverty Bay area near Federal Way.
Officials have already shut down commercial geoduck clam harvesting on 135 acres of state-owned aquatic land. Earlier this month, the state learned that Chinese authorities detected arsenic in a shipment from Washington. The state Health Department had traced that shipment back to clams harvested in October by the Puyallup Tribe in Poverty Bay.
The China import ban is creating a hardship for the state’s shellfish industry, since that country is a major market for Washington harvesters.
Oregon gets hike in minimum wage
EUGENE – The state Bureau of Labor and Industries says about 98,000 workers in Oregon will get a pay raise when the minimum wage goes up on Jan. 1.
It’s a 15-cent an hour hike, from $8.95 to $9.10.
Oregon will have the nation’s second-highest minimum wage, behind Washington.
Washington’s minimum wage is going up 13 cents with the new year, to $9.32 an hour.