In brief: Driver who killed cyclist sentenced

A driver who killed a bicyclist and then fled the crash scene in 2011 has been sentenced to a year in prison.

Megan C. Skillingstad, 19, pleaded guilty to failing to remain at the scene of a fatal collision Friday.

Skillingstad struck 66-year-old Dennis Widener, who was riding his bicycle on Empire Avenue at Division Street on June 23, 2011. Widener died of his injuries two weeks later.

The case remained unsolved for more than a month until a friend called Spokane police in August 2011 and said she had been trying to convince Skillingstad to turn herself in to authorities. Investigators seized Skillingstad’s 1996 Nissan Sentra the next day.

Officer whose son shot daughter fired

EVERETT – The Marysville Police Department has fired Officer Derek Carlile, whose gun was used by his 3-year-old son to fatally shoot his 7-year-old sister.

A city spokesman said Monday that Carlile was fired as a result of an internal investigation, but it would say nothing else about the personnel matter.

The Daily Herald reported Snohomish County prosecutors dropped a manslaughter charge against the officer last year after a jury was unable to reach a verdict.

Carlile left a .38-caliber revolver in the family van with his four children in March 2012 while it was briefly parked in Stanwood, Wash. His 3-year-old son grabbed the gun and fired a shot that killed 7-year-old Jenna.

Three killed in motorcycle crashes

QUILCENE, Wash. – Three people were killed in two motorcycle crashes over the weekend on Highway 101 in Western Washington.

The Washington State Patrol said two motorcycles collided head-on Sunday afternoon on a curve on the highway south of Quilcene. Both riders were ejected and 26-year-old Nicholas H. Montague, of Lacey, died at the scene. The other rider, 45-year-old Rodney T. Sutherland, of Port Hadlock, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

In a crash Saturday afternoon, two people were riding a motorcycle that collided with an oncoming vehicle on the highway north of Shelton. The crash killed Michael A. Hanson, 48, of Graham, and Connie L. Shook, 50 of Spanaway.

Seattle police easing pot, tattoo rules

SEATTLE – The Seattle Police Department is loosening its rules on marijuana use and tattoos for new officer recruits.

The department used to require that those seeking to join the force not have used pot in the past three years, and not more than 25 times in all. But last fall Washington voters legalized marijuana for personal use by adults, and Mayor Mike McGinn said the department should ease up.

McGinn said the city will be hiring 300 new officers over the next five years, and he wants them to reflect the city’s populace. The department will reach out to minority communities in an effort to boost interest in becoming police officers.

The department is also making changes to its personal appearance policy that allows face, neck or hand tatoos.

ATV riding partners separate, crash

Two men riding ATVs together in Kootenai County early Monday morning were injured in separate crashes.

The men were riding on Forest Service Road 268, about two miles east of the Fernan Rod and Gun Club, just after 4:30 a.m. when one of the ATVs failed to make a turn and went off the road, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The man on the ATV in front did not immediately notice his friend was no longer behind him. When he turned around to find his friend, he failed to navigate a separate turn and crashed the ATV. He was able to get up from the crash and walked about a third of a mile before he found his friend, who had fallen 30 feet into a ravine.

The man able to walk continued until he had cellphone service and called 911. One rider went to Kootenai Medical Center for treatment.