In brief: Three more victims of mudslide identified
EVERETT – The Snohomish County medical examiner’s office has identified three more people whose bodies have been recovered from the devastating mudslide that wiped out a rural Washington neighborhood.
Thirty-five of the 36 victims recovered from the mudslide so far have been identified by the medical examiner.
Another eight people remain on the Snohomish County sheriff’s list of people still missing from the March 22 mudslide.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency says more than 370 individuals or families have registered for assistance.
Ballmer will speak at UW commencement
SEATTLE – The University of Washington says former Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer will be the university graduation speaker in June.
Ballmer served as chief executive officer of the company from 2000 to 2014. He joined Microsoft in 1980 as its 30th employee. He is still a member of the company’s board of directors.
The University of Washington’s 139th Commencement ceremonies will take place at 1:30 p.m. on June 14 at Husky Stadium. The UW estimates that it will award more than 12,000 degrees this academic year. Approximately 5,000 graduates will actually attend the ceremony, with an expected audience of about 40,000 friends and family members.
Flashing headlights ruled as free speech
MEDFORD, Ore. – A local judge in Southern Oregon has ruled that flashing your headlights to warn other drivers that a sheriff’s deputy is approaching is protected as free speech under the Oregon Constitution.
In a ruling filed Wednesday in Jackson County Justice Court in Medford, Judge Joseph Charter ruled that truck driver Christopher Hill was not guilty of misusing his headlights last September on state Highway 140 in White City.
It came out at trial that a Jackson County sheriff’s deputy pulled Hill over after another deputy spotted Hill flashing his headlights to warn oncoming drivers of the deputy behind him.
Baucus donating cash, papers to university
MISSOULA – Former Montana Sen. Max Baucus is donating his Senate papers to the University of Montana’s Mansfield Library, along with $850,000 in leftover campaign money to cover the cost of archiving the documents.
Donna McCrea is head of the library’s archives and special collections. She said Thursday with the addition of Baucus’ papers the library will have more than 100 years of congressional history available to study.
Additionally, the Baucus Institute for Public Policy and Service will be established at the UM School of Law. Baucus intends the institute to continue the work of his Montana Economic Development Summits, which gathered Montana business leaders and included keynote speeches from leaders of national and international companies.