In brief: Sheriff: Deputy kills man in shootout
A Stevens County deputy shot and killed a man in a shootout in the town of Hunters on Wednesday night, Stevens County Sheriff Kendle Allen told KHQ.
Details at press time were limited.
Allen told KHQ that at the time of the shooting, deputies had been looking for a suspect who had a gun. The shooting happened only a few hours after a community meeting was held in Hunters to provide the community information about the Carpenter Road fire, which has destroyed about 15 homes south of Hunters.
Allen told KHQ only one deputy was involved in the shooting. The Washington State Patrol was en route to investigate.
More traffic deaths blamed on marijuana
SEATTLE – More marijuana-using drivers are getting into fatal crashes in Washington, according to new data from the state Traffic Safety Commission.
Data released Wednesday show that the number of Washington drivers involved in deadly crashes who tested positive for active marijuana doubled from 2013 to 2014 – the first year of legal marijuana sales in the state.
Commission member Shelly Baldwin said that’s alarming – especially considering that the number of alcohol-related fatal crashes has been dropping.
“When we see this rising trend, it’s concerning, especially when other factors are decreasing,” Baldwin said.
The number of drivers involved in fatal crashes who tested positive for active THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, had held fairly steady from 2010 to 2013 – between 32 and 38 per year. That number jumped to 75 in 2014, and about half were above the state’s legal limit for marijuana-impaired driving, Baldwin said.
Many of those drivers also tested positive for alcohol or other drugs.
State’s jobless rate on par with nation’s
OLYMPIA – Washington state’s unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in July, holding even with the national jobless rate, state officials said Wednesday.
The latest report from the state’s Employment Security Department shows that the jobless rate was unchanged from June, and that the private sector gained 5,900 jobs from June to July.
The jobless rate in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett region of Western Washington was 3.7 percent, down from 3.8 percent in June.
“Washington’s economy continues on a positive track,” state labor economist Paul Turek said in a written statement.
The financial activities sector saw the largest gains from June to July, with an increase of 2,600 jobs, followed by retail trade, which gained 1,700 jobs, and then leisure and hospitality, with 1,500 jobs. Other industries that saw increases include: transportation, warehousing and utilities; construction; manufacturing; information; and mining and logging. Four industries saw decreases: wholesale trade lost 1,800 jobs in July; government lost 1,100; education and health services lost 300; and other services lost 100.