In brief: Hispanic leader seeking DOJ review in Pasco shooting

A Pasco Hispanic leader is asking the U.S. Justice Department to immediately investigate the shooting death of a Mexican national in Pasco by three police officers.

Felix Vargas, chairman of Consejo Latino, said in his letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that it is clear that the constitutional rights of Antonio Zambrano-Montes were violated when he was shot Feb. 10. Vargas has verbally notified federal officials of his complaint and drafted the letter that he said he planned to send once the post office reopened today.

The request will be sent on behalf of the family of Zambrano-Montes, 35, who was not carrying a gun or knife when he was shot in front of a bakery near the intersection of Lewis Street and 10th Avenue.

An investigation by the multiagency Tri-City Special Investigations Unit will have “no credibility whatsoever,” partly because three of its recently completed reviews of police shootings by the unit exonerated involved officers, the letter said.

“Why would anyone believe that the local SIU investigation of the Zambrano killing would yield a different result?” the letter said.

Vargas, while supporting police in general, also thinks local police officers will have a conflict of interest in reviewing the case, although no Pasco officers are involved in the investigation. He told the Herald that the federal investigation could actually complement the police review.

Bill ties layoffs to tax break

OLYMPIA – A lawmaker says she will introduce a bill that could reduce Boeing’s multibillion-dollar tax break if the company trims its overall Washington state workforce.

The Herald of Everett reported Monday that Rep. June Robinson said her bill aims to ensure aerospace tax incentives are used to benefit the taxpayers in Washington.

Robinson’s bill is the latest move in the union-led effort to compel the state to reconsider generous tax incentives if aerospace companies don’t create and retain good-paying jobs.

Unions representing machinists and engineers, among others, say the state was too generous when it extended tax breaks to the aerospace giant in 2013 to secure the 777X program in Everett. Those tax breaks could save Boeing as much as $8.7 billion in taxes through 2040, yet it has shipped some jobs out of state.

Snow-strapped ski area opens

ASHLAND, Ore. – An early February storm has brought skiers and workers back to the troubled ski area at Mount Ashland.

The area has struggled the past two years with poor snowfall. Last year, it didn’t open at all, the victim of warm temperatures that turned adequate moisture into liquid rather than snow.

This year, Mount Ashland opened Dec. 19 and closed the next day. Then it saw 11 inches of snow Christmas Eve and reopened until Jan. 12, when it shut down and laid off all but five of its 139 employees.

Now the area has reopened with 22 inches of snow at the base and 53 inches in the main ski area. Skiers, boarders and snow skaters flocked back last week, as did the laid-off workers.

“It’s like we had never closed,” General Manager Hiram Towle said as he watched dozens of skiers gliding down the Juliet run.

Still, the ski area was just reaching 10,000 visitors for the season – the historical average is 70,000.