In brief: Two teens killed in U.S. 2 crash in Coulee City

Two teenagers were killed and another was airlifted to a Seattle hospital Thursday evening after a crash on U.S. Highway 2 in Coulee City.

The Washington State Patrol reports that a 1994 Honda Civic driven by Auston P. Frye, 17, was westbound on Highway 2 when Frye lost control and the car went off the road and hit a light pole about 8:30 p.m. The car came to rest at the entrance to Coulee City Park.

Frye, a resident of Hartline, and one of his passengers, 18-year-old Pedro Huitron of Lind, died of their injuries. A second passenger, 16-year-old Roberto V. Valdovinos of Lind, was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle by MedStar. All three were wearing their seat belts.

Excessive speed was a factor in the crash, according to the WSP.

Ambulance struck in Moses Lake

An ambulance with its lights and siren on was hit by a pickup truck in Moses Lake on Saturday morning, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The ambulance was southbound on state Route 17 and had slowed for traffic at East Broadway when it was hit by a pickup truck heading west on Broadway, the WSP said.

The driver of the ambulance, 33-year-old Jesse L. Bolyard, and the driver of the 2005 Nissan Frontier, 36-year-old Gricelda R. Farias, were uninjured. A second person in the pickup truck, 42-year-old Candy Farias, was taken to Samaritan Hospital for treatment of her injuries.

The crash is under investigation to determine if any criminal charges or citations should be filed.

Wiring suspected cause of house fire

Old electrical wiring likely started a fire in the 3600 block of East Pacific Avenue about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, the Spokane Fire Department reported in a news release.

Three people were able to escape the home without injury, the fire department said. Smoke and flames damaged the attic and the kitchen. Damage was estimated at $20,000.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but old wiring in the attic is suspected as the cause, the news release said.

Boeing managers get big bonuses

SEATTLE – Boeing next month will give its three tiers of non-executive managers annual bonuses equal to about 12.5 percent, 17.5 percent and 22.5 percent of their salaries, far exceeding the bonuses recently granted to rank-and-file employees.

The payouts on March 6, based on last year’s performance, will go to about 13,000 managers companywide, with about half of those in Washington, Boeing said.

This month, Boeing’s machinists got an annual bonus of 3.1 percent of gross pay, and engineers and other non-management salaried staff learned they’ll get a bonus equivalent to about 4.8 percent of base salary.

One Boeing engineer said his peers are trying to “come to terms with how generous that payout is going to be for the management team” compared to the much smaller percentage payout to non-managers.

In an interview, Alan May, vice president of human resources at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said Boeing pays all employees “at or above market.”

“We make sure we benchmark each one of our jobs, with the way the market pays that particular role,” May said, adding, “the higher you go in management, the higher the percentage target a manager would receive.”

Man gets 15 years for June stabbing

ABERDEEN, Wash. – Courtroom pews were filled Friday when John W.A. Russell was sentenced to 15 years and three months in prison for a gruesome stabbing in June that nearly killed a woman.

Russell, 26, of Aberdeen, was convicted by a jury earlier this month of first- and second-degree assault after he slit one woman’s throat, nicking a major artery, and then stabbed one of her friends as he tried to intervene.

Jeanette Johnson was sitting at the counter in her kitchen with Russell and Isaac Stone for a get-together June 29 when the stabbing took place, according to court documents. Johnson told police the three were having a conversation when Russell stood up, walked behind Johnson and slit her throat in an unprovoked attack.