Briefly

Al-Hussayen jury begins deliberations

Boise

Jurors completed their first day of deliberations Wednesday without reaching a verdict in the case of a University of Idaho graduate student accused of fostering terrorism on the Internet.

The jury must decide whether Sami Omar Al-Hussayen was exercising his right to free speech or breaking the law when he lent his Internet skills to Web sites the government claims promoted terrorism.

Prosecutors have argued that the 34-year-old Saudi Arabian graduate student turned Web sites of the Islamic Assembly of North America into an Internet network providing information to support terrorism, particularly in the Middle East and Chechnya. He faces three terrorism charges.

Al-Hussayen’s defense has maintained that his association with the Web sites was as a Muslim volunteer and computer expert who simply wanted to keep the sites in operation.

Former teacher sentenced for rapes

Boise A former private school teacher will serve at least 30 years in prison for three rapes.

Kenneth Kip Wilkins, of Nampa, apologized to his victims and their families at Tuesday’s sentencing. “I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused,” he said.

Wilkins pleaded guilty in February to raping three Boise girls in 2002.

He was apprehended by Boise police in December 2003 after a father saw his daughter’s basketball coach peering through a bathroom window. Wilkins taught physical education and coached at St. Mark’s School in Boise.

Fourth District Judge Thomas Neville sentenced Wilkins to at least 30 years and up to life for each count, with all sentences served at the same time.

That would leave Wilkins 59 years old when he is eligible for parole, Neville said, and offer him “some light at the end of the tunnel.

Weightlifting accident kills 20-year-old man

Redmond, Wash.

A 20-year-old Bellevue man was killed in a weightlifting accident.

Kevin M. Moore was bench-pressing weights alone Sunday at the home of a friend. The homeowners arrived to find him unconscious and not breathing, with 135 pounds on his neck.

The cause of death was suffocation, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Feds, companies reach waterway cleanup deal

Washington The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency have reached agreement with two companies to clean up a portion of the Hylebos Waterway in the tideflats area of Commencement Bay in Tacoma.

The consent decree filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington state will require Atofina Chemicals and General Metals of Tacoma to spend about $30 million to clean up the problem area at the head of the waterway.

The companies will dredge and remove about 400,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment and cap 4 acres of contaminated sediment, the Justice Department said. Contaminants include petroleum-based pollutants, mercury, dioxins, volatile organic compounds and pesticides.

The companies will receive about $7 million to help pay for the cleanup, the Justice Department said.

The government expects to complete negotiations shortly governing cleanup of the mouth of the waterway.

Legislators want Navy to help preserve park

Seattle Three members of Washington state’s congressional delegation want the Navy to help ensure that a 25-acre tract of military housing in the middle of Discovery Park becomes part of the park once it is no longer used by the military.

In a letter sent Wednesday to the state’s top Navy official, Rear Adm. Len Hering Sr., Sen. Maria Cantwell, Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jim McDermott, all Democrats, urged the Navy to arrange a meeting involving Seattle officials and the Navy’s state housing contractor to reach a solution “to preserve the integrity of the park” after Capehart Housing residents move out.

The Navy decided in 2002 to stop housing personnel at Capehart because it is too far from the Everett and Bremerton naval facilities, said Rick Huling, a Navy spokesman. The 66 housing units will close once the residents move into new military housing closer to Everett – likely to be built within the next two years.

Bid process required for Monorail probe

Seattle The Seattle Center’s desire to have independent engineers examine the Monorail before service resumes following a Memorial Day fire means the inspection contract must be put out to bid, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The city must go through the bid process because the inspection is considered a safety issue, not an emergency, Seattle Center spokesman Perry Cooper said.

The city expects the bids to be back next Monday, with inspection possible early next week, he said.

Cooper added that the undamaged Red train won’t run until officials are certain there will not be a repeat of the electrical fire on the Blue train.

Some passengers had to be rescued by firefighters and ladders after the smoky fire Monday evening. Eight people were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation and one firefighter injured a knee.

Human remains found in Lake Crescent

Port Angeles, Wash. Diving restrictions have been implemented at Lake Crescent, on the Olympic Peninsula, after human remains were discovered in the lake near a vehicle that has been submerged for 75 years.

Olympic National Park will require special permits through June 30 for all underwater diving in a small portion of the lake near the find.

Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said an investigation is under way after the remains were found last weekend by a group of recreational divers.

The skeletal remains were within 150 feet of the vehicle driven by Russell and Blanch Warren at the time of their disappearance in 1929, Maynes said.

The vehicle was in more than 170 feet of water in April 2002.

Maynes said park officials do not have a complete plan in place for the investigation, but additional dives will be attempted.