In brief: Woman charged with burglary, assault

A 21-year-old woman is facing burglary and assault charges after police say she argued with residents at 909 S. Arthur and unloaded pepper spray into the home.

Amanda Renee Hamblen, of Spokane, was arrested Thursday after she admitted to a police officer that she had used the pepper spray on the residents that night, according to court documents.

Hamblen came to the home about 1:30 p.m. Thursday and began to argue with the residents about a child, records say. At some point Hamblen opened the door, the documents say, and set off a stream of pepper spray into the house.

A police officer searching the scene found the victims showing effects of pepper spray, as well as evidence of the spray on newspapers on a table, records say.

SEATTLE

Woman charged again with sons’ deaths

King County prosecutors have re-filed charges against a Kent woman accused of letting two baby sons starve to death while she drank herself into a stupor.

At the end of January, King County Superior Court Judge Helen Halpert ordered the charges dropped and referred Marie Robinson, 39, for civil commitment at Western State Hospital.

Robinson has remained at the hospital, but in recent weeks staff there determined her mental condition didn’t meet the legal requirements for her to be civilly committed as someone who is dangerously mentally ill.

Prosecutors said that suggests Robinson may now be competent to face the original charges for the 2004 deaths of her children. She has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of reckless endangerment.

They also said Robinson’s history of alcohol abuse could mean that if she is released, she “may relapse and pose a danger to herself and others.”

Previous evaluations at the state mental hospital found that Robinson believed her children weren’t really dead but were kidnapped by secret police. She has complained about being brainwashed, hearing up to 10 different voices and having a “crazed monkey” in her head, according to a psychiatric report.

Police were checking on the family in November 2004 when they found a 6-week-old and a 16-month-old boy dead of starvation and dehydration. Her 2 1/2-year-old son survived, apparently by eating uncooked noodles and rice.

Robinson was passed out amid hundreds of empty beer cans.

PORTLAND

Gag order stands in sex abuse case

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris declined to lift a gag order that prevents lawyers and victims of alleged sexual abuse from talking about the proposed financial reorganization of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland.

Attorney Erin Olson, who represents several of the victims, has been trying to have the gag order dropped since the plan was announced in December. During a hearing Thursday, she described it as “a perpetuation of the conspiracy of silence that led the archdiocese into bankruptcy in the first place.”

But Thomas Stilley, a lawyer for the archdiocese, said public discussion of the case could thwart the plan, which enables the church to settle the majority of claims, limit its liability for remaining claims, and continue operations without selling parish properties or schools.

The gag order was imposed by the two judges who mediated the settlement – U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan and Lane County Circuit Judge Lyle Velure.

In court documents, they contend the secrecy was needed to find common ground and build trust among the parties. They also said secrecy is a common feature of mediation and supported by law.

If approved, the bankruptcy reorganization plan will pay about $40 million to the 146 claimants who have settled their cases.

Columbia ruled safe for natural gas ships

A U.S. Coast Guard report says the lower Columbia River is suitable for liquefied natural gas delivery ships bound for Bradwood Landing below St. Helens if certain safety and security conditions are met.

Bradwood is one of four sites on the lower river, plus one near Coos Bay, being considered in Oregon for import terminals. It is the farthest along of the five in the federal approval application process.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will decide after hearings whether the terminal at Bradwood can be built. The developers, Northern Star Natural Gas, hope to break ground this fall, but there is considerable local opposition from people worried about possible accidents or terrorism.

Northern Star said in a statement dated Thursday that it accepts the Coast Guard conditions. The company envisions about 125 deliveries a year to Bradwood.

The Coast Guard said the risk reduction measures include a security zone of 500 yards around the vessels, ending at the shoreline, which no vessel can enter without permission of the Coast Guard captain of the port.

Sea lions on hunt driven away from dam

The Oregon and Washington fish and wildlife departments will again begin hazing sea lions to deter them from preying on runs of threatened salmon and steelhead below Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.

This is the third year that the departments have tried to shoo off the sea lions. They use nonlethal deterrents such as crackershells, rubber buckshot and underwater firecrackers. But this year crews will be working every day of the week through May 31, a significant escalation in the fight against predators.

“As in previous years, our goal is to change these animals’ behavior,” Jeff Koenings, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement. “Predation by sea lions on fish in the tailrace of Bonneville Dam is a fairly recent phenomenon, and we don’t want any more of them to learn that behavior.”

Compiled from staff and wire reports