State prisons chief Eldon Vail resigns

Three days after a man who shot seven people at the Tacoma Mall took a prison guard hostage and a convicted Spokane killer was shot to death on a fork lift , state prisons chief Eldon Vail has resigned.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, who reportedly learned about Vail’s decision just today, quickly named a temporary replacement. Jim Camden has more at Spin Control.

Look for a story in The Spokesman-Review next week examining the Department of Corrections’ reaction to the eye-gauging assault at Airway Heights Corrections Center last fall by a man already convicted of murdering a cellmate.