In brief: U.S. judge dismisses Washington marijuana tax case
SEATTLE – A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging Washington state’s authority to tax marijuana.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman dismissed the case last week for lack of jurisdiction.
The operator of a medical marijuana dispensary in Bellingham, Martin Nickerson, sued because he was being simultaneously prosecuted for marijuana distribution and targeted by the state Revenue Department for not collecting taxes on marijuana sales. He argued he couldn’t pay the tax without incriminating himself.
But the judge agreed with the state’s lawyers, who argued that federal law required the case to be brought in state court.
Nickerson’s attorney, Douglas Hiatt, said he filed the lawsuit in federal court because he believes federal judges will ultimately have to decide whether states can regulate and tax marijuana while it remains federally illegal.
He plans to refile the case in Thurston County Superior Court.
Rare basking shark seen in Puget Sound
SEATTLE – A 19-year-old woman fishing with her father near Edmonds on Saturday saw a 25-foot basking shark.
Grace Coale of Edmonds told the Seattle Times she was excited, not scared, when she saw a 3-foot fin headed toward their boat near Meadowdale Wharf.
She took photos that were identified by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fishery biologist Heidi Dewar as a basking shark.
Dewar said basking sharks were once killed by salmon fishermen and now there are a limited number in Puget Sound.
Body of hiker swept away is found
SANDY, Ore. – Water rescue teams in Oregon’s Clackamas County have recovered the body of a man who was swept away in the storm-swollen waters of the Sandy River in the Mount Hood area.
KPTV reported the body was recovered Tuesday evening about a mile downstream from where the man was last seen Tuesday afternoon.
Sheriff’s deputies said the hiker fell into the river near the Ramona Falls Trailhead. He was not immediately identified.
A footbridge on the trail is believed to have given way.
U.S. Forest Service officials say the footbridge is a temporary bridge used during the summer to cross the river when it is not typically running very high.
Heavy rains hit the area Tuesday.
Missoula plans to eliminate bus fares
MISSOULA – Missoula officials are planning to eliminate passenger fares on city buses starting Jan. 5.
The city and the University of Montana will head a partnership of public and private entities that will spend $460,000 in each of the next three years to subsidize the fares.
The Missoulian reported the goal is to increase ridership by 45 percent to about 400,000 passengers per year.
The plan was announced Tuesday by the Missoula Urban Transportation District. Chairman Eric Hines said the “zero-fare” plan will help improve the quality of life in Missoula.
Transportation district officials said Missoula will become the nation’s 40th metropolitan area to have a zero-fare public transit system.
Man to change plea in explosives theft
BILLINGS – A Wyoming man accused of stealing more than 550 pounds of explosives from a U.S. Forest Service bunker near Red Lodge in April 2013 is seeking to plead guilty to a federal criminal indictment, according to court documents.
Budd James Nesius, 33, of Wheatland, was ordered to appear in U.S. District Court in Billings on Thursday for a change of plea hearing before Judge Susan Watters.
Nesius was arrested in February and initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of possession of stolen explosives.
He faces up to 10 years in prison, three years’ supervised release and a $250,000 fine. He did not reach a plea deal, according to documents filed by prosecutors and Nesius’ public defender, David Merchant.
Stolen classic car stumps detectives
PORTLAND – Reginald Graves grew up around mill workers in the lumber yards of rural Oregon, an America in the 1940s in which men cut wood for a living and drove Ford Model A’s.
So after decades as a linguist in the U.S. and Middle East, Graves came home in his late 60s. His children were grown, he had a little money – and a lot of credit – and he had eyes for that classic Model A. So he bought one. Then he bought another. And soon he had four, all of which he tootled around the countryside.
“I was probably the most-photographed guy in the tri-county area,” said Graves, 74.
But on July 15, one of them disappeared from his Laurel, Oregon, home.
The car was a 1931 model, the color of creme brulee, a spare tire mounted on its rear bumper. Doubt the chic of a Ford now, Graves said, but in the 1940s and most of the ’50s, there was no contest.
“From the late ’20s to the mid-’40s, the Ford was the car,” Graves said. “The Chevy was a nerd car. Chevies didn’t become cool until 1955.”
On the press release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office were the words no owner of a stolen car wants to read.
“Detectives have exhausted all investigative leads,” it said, “and are seeking the public’s help.”