Trains carrying crude oil through Spokane and the rest of the state to Washington refineries would have to keep it under lower pressure under a bill supporters say will reduce the chance of catastrophic accidents.

Passenger train service between Seattle and Everett has been temporarily suspended after a mudslide blocked tracks north of Seattle.

I am glad that Rob McKenna, former attorney general of the state of Washington, is not the presiding judge in my legal case of nonviolent civil disobedience now pending in Spokane County Superior Court. In a guest opinion column published in this paper on Jan. 11 (“Personal views don’t excuse crimes”), Mr. McKenna set himself up as self-appointed judge, jury and prosecutor of my legal case even before it has gone to trial, which is now scheduled for April 23. As a former prosecutor himself, Mr. McKenna should know that you do not pass judgment on a case that is currently being investigated and litigated. In our system of justice, a person is considered innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury of his peers – and not the other way around.

Although the NTSB investigation is just getting underway, some important questions must be answered by the public and private operators of passenger trains in Washington state and beyond.

Two passenger trains collided on Friday near Vienna, injuring several people, authorities said.