OLYMPIA - Attorney General Christine Gregoire announced today that the Williams Companies, Inc. and the Williams Energy Marketing and Trading Company will pay $15 million to resolve state claims that it participated in market manipulations and overcharges that caused electricity rates to skyrocket for Washington consumers over the winter of 2000-2001.

OLYMPIA -- Weyerhaeuser Co. will contribute $130,540 toward a study into the performance of engineered wood siding in Pacific Northwest climates in an agreement that ends an investigation into whether the firm misrepresented the siding's performance.

OLYMPIA - State Attorney General Christine Gregoire today filed criminal charges against two men for violating state water pollution and sewage laws at the city of Ridgefield's wastewater treatment plant.

"These crimes endanger both human health and the environment, and clearly warrant criminal charges as well as civil sanctions," Gregoire said.

Seattle-June 29, 1998-A King County jury today found that the state was not liable for damages for its role in an investigation into allegations of child sex abuse in the Wenatchee area.  Two of the plaintiffs in the suit alleged that the Department of Social and Health Services and a Child Protective Services supervisor were liable for damages arising from the involvement of DSHS employees in the Wenatchee investigation conducted by local law enforcement officials. 

OLYMPIA The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today reversed one of its three-judge panels and ruled 6-5 to reinstate the death sentence of David L. Rice, who killed Seattle attorney Charles Goldmark, his wife and their two children more than a decade ago.

SEATTLE – At least eight Washington state small businesses and nonprofits that lost phone and Internet services when their telecommunications provider, NorVergence, Inc., went bankrupt last year will not have to pay the full amount due on their rental contracts, the Washington State Attorney General’s Office announced today.

Olympia – September 27, 2001 - Traffic-accident reports prepared by law enforcement officers in compliance with state law are subject to public disclosure and copying under the state Public Disclosure Act, an Attorney General Opinion released today concludes.

Olympia - October 9, 2000 - The state Attorney General’s Office today filed suit against the Washington Education Association for illegally using fees paid to it by non-members for political purposes.

The suit, filed in Thurston County Superior Court, alleges that the WEA violated a state law that bars unions from using non-member fees for political purposes without prior permission. The WEA collects these fees from individuals who choose not to join the association, but still benefit from union representation and negotiation.

OLYMPIA - February 27, 1998 - State Attorney General Christine Gregoire today announced a $430,000 settlement stemming from multiple campaign finance charges brought against the Washington Education Association.

Under the settlement agreement, WEA will return to its 65,000 members approximately $330,000 for Community Outreach Program dues that the suit alleged were improperly collected and expended for campaign contributions. An $80,000 penalty and $20,000 in costs and attorney fees incurred by the state during the investigation will also be paid.

OLYMPIA - Attorney General Rob McKenna today joined attorneys general across the country in an amicus curiae—or friend-of-the-court—brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting a qualified reporter’s privilege to refuse to disclose confidential news sources.