OLYMPIA -- A former City of South Bend official was sentenced to 16 months in prison in Pacific County Superior Court today for stealing more than $153,000 in city funds. Colleen K. Mason pleaded guilty in November to five counts of first degree theft and one count of second degree theft.

In court today, Judge Mark F. McCauley also ordered Mason to pay $153,379.36 in restitution to the City of South Bend, $110 in court costs and a $500 crime victims' compensation assessment.

OLYMPIA - Puget Sound Energy's natural gas customers will likely see an overall decrease in their monthly bills this fall under an agreement reached today between the company, state regulators, the Attorney General's Office and industrial users.

OLYMPIA - May 28, 2002 - The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear a Washington case that will determine whether the state Department of Social and Health Services can use Social Security money received on behalf of foster children to help provide for the children's care.

SEATTLE - The Washington State Attorney General's Office and the British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General today joined forces to seize assets and close down a Vancouver, BC telemarketer. The cooperative effort is part of crackdown by law enforcement agencies in both nations to stop cross-border telemarketing fraud.

"Cross-border telemarketing fraud has become a serious problem," Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire explained. "We estimate telemarketing fraud victims, many of them our vulnerable elderly citizens, lose $40 billion a year."

Seattle – Washington and more than 40 other states have settled a case against a Florida-based telemarketing firm accused of unfair and deceptive practices, Attorney General Christine Gregoire announced today.

As a result of this settlement and a similar one reached between the company and the Federal Trade Commission, more than 6,000 Washington residents could be eligible for restitution.

SEATTLE - Washington consumers who do not wish to receive telemarketing calls can now join the Federal Trade Commission's National Do Not Call Registry, according to Attorney General Christine Gregoire.

"We are pleased that federal agencies are providing this public service, and Congress has provided sufficient funding to make it work," Gregoire said. "This may not be the end of unwanted telemarketing calls, but consumers will finally have some control over the volume of telephone solicitations they receive at home."

OLYMPIA - March 14, 2002 - The U.S. Supreme Court today will be asked to reverse a Washington Supreme Court decision that prohibits the state from using foster children's Social Security money to provide for their care.

SEATTLE - Attorney General Christine Gregoire today announced that consumers who paid for magazine subscriptions they never received will finally get what they ordered, or their money back.

Publishers Services, a Woodinville telemarketing company owned by Daniel William and Stacy Base, repeatedly collected money for magazine subscriptions it failed to deliver or had no authority to sell.

SEATTLE -- Health and nutrition programs in Washington could receive as much as $200,000 from an antitrust settlement with the manufacturer of a popular electric cooking grill, Attorney General Christine Gregoire said today.

The money is part of an $8.2 million national settlement reached between Salton, Inc., maker of the George Foreman Grill, and 44 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The settlement was filed today in U.S. District Court in New York.

OLYMPIA - Resource-starved rural counties are one step closer to receiving state reinforcement in their battle against methamphetamine. As the Legislature adjourns, Attorney General Rob McKenna has secured approval for his “Operation: Allied Against Meth” legislation and the bulk of the funding necessary to implement the bill. The legislation and the funding now await approval by the Governor.