Other LanguagesTACOMA — Stephen Mason, owner of the derelict vessel the Helena Star, entered guilty pleas today to charges of abandoning a derelict vessel and discharging pollution into state waters. He was sentenced to 20 days of confinement (which may be served on electronic home monitoring) and two years’ probation, and is ordered to repay the state $300,000 towards the total cost of $1.25 million to remove the sunken vessel from the Hylebos Waterway in Pierce County. As part of the agreement, Mason will cooperate with Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) efforts to secure the remaining restitution from other Helena Star investors.
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today led a nationwide effort to urge Congress to pass legislation that would help prevent children from being trafficked on the Internet.
WENATCHEE — A second superior court judge today agreed with an opinion issued by the Attorney General’s Office last year, concluding that nothing in Initiative 502 overrides local governments’ authority to regulate or ban marijuana businesses.
OLYMPIA — Secretary of State Kim Wyman and Attorney General Bob Ferguson are urging Washington residents to make wise choices when giving money to charity, avoiding unscrupulous fundraising groups during the upcoming holidays and afterward.
WALLA WALLA — Repeat convicted sex offender Maverick Lanning has agreed that he is a sexually violent predator. He will be committed indefinitely to the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island.
SPOKANE — A Spokane County jury has decided that repeat sex offender James Jones is a dangerous predator and must be confined to the State’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island. In the interest of public safety, prosecutors from Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) Unit have been fighting since February 2013 to prevent Jones’ release into the community.
WALLA WALLA — Prosecutors from Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s Sexually Violent Predator Unit (SVP) are in Walla Walla County, fighting to prevent the release of a convicted sex offender.
Attorney General announces Extendicare to pay Washington more than $1M to resolve multistate lawsuit
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced today that hundreds of residents at 15 skilled-nursing facilities in Washington will benefit from an unprecedented multistate agreement with Extendicare Health Services, Inc. (“Extendicare”) and its subsidiary, Progressive Step Corporation (“ProStep”).
SEATTLE – Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s Public Counsel Unit today challenged a $32 million electric rate increase proposed by PacifiCorp, which operates in Washington as Pacific Power and Light Company. PacifiCorp serves approximately 132,000 electric customers in Yakima, Walla Walla, Garfield and Columbia Counties. Public Counsel believes the 9.5 percent rate increase for residential customers is too high.
SOUTH BEND — The Attorney General’s Office has filed charges against a former Pacific County Sheriff’s deputy accused of misconduct on the job.