Other LanguagesSEATTLE—Today the Washington Supreme Court ruled unanimously for the State in two important pension cases.
KENNEWICK—Attorney General Bob Ferguson yesterday secured the first derelict vessel conviction in Benton County. The defendant, Brandon Traner, will serve 20 days in jail and pay restitution for abandoning a derelict fishing trawler in the Columbia River.
OLYMPIA — The Washington State Attorney General’s Office will vigorously defend I-502, the initiative legalizing marijuana, against an argument raised by the city of Fife. The city claims that the state law is invalid because it conflicts with federal law. If a court accepts that argument and it is upheld on appeal, it would mean the end of the state system for legal marijuana sales in Washington.
OLYMPIA – The sunken 167-foot Helena Star has been raised, patched, and towed to Seattle, where it is being scrapped and recycled, announced the Washington State Departments of Natural Resources (DNR) and Ecology.
OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today moved to intervene in three marijuana lawsuits filed against the cities of Wenatchee and Fife. Businesses that applied for marijuana licenses have sued these cities in Chelan and Pierce County Superior Courts to challenge city ordinances that block them from operating. The AGO is intervening to defend Initiative 502, not to support the plaintiffs’ or cities’ positions.
SEATTLE — A Snohomish County jury has decided that repeat sex offender Calvin Malone is a dangerous predator and must be confined in 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 2012 to prevent Malone’s release into the community.
OLYMPIA — The Washington State Attorney General’s Office has filed criminal charges against Michael Mann, owner of Wheelchairs Plus Inc., in Thurston County Superior Court. The AGO alleges Mann committed the crimes of First Degree Theft and Medicaid False Statement when he fraudulently provided 119 Medicaid recipients with used or refurbished wheelchairs while billing Medicaid as if they were new. Mann billed the State Medicaid system a total of $606,980 for the wheelchairs.
EVERETT — A Lynnwood woman must repay Washington state more than $200,000 for workers’ comp benefits she received fraudulently.
OLYMPIA — A Forks resident who raised $300,000 for a non-profit dog rescue organization, but failed to register with the Secretary of State or produce required records of how the donations were spent, has been sued by the Attorney General’s Office for violating Washington’s Charitable Solicitations Act and Consumer Protection Act.
SEATTLE — The Public Counsel Unit of the Washington State Attorney General’s Office has challenged electric and gas rate increases proposed by Avista Corp.