Washington, Vancouver | featured news

BURIEN — A woman was found dead and a second was injured as fire burned an apartment building in Burien.
KOMO reports that firefighters arrived at the Forest View Apartments around 6 p.m. Tuesday to find flames burning on at least three floors.
About two dozen people from seven affected apartments are receiving assistance from the Red Cross.

BEND, Ore. — A Bend Paralympic athlete is suing Home Depot for $1.5 million, claiming the company did not consider her disability when it fired her in 2017.
The Bulletin reports in a complaint filed Tuesday in Deschutes County Circuit Court, Barbara Buchan claims that after suffering a concussion in a fall at work, management fired her for keeping $11 worth of presentation materials in her vehicle overnight.

SEATTLE — A new trial has started for brothers accused of fatally shooting two people and wounding three others at the Seattle homeless encampment known as the Jungle.
The Seattle Times reports James and Jerome Taafulisia are being tried for again on murder and assault charges in connection with the Jan. 26, 2016, shooting deaths of Jeanine Zapata and James Tran.
Phat Nguyen, Tracy Bauer, and Amy Jo Shinault also were shot.

PASCO, Wa. — A relative of a Pasco homicide victim, who phoned a juror last week, admitted calling the accused killer a “scumbag” during the brief telephone conversation.
The relative was tracked down and interviewed by a defense investigator on Friday after the juror in Hector Orozco Jr.’s double-murder trial told court officials about the phone call.
On Tuesday, attorney Daniel Stovern renewed his claim of jury tampering based on the conversation between “Juror No. 13” and the relative of Bonnie D. Ross.

RICHLAND — The federal government’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will build a new $90 million energy sciences research building on its Richland campus.
A contract to design and construct the building has been awarded to a Houston-based team of Harvey Cleary Builders and Kirksey Architecture.
The Tri-City Herald says the facility will cover 110,000 to 145,000 square feet.

ATLANTA — Georgia’s new elections chief is asking lawmakers for $150 million to replace the state’s aging electronic voting machines, which experts have warned are vulnerable to hacking.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told Georgia legislators holding budget hearings Wednesday that a new voting system is his top priority. However, he all but closed the door on options that use hand-marked paper ballots, which cybersecurity experts favor.