SEATTLE PI
Seattle, Wa
Missing Feline Epidemic, 8/14/2007
Are you missing your cat? You are not alone. It seems like everywhere you look, you see missing-pet posters. The telephone poles of Seattle are cluttered with Seen Our Cat posters such as the one on the corner of Jackson Avenue and Parkway. Where the standard is "Seen Our Cat?" scrawled in runny magic marker, this one features sharp production values, a clean design and a laminated coating. Then there's the eye-catching reward: $1,000 for any information leading to the return of a black male cat named Mugoddai. SPCA spokesperson Linda Karter advises local pet owners to keep their cats indoors and urges the police to investigate. Police Chief Gilderoy was unavailable for comment.
Alleged Police Brutality Caught On Tape, 8/15/2007
A case of alleged police brutality has been caught on tape. Seattle police are accused of using excessive force when two suspects became angry with the officers. CBS 2's Chelsea Irving reports the recorded confrontation started as a traffic stop in West Seattle.
It is video captured on a cell phone camera, so it is not of very good quality, but two young men say it shows the beating they suffered at the hands of a special police anti-gang unit nicknamed ‘the Striketeam.’ We spoke with one of the men, who did not want to be identified.
"I was grabbed, choked, slammed to the floor, kicked punched, stomped," he says.
That young man says he and a friend were sitting in their car near the intersection of Gladys and Kilbourn on the west side Monday afternoon, when police approached for an apparent traffic stop. He admits his friend resisted police. In the video it's clear they disobeyed officers’ orders not to get out of the car.
“Even if he was resisting arrest, does that give the police the right to do what they did, which was, to me, mob action? Four or five cops beating individuals," Attorney Warren Ballentine, who is representing the young man with whom we spoke, says. “When they were actually on the ground and the cops continue to punch and kick them, that's when it became excessive force."
Police Chief Gilderoy made the following statement to the press. “I stand behind the excellent work that Detective Mac Victor and his Striketeam have done to protect the citizens of Seattle. That said, I’m conducting an internal investigation of these allegations and I promise Seattle that I won’t stand for excessive force.”
In the car's back seat was the driver’s fiancée and three-month-old baby girl, along with another friend - the young man who used his cell phone camera. He also does not want us to show his face.
"I'm just recording, thinking like anyone else would think: this is not happening, just fear," he says.
Both young men were arrested and charged with several counts of resisting and obstructing a police officer, as well as several counts of battery. So far neither suspect has been able to produce the video.
Customers Give Local Restaurants The Shaft After Rat Infestation, 8/15/2007
Residents of Seattle are still talking about how rats invaded a local KFC/Taco Bell, and some are questioning if they will ever eat out again.
"When I saw the news about the rats, I was like freaking out," frequent customer Kim Pagnottan said. "I was like holy (bleep). I was like oh my god. It's disgusting!
"Now, it's like I don't want to even go out, I want to eat at my own house. I want to cook every day."
Pagnottan wasn't the only person grossed out by the events that transpired on Friday morning at the restaurant at Sixth Avenue and West 4th Street. Eddie Rue, a now former customer, said it doesn't get much worse than that.
Sewer Problem in West Seattle May Cost Tax Payers Millions, 8/15/2007
King County's sewer utility crews responded quickly to a small wastewater overflow at the Murray Avenue Pump Station in West Seattle after a power failure shut down pumping equipment about 4:30 a.m.
A backup power generator came on about an hour after the initial outage and enabled the pump station to resume normal operations.
It's estimated that between 2500 and 4,000 gallons of wastewater overflowed to Puget Sound while power was off at the pump station. Normally, the Murray pump station handles about 2.2 million gallons of wastewater per day.
Several streets in West Seattle have damaged or blocked sewer pipes. It is believed that a local donut shop was dumping waste materials directly into the sewer system, which caused a severe mold problem and damaged several of the pumping stations.
To protect public health, the county posted the nearby beach areas as closed, took water samples, and told health and regulatory agencies about overflow. Residents are encouraged to restrict their water and sewer usage until the crisis is over.
Drop in Violent Crime in Bremerton, 8/15/2007
"Murder rates in Bremerton fall dramatically," said Bremerton Police Spokesman Lt. James Gary in a press release yesterday. "It seems like a great darkness over our community just lifted overnight."
Murders and other violent crimes seem to have stopped abruptly leaving many in the community holding their breaths. Bremerton's long history with violent crime has been tied to local drug problems as well as an understaffed police force.
"We used to see about a murder a night and at least 10 assaults, really blood stuff, mostly. Last night we only had 2 domestic disturbances," Gary said in a phone interview.
Art Stolen by Nazis, 8/15/2007
The 1927 painting "Oriental Woman Seated on Floor," by Henri Matisse was discovered yesterday at PAWN X-Change on Aurora Ave N. The masterpiece has been missing since 1940 when it was stolen by Nazis forces from French art dealer Paul Rosenberg. Details in this bizarre
story are still coming to light though it is a complete mystery how the painting arrived in Seattle. The Owner of PAWN X-Change could not be reached for comment.
Asian Gangs, 8/15/2007
Seattle's International District has had dozens of reports of violent Crime with no arrests as of yet. The area has been among the safest neighborhoods in Seattle for the last 10 years with no explanation for the current change of events.
Weather
The heat wave in the Pacific Northwest continues with another week of record breaking high temperatures. Concerns about drought and wildfires are still high.
