The Washington State Traffic Safety Commission sent out a press release late Monday night that proclaimed the state’s seat belt use “now, likely the highest in the nation and the world.”

According to a recent survey, 96.3 percent of Washingtonians were buckling up.

Seat belt usage has been high in the state for quite a while. Four years ago, when the state passed the primary seat belt law, 82 percent of drivers wore seat belts behind the wheel, the commission reported.

The message about seat belt use is a constant one from the Traffic Safety Commission (you’ve

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It appears our sister city to the north also is seeing an uptick in gang violence, according to a story in today’s Seattle Times.

Seattle and its suburbs are experiencing many of the same problems Tacoma is and for some of the same reasons. That’s not surprising given the frequent stories about shootings and stabbings in Seattle that have headlined the local news over the past several months.

It looks like Bonney Lake residents can now get crime stats for their homes and/or businesses.

The city’s web page boasts a new feature — search Bonney Lake crime data. The city is hooking up with the county to make this possible. (The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department’s web site has been offering this service for unincorporated Pierce County, Edgewood and University Place for some time.)

You can look up crime data by address, neighborhood or Neighborhood Action Team. You’ll get crime information within a half-mile radius of your location. The data covers the most recent

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I just wrote a short story for our homepage about a new speed enforcement in Bonney Lake.

The automated traffic safety program tickets speeding drivers in school zones. By looking at the Bonney Lake web site, it appears a van with LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology attacked tracks every individual vehicle across all lanes of traffic at the same time.

This is obviously different from the cameras installed at traffic lights to spot drivers who run red lights.

Check it out for yourself here.

KING 5 News reported earlier in the week about a federal drug bust that netted 46 arrests, 1,500 pounds of high-grade marijuana (“BC Bud”), 23 kilos of cocaine and more than 1,000 ecstacy tablets.

Guess what? There’s a Tacoma connection. And a disturbing one.

Federal agents investigating the King County-based drug distribution ring learned about a pair of brothers dealing large amounts of ecstasy and cocaine from a house in the 4900 block of South 58th Street.

According to court documents obtained by Lights & Sirens, agents raided the place Sept. 6.

In one

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We just caught the tail end of a story on CNN about the sentencing Wednesday of triple murderer Ulyssess Handy III.

The headline on the CNN story was “No contrition” and was a compilation of clips from his sentencing hearing and the minutes afterward when his mother apologized to the mother of one of his victims.

The anchorwoman ended the report by saying Handy will spend the rest of his life in prison.

It’s not too surprising that the footage would be of note nationally because of Handy’s demeanor in court Wednesday and statements of

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Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department officials cracked down on stores over the store, conducting compliance checks to see if clerks were unlawfully selling to minors.

They visited to 303 stores during June, July and August and found violations at 31. (Find the story here.)

Straight from the health department, here’s the list of stores that violated the law:

- ANDERSON’S FINE FOODS, 1902 Point Fosdick Dr NW, Gig Harbor

- GIG HARBOR CHEVRON, 5006 Pt Fosdick Dr NW, Gig Harbor

- HARVEST TIME COUNTRY STORE, 9507A St Rd 302, Gig Harbor

- HOME FEED & GROCERY, 1809 Key Peninsula Hwy N, Lakebay

- PURDY 76 & GROCERY, 13818 ST RD 16, Purdy

- ALBERTSON’S FUEL CENTER #495, 19825 ST RT 410 E Bonney Lake

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Tragic news out of King County this morning.

A 16-year-old high school student was killed Thursday night when a relative accidentally shot him at a home in the Top Hat neighborhood.

The 16-year-old relative has been booked into the Youth Center on suspicion of manslaughter. King County sheriff’s deputies report he was showing the victim a gun when it went off and a bullet struck the victim in the chest.

The victim died at the house in the 12000 block of Occidental Avenue South.

The exact relationship of the boys was not known, deputies said, though

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