About 3 p.m. Thursday, a fire broke out along southbound Interstate 5 in SeaTac.

The smoky blaze, pushed by stiff winds, threatened several homes and clogged traffic on I-5 near the South 200th Street interchange. It was a traffic nightmare and forced several folks to flee their homes.

Eight fire departments – SeaTac, South King Fire and Rescue, Kent, Burien, Boeing, Port of Seattle, Tukwila and Renton – responded and knocked it down.

Luckily, no one was hurt and no buildings were damaged.

But someone’s dander sure got up.

I was coming home from an

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Hmmmmm.

Sometimes, it’s best if I just stay out of the way of a good story. This is one of those cases.

Here’s a State Patrol press release* we received at Bad News Central yesterday. It comes from trooper Jeff Merrill of the King County detachment (Merrill sent the photo as well):

A wild foot chase yesterday involving several pedestrians and a gun resulted in one subject darting into traffic and getting run over.

The victim, a 23-year-old Renton man, told troopers that he was walking down Martin Luther King

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Pierce County authorities have released this booking photo of the Puyallup junior high school teacher accused of raping and molesting a 15-year-old student.

Diane Amanda Hillman, 39, is charged with third-degree child rape and third-degree child molestation. Court documents indicate she had an on-going relationship with the girl.

She pleaded not guilty Friday.

Hillman, a counselor at Ballou Junior High School, posted $10,000 bail Friday evening and was released, according to jail records.

She scheduled in court of a pre-trial conference Aug. 28.

I meant to post a link to this article back when Harold Wright Jr. and Richy Carter were still on trial, but I got busy and forgot.

I’m getting a second chance now that Wright and Carter are asking for new trials.

For the record, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Lisa Worswick required witnesses and attorneys in Wright’s and Carter’s original trial to insert the word “alleged” before any references to attack, rape or victim.

CORRECTION: I’ve been advised that Judge Worswick ordered only that participants refer to the woman who accused Wright and Carter

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Here’s the Reuters report.

It’s got to do with selling magazines door-to-door. Click here.

State Troopers who prowl the roads of District 8 soon will be carrying Tasers, those electric stun guns cops sometimes use to bring uncooperative people under control.

Trooper Brian George announced Wednesday that the district’s personnel soon will receive the nonlethal weapons following eight hours of training, including being shocked themselves.

They’ll get the Taser X26 model.

All the state’s troopers eventually will be outfitted with the devices.

Stacey wrote a treatise about Tasers, including which South Sound agencies employ them, back in 2005:

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