Extra Washington State Patrol troopers will be on the roads Sunday, looking for speeders, aggressive motorists and suspected drunken drivers heading home from Super Bowl activities.

In Pierce and Thurston counties, the State Patrol will be at full staffing, plus have some troopers working overtime to look for speeders. Troopers will be fully staffed in King County. An additional 12 troopers will work overtime over the weekend.

Troopers ask drivers to not drive if they drink alcoholic beverages at a Super Bowl party.

“We don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun,” said State Patrol Chief John Batiste in

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A Seattle-based insurance company has ranked the recent weeks of heavy snowfall, freezing temps and flooding as among the most damaging of the state’s bad weather spells.

Here’s the press release from PEMCO:

SEATTLE – Washington’s recent spell of bad weather – snow, freezing temperatures, followed by heavy rain and flooding – will rank among the most damaging ever, according to Seattle-based PEMCO Insurance.



Although final figures won’t be known for several weeks, PEMCO’s claims trends show the year-end snowstorms and rapid snowmelt will end up generating a projected 1,305 claims totaling

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This affidavit was filed about year ago, but I just ran across it after the accused was picked up on a bench warrant.

It just goes to show that in tough economic times, you can sometimes get a refund if you ask.

Bonus: the affidavit was written by prosecutor/author Mark Lindquist, whose novel “King of Methlehem” is full of similar gritty Pierce County vérité.

A freight train has hit a semi-truck hauling cars at a railroad crossing in Kent, according to KIRO TV.

The incident occurred about 1:15 p.m. Friday. The truck driver was not injured. At least two cars were thrown off the semi-truck; one was dragged a quarter mile by the train, the television station reported.

Read more here.

An Eatonville High School student is recovering today after being hit and injured by a school bus on Thursday afternoon.

The 14-year-old boy was “pretty banged up” and suffered internal injuries, Eatonville School District Superintendent Raymond Arment said Friday. The boy was being treated at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital and Health Center in Tacoma.

Eatonville police were trying to figure out what happened Thursday afternoon.

The boy, a ninth grader, was hit by the bus as he was crossing the street about 1:45 p.m. at the intersection of Center Street East and Washington Avenue East,

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Here’s the press release from the state Department of Corrections:

McNeil Island Corrections Center Passes Audit

OLYMPIA – The McNeil Island Corrections Center (MICC) in Steilacoom scored 100 percent on mandatory standards and 99.3 percent on non-mandatory standards in an American Correctional Association (ACA) accreditation audit that took place Jan. 26-28.

Located in Alexandria, Va., ACA is the only national organization that accredits correctional facilities.  ACA standards are considered the benchmark for the effective operation of professional correctional systems.

Prisons Director Dick Morgan said the high scores affirmed the ability of MICC employees

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Crews were at the scene of an overturned semi-truck this morning in Tacoma.

The accident was reported near East 26th and C streets.

Per the scanner, no injuries were reported.

UPDATE:This is a logging truck. The logs were being off-loaded before the truck could be righted and removed.

The westbound lanes of East 26th Street were blocked.

A Washington State Patrol trooper suffered minor injuries Wednesday night after a pursuit of a reckless motorcyclist.

The incident began just after 6:30 p.m. The trooper spotted a motorcycle driving recklessly eastbound on Southeast 240th Street at State Route 515 in Kent, the State Patrol reported.

The trooper, who was in an unmarked car, followed the rider as he began doing wheelies.

“The motorcycle rider turned his head and when he realized there might be a police officer behind him he fled at a high rate of speed,” the State Patrol reported.

The trooper turned

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