The Associated Press

TACOMA, Wash. — A trucker was changing a flat tire Thursday morning on Interstate 5 south of Tacoma when he saw a woman in her underwear crawl over the guardrail from a swamp near the Nisqually River.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Supreme Court is requiring Attorney General Rob McKenna to represent the state's public lands commissioner in a legal appeal.

EAST SAND ISLAND, Wash. — An attempt by government wildlife experts to control seabirds at the mouth of the Columbia River has led to some unintended consequences, all of which have been detrimental to salmon.

More than a thousand schools in Washington state are failing to make adequate progress under federal law. But a handful of others are beating the odds and improving enough to work their way off the growing list of failing schools.

Among Seattle Public Schools, the improved schools are Greenwood Elementary School, Middle College High School, Sacajawea Elementary School.

Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna and 45 other attorneys general today called for information about how Backpage.com presumably attempts to remove advertising for sex trafficking, especially ads that could involve minors.

Meanwhile, Snohomish County has received a $450,000 federal grant to combat child sex trafficking.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Police in Vancouver, British Columbia, say a human foot inside a running shoe has washed ashore, the latest in roughly a dozen such cases since 2007.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Within the plans to increase fares, cars shorter than 14 feet will be charged a lower fare on Washington ferries and bike riders won't need an annual permit under changes approved by the state Transportation Commission.

HOQUIAM, Wash. — The owner of the company that's printing the "Osama Bin Loggin" T-shirt for the Loggers Playday festival in Hoquiam says people either love it or hate it.

SEQUIM, Wash. — Nine orphaned barn owl owlets that were raised with the help of a couple of surrogate mother barn owls have flown the nest at the Northwest Raptor and Wildlife Center in Sequim.

LYNDEN, Wash. — The Lynden, Wash., fire chief says a local man dumped gasoline on a beehive in a tree in retaliation for a bee sting, then ignited the hive, causing an explosion heard throughout his suburban neighborhood.

RICHLAND, Wash. — U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings says he is pursuing legislation to recognize the world's first full-scale nuclear reactor as a national historic park.

HOQUIAM, Wash. — The Loggers Playday community festival in Hoquiam is raising eyebrows with a T-shirt mocking Osama bin Laden. It's a cartoon of bin Laden tied to a log with the caption "Osama Bin Loggin.'"

If you've got books overdue at the Seattle public library don't worry. No fines will be charged this week while all the public libraries in the city are closed due to budget cuts.

Seattle libraries will reopen after Labor Day on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

SEATTLE — The Transportation Department is holding a news conference Monday in Seattle to announce plans to shut down the Alaskan Way Viaduct for nine days in October.