KPLU News Staff

Sunshine and 65 today; rain likely this weekend

In the headlines this morning:

• Protests Over Principal Firings in Puyallup and Seattle
• Two Tacoma Elementary Schools to Close
• 2012 Washington Presidential Primary Cancelled
• Firefighters Douse 2-Alarm Green Lake Blaze

Angry parents, teachers protest principal firings in Seattle, Puyallup

It's been quite a week for high schools in the region. 

Seattle's school board faced a big rally of angry parents and teachers late yesterday afternoon (Thurs) after interim schools superintendant Susan Enfield ousted the popular principal of Ingraham High, Martin Floe. According to the Seattle Times, Enfield cited 'stagnant' test scores and said Ingraham was the second-lowest performing high school in the Seattle district.

Meantime, in Puyallup, students, parents and teachers at Rogers High School are still reeling from the news that Principal Scott Brittain has resigned and will step down at the end of next month.

The final Giant Magnet Children’s Festival is underway in Seattle. It’s the 25th year of the event which aims to introduce young audiences to the world - it's people, customs and cultures.  

Nick Risinger has always gazed up at the sky. But last year the amateur astronomer and photographer quit his day job as a Seattle marketing director and lugged six synchronized cameras about 60,000 miles to capture an image of the entire night sky.

Thursday weather: Sun is back! Highs upper 50s.

In the headlines around the Northwest:

• U.W. Students Arrested in Sit-In Protest Over Campus Vendor
• Gregoire Signs Legislation to Pave Way for Federal Health Care Overhaul
• Popular Seattle High School Principal Fired
• Microsoft Antitrust Settlement Expires Today

A University of Washington sit-in to protest the food services company that supplies the concessions at UW athletic facilities has led to the arrests of about 25 students.

Protest organizer Morgan Currier says the students were cited Wednesday evening for trespassing and released.

The Johnston Ridge Observatory opens Saturday at Mount St. Helens with some new displays to tell visitors the story of the volcano's big 1980 eruption.

The Daily News of Longview reports $1.6 million worth of improvements and enhancements have been made. When the Forest Service and Mount St. Helens Institute discussed them Tuesday, the center of attention was a touch-screen kiosk.

An unusual vessel headed for a Seattle shipyard could attract a lot of attention this week as it moves through Puget Sound.

It's a mobile radar station mounted on a floating oil-drilling platform.

Wednesday weather: Rain is back; highs upper 50s.

Making headlines around the Northwest:

• Former P-I Journalist Deported to Iran
• 16 new charges in 'Barefoot Bandit' case 
• Two Children's Hospital Nurses Accused of Unprofessional Conduct
• Family Files Suit in Death of Teen at Ft. Lewis

Al-Jazeera and Former Seattle Journalist Deported to Iran

A journalist and formal editorial writer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has been deported to Iran after being detained in Syria, the Al Jazeera news service is reporting.

Dorothy Parvaz has been missing since she arrived in Damascus on April 29. Parvaz was working as a journalist for the Al Jazeera English network.

Students at tiny Bridgeport High School shed some tears Tuesday with news that President Barack Obama won't be giving the commencement address.

Five girls who helped make a video touting the school waited with the principal in her office for the call. They cried when the call came from the White House and waited in the office as other students filed into the gymnasium for the announcement.

Partly Sunny and 63 today.

Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Microsoft Agrees to Buy Skype for $8.5 Billion
• Fatal Crash on I-5 at Arlington
• Mariners Cut Temperamental Outfielder Milton Bradley

Microsoft Will Buy Skype in its Biggest Deal Ever

Microsoft has agreed to buy the popular Internet telephone service Skype for $8.5 billion in the biggest deal in the software maker's 36-year history.

Buying Skype would give Microsoft a potentially valuable communications tool as it tries to make a bigger splash on the Internet and become a bigger force in the increasingly important smartphone market.

• No Light Rail to South King County Until at Least 2034
• New 520 Opening Bridge May be Delayed
• Kent Man Severely Injured in Apartment Explosion
• Washington Gas Prices Up Again

Making headlines around the Northwest, Monday, May 9:

Sound Transit Lacks Cash for Light Rail to S. King County

There's no money to extend a voter-approved plan to extend light rail to Federal Way by the original deadline of 2023.

Weather: A cloudy, showery weekend ahead with highs around 57.

Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Backlog Will Hold Up Boeing 747-8 Line for a Month
• Seattle Children's Pledges to Fix Flaw Found by Feds
• Two Law Enforcement Officers to Receive Top WA Honor
• Amazon.com is Hiring

Work Backlog to Choke Off Boeing 747-8 Production Until June 7

As if the chronic delays on the 787 Dreamliner weren’t enough to deal with, Boeing executives and workers now have another puzzle to solve: Boeing’s second-most important commercial aircraft. The 747-8  is behind schedule.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is considering a ban on battery-powered electronic cigarettes that deliver nicotine without smoking.

Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Former U.W. Employee Charged With Embezzling
• 13 Sent to Redmond Hospital After Hazmat Scare
• 5,500 Gray Wolves Off Endangered Species List
• Costco Earnings Up 12 Percent

Former Hospital Employee Accused of $250,000 Theft

A former University of Washington Medical Center employee accused of embezzling more than $250,000 from the Seattle hospital has been charged with 19 theft counts.

Marijuana dispensaries say their legal situation is actually getting worse now that Governor Chris Gregoire has vetoed most of the medical marijuana bill.  The legal gray area they’ve been using since 1999 as a justification for opening co-ops and storefront shops will be eliminated when the law takes effect in July. 

Police, fire and all other departments in Seattle have been asked to find budget cuts for next year. Mayor Mike McGinn has instructed every office to look for trims because of lagging city revenues.