Other News

Good morning. Will it be as sunny as Wednesday? No, but we will see occasional sun breaks along with clouds and showers around western Washington today, according to the National Weather Service. 

Making headlines this morning:

• Guilty Plea in Afghan Civilian Murders
• Seattle Pays Out Millions in Madison Valley Flood Suit
• New Plan Could Keep State History Museums Open

Morlock Pleads Guilty to Murder

Army Spc. Jeremy Morlock pleaded guilty to three counts of murder of unarmed Afghan civilians, admitting the motive in the deaths was "...to kill people."  Morlock's plea came at a Joint Base Lewis-McChord court martial hearing Wednesday, a process followed closely by KPLU's Austin Jenkins.

Morlock will be a key witness in hearings of four Stryker Brigade platoon mates who are also charged in the deaths, reports The News Tribune's Adam Ashton: 

Morlock will be a key witness against Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, who allegedly plotted to murder Afghan civilians and brought his comrades along with him. Gibbs denies the charges and is expected to face a court-martial in June.

The war crimes are the subject of international attention, with photographs of soldiers posing with corpses published online this past week by Germany's Der Spiegel.

Odd as it may seem, that’s a big question right now within the aid and development community.

By a simple measure of the number of news stories and organizational appeals out there, clearly the answer is: Yes, people should donate to disaster relief in Japan.

Perhaps the most blunt argument answering the question in the negative has come from Felix Salmon, economics columnist for Reuters, who said simply: Don’t Donate Money to Japan.

I’ve posted on this debate a few times, including an anonymous post from an aid worker decrying the “ugly game” of fund-raisingaround the Japan quake-tsunami disaster.

Others have written as well about the question of whether Japan needs/wants help from outside groups such as Stephanie Strom at the New York Times and Saundra Schimmelpfennig at Good Intentions Are Not Enough.

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Seattle’s theater community is reeling this morning at the loss of one of their own.  The Seattle Times reports actor Mark Chamberlin died Tuesday after a weekend bicycle accident.

Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Push to Preserve Iconic Seattle PI Globe
• Warnings of Phone Scams
• Plea Deal for JBLM Soldier Likely for Afghan War Crimes

It's About the PI

Some Seattle City Council members are concerned the iconic globe atop the seattlepi.com offices on the city's central waterfront may go away if it's not protected. They're considering landmark status for neon-lighted orb that has been spinning for 63 years. It has survived the company's shift from daily newspaper to a smaller, online-only venture.

Riders on the nation’s biggest ferry system, Washington State Ferries, should brace themselves for another round of fare increases. The only remaining question is how much. 

The state House and Senate have come out with competing spending blueprints for roads and ferries. One thing the budgets have in common is higher ferry fares. The  increase this fall ranges between 2.5% and 5% and another 2.5% coming next fall.

Update Wed., March 23, 12:00 p.m.

Gonzaga will play Louisville in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA women's college basketball tournament. Saturday's game in Spokane begins at 6 p.m.

The first college basketball player to score 2,000 career points and rack up 1,000 assists is a 5'8" Gonzaga guard who last night helped lead her team into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women's championships. Courtney Vandersloot led the Bulldogs upset of UCLA in Spokane, 89-75.

Gonzaga's victory ensured their next tournament game would be in front of a hometown crowd in the NCAA's Spokane regional. They will face the winner of tonight's Xavier-Louisville contest on March 26th. 

Vandersloot scored 29 points against the Bruins, 21 of them in the second half, and tallied 17 assists. Teammate Kayla Standish scored 30, and Gonzaga won it's 20th consecutive game. 

Seattle’s on-again-off-again festival celebrating all things cannabis seems to be on again.

Officials with Seattle Hempfest say they’ve resolved their dispute with the city and the event will be held as scheduled in mid-August at Myrtle Edwards Park.