Tagged: western state hospital

Health care advocates are pushing Washington state lawmakers to keep up momentum toward expanding access to Medicaid. About 100 people rallied on the Capitol steps in Olympia Thursday. They argue one group that will especially benefit is people with mental illness.

Inside the Capitol, that’s one of many issues related to the mentally-ill. Several measures focus on broadening access to community mental health services as opposed to big institutions. The idea is to get help for mentally-ill people before they get into trouble.

The school shootings in Connecticut have an extra layer of sadness for parents whose children are mentally ill.

In fact, Washington’s and America's main advocacy group for the mentally ill -- the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) -- was organized by a Seattle mother back in the 1970s, after her son, filled with schizophrenic delusions, shot and killed a man. 

Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Pirates in Fatal Yacht Hijacking Indicted
• Arrest in Spokane MLK Day Bomb Plot
• State Details Patient Escape from Western State
• UW-WSU Meet Tonight in Pac-10 Championships

Indictments in High Seas Hijacking, Murders

Fourteen men are charged today with the hijacking of a yacht on which four Americans - including a Seattle couple - were shot to death.

The US Justice Department is holding the 13 Somalis and a man from Yemen in Norfolk, Virginia. They are expected to make a court appearance today, according to The Associated Press.

The Washington Department of Social and Health Services is reviewing how a patient was able to escape from
Western State Hospital at Lakewood.

Jonathan D. Wilson remained in Pierce County Jail over the weekend, and Department of Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis says officials are deciding Monday where he should be transferred. 

The News Tribune's Stacia Glenn reports Wilson may be headed to Mason County.

A new TV ad created by the Washington Federation of state Employees claims that violence has increased at Western State Hospital – because of budget cuts by the state. 

The Seattle Times "Truthneedle" picked that ad apart and says it's misleading and "mostly false."