Spokane Chronicle from Spokane, Washington • 12

Nt) .2., THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW AND SPOKANE CHRONICLE Tuesday, Jan. 8, 1991, Spokane, Wash. Legislative leaders unfold their plans for 1991 session pv Jim Camden and Diana Dawson St14.1- writers A leading Republican in the state Senate will push for wit pay for good teachers and House Democrats will try to: revamp transportation systems and workplace laws when the Legislature convenes next week. LEGISLATURE legislators who stopped in Spokane e. on Monday agreed there was little likelihood of a general tax increase, so the state will have to live with whatever extra revenue the economy generates.

OLYMPIA a biennium where we're going to have to march in place" on most pro-gams, said Republican Dan McDonald, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Democrat Gary Locke, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said the tightening budget would peovide little room for expansion of mental health programs. "Whatever happens, I promise we will not go backwards on the promise of mental-health reform." OLYMPIA While rail lines would be expensive, House Majority Leader Brian Ebersole of Tacoma said they may be cheaper in the long run than additional lanes of highway in the Interstate 5 corridor. Shifting funds away from roads may generate opposition in Eastern Washington. But Rep.

Dennis De Ilwo, DSpokane, said the formula which guarantees certain levels of funding to Spokane and other eastside counties would still be in place. Democrats will also push for a higher minimum wage and a broader family leave bill, Speaker Joe King of Vancouver said. The state minimum wage is currently $4.25 per hour. House Democrats would like to see it raised, although they aren't proposing a specific amount. Instead, they want it indexed to 50 percent of the state's average wage.

The state's family leave law which currently requires companies with more than 100 employees to give workers six weeks of unpaid leave for child birth should also be expanded, King said. House Democrats are proposing that companies with more than 50 employees give workers leave for childbirth, McDonald, of Bellevue, told the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce that he will push for a major change in the way teachers are paid. Under his plan, the state would set aside one-third of the money each school receives for salaries, and direct each school's principal to set up an 1 l-member panel. That panel comprised of six parents and five school staff members, all selected by the school's principal would reward merit pay. "In any school, the kids, the parents, the teachers know who the top teachers are," he told a breakfast meeting of the chamber's Education Committee.

McDonald also wants students to be tested on certain basic skills before moving up a grade. "If we don't test kids, if we don't have certain goals they must achieve before they can advance to the next grade, we're really cheating them," he said. At a morning press conference, House Democratic leaders said they will be pushing for a change in state law that will allow money from gasoline taxes to be used for commuter rail lines. The state constitution currently requires gas tax money to be used only for "highway purposes." and to care for terminally ill or seriously ill family members. Later Monday, Locke of Seattle said mental health reform will fall behind schedule in the coming session.

"Most people recognize the timeline will have to be extended," Locke said after the meeting sponsored by Spokane Community Mental Health Center. A state law passed in 1989 required sections of Washington state to form regional support networks to provide comprehensive mental-health services in the community. Originally, each network was required by July 1993 to do 85 percent of all short-term evaluation and treatment of mental patients, who otherwise would be admitted to the state hospitals. After that deadline, which Locke said could be stretched another two years, Spokane County will be billed the full cost of every patient over the 15 percent ceiling admitted to Eastern State Hospital. "Where are we going from here? Given all the words of doom and gloom and talk of recession and a possible war in the Persian Gulf in 1991?" Locke said.

"Mental health is a priority of the House Democrats and of mine." 11 REGIONAL DIGEST Tacoma crews make progress Segment on boy's death to lead show FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS cleaning up oil Ex-dentist says he's guilty in marijuana-growing plot A former Moses Lake dentist has entered guilty pleas to federal drug and weapons charges stemming from a marijuana growing per: ation at his home, a prosecutor said Monday. Avery E. Harrison, 44, entered pleas to counts of manufacturing more than 100 marijuana plants and receiving and possessing an unregistered firearm, said assistant U.S. attorney Ron Skibbie. Harrison faces a 63- to 78-month prison term with sentencing scheduled for March 15.

His trial had been scheduled to begin Mon: day. Harrison entered the guilty pleas Friday. Harrison was arrested last fall by officers of a drug task force at his lakeside home, where officers found more than 700 marijuana plants in various stages of maturity, as well as lighting and other equipment for growing the plants indoors, Sldbbie said. Officers also found 9mm weapons that had been illegally altered to make them automatic and equipped with silencers, Sldbbie said. Harrison, a popular dentist, has since sold his practice.

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"If it were on water, we wouldn't be seeing this high a recovery rate," he said. Officials earlier estimated the Sunday morning spill at 420,000 gallons. The higher figure was reached by simply refining early, quick estimates, Holcomb said. The spill occurred when an underground pipeline in Tacoma's Tideflats area ruptured while a tanker was being unloaded at U.S. Oil Refining refinery.

Much of the oil wound up in a Lincoln Avenue drainage ditch that empties into Blair Waterway, an arm of Commencement Bay. However, only a couple hundred gallons seeped into the waterway, and it was corralled with special booms. Much of the oil in the ditch had been cleaned up by mid-day Monday, and efforts shifted to pools of oil standing in a vacant lot and fields just above the spot where tile pipelint ruptured. Officials saw no immediate signs of serious damage to the environment or wildlife in the heavily industrialized area. A dead duck was found in the ditch, Holcomb said.

The pipeline from U.S. 011's dock to its refinery apparently ruptured and the oil bubbled to the surface, where it was spotted about 9:25 a.m. Sunday. Bill Dabrock, administrative services manager for U.S. Oil, said the leak in the I6-inch-diameter pipeline occurred about 2,000 feet from the dock.

The line was carrying Alaskan crude from a ship, the Overseas Alaska, that was being unloaded at U.S. Reservists volunteer for gulf duty Fifteen members from two Spokane-based Army reserve groups have volunteered for duty in the Middle East as drivers, officials said Monday. Members of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Army Reserves 4I6th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade were called up for 180 days active duty and will report to Vancouver later this week. The volunteers include 12 people from the Spokane area and three from Moses Lake, 2nd Battalion administrator Richard Uptagrafft said. They are among 125 reservists from the Northwest who are being called up.

The units normally offer basic training to new troops, and the volunteers have military specialties ranging from infantrymen to cooks and mechanics, Uptagrafft said. They will be trained as drivers, which are in short supply in Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield. a AP photo Cleanup workers use a suction hose to remove oil from a drainage ditch near the Tacoma waterfront Gardner fears war, switches talk By Bill Morlin Staff writer The mystery surrounding the 1989 death of Spokane teenager Russell Evans will be the lead segment on Wednesday night's network broadcast of the popular television show "Unsolved Mysteries." 14 The show is scheduled to ap- pear at 8 p.m. on KHQ-TV in Spokane. Sue Evans, the ,4 victim's mother, said Monday Evans producers told her the segment will last nearly 13 minutes and be the lead story on the hour-long show.

The I3-year-old boy was found critically injured, lying on the ment of the Thor-Ray hill, near 13th, at 1:05 a.m. on June 4, 1989. He died eight hours later at Sacred Heart Medical Center, without regaining consciousness. His parents, John and Sue Evans, and several teenagers who had been with the youth before his death: maintain that he was beaten and died. as the result of gang violence stemming from an earlier confrontation in a South Hill park.

Unhappy with the way police han dled their son's death investigation, the parents detailed their case in a story published last April 20 in The Spokesman-Review and Spokane. Chronicle. "I think that it's another avenue of our resolving what really happened to our son and who was involved," Sue Evans said of the forthcoming network broadcast. Police investigators concluded the teenager, who attended Libby Middle School, died after being struck by a hit-and-run "monster truck." Despite the theory that the death was traffic-related, the unsolved case file remains assigned to the department's homicide unit. "It's quite a dramatic and controversial story the kinds we like to do and feel that we do best," said Stuart Schwartz, coordinating producer for Cosgrove-Meurer Productions Inc.

"What makes a story like this interesting and intriguing is that there is more than one theory as to what might have happened," Schwartz said. As with other unsolved crime stories the series broadasts, "our primary hope is that we can help the family put this to rest" by solving the case with information provided by viewers. Those with information about the death will be encouraged to call I800-876-5353 after the broadcast. The film production company, based in Burbank, filmed the Evans segment on Oct. 26 through Oct.

30 at various locations in Spokane. Film crews wanted to use the four-lane Thor-Ray hill, where the injured youth was found, but police and city traffic officials objected. Sue Evans, who watched and par- ticipated in the five days of filming in Spokane, said she doesn't "have anything but good things to say about the "Unsolved" crews because they were very supportive and compassionate under such tragic circumstances" and displayed a "high-level of OLYMPIA Gov. Booth Gardner is moving up his State of the State Address to next Monday, fearing he could be eclipsed by a Persian Gulf war if he waited until later in the week. Traditionally, the chief executive addresses a joint legislative session on Wednesday evening.

Sometimes the address is delivered on Tuesday. But never on a Monday. That's the day the Legislature convenes and lawmakers get sworn in. But Democrat Gardner figured any day later than Monday could fall into a news "black hole" of Saddam Hussein, George Bush and the spectre of war. Who'd care about school reform, budget deficits and land use? "The war will be THE story, regardless of whether it actually breaks out," Gardner spokesman Sheryl Hutchison said.

"Frankly, we're interested in trying to get some coverage of the State of the State, including television. from the initial booming area," he said. While the spill is one of the largest in state history, it occurred on land and may not pose as serious an environmental problem as smaller spills that spread out over a large body of water, Holcomb said. "Certainly if this amount of oil had gone directly into Commencement Bay, we would have had a much more catastrophic event on our hands," he said. After the oil was cleaned up, the company would still face the problem of contaminated soil, which likely would have to be excavated and hauled away, Holcomb said.

Oil, he said. The cause of the rupture was not immediately known and the pipe could not be dug up until the surface oil was removed and hauled away in railroad cars and tanker trucks, Holcomb said. The drain pipe linking the ditch to Blair Waterway was plugged with a makeshift dam of straw bales, plywood and plastic on the ditch side. Crews floated the containment booms on the waterway side and used absorbent pads to soak up oil from the beach, Holcomb said. Dabrock said only a small sheen had reached the waterway.

"None (of the oil) has escaped KPBX to air more gulf debate An additional eight hours of debate on the Persian Gulf crisis will be broadcast today through Friday on KPBX, Spokane's public radio affiliate. Carried on 91 FM from 9 to 11 a.m., the debates include call-ins from national listeners to a series of experts addressing the prospects of war and peace in the Mideast. State begins probe of rappelling accident that injured firefighter CONTINUED: FROM B1 Welch district violated state standards for firefighter safety. Eight levels of violation, with penalties ranging from nothing to a $5,000 fine, are possible, Dunn said. The investigation may take "several days to several weeks," she said, adding, "I wouldn't look for any results for probably a month or so." Chief Bob Anderson said District 9 is conducting its own investigation and declined to comment specifically while the investigations are in progress.

But he said measures will be taken to prevent a similar accident in the future. "The training exercise was called by the shift commander and was conducted by the shift commander, so it definitely was an on-duty activity," but rappelling is not part of the district's regular training program, Anderson said. "I think that these were good people with good intentions, and I think generally they have good judgment," the chief said. "I think the job requires people who have that kind of initiative." Firefighters union President Rick Oliver said the union won't take a position on the incident until the state investigation is finished. "There'll be time enough for investigations," Oliver said.

"Right now, we're more concerned with the injured firefighter." By John Craig Staff writer The state Department of Labor and Industries is investigating a rappelling accident last week that critically injured a Mead Fire District 9 firefighterparamedic. Meanwhile, a Holy Family Hospital spokeswoman said Tim Hogan's condition improved Monday from "critical" to "serious," but the extent of his injuries remained undetermined. Hogan, 31, suffered a skull fracture, chest injuries and a possibly paralyzing back injury during an informal training exercise Wednesday. He fell onto ice-covered pavement when a 2-inch copper pipe securing his rappelling rope broke. Hogan and two other firefighters were rappelling from a hose tower window about 25 feet off the ground at Station at Hawthorne and U.S.

Highway 395. He had just begun the first descent, according to Deputy Chief Skip Wells. District officials said the exercise was not part of their regular training program, and Hogan was not using a safety rope. "That's one of the things that the inspectors will be looking at," said Barbara Dunn, public information officer for the Labor and Industries Department. She said the department will determine whether the fire Shain remains in Spokane County Juvenile Detention until a custody hearing is held at 1:30 p.m.

Wednesday. Callen has proposed placing the boy in the care of his mother in Knoxville, Tenn. Shain may be placed in temporary foster care while social workers investigate his mother's household. Welch and his former wife, Brenda, divorced seven years ago in Alabama. Welch retained custody of Shain, and two years later moved to Michigan and then Sacheen Lake, Wash.

Shain has been in contact with his mother since the shooting. Callen has asked to be appointed guardian ad litem of Shain in order to advocate for the boy. Shain was too concerned about his father's case to be enthused about the dismissal of his own case, Callen said. tact between himself and Welch. At the time, Patton diagnosed 'Welch as having paranoid and antisocial personality disorders.

Welch was "almost delusional that people were out to get him," he said. The dismissal of charges against Shain Welch will not change the charge against the father, prosecutor Kelly said. While Shain was not tried by the evidence against him because he had diminished capacity, Welch -will be tried by the evidence of the shooting, he said. In his questioning of the mental health professionals, Kelly was already setting up his case against Welch in March, defense attorney Mark B. Callen said.

EVM Hearing planned for train crews PARA'. 'GA All You Can Eat All Courses Taught by Local Practicing Attorneys Nine-Month Evening Program Classes held locally at Gonzaga University Financial Aid Available if Eligible Authorized to Operate under Chapter 28C.10 RCW of the Washington State Board of Vocation Ed. IOPEN HOUSE ANUARX 303199 NZACA UNIVERS! PM ERVATION i REQUIRED By Bill Morlin including Amtrak. Staff wnter Three loaded wood chip cars derailed and creased the A ziplinary hearing will be held, probably later this outer shell of two loaded propane tank cars at 4:45 a.m. mor fe- Burlington Northern crews involved in a pro- Saturday.

pane tank accident that caused a weekend evacuation, The derailment, near the James Keefe Bridge, at Trent railroad offluals said Monday. and Hamilton in East Spokane, forced the evacuation of Howard Kallio, a spokesman for Burlington Northern in an undetermined number of people living and working Seattle, said the hearing must be held by Jan. 15 unless within a half mile of the site. the train crews seek a postponement. Kalil said a freight train, with a four-person crew, and "The purpose will be to determine the facts surrounding a switch train, with a similar size crew, were involved in the derailment and place responsibility," Kalil said.

the accident. Both crews will participate in the hearing. Preliminarily, railroad officials said it appeared that "We'll attempt to determine which crew was in the human error was responsible for the derailment involving right place and which crew was in the wrong place." Iwo trains. After such accidents, train crews routinely are given The derailment closed down Burlington Northern's urinanalysis tests to check for the presence of alcohol or mainline, connecting Minneapolis with Seattle and Port- drugs. Results of those tests are not expected to be avail-land, for nine hours and resulted in delays for 32 trains, able until the disciplinary hearing is held.

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