The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • A3

thenewstribune.com Tuesday, January 24, 201 2 A3 mmwn (fepiuito to fa wmb Mte TALK OF THE TOWN Online today What's hot online 1. Deadly crash closes westbound SR 16 2. Man charged 20 years after his wife's death in Tacoma garage fire 3. Thousands still without power, more rain and wind likely OSCAR NOMINATIONS The nominees for Hollywood's top prize will be announced at 5 a.m. today.

Head to thenewstribune.com to find out who will be up for gold on Oscar night and who got snubbed. PIERCE COUNTY: 300 covered by agreement, which requires that they pay part of any increase in health care premiums IN BRIEF Lt Cynthia Fajardo, president of the guild, could not be reached for comment Monday. The county's overall budget has dropped from $863 million in 2008 to $802 million this year. More than 450 positions were cut. The deputy sheriffs guild is in arbitration with Pierce County over the county wanting all guild employees to pay a share of health care insurance costs for the first time last year, Carrillo said.

Prior to that, only those in the most expensive coverage option had to pay any of the premium. The guild has been operating without a contract since the end of 2010. Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647 steve.maynardthenaostribune.com blog.thenewstribime.compolitics Hood watch Issued for Pierce County The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for five counties, including Pierce, with several inches of rain this week potentially causing rivers to overflow. The flood watch will last from tonight through late Thursday. Forecasters said up to an inch of rain could fall in the lowlands by Wednesday, another 34 of an inch by Thursday.

The Cascades could see 3V4 inches through Thursday. Snow levels will rise to 6,000 feet today. Rivers most at risk include the upper Puyallup, Skokomish and Chehalis, according to the Weather Service. Stacia Glenn stacia.glenn thenewstribune.com and the commissioned officers. Sixteen of the county's 21 other bargaining units have approved the same package, including no annual wage increase.

Nonrepresented and represented employees generally received cost-of-living adjustments before this year. Carrillo said the Deputy Sheriffs Independent Guild notified him Dec. 29 that it had ratified the one-year contract extension with no COLA. If expected to go before the County Council in a few weeks. "I have to applaud them," Carrillo said of the deputies.

"They recognize that things have been difficult andcon-tinue to be difficult." BY STEVE MAYNARD Staff writer Pierce County sheriffs deputies have agreed to a contract with no cost-of-living wage increase for this year. The agreement marks the first time that 300 deputies, sergeants and lieutenants won't receive an annual pay raise, or COLA, in at least 20 years, county labor relations manager Joe Carrillo said Monday. The deputies guild received a 2.5 percent COLA in 2011. The county also agreed to pay up to 10 percent of any increase in health care premiums this year. Any increase above that would be split evenly by the county Woman struck, killed on Route 16 in Gig Harbor 3 6 .1 II tLX 4 Photo by LEE GILES IllThe Peninsula Gateway wwwigiDnaiaiBrairoi uoupwiiwBio wnBg wb Dumam unvoBoinivgnoiuui.

MZ1S. 1 s. TRAGEDY: She was trying to help amid series of eariy-morning crashes on ice-covered road BY STACEY MULICK Staff writer A 44-year-old woman who had gotten out of her vehicle and was trying to help after a wreck Monday on state Route 16 in Gig Harbor was struck and killed. The Washington State Patrol identified her as Regina P. Mills of Everett A trooper and four others were hurt in the series of crashes on the ice-covered westbound lanes of the highway, State Patrol spokesman Guy Gill said.

The trooper, Maxwell Criss, suffered knee and shoulder injuries. The three-year veteran was treated and released from a hospital. According to Gig Harbor Fire Medic One, two vehicles crashed about 5:20 a.m. near Burnham Drive. As the trooper parked on the side of the road, a motorcyclist lost control and laid his bike down.

ThbmotDTcycfawsionB of A wMdM bmhrnd In a mrioB of Crohn on tho loo-oownrad wpitbouid hnw of state Route 16 early Monday Ok Harbor. Mills, who was passing by, parked behind the trooper's car and got out to help the motorcyclist. While the trooper, Mills and the motorcyclist stood on the right shoulder of the road, a pickup truck lost control and hit a vehicle that slid into them. Rve vehicles and a motorcycle were involved. Gig Harbor Fire Medic One took five people to hospitals.

The crashes and investigation of Mills' death closed all lanes of westbound state Route 16 until just before 11:45 a.m. Lack of service compels Sumner to opt out of Pierce Transit BUS ROUTES: City to join under served East Pierce neighbors; preliminary boundary changes mapped out to go because the departure of Sumner could turn it into an island cut off from the rest of the transit district. This isn't allowed under state law, officials said. Derek Young, a Gig Harbor city councilman and PTIC chairman, said the changes would "get us to a place that I think is sustainable." But, he said, "we want people to speak up and have their voice heard." For more information on the process, go to www.piercetransit. orgptichtm.

Sara Schilling: 253-552-7058 sarajchillingthenewstribune.com blogthenewstribunexamstreet weekdays at Sumner's six stops was 186 between October and December of last year, according to Pierce Transit figures. The transit agency proposed a districtwide sales tax increase last year, but it failed, leading to widespread service cuts and layoffs. The transit board initiated the boundary revision process last fall by convening a Public Transportation Improvement Conference, or PTIC. The group includes representatives from most towns and cities in Pierce County, and from county government itself. Members settle on a preliminary map, which goes to the public for input before a final boundary decision is made.

An early version of the map carved out 217 square miles from Pierce Transit's 530-square-mile territory land to the east and south of Puyallup and Sumner, and to the west of the Tacoma Narrows Bridges, except for a corridor that includes the City of Gig Harbor. DuPont also was out. The map that PTIC members approved Monday is the same except that Sumner also opted out, officials said. These areas get little or no bus service. One more change could be coming: The City of Auburn may have BY SARA SCHILLING Staff writer Sumner is the latest city to take steps to drop out of Pierce Transit, joining its East Pierce neighbors Bonney Lake, Buckley and Ort-ing.

The potential boundary changes aren't final, but they're reflected in a preliminary map that was agreed on Monday. The map now heads to a public hearing scheduled for March. Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow said his city would prefer to stay in Pierce Transit, with service. "But we're just not getting much service," he said. They took away service and yet they're still collecting (sales) tax." His city now has two bus routes one running between Bonney Lake and the Sumner Sounder station downtown, the other running between the station and a transit center in Tacoma.

The average number of people boarding the bus.