Accident injures worker critically

BELLEVUE — A 41-year-old Woodinville man was in critical condition last night at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after a piece of construction equipment he was operating teetered off a flatbed truck and slammed into the ground.

The accident occurred about 3 p.m. yesterday just north of Northeast Eighth Street and 106th Avenue Northeast, and impeded street traffic for much of the afternoon.

The man was in the basket of a boom lift, an extension "arm" on wheels that extends about 30 feet into the air, that had been used to replace some windows at Bellevue Place.

The job finished, the man had driven the boom lift up the ramp of a long flatbed truck before losing balance. The state Department of Labor and Industries is investigating.

21-year-old man charged in strangling of teenager

EVERETT — A 21-year-old man was charged yesterday with first-degree murder in the strangling of his girlfriend's younger sister.

Snohomish County prosecutors say Robert Dale Woods called 911 early on Sept. 28 to report that he found 17-year-old Jolene Desrosier dead at her Everett apartment with a phone cord around her neck and duct tape on her face.

But when police interviewed Woods — who had been staying at the apartment — and asked him about the phone cord around her neck, he "melodramatically feigned great surprise, apparently forgetting that he'd already told 911 (in a recorded call) that he had found Jolene in exactly that condition," Deputy Prosecutor Mark Roe wrote in a probable-cause affidavit.

Woods eventually said that he had tied Desrosier up "as a joke," leaving her that way when he went to a friend's house, and that he had no idea how the phone cord got around her neck, the affidavit says.

He is being held in the King County Jail on $250,000 bail. His arraignment is scheduled for today.

Food inspections increased for playoffs at Safeco Field

SEATTLE — Public-health officials have increased surveillance at Safeco Field food concessions for the duration of the Seattle Mariners playoffs.

Gary Irvine, environmental-health supervisor for Public Health — Seattle & King County, said three food inspectors will be at each game monitoring all aspects of food service. That includes checking food booths outside the stadium to ensure no unlicensed vendors are operating and that all vendors are serving food from authorized suppliers.

Food purveyors also have been asked not to provide condiments in open containers. Ketchup, mustard and other dressings must be in sealed packets or squeeze containers, Irvine said.

Experts say two bioterrorism agents that conceivably could be placed in food are anthrax or botulism toxin.

Anacortes man dies in crash during heavy rain on I-5

STANWOOD — An Anacortes man died Tuesday morning after a collision with a semitruck during heavy rain on Interstate 5 about 12 miles north of Marysville, according to the State Patrol.

Stephen S. Davis, 43, died when his Nissan pickup, headed north, crossed a grass median into the southbound lanes of traffic where the truck struck the pickup on the passenger side, investigators said. The southbound lanes were closed for three hours.

The truck driver, Wayne A. Finney, 29, of Puyallup was taken to Cascade Valley Hospital for observation.

Fisherman dies after wave sweeps him overboard

ANCHORAGE — A Bering Sea crab fisherman died early yesterday morning after a wave washed him off the deck of the Seattle-based Exito.

The crewman, Scott Powell, 36, was reported overboard about 5 a.m. yesterday, and his body was recovered by another vessel about an hour later. The cause of death has yet to be determined. Three other crew members of the 125-foot Exito also suffered injuries from what was described as a "rogue" wave.

The wave hit on the third day of a brief fall harvest of king crab. This year's harvest has been slowed by bad weather. Alaska troopers estimated winds of 50 to 60 knots and seas from 30 to 35 feet. Coast Guard officials reported milder conditions, with 12-foot seas and swells to 18 feet.

The Exito, owned by Q and S Enterprises of Seattle, was reported yesterday to be heading back to the port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

Rare sea turtle recovering after being found on beach

SEATTLE — A rare Pacific Ridley sea turtle is recuperating at the Seattle Aquarium after being found by a couple of beach patrollers near Ocean Shores last week.

Washed up onshore, dehydrated and with a broken shell, the 67-pound female reptile is being treated with antibiotics, fluids, vitamins and food.

The Ridley, which is a tropical turtle, is not a normal visitor to the Pacific Northwest. But they've begun washing up on local beaches. Swept into cold water, they can go into shock and drift far from home, aquarium staffers said. The aquarium has aided 14 stranded turtles in the past and expects this one, named Arial, to make a full recovery.

Information is from Seattle Times staff and The Associated Press.