State worker sentenced for rape and extortion

EVERETT — A former state Department of Social and Health Services worker who told female clients they wouldn't get food stamps, medical coverage and other welfare benefits unless they had sex with him was sentenced yesterday to one year in prison.

Jack Robertson, 55, was convicted of third-degree rape and second-degree extortion during a stipulated trial before a Snohomish County Superior Court judge yesterday. In such trials, a judge renders a verdict based on police reports and other documents. Unlike a guilty plea, a stipulated trial preserves a defendant's right to appeal.

Chief criminal prosecutor Mark Roe said that Robertson threatened several women but that only one gave into his threats and had sex with him.

Seattle's new library won't open until 2004

SEATTLE — The new $162 million downtown library won't open until early next year, library officials said yesterday.

The library, at 1000 Fourth Avenue, was to open in October but work on excavation and steel fabrication took longer than expected, said library spokeswoman Andra Addison. She said the project is expected to be completed within budget.

State suspends nurse after Everett patient dies

OLYMPIA — The state Department of Health yesterday suspended a registered nurse after the death of a patient was followed by investigators' allegations that she failed to document medication, gave too much medication and gave medication without a physician's order.

The department alleges that Deanna Brakus, 48, while working at Providence Everett Medical Center on Jan. 13, 2002, placed a tube into a patient's lung instead of the stomach and administered medication. The patient went into respiratory distress and died the next day.

The department also alleges that Brakus, while working at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, on Sept. 9 and 10, 2002, administered medication without a physician's order.

These are not criminal charges. Brakus has 20 days to respond.

White powder at hospital turns out to be harmless

SEATTLE — White powder found on a hallway floor at the University of Washington Medical Center yesterday morning proved to be harmless, but police are checking the possibility that it was an anthrax hoax.

The powder was determined to be a mix of magnesium sulfate and gypsum, used to make plaster for casts to set broken bones, said Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Lt. Sue Stangl.

Snohomish County PUD has plan to offset costs

EVERETT — The Snohomish County Public Utility District (PUD) will use most of its 2002 earnings to offset what it believes will be increased costs from its largest energy provider.

The PUD reported yesterday it made about $24 million more than budgeted for 2002 but quickly moved about $20 million of that to a rate-stabilization savings account. The PUD is expecting at least a 15 percent rate increase this fall from the Bonneville Power Administration, which supplies the PUD with about 80 percent of its power.

The PUD has said it expects increased Bonneville costs of about $15 million. It will try to use the stabilization account, now totaling about $63 million, to decrease the need for customer rate increases, said PUD general manager Ed Hansen. Since 2001, customer rates have gone up about 50 percent.

The increased revenue is accounted for in higher-than-expected water levels for the production of electricity, the PUD's cancellation of its Enron contract and some in-house refinancing, an official said.

Times staff and news services