Details released regarding charge filed against Lynden Chamber Exec, City Councilmember, Man accused of killing friend with machete in 2019 at Baker Lake will face a new trial, STORY: MIPA alert for Ferndale teen who may have traveled to Seattle – UPDATE: Found, Whatcom Racial Equity Commission seeking members, Fire officials out of loop as Whatcom County mulls district overhaul, WA House bill would make it illegal for police to lie during interrogations, BNSF Railway responsible for Tunnel 5 fire, damage, lawsuit alleges
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STORY: Details released regarding charge filed against Lynden Chamber Exec, City Councilmember
More information has been made public on the charge filed against Lynden city council member Gary Vis.
The 56-year-old Vis is charged with second-degree assault with strangulation reportedly related to a verbal altercation with a family member on the weekend of January 20th. An affidavit from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office states that Vis allegedly put the family member in a chokehold for around two minutes, until a second family member intervened. He spent the night in jail and was released on January 22nd after a preliminary court appearance.
Vis has served as the executive of the Lynden Chamber of Commerce for more than 17 years and was recently elected to the Lynden City Council.
STORY: Man accused of killing friend with machete in 2019 at Baker Lake will face a new trial
A Snohomish County man accused of killing a friend with a machete in 2019 is set to stand trial for a second time.
34 year-old Alexander Vanags, of Arlington, will stand trial in Whatcom County Superior Court for second-degree murder in September. Vanags is accused of using a machete to kill 28 year-old Mark Stebakov in April of 2019 while the two were camping at a rural site near Baker Lake.
Vanags’ criminal case, which was filed in 2019, has been marked by numerous lengthy delays. His original court date of March 2020 was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The June 2022 trial ended in mistrial when the jury deadlocked after one day of deliberations. Vanags’ retrial date last October was pushed to February after the medical expert for the defense suffered a stroke and was unable to testify.
After a short hearing on Wednesday, the Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office asked for the trial to be delayed by three months to allow time for the new prosecutor to secure a medical expert. One of Vanags’ criminal defense attorneys, James Dixon, requested the trial be pushed to September, based on their heavy caseload and pre-planned summer vacation schedule.
Whatcom County Superior Court Judge David Freeman said that, while he found Dixon’s request to take the summer months off the table, quote, “dubious,” he did understand the prosecution’s need to secure a medical expert to respond to the defense expert’s report.
Vanags’ trial is now set to begin on September 3rd.
STORY: MIPA alert for Ferndale teen who may have traveled to Seattle – UPDATE: Found
A 14-year-old girl from Lummi Nation that was reported missing has been found.
Ariel Feliciano (AIR-ree-ull fuh-liss-ee-AHN-o) was reportedly last seen near 5th Avenue and Pine Street in Seattle on Thursday night. The alert was activated by the Washington State Patrol on behalf of the Lummi Nation Police Department.
The Missing Indigenous Person Alert issued on Friday was canceled yesterday.
STORY: Whatcom Racial Equity Commission seeking members
The Whatcom Racial Equity Commission is searching for applicants to fill 15 appointed roles.
The stated purpose of the commission is to bridge the gap between county, city and community members with lived experience in our region to ensure residents of every race can thrive. The data collected will be analyzed and used to inform the county’s work against racial inequalities.
This first group of members will help establish how the commission will operate moving forward.
Applications can be made at ChuckanutHealthFoundation.org and are due by the end of the month.
STORY: Fire officials out of loop as Whatcom County mulls district overhaul
Fire officials say they weren’t consulted before Whatcom County Council members called for a $275,000 study to explore reorganizing 13 fire districts and two city departments
The County Council voted to commission the study earlier in December, hoping to come up with a way to help districts run more efficiently. According to recent reporting by Cascadia Daily News, fire officials say that they were not included in that discussion. Officials are confused as to why Whatcom County, which does not have authority over the fire districts, would try to study how to change the districts. Officials say the most obvious change would be consolidation of administrative tasks between districts, something that happened in 2019 when Bellingham and Fire District 8 merged. However, according to Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Hewett who led the merger, while consolidation may make administration more efficient, it doesn’t save money.
Council member Tyler Byrd said that firefighting groups had plenty of opportunity to get involved, but no one did. He also stated that the best solutions may come from people outside the situation.
To date, a consultant has not been hired. The study is expected to take 12 to 18 months.
STORY: WA House bill would make it illegal for police to lie during interrogations
A new house bill would make confessions obtained through deceptive tactics inadmissible in court.
Advocates argue House Bill 1062 would prevent wrongful convictions and foster trust between the public and law enforcement. Proponents also point to the coercive nature of false confessions, often elicited through lengthy interrogations and deceptive tactics. According to research published in the Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology, the more successful a strategy is in eliciting confessions from guilty suspects, the more likely it is that the strategy will also produce false confessions from innocent suspects. Vulnerable individuals, including juveniles and those with intellectual disabilities, are particularly susceptible to false confessions.
However, some in law enforcement believe deception is necessary to obtain the truth. Policy director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, James McMahan, argued in public testimony on Jan 8th that deception is required to get to the truth. An example, he said, would be not telling a suspect in cases involving the exploitation of children the true age and identity of an undercover trooper posing as a minor.
The bill has received two hearings in the House but faces continued opposition from law enforcement organizations.
WX: Rain
Today will be partly sunny with a high of 48 degrees. Expect rain late in the night, as temperatures drop to a low of 39. The rain will continue on into tomorrow, with temperatures remaining steady.
OUTRO:
Today’s newscast was produced by volunteers AnThu Nguyen (ANNE-two new-WIN), Carlos Braga, Connor O’Boyle, and Tristan Trudell. Tune in to local news on KMRE weekdays at 3, 4 and 5 p-m. For news tips and feedback, send us an email at news@kmre.org or call 360-398-6150. KMRE is a nonprofit community radio station, powered by listener donations. If you would like to help keep local news accessible, check out our new Patreon page at patreon.com/kmrenews or go to kmre.org and click on the banner. I’m ________________, and thanks for listening.
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STORY: BNSF Railway responsible for Tunnel 5 fire, damage, lawsuit alleges
A new lawsuit filed against BNSF Railway alleges that they are responsible for a fire that burned over 500 acres in the Columbia River Gorge last year.
The lawsuit, filed in Skamania (skuh-MAY-nee-uh) County court, alleges that the Tunnel 5 fire started as a result of sparks, hot debris, particles, emissions and other materials from a passing BNSF Railway train that ignited nearby vegetation. It alleges that the railway company knew the risks of operating a debris prone 46-year-old locomotive amid high fire danger. The lawsuit cites a Department of Natural Resources report that identified brake debris and carbon emission particles found from that same train as being the cause of the fire.
The fire burned for over a week, burning nearly 550 acres and destroying 10 homes.
