Reward offered in goat shooting

Graham, Pierce County

Reward offered

in goat shooting

A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who tied a goat to a tree and shot it to death with arrows.

Pasado's Safe Haven, the animal-welfare agency offering the reward, said the goat was found in a wooded area near 224th Street East and 58th Avenue East. The goat, wearing a blue collar, was discovered by a couple searching for a missing dog.

Amber Chenoweth, director of marketing and advertising for Pasado's Safe Haven, said the group plans to perform a necropsy on the goat, canvass the area for witnesses and hang reward posters.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call 206-300-7218.

San Juan County

Remains identified

as missing man's

Skeletal remains found on Jones Island have been identified as William Larry Hickman, 61, of Des Moines, authorities said. Hickman had been missing since July 3, 2007, when his boat was found unattended and anchored at Jones Island State Park, according to the San Juan County Sheriff's Office.

A search last year failed to find Hickman. His body was discovered Wednesday afternoon in dense underbrush by an archaeological team from the University of Washington's Burke Museum. The team had been searching for Native American shell middens.

Hickman was identified through examination of dental records. Foul play is not suspected in his death, but a forensic examination will be conducted, the sheriff's office said.

Seattle

Search continues

for male swimmer

Seattle police will resume the search today for a swimmer missing near Golden Gardens Park.

The man, in his early 20s, was reported missing Thursday night when he and a 29-year-old man tried to swim to a buoy 200 yards offshore.

The Seattle Police Department's Harbor Patrol Unit responded to reports of swimmers in distress and rescued the 29-year-old.

Police and fire boats, as well as King County and Coast Guard helicopters, crisscrossed the water for hours looking for the missing swimmer Thursday night.

The search continued Friday, and police spokesman Jeff Kappel said the Harbor Patrol Unit will resume the search today, using sonar devices.

Seattle

Ailing swimmer

pulled from lake

Seattle firefighters pulled a 30-year-old woman from Lake Washington Friday night and took her to Harborview Medical Center.

The woman was swimming near Pritchard Island in the Rainier Beach area, according to the Seattle Fire Department.

After an emergency call came in about 8:30 p.m., firefighters swam out to the woman and pulled her to shore, said Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Hoewen.

Firefighters performed CPR on the woman, who was unconscious, before transporting her to Harborview, Vander Hoewen said.

The woman's condition was not immediately known.

Seattle

State universities

are ranked high

Washington universities are among the best in the nation, according to a new list from U.S. News & World Report.

The University of Washington is ranked the 11th-best public university in the list released Friday. UW was ranked 41st overall among national universities including both public and private.

Washington State University is ranked 116th overall among national universities.

In a separate list of top master's-degree-issuing colleges in the West, Gonzaga is ranked third, Pacific Lutheran is 12th, Seattle Pacific is 14th and Western Washington University is 19th.

The UW was also recognized this week by the Sierra Club for its efforts to fight global warming. That list ranked UW ninth in the country for its "green" initiatives.

Seattle

Police search

for carjackers

Seattle police were searching Friday night for two men involved in an armed carjacking that ended with a crash on Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle.

Police said at about 8:30 p.m. two men carjacked a car from a third man at gunpoint near the Hooter's restaurant on Lake Union, said police spokesman Jeff Kappel.

The victim got into another vehicle and chased the carjackers on I-5 until they wrecked his car near the Interstate 90 interchange. The suspects jumped out of the car and fled southbound.

Police said one of the suspects tossed a handgun over a railing, which they recovered.

Kappel described the primary carjacking suspect as a white male in his mid-20s with black spiky hair. The man was wearing a gray hoodie, a white T-shirt and bluejeans.

Federal Way

Woman sickened

by E. coli sues

A Federal Way woman who says she was sickened during an E. coli outbreak in Thurston and Pierce counties in the spring has filed a lawsuit against Northwest Fruit and Produce in King County Superior Court.

Ten people were sickened by the outbreak, which was caused by tainted lettuce.

Heather Whybrew was a student at Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland when she became ill May 16, according to her suit. She was hospitalized for 20 days and continues to recover from the infection and its complications, the suit says. The lawsuit also names "John Does," growers, shippers and suppliers.

Cashmere, Chelan County

Murder-suicide

suspected in deaths

A man found his wife and daughter shot to death in the living room of their home near Cashmere, and Chelan County sheriff's deputies say it may have been a homicide-suicide.

Lt. Jerry Moore says it appears that 58-year-old Kathy Minardi killed her daughter, 20-year-old Danielle Minardi, then turned the gun on herself.

He says a gun was recovered Thursday after deputies were called by John Minardi, the husband and father. There was no sign of forced entry, no one has been arrested and Moore says there is no reason for those in the area to fear for their safety. He adds that no motive has been determined.

A neighbor told The Wenatchee World the family had moved from San Diego about a year and a half ago.

Times staff and news services