Idaho National Laboratory lays off 101 workers

IDAHO FALLS - An Idaho National Laboratory contractor has laid off 101 employees, and more cuts are expected.

Battelle Energy Alliance announced in December it would cut its workforce by at least 300 employees, citing budget concerns, increased costs and competitiveness.

In addition to the recent layoffs, 114 people have taken voluntary separations and 60 employees have left through attrition.

That is about 7 percent of the workforce.

Additional layoffs are expected due to the automatic federal budget cuts that took effect March 1.

The Post Register reported those cuts mean as many as 84 more employees could lose their jobs.

Battelle has until late March to provide a plan on how to make the cuts, which must be approved.

Trial date set for ex-Canyon County prosecutor

NAMPA - A Sept. 30 trial date has been set for a former Canyon County prosecutor on charges of preparation of false evidence and computer crimes.

John Bujak is accused of creating false emails to defend himself against a charge of misuse of public funds. The trial on that charge is taking place this week.

Bujak resigned as Canyon County prosecutor in 2010 amid legal turmoil with county officials.

The Idaho Press Tribune reported Bujak's first jury trial in the case ended in a mistrial because he failed to disclose critical evidence to prosecutors.

In January, a jury found him not guilty of grand theft in a separate case for his role in representing an estate as a private lawyer.

Man who threatened squirrel back in jail

BILLINGS, Mont. - A 20-year-old Worden, Mont., man who pleaded guilty to threatening a Ballantine, Mont., man who asked him to stop chasing a squirrel with a knife is back in jail for a probation violation.

Lance Joseph Topel was given a five-year suspended sentence a year ago after threatening to kill both the squirrel he was chasing and the man who told him to stop.

The Billings Gazette reported Topel's chance at staying on probation ended after he admitted to using illegal drugs and other violations.

He appeared before Judge Russell Fagg Tuesday to be resentenced. The judge ordered him to serve a new sentence of nearly five years with the state Department of Corrections

Topel apologized to Fagg, saying he began using drugs again after his father's death.

Judge: 50 years for eye-gouging prison assault

SPOKANE - A convicted killer has been sentenced to another 50 years in prison for an attack that gouged out the eyes of a fellow Washington state prison inmate.

Michael L. West Jr. was convicted of first-degree assault in the Oct. 10, 2010, attack in the Airway Heights Corrections Center near Spokane.

On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen made the 50-year sentence consecutive to West's existing sentence. That means he won't be eligible for parole until 2098, when he would be 121 years old. West previously was convicted of killing a fellow inmate in 2004.

The Spokesman-Review reported that the judge also ordered more than $70,000 in restitution to cover the medical bills of Chad Bolstad, who was permanently blinded in the attack.

Standoff ends at Spokane skateboard shop

SPOKANE - Spokane police said a SWAT team ended a seven-hour standoff by arresting a man accused of breaking into a home, threatening officers and neighbors with a machete and barricading himself in his apartment behind a skateboard shop.

Police fired several gas canisters into the building Wednesday morning, and then entered. Police brought a handcuffed man out at about 10 a.m.

Police spokeswoman Monique Cotton said 39-year-old Glen Fisher was arrested for investigation of first-degree burglary and third-degree assault.

Seattle parks worker charged in shooting

SEATTLE - King County prosecutors have filed assault charges against a woman accused of shooting and wounding one co-worker and threatening another in the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department.

Prosecutors charged Carolyn Piksa, 46, on Wednesday with first-degree assault in the March 8 wounding of Bill Keller, 65. He remains hospitalized in satisfactory condition after being shot in the chest.

Piksa also is accused of brandishing a gun later that same day at a female co-worker at a community center. She was charged with second-degree assault in that incident.

Court documents say Piksa told detectives she believed the two co-workers were involved in some kind of "game of manipulation" that Piksa could never win.

She is held on $1 million bail. Arraignment was set for March 27.

Seattle Port Commission votes itself big pay hike

SEATTLE - Port of Seattle commissioners voted Tuesday for a sevenfold pay raise to $42,000 a year, about the same as a Washington state legislator.

Port spokesman Jason Kelly said Commission President Tom Albro proposed the pay hike to make the job more attractive to applicants. The vote ties commission salaries to the pay of state lawmakers.

The raise won't take effect until after the next election. Albro has said he'll decline his, if he is re-elected.

Current commissioners earn $6,000 a year. They also can take $104 per diem for each day of commission work, up to $12,500 a year.

The five-member port oversees Sea-Tac Airport and port cruise ship and cargo terminal operations.

Associated Press