Local
Attempted kidnapping in Kenmore
Kenmore police are on high alert after a twelve-year-old girl reported that a man attempted to kidnap her on March 21.
Sgt. Ryan Abbott, spokesperson for the Kenmore Police Department reported that the victim was walking toward her bus stop that morning when she noticed a man following her at the block of 6900 NE 182nd St.
He asked her if she would like to go to the Kirkland park with him, and said that they could take the bus together there. After she responded “no,” he crossed the street. She continued walking and thought he had left.
Shortly after that, near a fenced empty lot in the 7000 block of NE 182nd St., the man allegedly grabbed her by her backpack. The girl turned around, kicked him in the leg and ran.
The suspect is described as being around 40 years old, of medium build, Caucasian, with a scruffy beard and salt-and-pepper hair.
Kenmore police have reported that there is no confirmed link between this suspect and another man who was recently arrested for grabbing a boy by the arm momentarily in the Kirkland area.
Kenmore police have asked for people to contact them at (206)-296-3311 if they see anything suspicious.
State
Boeing under fire due to recent plane crashes
On March 10, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed minutes after take off. The impact killed all 157 people on board.
Five months earlier on Oct 29, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia. The impact killed all 189 passengers.
Both fatal flights shared the same model: the new Boeing 737 Max 8. Given the sudden nature of the crashes, the flights’ black boxes need to be examined. Black boxes are recorders in every plane’s cockpit that record all sound in the cockpit. Evidence from both flights’ black box recordings suggest similar issues in the plane systems being the possible cause of the crashes.
Boeing has been ambiguous about whether or not they believe the Max 8 system is the culprit behind the crashes. In response to the March crash, they made it clear they would update the Max 8 system.
“The rigor and thoroughness of the design and testing that went into the Max give us complete confidence that the changes we’re making will address any of these accidents,” said Mike Sinnett, Boeing’s vice president for product strategy.
More than 30 relatives of those who died on the Lion Air Flight have started lawsuits against Boeing, citing the alleged defective design as an undeniable safety concern.
National
Dozens of wealthy parents implicated in college bribery
On March, prosecution against 50 people nationwide began due to involvement in the largest ever college admissions scandal.
Since the case began, those arrested have included dozens of affluent parents, two SAT/ACT administrators, an exam proctor, a college administrator, nine coaches from elite schools as well as the CEO of The Key, William Rick Singer.
The Key was marketed as a college prep organization. Since the news broke, however, Singer has admitted to going to great lengths to get his clients’ children into prestigious schools – the ways he did this includes bribing college administrators, lying to school coaches and faking students’ test scores.
Singer was also CEO of the nonprofit The Key Worldwide Foundation, and its stated mission was to be a charity dedicated to helping underprivileged individuals with college. Singer used the nonprofit to label the parents’ payments as charitable donations rather than bribe money. This allowed the parents to make the bribery money tax deductible.
In some cases, parents allegedly took part in the bribing of coaches and athletic officials. A few students applying for athletic consideration had no prior experience with the sport, and their athletic history was fabricated.
To date, no students have been prosecuted.
