Yakima News Archives

A 27-year-old man will likely face charges in connection with the robbery of two men in a Yakima alley last week.

NACHES, Wash. - A stretch of U.S. Highway 12 will be closed tonight to allow crews to blast a rock outcropping, the state Department of Transportation announced this morning.

YAKIMA, Wash.- A 28-year-old Yakima man is dead after his car rolls over two times.

A young woman from Mexico was smuggled over the border and forced to work as a prostitute for years in Brooklyn, and the remains of an infant were found in concrete at the home where she was held prisoner, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

An ex-judge charged with taking bribes from gangsters committed suicide in his cell over the weekend in central China, a local government spokesman said Monday.

The line stretched from the Hastings bookstore where Sarah Palin was signing, past the Sterling Savings Bank and around the block past McDonald's before ending about 3,000 people later in front of Two Bits and a Bite Bar and Grill.

Police say a Virginia woman was struck and killed while taking flowers to a roadside memorial for her granddaughter who died in a crash at the same spot a week ago.

The New Jersey Nets fired coach Lawrence Frank on Sunday after losing their first 16 games during one of the worst starts in NBA history.

YAKIMA, Wash. An overloaded electrical wire is being blamed for heavily damaging a garage that was being used as a home in the 900 block of North Fourth Avenue.

The notorious murder of the popular folk singer - who became a symbol of resistance after he was tortured and shot to death in the chaotic first days of Chile's 1973 coup - has never been solved.

A Yakima man is in custody after he walked away from the scene of a Chelan County accident early Saturday in which a passenger was injured.

A gunman opened fire in a Hungarian university classroom Thursday, killing one student and leaving three people seriously injured, the state-run news agency said.

YAKIMA, Wash.- For those family and friends not inside getting ready to eat, some spent their Thanksgiving day waiting in line outside of best buy.

YAKIMA, Wash.- Owners of Ed and Moe's Pawnshop say the last three weeks have been busier than ever with people trading their goods for loans.

A Thanksgiving dispute over chores turned deadly outside Colorado Springs, where police say a 76-year-old man shot and killed his son after the two argued for most of the day.

A 23-year-old Oklahoma man has been sentenced to 33 years in prison after acknowledging he killed his father three years ago and hid his body in a freezer.

Police in Yakima say a 14-year-old girl was killed by a 22-year-old man to keep her from reporting she was raped.

A judge in Nevada has ruled that the case of a Las Vegas-area teen accused of smothering her newborn son can go to trial.

People stormed through the doors as Best Buy opened just after 5:00 a.m., one of the busiest places to be on Black Friday.

YAKIMA, Wash. - Firefighters this morning quickly knocked down a bedroom fire in an apartment complex in the 300 block of North Sixth Street.

British police have arrested a former Washington security consultant wanted in the United States for allegedly defrauding a client of more than $2 million, Scotland Yard said Wednesday.

When the envelope arrived, Windy Horner was talking with her husband, Nick - Windy on a cell phone, Nick in the Blair County jail.

Yakima WA.- Arrest made in a 14 year girls brutal murder. She was murdered to keep her from reporting her rape.

Yakima City council members took comment on the proposed 2010 City of Yakima budget Tuesday night and with budget shortfalls plenty of people showed-up to voice concerns.

Street lights and management in an emergency. These are two more safety items the Yakima City Council may change to save money.

Given the choice between doing something and not doing that thing, I generally go with the latter; I'm The Indoorsman and, well, that's kind of my style.

This paper hit doorsteps around the Yakima Valley in the early hours Friday morning, perhaps even after the time that the craziest among us bundled up and headed out to department store parking lots to wait for that Black Friday shopping rush.

A judge has reduced bail for a man charged with murdering a Northwest dog-trainer-to-the-stars from $5 million to $2.5 million.

With so many restaurants that opened in the Valley this year, some of them open with little fanfare.

YAKIMA, Wash.- Unemployment is down this month but people job-hunting in Yakima say it's not getting any easier.

OUTLOOK, Wash. -- Authorities today arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with the 2008 homicide of a Sunnyside girl whose body was found in February in the Yakima River.

Authorities say former New York Knicks point guardDean Meminger was rescued from a fire that destroyed a row of New York City houses and left dozens homeless.

A Wisconsin man transformed his apartment into a pornographic shrine to young girls, arranging mannequins in a sex act, plastering every flat surface with pictures and setting up a bed covered with stuffed animals, investigators said Monday.

Firefighters have found one body and rescued several people from a fire at a southwestern Indiana motel.

A man accused of killing a man and wounding three others after he was escorted out of a bar in Colorado has been charged with first-degree murder.

OK, it's been a week, but here are few noteworthy tidbits from last week's Yakima City Council to tide you over for the long holiday weekend.

A National Guard unit based in Yakima is headed to Iraq. The Guard says about 25 members of the 144th Liaison Team will spend most of a year supporting commanders and providing security.

A gunman went on a rampage on the Pacific resort island of Saipan Friday, first at a shooting range and then at a World War II historical site, killing four people and wounding six others before fatally shooting himself, officials said.

The Yakima City Council is looking for a few additional cuts. Right now the council has 14 thousand dollars in its 2010 travel budget.

A former federal prosecutor and prominent New Jersey defense attorney whose past clients have included Queen Latifah and Lil' Kim has pleaded not guilty to bribery, drug and prostitution charges.

Italian police on Saturday arrested a Pakistani father and son accused of helping fund and providing logistical support for last year's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, authorities said.

Oklahoma City police say $10,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from one of four people found shot to death last week inside a burning home.

Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith will play against the Miami Dolphins after being involved in a car accident on the way to the game.

A 17-year-old pleaded guilty Friday to killing a Border Patrol agent who was shot eight times while chasing suspected illegal immigrants in the mountains east of San Diego.

In the days before Fred Alvarez was shot execution-style with two friends on his verandah, the strapping Cabazon tribal leader feared he was a marked man: His motorcycle had been tampered with, his mailbox shot up and his house ransacked.

A teenager killed in a confrontation with New York City police over the weekend was shot 11 times, the medical examiner's office said Sunday.

An 18-year-old Yakima man was shot in the face while in his house Saturday night in the 200 block of South Sixth Street, authorities say.

The gunman who carried out Saipan's most violent attack in recent memory ended his life on the same rocky cliffs where numerous Japanese leapt to their deaths to avoid capture by U.S. troops during World War II.

Thieves shot to death five Arkansas family members and burned their bodies for the meager bounty of a set of wheel rims and some flat-screen televisions, court documents said Friday.

An argument escalated into a shooting leaving one man dead, Bellingham police say.

A former Marine was charged Friday with six counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of four people whose bodies were found in a burning home, including a prostitute featured on the HBO reality series "Cathouse." David Allen Tyner, 28, of Locust Grove, is accused of shooting, stabbing and then burning the bodies of Brooke Phillips, ...

Federal attorneys want a judge to declare that Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer Mel Blount owes more than $631,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties.

A shootout left two bank robbery suspects dead and two police officers wounded Thursday in suburban Denver, police said.

The parents of an 8-year-old Liberian girl who was allegedly raped by four boys have been arrested on felony child abuse charges.

West Nile virus has sickened 36 people in Washington so far this year, including nine people in Benton County.

Fifty-seven gang-involved fugitives were taken off Tri-City streets this week during a three-day gang sweep, authorities said.

The death of the mother of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has been ruled a suicide.

A Yakima police officer is recovering after being knocked unconscious as he struggled with a suspect in a speeding truck.

An off-duty Las Vegas police officer killed in a shootout with intruders in his own garage grew up in Yakima.

Even a toothbrush is cause for excitement. Then, throw in a box of crayons, a rubber ball and some lollipops, and there's absolute joy.

An unusual crash sent two to the hospital Thursday night, including a Yakima cop.

Yakima police chief, Sam Granato; as controversial as he has been effective. When Granato arrived 6 years ago, our persistent gang problem became his top priority.

In a time when hundreds of people fall behind on paying their power bills, payment plans are becoming more popular.

The Miss Yakima County and Yakima County's Outstanding Teen pageants are seeking contestants through the end of the year.

Jenifer Wilde, a radio DJ with 92.9 The Bull, is the latest casualty in a string of cuts at Gap West Broadcasting.

The city of Yakima is planning to separate Lincoln Avenue from railroad traffic by building grade separations.

At her last meeting as a member of the Yakima City Council, Sonia Rodriguez got a shout-out from the fire chief and saw her fellow council members agree to continue working on a gang-free initiative she proposed.

YAKIMA, Wash.- The economy is putting pressure on many businesses, but for Yakima's Grocery Outlet, that's not the case.

It's Green Week on NBC with environmentally themed programming on the network each day as efforts to "go green" are happening locally as well.

They are mean streets for Yakima's youngest citizens. Each day and every night, our most impressionable generation is forced to witness the violence, and the consequences of gang warfare.

First grade teacher Luz Corona helps student Narciso Sepulveda through a grammar lesson Tuesday, Nov.

A man who killed six people, including a sheriff's deputy, in a northwest Washington shooting rampage last year pleaded guilty Tuesday and will spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital or prison.

Do you have a 4-year degree and are you interested in changing careers to become a teacher? Then consider the Alternative Route to Teacher Certification program, which offers a fast-track option that can allow you to become certified in just one year to become a teacher in high-need subject areas.

It could be the most important coverage you ever buy.You could be the safest driver in the world, but if an uninsured driver hits you, you're still stuck.

Like a lot of freshmen, Taylor Judd is living in the dorms and getting used to college.

A ferry carrying nearly 200 passengers sank after colliding with an oil barge in a river in Myanmar, killing at least eight and leaving more than three dozen missing, officials said Monday.

Nearly three years after Heather Ellis switched checkout lines at a southeast Missouri store and touched off what she calls a racially charged dispute with white customers and authorities, the young black schoolteacher faces a trial that could send her to prison for 15 years.

Officer Chris Taylor is under no false illusion. His days will always begin at night.

Jobs were supposed to coming to Yakima thanks to stimulus money, but the federal website created to check on that, reports little progress.

Gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms abducted and killed 13 people whose bodies were found Monday with gunshot wounds to the head, including a local leader of Iraq's largest Sunni party, which once helped fight al-Qaida. Police played down the incident as tribal violence in an attempt to defuse sectarian tension, but the political connection suggests the ...

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally won their first game of the season, but safety Sabby Piscitelli still had a bad day.

State Fair Park hosted a gun show for the third time this year, but this weekend's show got a lot more attention.

Yakima police are looking for a man who robbed a convenience store at gunpoint. Shortly before noon on Sunday, police were called to the Tieton Drive Market at 6003 Tieton Drive regarding a robbery.

A man in a black ski mask robbed a convenience store at gunpoint late this morning, authorities say.

The Yakima County jail echoes with slamming steel doors and yelling prisoners as a federal agent sits down behind a computer with a list of inmates to interview.

Militants staged a pair of attacks against anti-Taliban figures in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing one of the men as part of an escalating campaign to weaken the country's resolve to fight Islamic extremism.

A speeding train derailed in western India early Saturday killing at least nine people and injuring more than 80 others.

With metal theft on the rise, local scrap yards are scrutinizing a lot more of the things being brought in.

The case against a family accused of child sex abuse expanded with the arrest of a sixth relative - a 72-year-old Florida man who had called the allegations against his kin repulsive and appalling.

The Yakima Curves has closed. A sign on the door of the facility, a fitness and weight-loss franchise that caters to women, says the closure is due to the current economic conditions and the fact the gym "has not been able to regain substantial membership to continue operations and pay expenses ... " The sign also informs members they can transfer ...

Sad news this week from the local music scene; noted accordion player and teacher Al Maletta died Monday.

Huge explosions and flames ripped through a Russian military arsenal for hours on Friday, killing two firefighters and sending personnel fleeing to a bomb shelter to wait out the worst of the firestorm, officials said.

YAKIMA, Wash. Snow has arrived early this year and it's making for an early Christmas present for those who work in the ski supplies business, local retailers say have been busy and expect to stay that way for several weeks.

As word spread that a gunman had opened fire at Fort Hoodleaving a trail of carnage, a chilling realization swept across the U.S. Muslim community: He has an Islamic name.

The New Orleans Hornets have fired coach Byron Scott and named general manager Jeff Bower as his replacement.

If you see an ambulance fly by, there's a good chance a firetruck isn't far behind.

The Yakima County Sheriff's Office is searching for three suspects after a large number of brass vases were stolen from a cemetery.

When Mark came into Rosemary Luce's life a few years ago as a foster child, he didn't talk.

Historians marvel at the Yakima man's ability to disapprove of everything fun. Along with being Veteran's Day, today is also Washington State's 120th birthday.

Fewer people are smoking in Yakima County, but that hasn't stopped a growing number of retailers from selling cigarettes to minors.

Hundreds came out to the annual parade hosted by the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post Wednesday to see various groups of the community walk and drive through downtown.

YAKIMA, Wash.- Yakima soldier Thomas Knoll deployed to Iraq this afternoon. His mother says it is his second time and it wasn't any easier.

A Prosser woman faces a negligent-driving charge after a crash late Thursday that injured a Kennewick man on Interstate 82, the Washington State Patrol reported.

A jury found a former Wapato teacher accused of raping one of his fifth-grade students not guilty Thursday on the three of five sex charges.

People gathered outside St. Joseph's church to talk about sexual abuse in the Yakima community.

Veteran's Day is a time to thank the men and women who've served our country, but this year Yakima's Vet Center is drawing a little extra attention to female veterans.

Steve Smith will never forget the sound. Standing behind his house at the bottom of a steep slope, he heard muffled thunder and cracking in the hillside.

It took Bob Wyatt two weeks to find the bullet in the synagogue's wall. What Wyatt didn't know then - what nobody knew then - was that John Allen Muhammad had fired on the Tacoma synagogue in a prelude to the killing spree that terrorized the Washington D.C. area in 2002.

So it's like 8 o'clock Saturday night, and I've just finished dinner and drinks with a couple of out-of-town friends who have work on display at the eclectic and well-worth-your-while Central Washington Artists' Exhibition .

YAKIMA, Wash.- For many house members, this weekend was an exciting step forward.

A consulting group has recommended that Washington state close its smallest prison, the Ahtanum View Corrections Center in Yakima, to cut costs.

Authorities called to check on a family's well-being in a rural southeast Texas home found the bodies of four people who had been shot to death.

Bug spray that produces a fog to kill insects is likely to blame for the death of a 10-month-old South Carolina boy, and his 2-year-old brother was critically injured by the fumes, authorities said Monday.

A Yakima man is in jail after leading Yakima sheriff's deputies on a high speed chase through the Lower Valley.

Yakima police hold two men arrested Nov. 5, 2009 in connection with an early afternoon shooting at South Second Street and East Race Street.

We've got First Friday in downtown Yakima this week, which means different things to different people.

The Seattle Times A consulting group hired to find ways to slash costs in the state's prison system released its final report last week.

Local features, glossy photographs and full-color content all add up to quality, and it's coming your way.

Mauricio Fernandez couldn't have been happier. Here he was, being sworn in again as mayor of one of Mexico's most exclusive communities, and he had wonderful news to share: "Black Saldana, who apparently is the one who was asking for my head, was found dead today in Mexico City," he told his cheering supporters.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West was indicted Tuesday on additional weapons and traffic charges stemming from his Sept.

A classmate of the Fort Hood shooting suspect says Maj. Nidal Hasan was an outspoken opponent of the U.S. war on terror and called it a "war against Islam." Dr.

An appeals court has ruled Pennsylvania State Police botched a prostitution investigation in which troopers gave an informant money to pay for sex four times at a massage parlor, along with a total of $180 for the man's trouble.

It's a nationwide epidemic, and prescription drug abuse is on the rise in Yakima.

Last month, Horizon Air officials visited Yakima to promote its service to and from Seattle in hopes of boosting passenger levels.

With the winter flu season approaching we wanted to know what the Yakima School District is doing to prevent the spread of H1N1 or swine flu.

For the past three years Yakima's homeless have had a place to sleep when temperatures dip below freezing, but extreme weather shelters may shut down without more volunteers.

The police department is looking to fill more spots in its Citizens Academy, a program that helps the public learn more about how YPD operates and what they can do to keep their community safe.

A jury has found a former Wapato teacher accused of raping 1 of his fifth-grade students guilty of 2 of the five charges against him.

Military officials were starting Friday to piece together what may have pushed an Army psychiatrist trained to help soldiers in distress to turn on his comrades in a shooting rampage that killed 13 people and wounded 30 in Texas.

YAKIMA, Wash.- The look of Yakima is changing every year. Hispanics now make up nearly 60 percent of the students in our local schools and 48 percent of the general population in Yakima County.

What's working to boost the economy in the Yakima Valley? A recent study says tourism is providing a big boost.

A drive-by shooting leaves one injured and locks down two Yakima schools. Officers have two people in custody, they found the men hiding in the bathroom of a home near where the shooting took place.

The Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic has purchased 3.39 acres near the new medical college in Terrace Heights with an eye toward building a new clinic in the next several years.

The FBI says it has made an arrest in the slaying of a nun who worked on a New Mexico Indian reservation.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla is recovering from a bullet wound in his leg after a target shooting instructor accidentally shot him.

Incumbents are out in Sunnyside, conservatives are in on the Yakima City Council, Latino candidates fared poorly countywide against non-Latino candidates, a handful of races are way too close to call, and a candidate who withdrew more than a month ago won big in Toppenish.

KNDO's Family Food Drive is only a month away, but donations are already headed Northwest Harvest's way.

Attorneys and the East Valley School District say they have enough probable cause to terminate Michelle Taylor.

A thick sweat shirt may have offered some protection to the victim of a gang shooting in Yakima.

November 03, 2009 - Yakima Police Department in Washington has gone live with CrimeMapping.com, a nationwide service that allows residents to map out and report on crime activity near any address.

The county prosecutor and sheriff may have been the biggest winners of the night.

Radio talk-show personality Dave Ettl was victorious in his Yakima City Council bid Tuesday, the lone challenger to win four contested council races.

Prosecutors have filed murder and other charges against a 14-year-old central California boy accused in the death of a 4-year-old neighbor boy, whose body was found in a clothes dryer at the teen's home.

The improper sale of a restricted pesticide to an uncertified buyer in Yakima was among 21 violations by the Wilbur-Ellis Company that resulted in the California firm agreeing to pay a fine of nearly $100,000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

A 19-year-old Yakima man was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder in a fatal shooting near downtown Yakima last weekend.

The East Valley School District sent a letter to physical education teacher Michele Taylor on Monday saying there is "probable cause" to terminate her.

City leaders hope a new ordinance will keep trash off neighborhood streets. Garbage carts throughout Yakima are too full of trash.

Nearly half of all Iraqis who died in October perished in a single coordinated attack against government offices in Baghdad, a tally by The Associated Press showed Monday.

YAKIMA, Wash. - An arrest warrant has been issued for a 19-year-old man who is suspected of being the shooter in the gang-related death of a Wapato youngster last year.

But it was a struggle. At Ike, the teen says, there were too many students, too many distractions, too much stress.

Jamie McCourt will head to court Wednesday to ask a judge to reinstate her as the Dodgers' chief executive, a week after her team-owner husband fired her.

The Yakima Valley wine industry in general got some major props in The Hill, a D.C. blog that's popular with political types.

Few clues have emerged from a drive-by shooting that left a nine-year veteran Seattle police officer dead and a trainee injured on Halloween night.

Two teenagers are injured Saturday night in separate violent crimes. A drive-by shooting in the 3600 block of Powerhouse Rd.

The first day of elk hunting season didn't go well for a 68-year-old Colfax man.

A witness told jurors on Wednesday that she saw gunfire from her apartment window the night Jacksonville Jaguars player Richard Collier was shot and paralyzed but could not identify the shooter.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released offensive lineman Marcus Johnson after his arrest on a charge of driving under the influence.

Right now there's a huge drop out problem in the Yakima Valley among students who are making the transition from 8th grade to high school.

Police were searching Saturday for a person who shot and killed a 16-year-old girl and wounded two men when firing into a crowd following a football game at a high school in Southern California.