11/11/2004

Associated Press

Washington will be getting about 160,000 more doses of flu vaccine over the next two months, the state Health Department said Wednesday.

That's the state's share under a formula the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is using to distribute remaining vaccine around the country.

The Health Department is consulting with local public-health agencies to work out a distribution plan within the state.

Even with the additional doses, State Health Secretary Mary Selecky said there still will not be enough to vaccinate everyone who wants a shot.

The vaccine is being reserved for highest-risk patients, such as babies, people older than 65, and those living in nursing homes or long-term care facilities.

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KENT, Wash. — A jail inmate on a King County Corrections bus kicked out a window and escaped Wednesday morning, as the bus was stopped at an Interstate 5 on-ramp in this south Seattle suburb, police said.

The inmate, identified as Reginald Merchant, ran across the parking lot of the Kent-Des Moines park-and-ride lot, with jail guards chasing him. The guards fired a couple of shots, but no one was hit.

A bystander who saw what was happening tackled Merchant and held him until authorities arrived.

King County Jail officials say Merchant was free for no more than 30 minutes.

Merchant, who was being held for investigation of robbery, assault and possession of a stolen firearm, was apparently wearing several pairs of socks to slip out of ankle shackles, police said.

The bus regularly transports inmates between the King County Regional Justice Center in Kent and the King County Courthouse in Seattle.

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BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) — The Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe acquired 390 acres of state land near its 1,300-acre reservation at a public auction on Wednesday.

The tribe's $4.4 million bid was $600,000 more than the land's assessed value.

Neighbors of the property, held by the Department of Natural Resources for a school trust fund, voiced concerns that the tribe would develop the land for retail purposes.

Tribal officials said they plan to use the land for housing.

"It's for our grandkids and their kids," Tribal Chairman Ron Charles said.

DNR spokeswoman Jane Chavey called it "a good day for the school trust fund."

"We'll be able to take the money and invest it in property and make more money in the long term," Chavey said.

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KINGSTON, Wash. (AP) — A family whose home burned to the ground in March is receiving a gift from a hit television show.

ABC-TV's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is going to work this week on the home of Roseanne Dore, a widowed single mother of three girls.

Dore, who works as a cafeteria server at Kingston Junior High School, got picked after submitting a video telling her story.

Demolition and construction are scheduled to begin on Friday, continuing around the clock through Nov. 17.

More than 700 Centex Homes builders, with help form the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties will work 16 eight-hour shifts to complete the project.

The design calls for a 3,200 square-foot, six-bedroom house on 2.5 acres of the family's land in this northern Kitsap Peninsula town. The home will be worth an estimated $500,000.