Articles by Gene Johnson

Dozens of Washington Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to Be Shuttered

With Washington state overhauling its medical marijuana law, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray says the city is planning to shutter dozens of dispensaries. Murray this week announced plans to require a new special business license for marijuana establishments, akin to those …

Washington Artist’s ‘Angry Birds’ Lawsuit Goes Forward

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a Seattle, Wash. artist who designed a line of plush pet toys called “Angry Birds.” Juli Adams designed the plush “Angry Birds” toys in 2006 for The Hartz Mountain …

Probe of Washington Refinery Blast That Killed 7 Closed by Feds

The U.S. Justice Department said it will file no criminal charges following a four-year investigation into the April 2010 explosion that killed seven workers at the Tesoro Corp. refinery in Anacortes, Wash. The decision was shared with victims’ relatives on …

Washington Artist Files Intellectual Property Suit Over ‘Angry Birds’ Pet Toys

A Seattle artist who designed a line of plush pet toys called “Angry Birds” is suing the company that sold them, saying it cheated her of millions of dollars when it reached a deal with the Finnish company that makes …

Could Washington Landslide Lawsuits Win?

The warnings could hardly have been clearer. One technical report told of the “potential for a large catastrophic failure” of the 600-foot hillside above a rural neighborhood near Oso, on the Stillaguamish River. Another noted plainly that it “poses a …

True-Crime Writer Ann Rule Sues Washington Newspaper

True-crime author Ann Rule is suing a weekly Seattle newspaper, saying she was defamed in 2011 when the fiance of a convicted killer wrote a lengthy article accusing her of “sloppy storytelling.” The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court …

Insurance Company Asks: Do Powell Siblings Get Money?

A life insurance company has asked a judge to decide whether any of Josh Powell’s relatives are entitled to collect on a $1.5 million policy after he killed himself and his two sons in a Washington house fire last month. …

Case of Wrongly Arrested WTO Protesters Settled for $1 million

Seattle’s insurance company has agreed to pay $1 million to settle claims that about 175 people were wrongly arrested during a peaceful WTO protest in 1999. The case went to trial in January, and a federal jury found Seattle liable …