Soldier dies in Iraq on 3rd deployment

Fort Lewis

Soldier dies in Iraq

on 3rd deployment

A soldier from Fort Lewis has been killed in a non-combat-related incident in Iraq.

Staff Sergeant Amy C. Tirador, 29, of Albany, N.Y., died Wednesday in Kirkush, the Department of Defense says.

She was assigned to the 209th Military Intelligence Company, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

Tirador enlisted in March 1999. This was her third deployment.

Los Angeles

Kent team's robot

wins $900,000

Kent-based LaserMotive was presented a $900,000 check Friday at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in the Mojave Desert in California for successfully sending its laser-powered robot thousands of feet up a cable slung from a helicopter hovering a mile above Earth.

Two other competitors in the three-day contest were unable to complete the climb of more than 2,950 feet.

LaserMotive's machine accomplished the feat in about three minutes, 48 seconds, good enough for second-place money.

The company could have won $2 million had its robot finished in less than three minutes.

Seattle

Expect I-5 delays

early next week

Drivers should expect delays on southbound Interstate 5 early next week as crews close up to three lanes between Swift Avenue and Highway 900 (Martin Luther King Junior Way South) to install fiber optics for a new highway-signage project.

From 7 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Tuesday, crews will close up to three lanes on southbound I-5 between Swift Avenue and Highway 900.

From 8 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday, crews will close up to two lanes on southbound I-5 from Swift Avenue to Highway 900.

Crews are laying the groundwork for new high-tech electronic signs.

Everett

Not-guilty plea

by officer in death

The Everett police officer charged with manslaughter for fatally shooting a drunken-driving suspect has pleaded not guilty in Snohomish County Superior Court.

The Everett Herald reports that Officer Troy Meade remained free without bail after Thursday's plea, under orders not to leave the state or possess weapons.

Prosecutors say Meade was not justified in shooting Niles Meservey, of Stanwood, last June in a restaurant parking lot.

Other customers reported Meservey was intoxicated. Investigators believe Meade was attempting to prevent Meservey from driving away.

Meservey had been shocked with a stun gun and had rammed a chain-link fence when Meade fired through the rear window, hitting him seven times.

Times staff and news services