Briefly

Comcast says it will raise cable TV rates

Seattle Comcast, the state’s largest cable-television provider, says it’s raising rates for most of its 1.1 million customers in Washington.

Basic cable service will increase an average $2.81 to $42.29 a month, beginning in January. Limited basic-cable service will increase an average 19 cents. The price for digital cable service will also increase, but company officials did not say how much.

The higher rates are based on increased programming choices and upgrades in service and technology, Comcast said. The company’s last rate increase was in January.

Comcast recently launched a new video-on-demand service and new digital video recorders that can record television programs.

Sailors used leave to shoplift at Target

Olympia Two Russian sailors, who missed their ride home when they were arrested for shoplifting, pleaded guilty Friday in Thurston County Superior Court.

Sergey Y. Boyev, 33, and Alexey Y. Melnikov, 25, pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree theft.

They were credited with 17 days served in the Thurston County Jail and turned over to federal authorities for deportation, said Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Phil Harju.

They are being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.

Boyev and Melnikov were arrested Nov. 2 as they left a local Target store with a backpack full of stolen items – including jeans, boxer shorts and a $200 cell phone – with an estimated value of about $800.

They were on shore leave from the vessel Ivan Makarin, which departed for Vancouver, British Columbia, on Nov. 8, after delivering 16,000 tons of aluminum here.

Because of their convictions, the men will be barred from the United States for at least five years, said spokesman Mike Milne with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Man awarded more than $400,000 after crash

Vancouver, B.C. A man who said he lost his ability to work because of depression and anxiety after a harrowing plane crash near Whistler has been awarded more than $400,000 in damages.

The case was brought by Kenneth and Janice Carpenter of Lincoln, Neb., against Whistler Air Services Ltd. in British Columbia Supreme Court.

In a telephone interview Tuesday, Carpenter, 65, said he had hoped for more.

“Since the accident I can’t remember anything, I can’t do anything, so my income has gone to nothing. I lost a lot of money,” he said.

The Carpenters were attending a conference in Whistler in August 2000 when they joined another couple for a sightseeing trip on a Cessna 185.

Shortly after takeoff from Green Lake, the plane crashed into the frigid water. The pontoons were torn off on impact and the plane sank to the bottom.

The pilot and the other couple escaped quickly, but Carpenter’s wife resisted his attempts to push her toward the door although she was unconscious.

When the plane hit the bottom, Carpenter gave a final push and freed himself and his wife from the wreckage. They were picked up by a boat and taken ashore.

Carpenter, an insurance company manager, had water in his lungs, an injured back and other superficial injuries.

Later, en route to Vancouver, Carpenter became hot and flushed and started sweating profusely, the first of a yearlong series of anxiety attacks.

Justice Marion Allan found that the panic attacks have abated, along with symptoms of post-traumatic stress, but she ruled that he was still beset by a depressive disorder and anxiety after what had been excellent health and an active personal and professional life.

“There can be no question that the crash and its immediate aftermath were traumatic events,” Allan stated.

Three days before trial, the company admitted liability, leaving only the amount of compensation to be determined.

Carpenter was awarded $8,000 in special damages, $150,000 for past income loss, $250,000 for loss of future earnings, all in U.S. dollars, and non-pecuniary damages of $55,000 Canadian, about U.S.$46,200.

He also is entitled to court-ordered interest on the special damages in addition to his legal costs.

His wife settled previously for an undisclosed amount.

Rooster makes residence at construction site

Hayden, Idaho Construction crews sometimes adopt stray cats or dogs, but cold weather has brought an unusual mascot to take up residence at one Rosenberg Construction site: a wayward rooster.

Dubbed Chucky by the 3-year-old son of one of the construction workers, the male chicken is crowing for squatter’s rights at the Rocking-R subdivision in Hayden.

Bill Daum said he came to the construction site at 7 a.m. two weeks ago and found the bird was “just standing on top of the wall crowing away.”

The crew has taken their guest in stride, feeding him crackers as sustenance, he said.

“We’re not going to turn him in,” said Rick Bieber, a construction worker.

“Chucky now struts his stuff in every corner of the home, letting out frequent cock-a-doodle-doos.”

Two killed in ultralight, hang glider accidents

Two Idaho men died over the weekend in unrelated ultralight and hang glider accidents.

A 55-year-old Boise man died at Pickles Butte, one of Idaho’s premier hang-gliding areas, when his hang glider crashed on Saturday.

Louis A. Heinonen lost control of his delta-winged aircraft at 1:20 p.m. at the site just south of Nampa.

A day later, Stephen Moore, a 44-year-old Emmett truck driver, died when his ultralight aircraft crashed north of Emmett Sunday just after 5 p.m.

The Gem County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the cause of the crash.

Heinonen, with 30 years of hang-gliding experience, crashed into rocks, losing his helmet and injuring his head.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by Canyon County sheriff and coroner personnel.