Clouds and showers through Memorial Day, except mostly sunny Sunday. Highs near 60. Latest forecast here.
Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:
- Key Investor Wants Balmer Ousted from Microsoft
- Federal Way Theatens to Sue Sound Transit to Get Light Rail
- Seattle Wants to Name Problem Cops; Will Appeal Arbitrator's Ruling
- Woman Seriously Hurt in Everett Car-Train Collision
Balmer Should Go, Says Key Microsoft Investor
A key investor says it's time for Microsoft's board to replace Steve Ballmer as CEO.
Hedge fund manager Dave Einhorn, ofGreenlight Capital, says the Redmond software giant is suffering from 'Charlie Brown management' and that Ballmer's continued presence is the biggest overhang. But, at the same time, Einhorn recommended investors buy the stock, because he says it's currently undervalued on the stock market. Shares are down 12 percent this year.
Greenlight Capital has a $230-million stake in Microsoft.
The board continues to stand behind their CEO.
Federal Way Wants Promised Rail Line
A working class suburb is being shortchanged in the struggle for transportation.
That was the lament from Federal Way Mayor Skip Priest yesterday (Thurs.) as the Sound Transit Board announced it doesn't have enough revenue to reach South 272nd Street in the south King county city by 2023.
Failing to do so would break a promise made to voters on the 2008 ballot, but the board argues a dramatic drop in sales tax revenue is to blame and the money isn't there.
Mayor Priest says they should cut other costs, suggesting they could even switch the rail line's alignment to I-5 instead of running it along Highway 99 to make it happen - and he tells the SeattleP-I.com, Federal Way might sue if they don't.
Priest says, with more than half of its school children on free and reduced school lunches, Federal Way needs the service more than other areas of the region.
Seattle to Appeal Ruling on Police Officers' Names
The Seattle City Attorney's office will seek court review of a labor arbitrator's order that the Seattle Police Department must stop releasing the names of officers found to have engaged in misconduct.
In the meantime, city attorney's spokeswoman Kimberly Mills said Thursday that the Police Department will continue releasing such names.
Mills says the city will ask King County Superior Court to review this week's ruling by arbitrator Paul Grace on the grounds that it violates the state Public Records Act.
Ruling at the request of the Seattle police officers' union, Grace found the city violated contract language prohibiting the release of the officers' names.
Everett Car-Train Crash Seriously Injures Woman, Kills Dog
Police say an Amtrak train collided with a car on the railroad tracks in Everett, seriously injuring the driver and killing a dog in the car.
Everett police spokesman Robert Goetz said the car was hit on the driver's side Thursday evening and pushed about 100 yards down the tracks. The female driver was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
It appears the vehicle pulled onto the tracks after the gates had gone down, Goetz told The Herald's Rikki King. The driver may have been stopped on the tracks and was struck broadside, but it was too early to tell.
No injuries were reported aboard the Chicago-bound train.
An Amtrak spokesman tells KOMO-TV the train had just left the Everett station.
The crash is under investigation.