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Issaquah

A 44-year-old Seattle man died when his motorcycle collided with a dump truck Tuesday morning, Issaquah police reported.

The identity of the victim was not made public, pending notification of next of kin, Cmdr. Stan Conrad said.

The accident took place about 7:40 a.m. at East Lake Sammamish Parkway and 229th Avenue Southeast, north of Interstate 90.

Witnesses reported the motorcycle was traveling north on East Lake Sammamish Parkway and the dump truck was pulling into the intersection from 229th Avenue Southeast when the motorcycle struck the dump truck. The motorcyclist died at the scene, Conrad said. The truck driver was not injured.

Traffic was reduced to one lane in each direction on East Lake Sammamish Parkway, a main north-and-south route leading to the Sammamish Plateau.

Eastside

Copper-wire thefts decrease at PSE

Puget Sound Energy, which provides electrical power to much of the Eastside, says steps it has taken to reduce the theft of copper wire from its substations have paid off, cutting thefts by 28 percent since January. The new measures also led to increased arrests in nine counties, the utility announced.

PSE estimates its copper-wire losses since 2005 at $500,000. To combat theft, the company has replaced chain-link fencing around substations with extruded steel fencing - a type that cannot be easily cut - and has applied microscopic labels to copper wire to allow identification at recycling centers and by law enforcement.

Thefts of copper wire and other metals have risen dramatically in recent years, with the thefts often being committed by drug users to pay for methamphetamine use. The price of copper has risen from 80 cents a pound in 2003 to about $3.50 a pound now, with national losses estimated at $1 billion annually by the federal Department of Energy.

Issaquah

Pedestrian bridge gets $3 million

The Issaquah Regional Trail System has received more than $3 million in federal funds to construct a pedestrian bridge along Highway 900 over the Interstate 90 westbound onramp. It will connect the Cedar River-Lake Sammamish and Interstate 90/Sammamish regional trails.

Construction is expected to begin in February.

Nearly $15 million was awarded and went to 36 projects throughout the state, including restoring historic transportation facilities, treating water pollution, and landscaping.

Seattle Times Eastside Bureau

A King County District Court judge this morning declined to allow the release of an audio-video recording of Seattle City Councilmember Richard McIver’s conversation with a police officer immediately after his Oct. 10 arrest for alleged domestic assault.

Judge Linda Thompson said release of the recordings would violate McIver’s privacy rights.

On Tuesday, Thompson approved the release of the full police report and other documents related to the arrest of McIver. The material includes witness statements, a recording of the 911 call from McIver’s wife, police follow-up interviews, e-mails between prosecutors, an evidence report and officers’ statements made as part of the investigation into the alleged assault.

Thompson said because McIver is a public official, the release of the information is “not harmful to the legal process nor does it compromise the privacy rights of those involved.”

The judge, however, declined to release other material, such as McIver’s booking photo, his Social Security number, home address and his wife’s date of birth.

Defense attorney Todd Maybrown had sought to bar the release of the documents and recordings, saying the release would violate the privacy of McIver and his wife, was inflammatory and could prejudice a jury in McIver’s Dec. 10 trial. But the news media, including The Seattle Times, had requested the information under the state’s Public Disclosure Act.

Some documents, including an incident report summarizing the events that led to McIver’s arrest, have been previously released.

McIver is charged with fourth-degree domestic-violence assault in connection with the Oct. 10 incident that ended with his arrest and an overnight stay in jail before he was released on personal recognizance.

McIver was arrested after he allegedly grabbed his wife, Marlaina Kiner-McIver, by the throat three times.

Police and prosecutors allege McIver gripped his wife’s throat with pressure as he shouted what she told police was a profane tirade. Kiner-McIver became frightened and called 911, the documents say, but she hung up when she considered the potential political ramifications for her husband’s City Council career.

When the operator called back, Kiner-McIver said they both had been drinking and the fight had not been physical, charging documents say.

When police arrived, they thought McIver, 66, seemed intoxicated, and he indicated he had just come home from a restaurant. He told them he had been drinking and was probably drunk, but he denied the argument with his wife had become physical, charging papers say.

Maybrown has insisted McIver is not guilty.

According to the documents, Kiner-McIver expressed dismay when her husband was arrested and said that she would not call police if a similar situation were to occur. She has said she does not want to aid in her husband’s prosecution.

Prosecutors this morning said they are aware of her reluctance but are preparing for trial nevertheless.

“A subpoena has been served, we will be ready for trial and we are expecting the witness to testify,” said prosecutor’s spokesman Dan Donohoe.

McIver was appointed to the City Council in 1997 to complete the term of John Manning, a former police officer who resigned his council post after pleading guilty to domestic violence. McIver was elected to a four-year term in 1997 and re-elected in 2001 and 2005.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Greenpeace gave Microsoft and Nintendo abysmal rankings Tuesday on their efforts to phase out toxic chemicals from their game consoles.

Nintendo became the first company to score zero out of a possible 10 points in the Greenpeace ranking of 18 leading electronics companies. It provided no information to consumers on the substances it uses in manufacturing or on its plans to cut hazardous materials, the environmental organization said.

Microsoft, judged on its Zune MP3 player and Xbox game console, lost points for its pledge to eliminate toxic chemicals only in 2011 and for having no voluntary takeback program for electronic waste. At 2.7 points, it took 16th place among the 18 companies.

The most nature-friendly companies on Greenpeace’s list were Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications and Samsung, which each scored 7.7 points.

Microsoft said in a statement that it is committed to environmental progress. “In our consumer electronics business, we comply with and exceed all environmental guidelines and regulations,” while ensuring the durability, safety and performance of products, the company said.

A public-relations firm working for Nintendo said it was unaware of the Greenpeace report and was checking.

Greenpeace judges companies on their mechanisms for collecting used hardware and on their timelines for eliminating vinyl, or PVC, and fire retardants that can be dangerous when released into the environment. It does not weigh companies’ overall environmental portrait, though it will look at energy efficiency next year, said Greenpeace spokeswoman Iza Kruszweska.

Greenpeace added television and game consoles to the sixth issue of its two-year-old ranking in recognition of their growing importance, especially as Americans cast off old TVs for digital receivers. Shipments of game consoles grew nearly 15 percent last year to 62.7 million units worldwide, Greenpeace said.

Greenpeace said TV producers Royal Philips Electronics and Sharp also have poor policies on taking back and recycling outdated products.

Makes about 1 ½ cups

1 cup pitted oil-cured or Kalamata olives

½ cup prepared tapenade (see Kitchen Note)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Chop olives coarsely by hand. Combine with prepared tapenade, olive oil, lemon zest, pepper and basil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 48 hours. Serve as a topping for crostini.

Times Kitchen Note: Prepared tapenade is sold in jars and can be found on the condiment aisle with other olive products. Many stores with large deli or prepared foods departments also sell their own version.

U.S. recreational-vehicle makers will probably see shipments fall in 2007 for the first time in six years, a sign the U.S. economy may be headed for a recession, analysts and forecasters say.

For the past three decades, deliveries of motor homes and travel trailers have dropped before each decline in the U.S. economy, giving the $15 billion industry a reputation as a bellwether. As the U.S. housing slump worsens, gasoline prices rise and consumer confidence wanes, RV sales are forecast to slide this year and next.

Recreational vehicles “are at the swing end of discretionary spending because no one needs an RV, and certainly no one needs a new RV,” said Ron Muhlenkamp, whose Muhlenkamp & Co. fund manages about $1.8 billion, including shares of Winnebago Industries, the biggest motor-home maker, and Thor Industries, the maker of Airstream trailers. Muhlenkamp started unloading shares in 2006.

A University of Michigan forecast for the RV industry in June predicted 2008 sales would rise 3.5 percent; a revised version of the forecast today swung to a 4.8 percent decline. The revised 2008 outlook was released during the industry’s largest trade show, which began Tuesday in Louisville, Ky.

None of the five largest recreational-vehicle makers has posted a 2007 stock gain. Fleetwood Enterprises declined 33 percent and Coachmen Industries fell 52 percent. Monaco Coach, based in Coburg, Ore., dropped 35 percent, while Winnebago declined 37 percent. Thor, which hasn’t had an annual loss since it was formed in 1986, slid 23 percent.

“People are picking and choosing more” as interest rates rise and gasoline tops $3 a gallon, said Jim Frum, 66, a sales manager at Olathe Ford RV Center in Gardner, Kansas, who has been selling recreational vehicles since 1975. “It seems like it takes out the family-type person who runs close on the budget.”

Travel trailers, which are typically towed by trucks, range in price from $4,000 to $100,000, with motor homes costing $40,000 to $400,000, according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association.

RV-industry sales declines lasting two years or longer preceded recessions in the early 1980s, early 1990s and in 2001. Of 86 dealers attending the Louisville trade show, 66 said they will order fewer trailers and motor homes this year than in 2006, according to a November survey of dealers by BB&T Capital Markets.

“We remain fundamentally cautions about the space for ‘big-ticket’ discretionary consumer purchases of this type,” BB&T analyst John Diffendal wrote in a Nov. 12 report.

Three days after Diffendal’s report, Goldman Sachs economist Jan Hatzius wrote that the credit collapse that began in August is likely to force banks, brokerages and hedge funds to cut lending by $2 trillion, risking a “substantial recession” in the U.S.

Crude-oil futures reached a record $99.29 on Nov. 21, while the average price of regular gasoline at U.S. pumps exceeded $3 a gallon this month for the first time since July, according to AAA.

Shipments fell

RV shipments fell 11.1 percent through Sept. 30. Shipments will probably end the year down 10 percent, said Mack Bryan, vice president of administration at the RV industry trade group, which is holding this week’s Louisville show.

“This is an industry highly sensitive to consumer spending,” said Bryan.

The University of Michigan forecast of a decline through 2008 comes on the heels of the industry’s best year in three decades. In 2006, RV shipments rose 1.6 percent to 390,500 trailers and motor homes, capping five straight years of growth. That streak broke a 20-month decline.

Winnebago’s sales

Winnebago led motor-home sales declines through the first nine months with a 7.1 percent drop, including a 20 percent plunge for September, according to Statistical Surveys.

“I can tell you that we have seen this type of industry swing over the last the three decades,” Winnebago Chief Executive Officer Bruce Hertzke said Tuesday from the Louisville show, where the company is unveiling more fuel-efficient RVs to try to regain sales. One new model can go as far as 22 miles on a gallon of fuel. That’s almost triple the mileage of the largest models.

“We do anticipate things will be down” next year, Hertzke said. “We do expect the market will come back.”

Motor-home sales also fell in 2005 and 2006, while shipments of travel trailers rose enough to offset the decline. Now sales of trailers, more popular with lower-income buyers, are dropping as well.

Even as consumer sentiment and fuel prices damp RV sales, a wave of aging baby boomers may ride to the rescue. The industry is benefiting from the 11,000 people who turn 50 years old each day, the peak buying age for RV owners, Thor Chief Operating Officer Dicky Riegel said.

“The industry is definitely not immune to macroeconomic factors, but we still have the demographic wind at our back,” said Riegel, 41.

Thor will outperform the industry and still expects a 2008 fiscal-year sales gain after a decline in the 12 months ended July 31, Riegel said.

Analyst ratings on the industry are still mostly positive. Five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News in the past three months recommend buying Thor, compared with one “sell” rating. Winnebago has four “buys” and one “sell.” Share-price targets for Thor range as high as $69 - more than double Tuesday’s closing price of $34.

BB&T’s Diffendal rates Monaco and Thor a “hold” and has “buy” ratings on Winnebago and Fleetwood.

Frum, the Kansas RV dealer, said his main goal this week at the Louisville show is to find lighter, less-expensive models that will appeal to buyers mindful of fuel prices and interest rates. His dealership, which claims to be the largest in Kansas, has been trying to reduce inventory for the past two years to control costs, and it is evident sales are tapering, Frum said.

It may not be clear until early 2008 whether the U.S. will fall into recession, Muhlenkamp said. In the meantime, declining U.S. consumer sentiment suggests motor-home sales may drop further. The Reuters/University of Michigan final sentiment index fell in November to its lowest since October 2005, after Hurricane Katrina.

Bloomberg News reporters Carlos Torres in Washington and Brian Sullivan and Amy Rosen in New York contributed to this report.

With Monday’s order from China for 160 aircraft, Airbus has won three big contracts there in two years, compared with Boeing’s one. The estimated $17 billion deal comes with orders already at an all-time high and is a boost as the European company works to end losses.

Some analysts questioned the bottom-line impact, though.

“These are very nice numbers, but you have to wonder what kind of pricing is involved,” said Zafar Khan, an analyst at SG Securities in London with a “sell” rating on the stock. “Even if they were selling these planes at list price, given where the dollar is, are they able to make any real profit?”

Shares of EADS closed down 0.1 percent at 21.38 euros after earlier gaining 2.7 percent. The stock has declined 18 percent this year, compared with a 1.2 percent advance at Chicago-based Boeing. Boeing stock rose 39 cents to $89.93 Monday in New York Stock Exchange Composite trading.

Monday’s plane order is the largest ever placed by China. The deal comprises 110 A320 short-haul planes and 50 A330 widebodies, said Louis Gallois, chief executive officer of Airbus parent company European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.

Airbus won a $10 billion deal for 150 aircraft there in November 2005, followed by another that size last year. Boeing’s last big Chinese order was in 2005, worth as much as $9 billion.

Airbus and EADS executives are traveling with a trade delegation led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on a three-day visit to China. Airbus also Monday won an order for 12 of its new A350 long-haul jetliners from TAP SGPS SA, Portugal’s biggest airline, worth $2.4 billion at list prices.

The European manufacturer is building an assembly line in China that will produce four single-aisle A320 planes a month when the line is at full production in about 2011.

The plane maker will also award Chinese companies 5 percent of the A350’s supply contracts, including wing flaps and rudders, Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Bregier said today. The company is hoping China will become a risk-sharing partner on the 300-seat aircraft, which has been redesigned to meet customer specifications and won’t enter service until 2013, five years after the competing 787 Dreamliner from Boeing.

Boeing has supplier contracts with China’s aviation industry valued at “well over” $2.5 billion, Boeing spokesman Peter Conte said in an e-mail today.

“Airbus has won large orders in China in each of the last three years, which suggests the risk of creating an assembly line there is paying off,” said Yan Derocles, an analyst at Oddo Securities in Paris with an “add” rating on the shares.

Not necessarily, said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at the Teal Group in Fairfax, Va. While the portion of the order for A330 aircraft helps Airbus catch up to Boeing’s lead in that segment of the market, each manufacturer is likely to end up with about half the total, he said.

“I don’t think either side has to worry,” Aboulafia said. “Airbus just made the mistake of spending to manufacture there to get the same 50 percent of the market.”

As of the third quarter, 647, or 58 percent, of the 1,113 commercial jetliners operating in China were Boeing airplanes; 357, or 32 percent, were Airbus; and 109, or 10 percent, were from other manufacturers, Boeing’s Conte said.

Airbus’ new orders this year will surpass the 1,111 amassed in 2005. The company had already won 1,021 new orders through the end of October and announced another 297 contracts or commitments at the Dubai Air Show in mid-November.

“The Chinese market is growing at by far the fastest pace in the world,” Airbus executive Bregier said in an interview. “We hope to have more handsome orders like this.”

Boeing’s new orders this year have reached 1,047, setting a third straight annual record, the company said Nov. 21. Airbus’ order tally is based on gross orders for the year and doesn’t include orders that may have been canceled.

Boeing’s gross orders are at 1,057, up from 1,050 last year, according to the Nov. 21 tally.

Shop and be well. Public Health - Seattle & King County, in partnership with RediClinic and Novartis Vaccines, is providing influenza vaccination clinics every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 23 at Northgate Mall, 401 N.E. Northgate Way, Seattle. Flu shots will be offered from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sundays. For more information, see www.flusource.com.

Civic calendar

Free lecture

Today: Washington State China Relations Council’s executive director Joseph Borich lectures as part of Shoreline Community College’s International Programs, 9:30 a.m., main campus, 1100 Building, 16101 Greenwood Ave. N., Shoreline.

Safety forum

Today: A forum sponsored by community groups and businesses addresses recent reports of gay-bashing and malicious harassment on Capitol Hill. Seattle City councilmember Sally Clark moderates a panel with City Council President Nick Licata, Seattle police Capt. Paul McDonagh, Mike Hogan from the King County Prosecutor’s Office and other safety experts, 6:30 p.m., Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, Seattle.

Yellowstone lecture

Today: “Yellowstone to Yukon,” a segment of an eight-part Tuesday lecture series, features John Cross, Southern Alberta Land Trust board member and rancher, and Roland Willson, chief of the West Moberly Band of British Columbia, at 7 p.m., Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle; free. For more information see www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/.

“Galloping Gourmet” diabetes talk

Today: Former Galloping Gourmet and celebrity chef Graham Kerr discusses making moderate changes to maintain a healthy life and lifestyle as part of a National Diabetes Awareness month event; he also will autograph copies of his new book, “The Day-by-Day Gourmet Cookbook.” Blood-sugar and blood-pressure screenings will be available at 6 p.m. followed by the discussion at 7 p.m. at Third Place Commons, 17171 Bothell Way N.E., Lake Forest Park. For more information call 206-368-1564.

Here & Now is compiled by Seattle Times lead news assistant Lynne Berry. To submit an item, e-mail herenow@seattletimes.com or call 206-464-2226.

Nov. 27, 1998: One of the worst bus accidents in Metro Transit’s history happened when the driver of a southbound bus was shot twice as the bus began crossing the Aurora Bridge in Seattle. The bus plunged 50 feet into the Fremont neighborhood, killing one passenger and injuring 32 others. The driver, Mark McLaughlin, 44, and passenger Herman Liebelt, 69, died, as did the shooter, Silas Cool, 43, who killed himself. Had the bus, which crossed two lanes of oncoming traffic, traveled a few hundred yards farther, it would have dropped into the Ship Canal.

Source: Historylink.org

NEW YORK - Food Network is kicking Emeril Lagasse down a notch.

The celebrity chef’s “Emeril Live,” which has been on the air for 10 years, will cease production Dec. 11, Food Network publicist Carrie Welch said.

“However, Emeril is under contract with Food Network,” Welch said Tuesday. “We love him, we support him and look forward to a long partnership with him.”

Welch wouldn’t comment on Lagasse’s contract.

Asked why the show was canceled, she said: “The only reason would be that it hit a ton of television milestones and, you know, all good things come to an end.”

The Food Network will continue producing Lagasse’s “The Essence of Emeril,” and he will take part in “specials and other development opportunities in the future,” Welch said.

The network will also air reruns of “Emeril Live.”

“I am deeply appreciative to all the unbelievable staff - many who have been with the show since the beginning - and all the loyal viewers, and the many talented guests who have appeared on the show through the years,” Lagasse, 48, said in a statement provided by Welch.

“I look forward to continuing my association with the Food Network with ‘The Essence of Emeril,’ and I have lots of new ideas cooking,” he said.

VHS or Beta formed in Louisville, Ky., in 1997 as a loud, noisy punk-rock band. But then things changed. “We were part of a scene that grew very, very stagnant, and seemingly bitter,” says guitarist-vocalist Craig Pfunder.

So VHS or Beta switched formats, some might say shockingly so, as Pfunder and his mates began using guitars, bass and drums to concoct an unusual house/funk/disco blend born of jam sessions, resulting in the celebrated 2002 debut EP, “Le Funk.”

“It was pretty drastic to do that,” says Pfunder, “trying to play this dance music when everyone else was playing punk. Usually it takes a significant amount of time to understand how people would come from point A to point C. But the most punk thing to do is change.”

That appears to be VHS or Beta’s credo. 2004’s “Night on Fire,” attempted a disco-punk hybrid, while VHS or Beta’s new CD, “Bring on the Comets,” shifts the emphasis to new wave dance-rock.

Not everyone has been enthralled by VHS or Beta’s zigzag on “Comets.” While Urb magazine found it full of “superb pop hooks with dance beats” Spin dismissed it as “a bland regression.”

Pfunder scoffs at the criticism. “I don’t think those people (who slammed ‘Comets’) are going to be happy with anything we do.” Then, he says with a curt laugh, “Actually, I don’t give a … ”

Pfunder, who was adopted from South Korea and grew up in Georgia and Oregon, is used to pursuing his own path. “I’ve been into music since I can remember, when I was old enough to make some of my own decisions,” says the 32-year-old performer. “I was mowing lawns to save money to buy a guitar, and I taught myself to play. I come from a pretty big family, and there was always a bit of tension, people asking me, ‘Why didn’t you go to [college]?’ Basically, because I’ve known what I wanted to do since the sixth grade.”

Besides bassist Mark Palgy, drummer Mark Guidry and new guitarist Mike McGill, VHS or Beta includes keyboardist Chea Beckley.

“Comets” has several songs about finding love or the loss of it. The disc’s title track and the pulsating Brit-pop tune “Love in My Pocket” are soaring examples of the former, while “Can’t Believe a Single Word” is the best instance of the latter.

“Word” includes a guitar-slashed martial-rhythmed middle that calls to mind Big Country. “A lot of people have been telling me that,” says Pfunder. “But I don’t even own one of their records. … I need to do some research.”

Other songs echo Duran Duran, a group that VHS or Beta admires, and vice versa. “We’ve already toured with Duran Duran,” says Pfunder. “They invited us out three years ago. I can’t complain playing in front of 15,000 people.”

CHICAGO - The wife of millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, who disappeared while flying his plane in September in rugged Western terrain, asked a court Monday to declare him legally dead.

“As painful as it is for Mrs. Fossett, other members of the family and his many friends, it is time to initiate this process,” said attorney Michael LoVallo, who filed the petition in Cook County Circuit Court.

The request was a step toward resolving the legal status of Fossett’s estate, which according to court papers is “vast, surpassing eight figures in liquid assets, various entities and real estate,” LoVallo said.

Fossett, 63, disappeared Sept. 3 after taking off in a single-engine plane from an airstrip near Yerington, Nev., heading toward Bishop, Calif.

Fossett was on a pleasure flight and not looking for a dry lake to use as a surface on which to set the world land speed record, as was initially reported, according to the petition filed on behalf of Peggy Fossett.

He did not have a parachute, nor did he take a watch that had a transponder and could have sent out a distress signal, the petition said. There was a transponder aboard but no signal was received.

With winter closing in, a rescue effort that involved dozens of planes and helicopters was officially suspended after more than a month of searching. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded in a preliminary report that the plane was destroyed in a fatal accident.

Fossett had become one of America’s best-known adventurers in more than a decade of pouring his fabulous wealth - earned in Chicago’s commodities markets - into chasing world records in sailing, ballooning and other rugged and sometimes dangerous outdoor activities.

The soft-spoken, California-born Fossett had previously survived a nearly 30,000-foot plunge in a crippled balloon, a dangerous swim through the frigid English channel and hours stranded in shark-infested seas.

The area where authorities believe his plane went down is rugged and mountainous, with many ravines covered by trees and brush. While the wreckage of the plane has not been found, the petition said there was no chance that Fossett might somehow have survived.

Among other things, he had only a single water bottle to cope with the 80-degree heat.