Western Front - 2002 October 25

              Ghost in the graveyard
Bellingham offers spooky
Halloween fun.
See Story, Page 6.
Skate debate
Opinions differ about the quality
of Bellingham's only skate park.
See Story, Page 9.
The Western Front Western Washington University Volume 123 Issue 10 Bellingham, Washington
FBI searches Bellingham
• Two suspects connected
with Light House Mission,
Bellingham High School
Heather Trimm/The Western Front
Dave Chesson, Light House Mission spokesman, answers questions concerning John
Allen Muhammad and 17-year-old John Lee Malvo. The pair, arrested Thursday in
connection with the Washington, D.C.-area sniper shootings, lived at the mission last year.
BY ERIC BERTO
The key suspects arrested in
connection with the Washington,
D.C.- area sniper attacks have a
link to Bellingham.
Officials were in Bellingham
on Wednesday and Thursday
gathering information regard­ing
John Allen Muhammad, 41,
a.k.a. John Allen Williams, and
John Lee Malvo, 17.
The two were arrested at
3:30 a.m. EST on Thursday at
a rest stop on Interstate 70
near Myersville, Md. while
sleeping in a blue Chevrolet
Caprice. Authorities had been
searching for a Caprice with
New Jersey license plates, and
"a motorist noticed'the car at
the rest stop and reported it to
authorities.
Law enforcement officials said
they found a Bushmaster .223-
caliber rifle in the Caprice.
According to an arrest war­rant
filed Wednesday in Seattle,
the weapon possession violated
a court order placed against
Muhammad in 2000.
Malvo is being held as a mate­rial
witness to Muhammad's
warrant.
FBI officials in Seattle refu­sed
to reveal if the two men
arrested would be charged in
the killings, as the investigation
is ongoing.
Dave Chesson, Light House
Mission spokesman, said Muh­ammad
and Malvo were living
at the mission on West Holly
Street while they stayed in
Bellingham. They never caused
any problems during their stay,
which was intermittent from
Oct. 20, 2001 to Jan. 19, 2002,
he said.
_"They slept, they ate, they
left," he said.
Chesson would not say if he
believed the two were capable of
the violence on the East Coast.
"Crimes were committed, and
they did stay here," he said.
According to a press release
issued by the mission, Muh-ammad
passed through the mis-
See SNIPER, Page 4
City Council approves
removal of S. College Dr.
BY ERIC BERTO
In a decision that angered
neighbors of Western, the
Bellingham City Council voted
6-0 Monday to remove South
College Drive and construct
new athletic fields in its place.
George Pierce, Western's
vice president of business and
financial affairs, said the ini­tial
plan is to replace the two
existing Fairhaven fields with
full-length football and soccer
fields.
"Our preference for the field
would be to use Field Turf, the
same surface the University of
Washington uses," he said. "The
all-weather surface would be
cheaper than grass because we
wouldn't have to mow it or
replant it ever."
The project is estimated to
cost $4 million, said Tim Wynn,
Western's director of facilities
management.
Wynn said Western will ask
the state for $4 million to pay
for the removal of the road and
construction of the new fields.
"The long-term maintenance
is up to the university," he
said. "I'm going to have to
stretch my available resources
even further."
Wynn said it is unclear how
much money the state will
grant to the, university.
"It is a difficult task to get
money for playfields," he said.
Pierce said finding funding is
the next task in the process.'
"We will work with whatever
the state can give us," Pierce
said. "The fact that the council
agreed with Western and its
trustees shows the ability to
work together for future
growth."
Neighbors' concerns arose
from the increase in traffic the
shutdown might cause.
Bellingham resident Tom
Ashton, who lives on North
Garden Street, said he is con­cerned
about the long-term
effects of closing the road.
"This is part of a larger prob­lem,"
he said. "The university
is engaged in a piecemeal
process by doing whatever pro­ject
is convenient at the time.
See STREET, Page 4
Sex offenders live near campus
BY KATHY DOSOVICH
Two Level III sex offenders
moved into a house three blocks
from Western's campus Monday.
Steven Cline Griffith and Colet
K. Brewer now live in the house
across the street from Laurel
Park at 1000 Indian St.
Risk Management Specialist
with the Department of Corr­ections
Thad Allen said he
acquired the house as a transi­tional
home for recently released
Level III sex offenders, who are
highly likely to re-offend.
"My final decision was that
there were risks involved in
having them there," Allen said,
"but we mitigate the risks bet­ter
if we have them there."
According to the Bellingham
Police Department Web site,
both men living in the Indian
Street house are considered
dangers to the community.
Both offenders refused to
comment.
The other transitional house
is located on Northwest Avenue.
The department was seeking
another house because many
registered sex offenders do not
See OFFENDER, Page 4
Peter Louras/ The Western Front
Western graduate Sarah Kopke tosses a Frisbee to her
dogs Teal and Macy at Laurel Park. The sex offenders'
house, pictured behind Kopke, is located at 1000 Indian St.
Steven Cline Griffith Colet K. Brewer
Photos courtesy of the Bellingham Police Department Web site
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