SPOKANE, Wash. - Scandal reared its busty bosom across Washington in 2009, as scantily-clad baristas made news from Everett to Bellevue to Spokane.
Many communities grappled with complaints filed by citizens who were not amused by the antics of buxom baristas who prepared lattes and mochas while wearing a bikini, or less.
The resulting conflicts were among the major Lowlights of 2009, proving the Evergreen State takes a backseat to nobody in the category of public embarrassment. Below is a very abbreviated list of some of the worst we had to offer:
Steamier Espresso
Lewd behavior by some racy coffee steamers in the Everett area prompted the Snohomish County Council to demand that such espresso stands register as adult entertainment venues. That was after five baristas were arrested for prostitution for charging customers up to $90 to touch their breasts and buttocks at one stand.
Meanwhile, the Yakima City Council cracked down on barely-clad baristas by passing a law that prohibited "cleavage of the buttocks," see-through clothing or a G-string in any public businesses.
In Spokane, the employees of Busty's Top Espresso saw a spike in business when they began wearing bikini tops in the spring. The manager said they used to get 20 customers per day, but now get 20 customers every couple of hours. About 95 percent of the customers are men.
Mr, Miyagi, we have a problem
In November, a man who thought he was a ninja was impaled on a metal fence in Seattle when he tried to leap over it. The man insisted to police that he was simply a martial artist trying to perfect his craft. Officers said the man was "overconfident in his abilities," and that alcohol likely played a role.
Crappy teacher
A kindergarten teacher in the West Valley School District near Yakima was reprimanded in May for sending a 5-year-old student home with a bag of feces in his backpack. The boy's father said his son came home with the plastic bag of feces and a sticky note that read "This little turd was found on the floor in my room." The boy was moved out of teacher Sue Graham's classroom.
Natural K-9
A dog that ran away from its owner in Seattle's Seward Park found and ate some dried marijuana and got high. The owner said the 11-year-old black Lab mix named Jack was "just stoned." Jack was given medication to induce vomiting.
'Scuze me while I kiss the wrecking ball
A small home associated with guitar legend Jimi Hendrix was dismantled in March after preservation efforts failed. Hendrix lived in the house in Seattle from age 10 to 13 in the 1950s, and it was the first real home the struggling family had. It was there that Hendrix picked up a ukulele that had one string and figured out how to strum the theme from the television detective show "Peter Gunn."
Like a rock
In May, state troopers arrested a couple suspected of damaging at least 14 vehicles by throwing rocks onto them from a trestle over I-5 near Lakewood. Troopers said Joshua N. Sizemore, 23, and Amanda L. Madison, 18, were tossing baseball-sized rocks. Madison was in her underwear when arrested. Investigators say the couple was playing a game in which Madison would shed a layer of clothes for every left headlight they busted. The same rule applied to Sizemore and right headlights. The game caused no major injuries.
In plain sight
Fugitive Maxi Sopo was having such a good time while hiding in Cancun that he started posting Facebook updates. "LIFE IS VERY SIMPLE REALLY!!!!" Sopo wrote on June 21. "BUT SOME OF US HUMANS MAKE A MESS OF IT...REMEMBER AM JUST HERE TO HAVE FUN PARTEEEEEEE." The posting was read by federal investigators, and Sopo's fun came to an end. He was arrested by Mexican authorities on a warrant for defrauding banks in the Seattle area.
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