Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Thousands Mourn Slain Guard as Investigations Continue
• Pierce Transit Ballot Defeated
• School Votes Mixed

Guard's Memorial Draws Huge Crowds

Our diets lay bound, gagged and locked in the trunk as Nancy and I sped toward our date with Wretched Excess.

Several thousand mourners, many of them uniformed law  enforcement officers, gathered in Everett Tuesday to pay tribute to Corrections Officer Jayme Biendl.

Biendl was killed January 29th while on duty at the state prison in Monroe. She was the first corrections officer killed in a Washington prison in over 30 years.

One of the big news stories in the malaria world recently is the discovery, announced last week in the journal Science, of a previously unknown type of mosquito that some reports said could threaten malaria control efforts in Africa.

Here’s the problem: Most malaria control efforts in Africa — bednets, spraying — are aimed at preventing mosquitoes from biting humans indoors at night. This newly discovered mosquito, dubbed “Goundry” (after the community in Burkina Faso where it was identified), appears to operate outdoors.

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It was webbed-footed on the left side, sneaker-footed on the right at the Green Lake path this afternoon. A chill wind didn't deter sun-seekers at the popular Seattle park. More sunny - and cool - weather is in the forecast for western Washington through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

In Washington state, if someone dies under suspicious circumstances or suddenly with no obvious cause, an investigation is required. But just how that investigation is conducted depends on where the person dies. It varies county by county.

In King County, Medical Examiner Dr. Richard Harruff has a full staff of forensic pathologists who respond quickly to conduct autopsies and other post mortem investigations.  On a recent morning, he described the bodies that had been brought in over night.

Which Washington town is the most romantic? Port Townsend? La Conner? Leavenworth? Guess again.

Human activity has taken a heavy toll on the Salish Sea. And efforts are underway across the region to restore depleted stocks of everything from salmon to eelgrass.

This week, as part of our series “Reflections on the Water,” KPLU environment reporter Liam Moriarty visits a project in the little town of Bowser, British Columbia. He sits on a beach with Ken Kirkby, who heads an innovative community nonprofit that’s been restoring a crucial type of habitat : underwater forests of bull kelp. 

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Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Feds Need to Help I-5 Mess near Lewis-McChord Base
• Bellevue Business Giant Resigns Over Eastside Light Rail
• Election Day for Pierce Transit, Some Schools

Pentagon Should Help Fix JBLM Traffic Mess: Report

A new report on the impact of military bases to their local communities recommends the Pentagon pony up for traffic improvements - including I-5 upgrades - along Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The National Research Council study is detailed by reporter Adam Ashton in The News Tribune:

The report shows that the U.S. military is spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year to improve Lewis-McChord, but not on off-base roadwork. The military spent $1.8 billion on capital projects at the base over the past three years, and it plans to spend another $2 billion over the next five.

On this week's Money Matters, financial commentator Greg Heberlein and KPLU's Dave Meyer look at a couple of oddball stock market indicators: the Super Bowl and the Hindenburg Omen. These indicators (especially the Super Bowl) have received a lot of attention over the years, but both Greg and Dave say they should be for novelty use only.

The Super Bowl indicator

A public memorial procession and service for Officer Jayme Biendl, the Monroe Correctional Center guard killed two weeks ago at the prison, is expected to attract thousands of mourners in Snohomish County today. 

A motorcade will carry Biendl's body through Monroe beginning at 10:30 a.m., then along Highway 2 into Everett, culminating at the Comcast Center downtown around noon. The public memorial service is set to start at 1 p.m, 

The man known as the "Green River Killer" has been charged with another murder. Gary Ridgway is already serving a life sentence for killing 48 women. He's considered one of the nation's most prolific serial killers.

On Monday, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg announced aggravated first-degree murder charges against Gary Ridgway in the death of Rebecca "Becky" Marrero, who disappeared after leaving a motel in SeaTac in 1982.

Despite threats of a veto by Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, the city council approved agreements today that make some city departments partners in a plan to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep bored tunnel. Supporters say making land-use, utility and design commitments to the state moves the controversial project forward. 

The council voted 8-1 in favor of the agreements. Mike O'Brien is the sole councilman who opposed them.

Crisis centers for the mentally ill are gaining popularity across Washington, as a way to help people and potentially save taxpayers' money.  They’re an alternative to jails and emergency rooms. 

But these short-term treatment centers are also running into hostility. Potential neighbors are unhappy about being next door to a facility where patients arrive by police car and ambulance, in the middle of a mental health or drug crisis.

In central Seattle, an angry backlash of homeowners is threatening to delay the opening of a proposed “Crisis Solutions Center.” The location is on a block near Rainier Avenue and Dearborn, where businesses and stores give way to single-family homes.  

A batch of documents released by the Pierce County Sheriff late last week reveal more about the man who killed four Lakewood Police officers in a Parkland coffee shop in late 2009. More than 2,000 pages provide added details about Maurice Clemmons, his family and the investigation into the murders.

The documents were released following a long legal dispute between Pierce County and a number of news organizations, including The News Tribune, The Seattle Times, The Associated Press and three Seattle television stations: KIRO, KOMO and KING.