The Associated Press

HELENA, Mont. — A Montana man is charged with animal cruelty after his 20-pound dog was so intoxicated it couldn't stand up.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Transportation Department has extended the deadline to remove studded tires to April 16.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A national group opposed to gay marriage is calling for a boycott of Starbucks in response to the company's public support of a new same-sex marriage law in Washington state.

A sex offender accused of breaking into a house in Seattle's University District and threatening six women with a knife would face a life sentence if convicted of the latest charges.

Robert D. Hitt is charged with burglary, robbery and kidnapping with sexual motivation, which makes the 34-year-old subject to Washington's "two strikes" law for repeat sexual offenders.

The Seattle Times reports he pleaded not guilty Wednesday at his arraignment.

A King County arts organization says 56 trees in Seattle and Kenmore will be painted blue starting April 2 in a temporary art project meant to make people aware of global deforestation.

Sound Transit says it reached another milestone in construction of a light rail line through Seattle on Wednesday when a tunnel boring machine reached the Capitol Hill station site after a 10-month dig from the direction of Husky Stadium.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The International Space Station may provide the setting for a 500-day pretend trip to Mars in another few years.

NASA said Tuesday that consideration is under way to use the space station as a dry run for a simulated trip to and from Mars. It would be patterned after Russia's mock flight to Mars that lasted 520 days at a Moscow research center. Six men were involved in that study, which ended late last year. They were locked in a steel capsule.

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A count by a volunteers showed the number of homeless people in Bellingham is declining.

Housing advocates say their organizations have had success in a difficult economy by targeting services to the most vulnerable. The Bellingham Herald reports that volunteers counted 500 homeless people during the Jan. 26 "point in time" count, compared to 700 last year.

Homelessness as defined for the count includes living on the street or in a vehicle, an emergency shelter or transitional housing.

RICHLAND, Wash. — The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory plans to lay off 45 employees this week.

The cutbacks are in order to adjust to the latest federal budget approved in December.

LONGVIEW, Wash. — A Cowlitz County judge has upheld a voter-approved initiative privatizing liquor sales in Washington state.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning had ruled on March 2 that Initiative 1183 addresses two different subjects because it includes a provision for public safety funds.

Attorneys for the state asked the judge to reconsider on Monday, arguing that public safety and liquor have a close relationship. Warning heard arguments from both sides and then reversed his earlier decision, granting the state's motion for summary judgment.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Richard Branson says his venture to launch paying tourists into space has netted its 500th customer, and it's none other than Ashton Kutcher.

The wife of the U.S. soldier held in the slayings of 16 Afghan villagers is offering condolences to the victims' families and says she too wants to know what happened.

Karilyn Bales issued a statement through a Seattle lawyer Monday, for the first time offering her comments on a case that has threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war.

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The Bellingham City Council is on the verge of approving the purchase of a 47-acre tract of land along North Shore Road as part of the effort to preserve Lake Whatcom water quality.

SAN DIEGO — A co-founder of the Invisible Children charity behind the "Kony 2012" video was detained by San Diego police and hospitalized after running through streets in his underwear and acting irrationally.

Police Lt. Andra Brown tells NBC San Diego that Jason Russell was behaving strangely Thursday, screaming, yelling and interfering with traffic while in various states of undress.

Brown says police decided he needed medical attention.

CHICAGO — The public radio program "This American Life" is retracting a story broadcast in January about Apple's operations in China, citing "numerous fabrications."