1. society
2. social institution
3. marriage

Kris Richard
named Hawks
D­coordinator
Delightful ‘80 Days’
Eastern’s
star QB
chooses
Oregon
Lofa Tatupu to coach LBs
SPORTS > C1
SPORTS > C1
YOUR TUESDAY > B3
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015
CLOUDY, SHOWERS
High, 54. Low, 43. > B8
seattletimes.com/weather
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WILL BERTHA
BURN TOO HOT
TO MOVE?
In May
2013, the
rotary
cutter in
the back­
ground
was low­
ered into
place in
front of
Bertha to
begin tun­
neling.
Plan B is ready if drill can’t grind
20 feet to reach open air, rescue
STEVE RINGMAN / SEATTLE TIMES
Higher­ed
spending
in Texas
lured UW’s
president
YOUNG CITES VISION, SUPPORT
He predicts state reinvestment
in colleges here, but not soon
By KATHERINE LONG
Seattle Times higher education reporter
WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
By last month, crews had excavated about 100 feet of the 120­foot­deep pit needed to access and repair the tunneling machine.
Texas A&M University might not be as
highly ranked in national ratings as the
University of Washington, and College
Station is no Seattle. But Texas has one
thing Washington does not: more money
for higher education.
That’s the reason UW President
Michael Young talked about most when
asked why he
decided to
Utah
leave the UW
California
to take the job
Arkansas
at Texas A&M,
Washington
$2,808.33
and it’s true:
Florida
Bolstered by a
stable endow­
ment from oil
Washington ranks
revenues, and
near the bottom in
led by a new
governor who terms of spending,
tuition revenue > A6
campaigned
on a promise
to lift five of Texas’ public universities
into the top 10 nationally, Texas is
aggressively working to improve its
higher­education system.
And while the Lone Star State cut high­
er­education funding during the reces­
sion, just as every state did, the amount it
allocates per student for its public colleg­
es — once much lower than Washington’s
— is now about 20 percent higher.
“Indeed, Texas is being more generous
with its research universities than is
Washington,” said David Longanecker,
president of the Western Interstate
See > HIGHER ED, A6
TIMESWATCHDOG
REPAIR PIT
Depth: 120 ft.
BERTHA
Steel
rails
Concrete
pillars
Depth: 120 ft.
Hole chipped
from inside
the repair pit
By DAVID G. SAVAGE
and TIMOTHY M. PHELPS
Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)
Grout wall
to keep water
out of the
repair pit.
BERTHA
Steel rails
Concrete
saddle
TOP VIEW
REPAIR
PIT
Steel
rails
BERTHA
Concrete
saddle
REPAIR
PIT
TUNNEL
Pillars
Steel
rails
BERTHA
Hydraulic rams push
against the tunnel,
moving Bertha into
the repair pit
Grout wall
TOP VIEW
Grout wall
to keep water
out of the
repair pit.
ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT
REPAIR PIT
GROUND
Concrete
pillars
SIDE VIEW
LOOKING EAST,
TOWARD DOWNTOWN
SURFACE
TUNNEL
Pillars
Grout between pillars
Source: Washington State Department of Transportation
Grout between pillars
MARK NOWLIN / THE SEATTLE TIMES
See > BERTHA, A5
Trial in hero’s slaying has Texas town on edge
‘ A M E R I C A N S N I P E R ’ | With the movie out and emotions high,
legal experts wonder if vet charged in case can get a fair trial.
By MANNY FERNANDEZ
AND KATHRYN JONES
The New York Times
Eddie Ray
Routh is ac­
cused of kill­
ing Chris Kyle
and a friend.
Chris Kyle, a
former Navy
SEAL sniper,
was killed in
2013.
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The
trial of the man charged with
killing Chris Kyle, a former sniper
for the Navy SEALs, is scheduled
to open here Wednesday at 9 a.m.
The blockbuster war movie about
Kyle, “American Sniper,” now
playing at Cinemark Cinema 6
three miles from the courtroom,
will be showing at 3:40 p.m.,
7 p.m. and 10:20 p.m.
The movie, the trial and the
fierce emotions that both have
stirred up have set this rural town
100 miles southwest of Dallas on
edge, as legal experts have ques­
tioned whether Eddie Ray Routh,
Rebuff in Ala.
signals justices
likely to back
gay marriage
27, the mentally ill veteran ac­
cused of killing Kyle and Kyle’s
friend at a shooting range in Ste­
phenville’s Erath County in 2013,
can receive a fair trial here.
But aside from the questions
about the legal proceedings,
something more than a double­
murder trial is set to play out here
this week. “American Sniper” has
become a cultural moment far
beyond the reach of the book, the
movie or the criminal case against
See > SNIPER, A5
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court
on Monday gave its strongest signal yet
that advocates seeking the legalization of
gay marriage nationwide have won even
before April’s arguments.
The justices, with only
two dissents, turned
down a plea to delay
same­sex marriages in
Alabama by the state’s
attorney general. The
court’s action clears the
way, for the first time in Justice Clar­
the Deep South, for gay
couples to seek marriage ence Thomas,
licenses. A federal judge critic, all but
admits defeat.
in Alabama had struck
down the state’s law
limiting marriage to a man and a woman.
Normally, a state might have expected
the high court to block the judge’s deci­
sion from taking effect, given that the
justices had agreed to rule by June on
whether gays and lesbians have a consti­
tutional right to marry.
But rather than wait for the outcome,
the justices instead told Alabama state
officials they must now issue marriage
licenses to gay couples.
“This is further confirmation that the
result in the marriage cases is a foregone
conclusion,” said Cornell University law
See > ALABAMA, A3
© 2015 Seattle Times Co.
60% of our newsprint contains
recycled fiber, and inks are reused.
7
59423 22000
2 R
TUE
ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT
TUNNEL
SIDE VIEW
LOOKING EAST,
TOWARD DOWNTOWN
SURFACE
OPTION B
If the machine is unable to break concrete,
workers would chip a hole in the wall from
inside the repair pit so Bertha’s hydraulic rams
can push it into the pit.
TUNNEL
OPTION A
Seattle Tunnel Partners will attempt to drive
damaged tunnel-boring machine Bertha
through 20 feet of concrete, to emerge into
open air in the repair pit.
Grout wall
F
or the past year, Highway 99
tunnel builders have said their
ailing drill, Bertha, had just
enough strength to grind for­
ward about 20 more feet — to reach
open air and be rescued by crane.
But as that moment nears, they’re
preparing in case the machine fails.
The Washington State Department
of Transportation is reviewing a draft
plan by Seattle Tunnel Partners to
chip a circular hole from within the
concrete access vault, to clear a path
in front of the machine.
That kind of Plan B could add more
delay to a project already trending
two years behind schedule.
A clue about Bertha’s health
emerged when crews drove it for­
ward three feet last fall, to reach the
outer edge of the pit wall.
Temperatures within the ma­
chine’s front end reached 194 de­
grees, nearly the boiling point of
water — says a project risk log The
Seattle Times received through a
public­records request.
The tunnel­boring machine
reached 140 degrees after advancing
only four feet Dec. 6, 2013, causing
engineers to turn it off in the first
Tunneling contractors don’t know whether their boring machine can penetrate the 20-foot-wide
south wall and make it to an access vault for repairs. Workers might have to chip a circular hole in
the ring-shaped vault to help Bertha push forward.
GROUND
By MIKE LINDBLOM
Seattle Times transportation reporter
Can Bertha break through?
6