WA: Yakima County's annus horriblis

Poor Yakima County. These things seem to come in waves, and this one is partially meth-fuelled:

2005 was a 'horrible year' for crime -

Drug users and gang members drove a double-digit percentage increase in Yakima County's crime rate during 2005, law enforcement officials said this week after annual statewide statistics were released.

"It was just a horrible year," Sheriff Ken Irwin said...

Police in Seattle reported 25 homicides in 2005, just one less than the total reported across Yakima County last year. The local annual average over the past decade has been closer to half that...

The place has been reeling lately. I hope this doesn't take the locals back to the days when CBS News could set up a camera on top of Chinook Tower and film daylight drug transactions on the street corners in Southeast Yakima below.