OLYMPIA - September 24, 1998 - The Washington Attorney General's Office will answer a petition filed Sept. 23 in the state Supreme Court that seeks to delay the scheduled Oct. 13 execution of Jeremy Vargas Sagastegui.

The petition, filed by Sagastegui's mother, Katie Vargas, asks the Supreme Court to stay the execution and appoint her to represent the condemned killer. The petition claims that Sagastegui is not mentally competent to make decisions concerning legal issues in his case.

KENNEWICK - August 17, 1998 - Jeremy Vargas Sagastegui today was scheduled to be executed Oct. 13 for the 1995 murders of three people in Benton County.

A death warrant signed this morning by Benton County Superior Court Judge Carolyn A. Brown sets the date of Sagastegui's execution, which will be carried out at the Washington State Penitentiary.

According to state law and the terms of the death warrant, Sagastegui, 27, will be put to death by lethal injection unless, by no later than Sept. 29, he elects hanging as the means of execution.

SEATTLE - Qwest Communications will pay the state $1.3 million, make restitution to customers who claim they paid for unwanted or misrepresented services and will establish new customer service standards under an agreement announced today by Attorney General Christine Gregoire.

Gregoire unveiled the settlement at press conferences in Seattle, Spokane and Vancouver.

Olympia - Attorney General Rob McKenna testified today before the House State Government Operations and Accountability Committee urging lawmakers to support legislation that would increase the public's access to public records.

I congratulate Qwest for responding to consumer wishes by dropping its plan to share private customer account information with its marketing partners.

Qwest Vice President Kirk Nelson called me this morning and assured me that if Qwest decides to share customer information in the future, it will consult with my office and the state Utilities and Transportation Commission first.

SEATTLE, July 9, 1996-- In an on-going crackdown against unscrupulous travel sellers, the Attorney General's Office today filed a lawsuit against Platinum Passport, Ltd., a Bellevue-based travel club.

The lawsuit, which also names Platinum's two marketers, Northwest Marketing and Zth Ltd. both of Bellevue, alleges consumers who purchased club memberships were guaranteed substantial travel savings that never materialized. Consumers paid between $795 and $4,995 for memberships.

OLYMPIA - November 19, 1996 - State Attorney General Chris Gregoire is delighted with today's King County Superior Court ruling allowing the majority of the state's lawsuit against the tobacco industry to proceed.

"The heart of our case--to protect children and hold the tobacco industry accountable for decades of public deception about their product--will now go forward," said Gregoire. "Judge Finkle has given us the green light to proceed with an action that will change the unacceptable conduct of this multi-billion dollar industry."

SEATTLE State Attorney General Christine Gregoire filed in King County Superior Court today a lawsuit aimed at changing the conduct of the nation's leading tobacco companies.

SEATTLE Using a 30-year-old federal law to combat a consumer problem of the 1990's, the Washington State Attorney General's Office has pulled the plug on a telemarketing scam involving several major Canadian lottery ticket sellers.

Long distance telephone service to World Project Management Ltd. and C-W Agencies, LTD, both British Columbia-based telemarketers, has been disconnected after the Attorney General's Office notified telecommuni cations companies that federal statutes require telephone service to be disconnected when lines are used for gambling activities.

SEATTLE - December 5, 1996 - Telemark, Inc., a Portland-based telemarketing firm, operating extensively in Washington, agreed today to pay $316,000 in fines and fees to settle a lawsuit for deceiving customers, failing to provide services to clients and falsifying polling results.

Telemark does business with a wide spectrum of political clients including Patrick Buchanan, The Republican National Committee and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon.