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• "We're already broke as a nation," Steele said. • Rep. Steve Hickey, R-Sioux Falls, said he also thinks government will have a hard time paying for the health care overhaul, but he is keeping an open mind on expanding Medicaid. • "If there's a way to do this and make the dollars fit, I do think we ought to try to take care of as many people we can," Hickey said. •
New charges for 'Barefoot Bandit' in plane theft GENE JOHNSON,Associated Press
• SEATTLE (AP) -- The "Barefoot Bandit," who led police on a two-year, cross-country crime spree in stolen boats, cars and planes, is facing new charges in Washington state. • Colton Harris-Moore is already serving a seven-year prison term after pleading guilty to state and federal crimes, but Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich filed theft and burglary charges this month against the 21-year-old, accusing him of stealing an Anacortes couple's plane in 2010 and flying it to the airport on Orcas Island, 10 miles away. • Harris-Moore had been a headache for local law enforcement in Western Washington since boyhood, and by his late teens had taken to joyriding in airplanes as a self-taught pilot. He earned his moniker by committing some of his crimes without shoes. • In 2010, he hopscotched across Oregon, Idaho, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois in stolen cars. He stole a plane in Indiana, crash-landed off an island in the Bahamas, and was arrested when police shot out the engine of a boat he took. • He sold the rights to his story to 20th Century Fox, with the proceeds going to repay the nearly $1.4 million he owes his victims. • Weyrich declined to join other Washington prosecutors in the plea deal filed in Island County Superior Court to resolve state charges against Harris-Moore. • "The crime was committed in Skagit County," Weyrich said Wednesday. • The Skagit County prosecutor previously charged Harris-Moore, but dropped the accusations in 2011 to clear the way for the Island County plea deal. The charges were refiled on Feb. 8, and Harris-Moore will be transported from the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen to Skagit County to face them. • Prosecutors are seeking an exceptional sentence against Harris-Moore, which would authorize the judge to impose a sentence above the standard range for the crimes. The charges carry a maximum of 10 years in prison. If he is convicted, some (Continued on page 20)
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