QUEEN CASHMERE LOSES CROWN FOLLOWING DRUG CHARGE

CASHMERE - Cashmere Queen Sara Young is royalty no more. Young was
stripped of her 2008 crown after she entered a plea of guilty Jan. 2
in Chelan County District Court for possession of drug paraphernalia.
A marijuana possession charge was dismissed.

Young, 18, and three juveniles were cited in October when a Chelan
County sheriff's deputy found three small containers of marijuana and
two pipes in a vehicle in which she was a passenger. The vehicle was
searched when the deputy smelled marijuana after a traffic stop in
Cashmere.

Young was sentenced to one year of probation and 40 hours of community
service and had to pay a $293 fine.

Kim Phillips, Cashmere Royalty Association director, said the arrest
and misdemeanor conviction violated the contest's code of conduct. In
addition to the title, Young will lose a $1,000 scholarship that was
part of the royalty contest. Princess Leah Griffith, the 2008
runner-up, will assume the duties of the queen until the 2009 royalty
selection March 1, Phillips said.

Young was notified last week of the decision by the association to
remove her as queen.

"She was a wonderful queen for us, but she made some bad choices,"
Phillips said.