Oct. 8, 2001  Washington News Council  P.O. Box 3672  Seattle, WA 98124-3672  Re: Hubert Locke  Gentlemen:  The Seattle Times will not participate in the WNC hearing on Oct. 13.  Mr. Locke's concerns were addressed in a 5-page letter of August 28, of  which you received a copy. Mr. Locke responded on September 17, stating he  would be out of town until the end of December and was not available to meet  with The Times to discuss his concerns.  Mr. Locke was offered the opportunity to address his point of view in an  op-ed piece or in a letter to the editor. He chose not to take advantage of  that offer. He also chose to make himself unavailable to meet within the  thirty day period provided by your organization.  You should have received a copy of my October 4 letter to Mr. Locke, which  goes into additional detail concerning his complaint.  Sincerely,  Michael R. Fancher