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from The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Suicidal soldier prompts SWAT standoff
A few minutes before noon, a couple called police after finding a bloody man in a truck parked near Nevada Street and Magnesium Road that was running for more than an hour and a half. Police thought the 35-year-old man may have been armed with a gun because he is a military reservist. The SWAT team responded after the man refused to exit the vehicle and began revving his engine. As SWAT moved in, the man exited the truck and surrendered. He had self-inflicted knife wounds to his legs and neck, and was transported to a downtown hospital for surgery and a mental evaluation.
Mount Rainier reopens after fatal ranger shooting
Nearly a week after an Iraq War veteran shot dead a park ranger on New Year’s Day, Mount Rainier National Park has reopened to the public. Saturday’s somber reopening will be followed with a candle light vigil in nearby Eatonville on Sunday for Margaret Anderson, who was killed by 24-year-old Benjamin Colton Barnes.
Tucker recall effort tossed
A recall petition against Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Tucker was dismissed on Friday by a visiting Superior Court judge. Judge Craig Matheson, of Benton and Franklin counties, said four recall charges drafted by Shannon Sullivan were insufficient and that one of the four lacked a basis of knowledge.
U.S. Navy rescues Iranians from pirates
The political tensions between the U.S. and Iran over transit in and around the Persian Gulf gave way Friday to photos of rescued Iranian fishermen happily wearing American Navy ball caps. The fishermen were rescued Thursday by the USS Kidd, a U.S. Navy destroyer, more than 40 days after their boat was commandeered by suspected Somali pirates in the northern Arabian Sea. The rescue came just days after Tehran warned the U.S. to keep its warships out of the Persian Gulf – an irony not lost on U.S. officials who trumpeted the news on Friday.
Obama basks in jobless rate
The promising drop in unemployment on Friday looks like a job-security bonus for President Barack Obama as well, undercutting Republicans’ assertions that his economic policies have failed. The president himself heralded the news with his most confident assessment yet.
NASA questions auction
NASA is questioning whether Apollo 13 commander James Lovell has the right to sell a 70-page checklist from the flight that includes his handwritten calculations that were crucial in guiding the damaged spacecraft back to Earth.
Paul on a roll; Gingrich putting out fires; Huntsman hopeful
Ron Paul arrived in New Hampshire on Friday riding the momentum of a top-three finish in Iowa, a fundraising haul of $13 million in the last quarter and bragging rights of having more donors who list military affiliations than his Republican rivals combined. Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich is on the defensive in the state, under fire for a remark on race and facing fresh questions about his work for mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Jon Huntsman, who is third in some polls here, targets Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper. He skipped the Iowa caucuses, a risky strategy used in 2008 without success by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson.
Obama targets immigration rule
The Obama administration wants to more quickly reunite Americans with their illegal immigrant spouses and children in a move long sought by advocates but panned by Republicans as a way to push unpopular policies around Congress.
Feds broaden classes of rape
Attacks on men, oral sex crimes are now counted
White House defends health care reform
The Obama administration defended the health care overhaul in a filing Friday with the Supreme Court that calls the law an appropriate response to a “crisis in the national health care market.”
In brief: 20 die in attack against Christians in Nigeria
Gunmen from a radical Muslim sect attacked a town hall Friday in rural northeast Nigeria, killing at least 20 people who had gathered for a meeting of a Christian ethnic group, police said. The attack at noon targeted the Christian Igbo people, with gunmen chanting “God is great” as they fired Kalashnikov rifles.The killings claimed by Boko Haram come after the group threatened to begin specifically targeting Christians living in the country’s Muslim north in its increasingly bloody sectarian fight with Nigeria’s weak central government.
Holloway suspect may confess to other killing
Lima, Peru – Joran van der Sloot appears ready to accept responsibility for the killing of a Peruvian woman five years to the day after the disappearance in Aruba of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway, for which he remains the prime suspect.
Giffords marking shooting anniversary
TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has arrived in Tucson, Ariz., to begin commemorating the one-year anniversary of the shooting that killed six people and left her and 12 others wounded.
Service to be Sunday for woman found dead
A memorial service for Kimberly Rae Schmidt, a 34-year-old Spokane woman, is scheduled for Sunday – one week after she was found dead of a gunshot wound.
Auction leaves parts of Ridpath with bank
A Spokane bank has inherited large pieces of the shuttered Ridpath Hotel in a move that some hope can begin to untangle ownership problems surrounding the downtown icon and lead to its possible restoration and reopening.
Frugal agencies saving $100 million
Washington agencies wrestling with budget reductions have managed to save an additional $100 million a year beyond the cuts mandated by the Legislature.
Study urges more teacher evaluations
Once-a-year evaluations aren’t enough to help teachers improve, says a report by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In brief: Idaho GOP says Paul won poll
The Idaho Republican Party says congressman Ron Paul of Texas has won its inaugural presidential straw poll. Paul came in first with 173 votes. He was followed by Mitt Romney, with 135 votes. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was a distant third, with 47 votes.
Thieves leave trail of loot
CORBETT, Ore. – Thieves who broke into an Oregon man’s shed, taking safes filled with jewels, silver bricks and valuable coins, quickly started making mistakes.
Former Ranger going to prison
OLYMPIA – Pleas for leniency from a former Army Ranger’s friends and family fell on deaf ears Thursday as a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison for stabbing a young man in the back during a brawl outside a downtown Olympia bar. Alfred Joseph Sanchez, 22, a former member of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, had been found guilty at trial of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon for the March 28, 2009, stabbing of Brad Merten.
Health insurance exchange OK’d
A joint committee of the Idaho Legislature voted 11-1 Friday to endorse Gov. Butch Otter’s proposed health insurance exchange legislation – a hot issue in the upcoming legislative session and one widely thought to face stiff opposition.
Alcoholic is home’s first death
John Kort died in his room at Karluk Manor on New Year’s Day, a few weeks after moving in. His death was the first at Karluk Manor, a 46-bed home meant for Anchorage’s most severe homeless alcoholics. It follows a “Housing First” philosophy that lets residents keep drinking while living there.
Man gets 39-month term in fatal explosives incident
Christapher A. Harris, 21, is to serve 39 months for second-degree manslaughter and possession of an explosive device for the Nov. 6, 2010, explosion that killed Cody R. Hathaway, 28, outside a family costume party.
Gas prices up after falling for months
The average price of regular gasoline in Spokane was $3.19 a gallon Friday, according to AAA. But some local stations were pumping for as little as $2.99 a gallon, GasBuddy.com reports. The average price in town is down from $3.58 a month ago, but up from $3.12 a year ago, according to AAA. Nationally, gas prices hit an average of $3.35 a gallon Friday, the highest ever for this time of year.
Scrutiny challenges market maxims
Everybody knows that January predicts the stock market’s direction for the year and that the best time to sell stocks is at their spring peak. And among stock market experts, it’s a sure bet that the market will soar in the year before an election. But what passes for stock market wisdom is suspect when given a closer look. The most common error comes when people spot two events and assume that one causes the other. And it drives economists, math geeks and plenty of money managers nuts.
Global worries outweigh U.S. news
The stock market offered a reminder Friday that even if the U.S. job market is improving, there’s plenty to worry about elsewhere in the world.
Partnership will boost wheat research
The University of Idaho, the Idaho Wheat Commission and Limagrain Cereal Seeds have announced a $2 million effort to boost wheat research at the university, including two faculty research endowments.
Mining deaths decline
The number of U.S. mining deaths last year was the second-lowest reported since statistics were first recorded in 1910, the U.S. Department of Labor says. Work-related accidents took the lives of 37 miners in 2011. That includes two men who died in separate accidents in North Idaho’s Silver Valley.
Charles Krauthammer: GOP’s sorting process working well
Editorial: Legislature offered ways to shore up records act
Froma Harrop: Caucuses filled void of real news
Matt Cohen: Preservation is essential
Ask Dr. K: Try home remedies for hemorrhoids
Pat Munts: Heirlooms bring regional flavor to your garden
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