December 29, 2011 in News, City Spokane police are looking for a man who robbed a pharmacy packed with customers at gunpoint today. The man entered the Spokane Falls Clinic at 120 W. Mission Avenue, brandished … 3

December 29, 2011 Garco Construction Inc. workers returned to Ferris High School after the Christmas holiday to find two trailers broken into and more than $20,000 in equipment and personal items stolen — … 6

December 29, 2011 in News Moses Lake investigators found explosives in the home where a teen was critically injured in a blast Wednesday. The 16-year-old boy suffered severe injuries to his hand when a homemade … 6

December 29, 2011 in News OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Backers of an effort to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana use in Washington state submitted more than 340,000 signatures to try to qualify their initiative on … 4

December 29, 2011 in Business Sears will close its stores in Lewiston and Walla Walla, and Kmart will close its Lacey, Wash., store, parent company Sears Holdings Corp. announced today.

December 29, 2011 in News, Idaho A 41-year-old Rathdrum man was sentenced Wednesday to serve up to life in prison for three counts of lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16. 5

December 29, 2011 in City, Idaho A man who works at a hydroponics supply store in north Spokane faces felony marijuana trafficking charges after an officer found 3.3 pounds of marijuana wrapped up as Christmas gifts … 36

December 29, 2011 in Region A Washington state man sought on a nationwide warrant in a June beating death in Missoula, Mont., has turned himself in at the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma. 1

December 29, 2011 in Region A 38-year-old Ritzville woman was struck by an Amtrak train and killed Wednesday night. 9

December 29, 2011 in Idaho Waste Management is on its normal trash pickup service in North Idaho this week and next week, as is North Idaho’s other garbage service, Coeur d’Alene Garbage/Post Falls Sanitation.

December 29, 2011 in City, Idaho The next and maybe last in the current series of strong Pacific storms is moving onshore today and should reach the Inland Northwest by tonight.

December 29, 2011 in Nation/World on Page A1 DES MOINES, Iowa – One presidential campaign claims an impressive effort in Iowa this year: eight offices opened, 350,000 phone calls to potential supporters and 1,280 events to recruit and … 19

December 29, 2011 in Nation/World on Page A1 TEHRAN, Iran – The U.S. strongly warned Iran on Wednesday against closing a vital Persian Gulf waterway that carries one-sixth of the world’s oil supply, after Iran threatened to choke … 14

December 29, 2011 in Nation/World on Page A2 APIA, Samoa – The tiny South Pacific nation of Samoa and its neighbor Tokelau will jump forward in time today, shifting to the Asian side of the international date line …

December 29, 2011 in Nation/World on Page A2 Cheetah was a scene-stealing sidekick – this much is true. But this week’s news that he died in a Florida sanctuary at the ripe old age of 80, after a …

December 29, 2011 in Nation/World on Page A3 Avastin, the blockbuster drug that just lost approval for treating breast cancer, now looks disappointing against ovarian cancer, too. Two studies found it did not improve survival for most of …

December 29, 2011 in Nation/World on Page A3 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico’s governor approved a two-part referendum on Wednesday to help decide its political status, but supporters of maintaining the island’s status as a U.S. … 1

December 29, 2011 in Nation/World on Page A3 Washington – The Obama administration is poised to announce the sale of nearly $30 billion worth of F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The deal will … 1