I’m gone until Monday. Keep it real.

For sale: One 4-year-old boy.

That recent advertisement on a popular classifieds Web site has triggered a sheriff’s investigation into who was behind it. Was it a hoax, a desperate cry for help or something more sinister?

Investigators haven’t determined, but they’ve seized records from Craigslist they hope will hold clues to the author’s identity. For now, they’re remaining tight-lipped about an investigation that began when a Spokane woman spotted a Craigslist ad offering a boy named Gavin for $5,000, and contacted authorities.

“It’s kind of at a delicate point right now,” said Sgt. Dave Reagan, spokesman for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

A Spokane woman saw the ad late Feb. 28. It included a photo of a small child in a yellow fireman’s helmet and dark shirt with the word ‘Adventure’ on the front. It had been posted a day earlier just before 11 p.m., but had been removed by Craigslist when the woman returned to the site after copying the text - but not the photo - into a computer word processing program.

The ad was written by someone claiming to be the boy’s father. The author said the boy was a “great kid” but he could no longer afford to care for him. The boy loves basketball, football and soccer but doesn’t play with cars, refuses to eat vegetables and can scream for hours at a time.

“But he always has a smile on his face,” according to the ad. “It is going to kill me to do this but as I stated before I cannot afford to keep him. His Motherr (sp) is out of the picture and my parents no longer talk to me since I’ve had Gavin,” the ad read, according to the search warrant. “So I don’t know what else to do other than find a good family with kids or a couple that wants a son.”

The seller, who identified himself as Rick Obelophy, said he wouldn’t give the boy “to anyone.” “I want to meet with you and make sure you will be fit parents,” the ad read. Investigators can’t find any record for Rick Obelophy.

The ad requested interested buyers respond to an anonymous e-mail set up through Craigslist. A request for a search warrant filed Monday by detectives sought records for that e-mail address and any data associated with the ad from Craigslist headquarters in San Francisco.

Investigators aren’t ready to talk about more details, Reagan said.

Selling or buying minor children in Washington is a class C felony.

The former deputy prosecutor challenging his boss for the top prosecutor’s spot has a new campaign manager.

Rae Lynn Conger will manage Dave Stevens’ campaign against Prosecutor Steve Tucker, Stevens announced today. His former manager Michael Cathcart, left the campaign to become campaign manager for Michael Baumgartner, who is running for state Senate in the 6th district against Chris Marr.

Conger has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Eastern Washington University. In 2006, she spoke with The Spokesman-Review about her objection to identify her race on forms or applications. Read that story here.

Stevens was fired by Tucker last month. He’s challenging the dismissal through his union.

Past coverage:

Stevens releases letter to Tucker

Spokane prosecutor fires election opponent

Democrat joins prosecutor race

Deputy prosecutor vying for boss’s job put on paid leave

Stevens will challenge Tucker for Spokane County prosecutor

An escaped killer from Idaho was arrested in north Spokane today. 

Kelly Renee Norton, 44, walked away from the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center Sunday night, according to the Idaho Department of Correction.

She was arrested at Francis Avenue and Division Street about 10 a.m. this morning after detectives got a tip from Pocatello police.

Norton was sentenced in 1994 to a 10- to 20-year sentence for second-degree murder in Washington County. She also was convicted of drug possession.

Norton has been at the prison’s community custody unit since Oct. 9.

The unit is outside the main prison fence and houses minimum security inmates “who regularly work in the community,” according to the Idaho Department of Correction.

Authorities think Norton walked from the facility to a waiting vehicle.

Door-to-door sales representatives from an Idaho company are prompting a flurry of calls to Crime Check from concerned Spokane Valley residents.

Salesmen with Rocky Mountain Insulation in Pocatello are selling insulation they say “may” qualify homeowners for an Avista Utilities or federal tax rebate, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.

The men ask homeowners if they can come inside to check the home’s insulation and sometimes imply they are with Avista, police said. Avista officials say the men are not associated with the company.

A phone number listed for Rocky Mountain Insulation has been disconnected. Police urge residents to use caution when dealing with strangers at the door.

“Asking for company identification is a good start,” Sgt. Dave Reagan said in a news release. “Prior to allowing any sales person inside your home, conceal purses, wallets, checkbooks and other easy-to-steal items of value. Escort the person through your home and watch for suspicious activity.”

Anyone who thinks they may have been a victim of a crime is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

Mike Ormsby can blame his godfather if the U.S. Senate confirms him as the next U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington.

At age 11, Ormsby got worked up over something he viewed as unfair. He then spoke to his godfather, the late Mike Hemovich, about his work as a criminal defense attorney.

Hemovich “told me what a noble calling being a lawyer was,” Ormsby said. “He said you are in a position to help people in a number of ways as long as you were willing to listen to their issues and problems. I was hooked. From that point forward, I was going to college and law school to become an attorney.”

Read the rest of Tom Clouse’s story here.

Past coverage: U.S. attorney nominee faces opposition

Ormsby chosen as U.S. attorney

A Tri-Cities man was sentenced to 60 days in jail on Monday in a plea deal that dropped 11 felonies that could have sent him to prison for life.

Nicholas W. J. Birden, 19, had been charged with 10 counts of drive-by shooting and attempted first-degree murder in connection with a June 11 shooting in Spokane.

Birden was playing basketball when he became angry and fired a shot at the other players, according to court testimony. No one was injured.

Birden entered an Alford plea to second-degree assault, meaning he didn’t admit guilt but acknowledged enough evidence existed for a conviction.

A Ferry County man who was drunk during a highway crash last fall was not responsible for the death of the other driver, a jury recently decided.

John H. Clifford was acquitted of vehicular homicide but convicted of drunken driving for an Oct. 2 crash on Highway 21 about fives miles north of Malo.

The 9:20 p.m. crash killed Arthur M. Voges, 49, of Malo. Voges’s wife, Linda, suffered a cracked rib, according to a previous report.

Investigators said Clifford’s 1993 Isuzu Rodeo crossed the center line, but Clifford, who was 66 at the time of the crash, told jurors it was Voges who had crossed the center lane.

Clifford will be sentenced for drunken driving on Friday. He is represented by Republic lawyer Steve Graham.

Past coverage: Highway 21 crash kills Malo man

A reputed Spokane gang member facing life in prison for a shooting last summer faces four additional counts of attempted first-degree murder after turning down a plea deal.

Timothy L. “Stoney Boy” Lucious, 39, faces a life sentence under Washington’s three-strikes law. He’s been in jail since October on two counts of first-degree attempted murder (alternate charges of first-degree assault are offered) and one count of second-degree assault for a shooting July 24.

Those charges were amended last week to add four additional counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of drive-by shooting after Lucious rejected a plea deal, according to documents prepared by Deputy Prosecutor Mark Cipolla. Details of that plea deal were not available.

Cipoilla explained his decision in court documents: A prosecutor offering “hardball choices to a defendant does not make the process constitutionally unfair, so long as the choices are realistically based upon evidence and options are known to both sides,” he wrote. Police found additional witnesses to the shooting that enabled prosecutors to file the additional charges.

Another man charged in the July incident, Michael “Mikey Mike” Gardner, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault in January and was released from jail. He returned a couple weeks later after being arrested in a new assault arrested in a new assault case.

Past coverage:

Attempted murder charges dropped

Two women shot in crosstown melee

A woman accused of kidnapping her sons from her ex-husband 12 years ago is expected back in Spokane this week to face a felony charge after fighting extradition from Pennsylvania.

Jill D. Haugen, who also is known as Jill Connington, has been in a Pennsylvania jail since Dec. 29, when police arrested her on suspicion that she picked up her sons for a visit in 1998 but never returned them.

The boys, now 17 and 15, were living with Haugen in Milton, Pa., where she was going by the name Ann Thompson.

Spokane police are expected to travel to Pennsylvania this week to get Haugen, who faces one charge of child custodial interference, said Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor John Love. The felony carries a maximum penalty of about a year in jail. The boys were set to return to their father, William Connington of Spokane.

“The bigger picture is here’s a father who hadn’t seen his kids for 10 years, and thought he probably never would see his kids again,” Love said.

Haugen, 48, said as said that she is a victim of domestic violence and her sons are victims of sexual abuse. Police say there’s no merit to her claims. She faces a $25,000 bail in Spokane County, the same amount she’s been held on in Pennsylvania.

William Connington testified at an extradition hearing in Northumberland County on Friday, according to The Daily Item in Sunbury, Pa.

“She ran because she knew she was going to lose the kids. Not because of anything else,” he said, according to an article you can read here.

 The man who shot his wife’s ex-husband before killing himself had been sued for a shooting incident in 2005.

Chad L. Moore, 35, (left) was serving as his own lawyer in a lawsuit filed by 70-year-old Orville Robert Boyd, who accused him of negligence and recklessness in a March 20, 2005, incident near Athol.

Moore and a friend, Ryan W. Beamer, were shooting Glock pistols on a private road about one mile north of Chilco Road when Boyd approached on an ATV with a gunshot to his right chest.

Moore called 911, and Beamer ran up the road to meet medics. Moore told a Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputy he’d been target shooting there since he was a small child, according to a report.  The shooting was ruled accidental, and Moore was never charged with a crime. The police report listed his employer as a Coeur d’Alene lumber company. He told police he’s worked there for 15 years.

Boyd sued Moore and Beamer in 2007. Moore began serving as his own lawyer in September “due to lack of funds,” according to a letter he wrote in the Kootenai County District Court file.

A five-day jury trial is scheduled for August.

Moore was found dead last week after an overnight manhunt. Before he killed himself, Moore shot and killed Ryan William Taylor, 28, the ex-husband of his pregnant wife.

Taylor had confronted Moore at his Hayden apartment March 9 after hearing from his ex that Moore hit her.

A memorial fundraiser was held for Taylor Saturday at The Grail nightclub in Huetter. His funeral took place earlier today.

Past coverage:

Family: Jealousy, abuse led to murder

An attorney for the Spokane Valley bar owner accused of killing a bicyclist in a hit and run crash calls the incident “a tragic accident and not a crime.”

Carl Oreskovich appeared with his client, Scott C. Reckord, in Spokane County Superior Court today. Reckord peladed not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide and hit-and run for a March 1 collision that killed 56-year-old David L. Squires. Reckord, the owner of Sullivan Scoreboard, did not comment after the hearing, according to a story by Thomas Clouse.

Squires (pictured at right with his wife, Christy) was riding southbound through the crosswalk of the intersection of Division Street and Sprague Avenue when he was knocked from his bike.Witnesses said Reckord’s silver Dodge pickup then ran Squires over.

A woman and her son then chased Reckord, flashing their lights and honking their horn to get his attention, according to police records. The woman’s husband stayed at the scene to give first aid to Squires. Officers arrested Reckord after he failed a field sobriety test.

“We are just getting started,” said Oreskovich after the short hearing. “The Reckord family extends its sympathies to Mr. Squires’ family. We think this is a tragic accident and not a crime.”

Oreskovich successfully made the same argument when he represented Clifford Helm for the Nov. 1, 2005, crash that killed five children and seriously injured their father, Jeffry Schrock. A jury acquitted Helm of acquitted Helm of vehicular homicide charges in March 2008.

Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Mary Ann Brady said the felony hit-and-run charge carries between 31 and 41 months in prison if a person with no previous criminal history is found guilty.

Greg Squires, the victim’s brother, said the arraignment Monday was just the first step on a lengthy legal process.

“I think they are just trying to cover for him,” Squires said of Reckord. “He’s just trying to protect himself.”

Past coverage: Family mourns, remembers

Bicyclist’s family: ‘Death just too tragic’

Two child rapists classified as sex offenders most likely to re-offend are living as transients in Spokane County, the Sheriff’s Office announced today.

Jeffrey R. Evans, 22, (left) was convicted of second-degree child rape in 2001 for an attack on a 12-year-old female family friend.

Evans also was convicted of indecent liberties with forcible compulsion in 2004. His victim was a 6-year-old male relative, according to the Sheriff’s Office. 

Clifford R. Sain, 30, (right) was convicted of first-degree child rape and fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation in 1993 for attacks on 7- and 8-year-old male relatives. He was released from prison in December 1998.

Both Evans and Sain are being supervised by the Department of Corrections.

They are not wanted by law enforcement, but they are level 3 sex offenders and the Sheriff’s Office wants the public to be aware of their presence.

Click here for the Spokane County sex offender database.

Employees found $26,000 in the bra of an accused thief booked into Spokane County Jail on Friday.

Lukeisha A. Harris, 24, the only suspect in an accused three-person fraud team who’s been able to post bail, stashed the cash with several bank receipts, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The Seattle-area resident is accused with Corey B. Jones, 25, and Elicionne L. Washington, 23, of stealing thousands of dollars from Spokane banks.

The trio is due in Superior Court this afternoon via video from the jail, where they spent the weekend. Harris posted bail last night, according to jail records.

The three suspects, described by the Sheriff’s Office as a “fraud team that traversed Spokane,” were arrested at the North Pointe branch of Chase Bank after employees at the Washington Trust Bank, 438 E. Hastings Road, reported a “heavyset” woman in black clothes and pink shoes had tried to get money with a stolen credit card.

Harris appears to match the bank employee’s description of the culprit - she’s 6-feet tall and 400 pounds, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Harris and Washington both told different deputies they were Aurora Wright, according to a news release.

“As they dug through a bible for their identification, several pieces of identification fell out,” according to a news release. “The ID’s all had the name of Aurora Wright, but with different photos.”

The trio also had counterfeit Oregon driver’s licenses and cards stolen from six credit companies, the sheriff’s office said. Detectives searched the suspects’s Nissan Altima and motel room at the Comfort Inn on North Division.

Jones and the women also are suspected of taking $8,000 from the Washington Trust Bank at 3810 N. Maple St. One person wold ask for a cash advance with a credit card that wouldn’t work, then provide a phone number to get the advance approved. A coconspirator at that number would provide an authorization number to override the credit card’s inactive status, the sheriff’s office said.

A man with more than 50 criminal convictions who 12 years ago escaped from police headquarters, then mailed back his handcuffs, was denied a furlough from jail Friday to deal with the recent death of his mother.

Fred W. Nolan, Jr., requested a leave from Geiger Corrections Center to help get his late mother’s affairs in order, but Spokane County Superior Court Judge Ellen Kalama Clark ordered he stay behind bars and cited his dozens of felony convictions.

Nolan, 40, is being held on $5,000 bail for burglary and malicious mischief charges. He was arrested in June, accused of break-ins at offices in the Empire Health Services building at 601 W. Fifth Ave. Police found a green Otter Pop popsicle wrapper in the building that was submitted for fingerprints; green liquid was located throughout the offices, according to court records.

Nolan has at least 51 criminal convictions, mostly for theft and burglary, dating back to 1983. (See his record here.)

He’s served five prison sentences, including a three-year stint after he escaped from the Public Safety Building while handcuffed in 1997. The stunt earned him the nickname “Strollin’ Nolan.”

Past coverage:

Whatever happened to: Strollin’ Nolan

Handcuffed man escapes from police interrogation room

Doug Clark: Handcuffed escapees blames missteps

Doug Clark: Career burglar doesn’t seem like a good loan risk

An estranged Spokane couple shut down U.S Highway 95 near Athol today after police say the man held the woman hostage at knife point.

Damien L. Bunch, 27, (right) was arrested after police investigating a crash about 7:15 a.m. found him holding Deanna Lafrombois, 29, at knife point inside a car at milepost 444, the State Police reported.

Police were able to rescue Lafrombois after about 30 minutes spent negotiating with Bunch. Lafrombois was taken to Kootenai Medical Center with knife wounds.

Bunch faces charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and possession of methamphetamine. He’s already on probation in Spokane County after pleading guilty to harassment in December. He was credited for 58 days served in jail.

In February, Bunch and Lafrombois petitioned for divorce, according to news archives.

Bunch also has convictions in Spokane for domestic violence harassment and first-degree criminal trespass from 2007.

A man who once said he stole as “to make ends meet” was arrested Friday after sheriff’s deputies said he returned to the scene of a burglary.

Dustin L. Lang, 29, threatened a witness with a knife after being confronted about breaking into a garage at 6500 N. Jensen about 5:50 a.m., according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

A tracking dog found the knife and Lang’s abandoned vehicle, but not Lang, the Sheriff’s Office said.

But Lang, a convicted felon, returned to the scene after deputies left, and another witness called 911. Lang was arrested on charges of first-degree burglary and three counts of vehicle prowling, as an outstanding warrant.

Six years ago, Lang told The Spokesman-Review he viewed stealing as his way to make a living.

“If their garage is as big as my house then, damn, they must have insurance. They’ve got all this stuff and I’ve got nothing…I don’t do it because I like to steal, but I’ve got to make ends meet.” Lang said in an article you can read here.

He ended up pleading guilty to a slew of property crimes and serving 90 days in jail, according to news archives. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison in October 2008 after pleading guilty to four counts of second-degree possession of stolen property.

 A bald eagle was shot to death near Long Lake last weekend, and the Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for tips that lead to the killer’s conviction.

The bird was found on the south bank of the Long Lake off Long Lake Road the weekend of March 6. Bald eagles are federally protected birds.

Killing them is a federal crime that carries up to a year in prison and fines up to $100,000.

In a prepared statement, Dan Paul, state director of the Humane Society, called the poaching “an affront to wildlife and the laws that protect these animals.”

The Humane Society is offering the reward with the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust. Anyone with information is asked to call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement at (509) 928-6050.

According to the Humane Society:

- Wildlife officials estimate that for every wild animal killed legally — tens of millions of animals per year — another is killed illegally.

- Every year, thousands of poachers are arrested nationwide; however, it is estimated that only 1 percent to 5 percent of poachers are caught.

A Spokane Valley man was awakened this morning by home-invasion robbers who hit him over the head and broke his finger before stealing prescription medications and other valuables.

The robbers - one who was armed with a knife - remain at large, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. The men are described as white, 5-foot-11, thin and were wearing gray-hooded sweatshirts and gloves. The man with the knife was said to be in his 20s, the other was described as 35 to 40.

The men forced their way into a home at 8600 E. Broadway about 7:50 a.m. and confronted the sleeping homeowner, who is in his 60s, with the knife, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

They fled with the medications, a handgun and gold coins after assaulting the man, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

A federal judge ruled this morning that the city of Spokane will not be on the hook if a civil suit proceeds against former Spokane Police Officer James “Jay” Olsen, who shot Shonto Pete in the head during a drunken chase in February 2007.

Federal judge Edward F. Shea ruled in favor of a motion brought by Assistant City Attorney Ellen O’Hara seeking to sever the city from the case.

O’Hara argued that Olsen was off duty at the time and never identified himself as a police officer during the Feb. 26, 2007, chase that ended with Olsen shooting Pete in the head. (Pete and Olsen are pictured at left in March 2009. Pete is on the witness stand.)

“I have great sympathy for Mr. Pete and the grievous wrong that Mr. Olsen did to him,” Shea said. “Nevertheless, I grant the city’s motion … Mr. Olsen was not acting under the color of law.”

Read the rest of Thomas Clouse’s story here.

Read past coverage here.

Although a jury last month rejected Kenneth Putnam’s sex abuse allegations against Morning Star Boys’ Ranch, the Catholic Diocese of Spokane had already paid Putnam a settlement worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The award to Putman is among 10 such settlements totaling more than $3 million – ranging from $100,000 to $750,000 – that have been paid through the diocese bankruptcy to men who continue to press lawsuits against Morning Star, its former director the Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, and other priests and employees associated with the home for troubled boys.

Read the rest of Kevin Graman and John Stucke’s story here.

Spokane County officials say they don’t want to acquire the Pine Lodge Corrections Center at Medical Lake, and it should remain a state prison for women.

State officials are considering closing the prison to save money, and have asked whether local governments want it. County commissioners recently directed their legislative lobbyist to oppose closure of Pine Lodge.

After a tour Wednesday, County Commission Chairman Mark Richard and Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said the minimum-security facility wouldn’t be suitable as a county jail.

Previous coverage:

Costly study didn’t list Pine Lodge for clousure

County, city eye joint use of Pine Lodge jail

State rethinks plan to close Pine Lodge

Pine Lodge joins jail site list

OLYMPIA — Convicted cop-killer Lonnie Link does not warrant a lighter sentence for shooting Spokane Police Officer Brian Orchard in 1983, even though he helped federal prosecutors bring down more than two dozen members of a criminal motorcycle gang after he went to prison, a state board said today.

The state Clemency and Pardons Board heard what members agreed was an extraordinary plea to commute Link’s sentence of life without parole to simply life, a move that could allow him to be released some day.

The prosecutor who convicted him, former County Prosecutor Don Brockett, and one of the detectives involved in the case, joined Link’s former defense attorney Mark Vovos in arguing for clemency for Link.

But the current prosecutor, Steve Tucker, joined members of Orchard’s family and other members of the state’s law enforcement community in arguing against it.

Read the rest of Jim Camden’s story here.

A metal bar sharpened into a dagger was found in an inmate’s cell at Geiger Corrections Center this week.

Alan M. Lloyd, 32, is accused of making the weapon out of a metal bar inside his brace, according to court documents. Guards found the item during routine cell checks Tuesday night.

Lloyd appeared in Spokane County Superior Court Thursday on a felony charge of possession of weapon by a prisoner.

His bond was set at $10,000. He’d been at Geiger on $15,000 bond for a residential burglary charge from January.

Police have identified a person of interest in the New Year’s Day rape of a teen girl near the Northtown Mall.

Detectives obtained a DNA swab from the 21-year-old Spokane man Monday, according to a search warrant filed in Spokane County District Court.

The man matches a description of the assailant and works near the crime scene, according to the search warrant.

The attack occurred about 4 p.m. in a park at North Mayfair Street and East Walton Avenue on Jan. 1. The 16-year-old victim said she and her attacker talked to about 20 minutes before the assault, which the man told her he’d never done before, according to the search warrant.

Tipsters named several people after seeing a police sketch of the suspect. DNA eliminated several people, but the 21-year-old man didn’t have DNA on file.

The man’s lawyer was present when police obtained the DNA swab Monday about 11:30 a.m.

(AP) A Moscow man whose lawyer blamed caffeine-induced psychosis for alleged hit-and-run crashes at Washington State University in December has been released from a hospital and will face trial.

Dan Noble, 31, (left) has been declared fit to stand trial by doctors at Eastern State Hospital, said Whitman County Prosecutor Denis Tracy.

He is charged with two felony counts of vehicular assault, two felony counts of hit and run and misdemeanor resisting arrest after being arrested in December.

Drivers on the highway between Moscow and Pullman reported Noble’s car driving erratically in the westbound lanes Monday morning, according to previously published reports.

Noble then turned onto Stadium Way, the main street through the WSU campus, where he allegedly struck students Hogun Hahm, 23, of Pullman, and Neil Waldbjorn, 19, of Malaga, Wash., in crosswalks about a block apart, according to the Associated Press. Both pedestrians suffered a broken leg and other injuries.

Noble then reportedly stopped and exited the vehicle at the intersection of Stadium Way and Grimes Way, about 175 yards from the second victim.

When WSU police approached him, Noble became “argumentative, incoherent, and resistive,” documents said. Officers used a Taser to subdue him.

Noble’s arraignment is set for April 9, court records show.

Noble’s attorney, Mark Moorer, has previously said his client was suffering from caffeine-induced psychosis brought on by too much coffee and energy drinks.

Past coverage: Lawyer: Blame it on the caffeine

Two men described as “hiding behind the medical marijuana law” were arrested today during a raid at a home in north Spokane.

Robert P. Thompson, 24, and Eric G. Franklin, 31, had four forged medical marijuana provider forms posted near 105 marijuana plants when detectives raided the home today, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Those plants were seized, along with several hundred dollars in cash.

The growing operation had been at the home at 1527 E. Rockwell for two years but wasn’t discovered until March 1, when someone smelled marijuana wafting from the home, according to a news release.

Thompson and Franklin were selling the marijuana in the Everett area, detectives said.

The men were booked into Spokane County Jail on one count each of manufacturing a controlled substance.

Voters approved medical marijuana in 1998, and the state Legislature set possession limits in 2008 at a pound and a half per person or 15 plants.

The law also allows a person to provide medical marijuana to one authorized patient “at any one time.” Prosecutors and police say that means providers can have no more than 15 plants; sellers and dispensaries argue the wording allows them to grow 15 plants for each patient.

The first police raid of a Washington medical marijuana dispensary occurred in Spokane last fall when police arrested the owners of the dispensary Change on drug dealing charges. Scott Q. Shupe and Christopher P. Stevens pleaded not guilty to the charges in January.

Past coverage of medical marijuana in Washington:

Pot’s legal ambiguity clouds law enforcement

Medical marijuana seller busted during buying trip

Police arrest medical pot dispensary owners

Protesters ask to keep medical marijuana dispensaries open

New federal orders have no effect on Spokane pot raids

David Squires had been riding his bike for years. He didn’t drive, and his 18-speed bicycle was the longtime electrician’s way of getting around Spokane.

Squires, 56, (pictured with his wife, Christy, in the beginning of their 19-year relationship) was riding that bike when he was struck by a car and killed as he crossed Sprague Avenue while southbound on Division Street on March 1. 

Now, after more than a week of grief, his family is hoping to share good memories of a man known for his sense of humor, storytelling and generosity.

A celebration of life will take place Friday at Mama’s Thai Lounge in Spokane Valley, where Squires’ stepdaughter, Alicia Fowler, works.

“I just want to be able to laugh about the good times and not cry about the bad times,” said Fowler, pictured above. “Dave wouldn’t want us to be sad.”

Friends sometimes called Squires, a father of six, “Dave, Dave, the electrical slave” because of his work ethic, said Fowler, 24.

Read the rest of my story here.

Past coverage:

Bicyclist’s family: ‘Death just too tragic’

When Ryan William Taylor showed up at a Hayden apartment Tuesday afternoon, he was there to confront the husband of his ex-wife – a man he believed had been abusing her.

But Taylor, 28, (pictured above with his daughters) never left the property alive. The man he confronted fired four rounds at Taylor, family members say, one striking him in the back of the head.

A search team from Kootenai and Spokane counties found the suspected gunman, Chad Lee Moore, (right) dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday morning east of Hayden Lake.

After an overnight manhunt, searchers found Moore’s pickup truck, which had been burned, before spotting his body on a logging road about one mile north of Triangle 7 Road and Hayden Creek Road.

Moore, 35, had a handgun and a military-style rifle with several ammo clips, said Maj. Dan Mattos of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department.

“One conclusion drawn is that perhaps he was lying in wait for police, but we’ll never know because he took his own life,” Mattos said. Investigators believe he set fire to the truck (right) before walking down the road and shooting himself.

Moore’s wife, Amber Kern, previously was married to Taylor. Nine months pregnant with Moore’s baby, Kern was taken to a hospital Wednesday but was not expected to give birth immediately, said Taylor’s mother, Barbara Taylor.

Mattos said Moore and Ryan Taylor had ongoing problems.

Barbara Taylor said Kern had called her Tuesday and said Moore had hit her after asking if she’d been talking to Ryan Taylor on the phone.

Taylor was out on a birthday shopping trip with his girlfriend and daughter, Jordan, who turns 12 Friday.

The three stopped by Moore and Kern’s apartment at 10102 N. Government Way, where Taylor found Moore armed with a loaded handgun, Barbara Taylor said.

Read the rest of my story here.