Nick Eaton

About 100 people were without power early Tuesday after a pickup crashed south of Medical Lake, taking down a power line as it rolled. Two men were in the truck when it sped off South Salnave Road about 11 p.m. Monday. The driver, 23-year-old Kevin Audett, was ejected and unconscious when rescuers arrived. According to the Washington State Patrol, he was not wearing a seat belt.

Two men were smoked out of their apartments Tuesday evening after a fire started in the laundry room of a two-story house. Brian Heritage was home in his second-floor residence when the fire broke out. Some of his neighbors called 911; one of his neighbors called him.

A law meant to deter metal theft will take effect July 22, but that's not soon enough for farmer Dan Herring. Two weeks ago, somebody stole a quarter-mile-long copper electricity wire from his Quincy-area alfalfa farm. It cost him nearly $15,000 to get his irrigation system back up and running.

Detectives are pursuing felony drug charges against a Spokane paramedic who allegedly stole drugs from a medic vehicle's inventory. Rebecca J. Singley, 32, admitted to investigators that she took Etomidate – a commonly used emergency anesthetic – from Medic 52's medical box and injected herself twice while on duty May 30, according to a search warrant for her medical records. That evening, the paramedic was found unconscious from a possible drug overdose on the bathroom floor of Fire Station No. 11.

Four Spokane County sheriff's deputies were taking a break at a gas station early Friday when a drunken driver crashed his truck into one of the walls. The force of the crash knocked a seating booth off its bolts, and it slid across the floor into a shelf of videos, said Mark Hoene, a Wandemere Shell gas station sales associate who showed up shortly after the crash. The deputies were at the opposite side of the building.

Authorities have raised the reward for information that leads to the capture of a man who caused a crash that killed a toddler last week. Secret Witness is offering $1,000 to anyone who can lead them to 33-year-old Michael Q. Beckley, who is wanted for vehicular homicide. The Washington State Patrol has a $100,000 arrest warrant for the fugitive.

An Avista Utilities employee died and a school teacher was injured Thursday during a science demonstration witnessed by about 600 students at Hiawatha Elementary School in Othello, Wash. Line foreman Robert "Bob" D. Smith, 50, was in an elevated utility bucket along with a teacher at the school's annual egg drop. The truck's extended boom separated from its base, and the bucket crashed to the ground, according to a news release from Othello Police Chief Steve Dunnagan.

After emigrating from Bosnia to Spokane in 1999, Omar Arnautovic is excited to finally move into a house that has enough room for his family. His new three-bedroom home could be finished during Habitat for Humanity Spokane's annual Blitz Build. For 16 days starting today, more than 100 community members are expected to storm the 1600 block of East Boone Avenue in Spokane to build or finish Arnautovic's duplex, two three-family townhouses and one single-family home.

A man who had what he said was an explosive device in his pants pocket was arrested Wednesday afternoon after authorities cordoned off an area for several hours. Spokane County sheriff's officials arrested Lloyd L. Gabel, 51, near his home at the Hilltop Mobile Home Park on Sunset Highway west of Spokane at about 3:45 p.m. He was cooperative and was detained without incident, said Sgt. Scott Szuke of the Sheriff's Office.

A masked gunman reportedly abducted an elderly man from his backyard Wednesday evening and forced him inside his suburban home, where he tied the victim's wrists and ankles with duct tape before rummaging through the house. The victim, whom neighbors at the Sunny Creek Residential Community described as being in his mid-70s, was able to break free after about 20 minutes and called police just after 6 p.m. He was unsure whether the assailant was still inside the house, Spokane police spokesman Cpl. Mike Carr said.

For years, adults and children looked up to Gerald Gollehon Jr., a pilot and farmer beloved in his hometown of Wilbur. Gollehon, 44, died Monday evening when his private plane crashed into a wheat field owned by his brother, James, just a quarter-mile from his own home. He was alone in the Cessna 185, which he flew during breaks from his job as a pilot for Alaska Airlines, his brother said Tuesday.

When business owner Mike MacKay banned big personal toolboxes from his shop floor, his workers got a little upset. But they soon changed their minds, after MacKay installed ping-pong and foosball tables in the 400 square feet the change freed up.