Pilot walks away from copter crash

A pilot walked away uninjured Monday morning after his helicopter clipped a power pole near Uniontown, Wash., and landed in a field.

James Pope, 43, told Whitman County sheriff’s deputies that he was flying his UH-1 helicopter spraying herbicide on a field when his rotors struck a power pole at 9:40 a.m., according to a Whitman County Sheriff’s Office press release.

Pope was spraying a field a mile south of Uniontown when he was forced to put the helicopter down. Some fuel and chemicals were spilled during the crash, which is under investigation by both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Driver arrested after hitting utility pole

A suspected drunken driver was arrested after he crashed into a utility pole Monday night in Spokane Valley, taking out power to at least 1,500 Avista Utility customers.

Power was restored two hours later, said an Avista spokeswoman.

Witnesses told police that Steven Martin Keller, 26, was spinning doughnuts and racing his Ford pickup when he crashed into a high-tension power line at 16th and Dishman-Mica Road, sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan reported.

Keller was arrested at 14th and Walnut about 8:20 p.m., after he resisted arrest, forcing officers to shock him with a Taser stun gun, Reagan wrote. Keller faces misdemeanor counts of reckless driving, hit and run property collision, obstructing a public servant and resisting arrest.

An Avista spokesperson said the outage was between Fourth and 16th avenues; and Park and University roads. Dishman-Mica was blocked with fallen power lines and traffic was rerouted.

Information sought on home robberies

Spokane police are seeking information about two recent South Hill home robberies.

Two men kicked open the front door of a house near Hart Field on the upper South Hill about 5 a.m. on April 19, police spokesman Dick Cottam reported.

The men reportedly confronted the homeowner when he went to investigate the loud noise. They ordered him back to the bedroom and told him and his wife to cover their faces, Cottam wrote in a press release.

Police said the men took two jewelry boxes from a bedroom dresser and the man’s wallet, which contained a few dollars. They left in a car.

The second case occurred about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, when two men kicked open the door of an apartment on West Seventh Avenue, Cottam reported. As in the earlier case, they ordered the resident to remain under her covers. They took a small amount of cash, a cell phone and a cordless phone and left, Cottam wrote.

Police said the incidents probably were committed by the same men.

Anyone with information is asked to call 242-TIPS.

Marina expansion worries alliance

Kootenai Environmental Alliance has concerns about Hagadone Hospitality’s proposed expansion of the Blackwell Island marina, which would include dredging the channel and adding 29 boat slips.

Marina Yacht Club LLC, which is owned by Hagadone, is asking for a permit from the Idaho Department of Lands and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The company also is seeking a discharge permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The alliance is asking the Lands Department to hold a public hearing on the proposal, which would modernize and expand the marina and deepen the channel to allow for larger boats.

Adjacent landowner and kayaker Julie Dalsaso said she is concerned about lake access for nonmotorized watercraft. Dalsaso said the marina expansion would interfere with access to Cougar Bay.

The public has until the end of this month to comment on the plan.

The proposed dredging, which would make the channel about 50 percent wider and at least 8 feet deep, would be done from Lake Coeur d’Alene downstream, past the marina to where the channel flows under U.S. Highway 95.

Hagadone wants to use most of the 220,500 cubic yards of dredged sand, silt and gravel to fill parts of Blackwell Island, raising it above the 100-year flood level.

7-year-old girl hit by car in CdA

A 7-year-old girl was hit by a car Monday afternoon, according to Coeur d’Alene police.

Spokeswoman Christie Wood said the girl reportedly ran out into traffic near U.S. Highway 95 and Prairie Avenue. Wood said the girl was taken to Kootenai Medical Center.

No details were available at press time.

Lutherans re-elect regional bishop

Bishop Martin Wells of Spokane has been re-elected head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Eastern Washington-Idaho Synod.

About 300 Lutheran pastors and lay leaders voted during the synod assembly in Spokane last weekend.

Wells will serve another six-year term as bishop for approximately 36,000 Lutherans in 108 congregations.

During his second term, Wells said, his goals include completion of St. Luke Lutheran Church’s $1.6 million expansion and finding “an evangelism strategy native to Lutheran theology and personality.”

Before he became bishop of the Eastern Washington-Idaho Synod, Wells and his wife, the Rev. Susan Briehl, co-directed Holden Village, a remote Lutheran retreat center on Lake Chelan. Prior to that, the couple were campus pastors at Pacific Lutheran University near Tacoma.

A Colorado native, the 56-year-old Wells is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif.

Seattle facing big city hall repair bills

Seattle It could cost the city of Seattle nearly $6 million to fix problems with the new City Hall and Justice Center, many related to meeting environmental standards.

A natural ventilation system hasn’t worked and neither have “light shelves,” meant to reflect sunlight and replace some electric lights. A “green roof” turned brown, and it’s being replanted with drought-resistant plants.

Most of the problems are outlined in a report from city officials that lists about two dozen building problems. The report was disclosed by Mayor Greg Nickels’ office after inquiries from The Seattle Times.

Brenda Bauer, director of the city’s Fleets and Facilities Department, said such building issues are not unusual.

“Particularly with new buildings, you go through a shakedown process of a couple years,” she said. “As you live in it, you find a couple things that didn’t work right.”

Bauer said the city may pursue warranties, insurance claims or lawsuits against contractors to recover some of the money.

Bellevue boys plead innocent to arson

Seattle Two Bellevue boys were released to their parents Monday after pleading innocent to arson charges in King County Juvenile Court.

The boys, 12 and 15, were arrested April 19 and accused of setting more than a dozen fires in east Bellevue, mostly in trash bins. One fire destroyed a concession stand at Sammamish High School. Damage estimates total $18,000.

While the boys were allowed to return to their homes at an apartment complex in the Robinswood neighborhood, they will be monitored through electronic bracelets.

Black bear released into national forest

Twisp, Wash. After seven months in captivity, a young black bear has been released into the Okanogan National Forest.

As a cub last fall, the bear twice attracted attention in downtown Winthrop, although he was not really a nuisance and hadn’t gotten into garbage or approached any people, said Scott Fitkin, a wildlife biologist for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

After his first visit to town, game agents chased the cub back to the river to find his mother, but when he returned to Winthrop a second time, he was sent to the Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation Center near Boise, to spend the winter.

In the Okanogan National Forest on Sunday, the yearling bear lumbered back into the woods. He was equipped with a radio collar and ear tag and will be monitored.