Woman injured in head-on collision

Five people escaped serious injury after a head-on collision between a car and a logging truck on state Highway 200 near Ponderay, according to Idaho State Police.

Cathie S. Burley, 36, of Ponderay, was driving west in a Mazda GLC on state Highway 200 near the intersection of Humbird Road around 9:20 a.m. Friday. Police said Joseph J. Sagerer, 86, of Sandpoint, pulled out in front of Burley in a 1992 Subaru Legacy.

Burley’s car struck Sagerer’s auto, then veered into the eastbound lane into the path of a 2005 Kenworth logging truck driven by Arlan J. Gooley, 43, of Priest River. Burley’s car was pushed back into Sagerer’s vehicle.

Burley was transported to Bonner General Hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries, according to a press release from police. Two passengers in Burley’s car, Shawn E. Burley, 18, and Robin J. Belden, 41, were treated and released. Gooley was treated and released as well.

Sagerer was uninjured. He was cited for failure to yield, according to police.

– JoNel Aleccia

Bloomsday organizers seek entertainers

Wanted: Entertainers to perform for the 2006 Lilac Bloomsday Run.

Bloomsday organizers still have a few spots open along the 7.5-mile route for “anyone with a song to sing, dance to perform or any other sort of entertainment.”

People who wish to take part in the May 7 event are asked to fill out an application form and return it to the Bloomsday office by Friday.

Space is also still available for the Marmot March, a noncompetitive 1.2-mile tour of Riverfront Park on May 6. The event is for kids in the first grade or younger along with their parents. It’s open to the first 300 children who sign up.

Applications for entertainers, along with Marmot March entry forms, are available on the Bloomsday Web site: www.bloomsdayrun.org.

Online registration for the 30th annual Lilac Bloomsday Run is also available at the Web site. Mail-in entries must be postmarked by April 18 to avoid the late entry fee of $30. Participants can also drop off their entry forms at the two local Gart Sports stores.

– Virginia de Leon

Sandpoint

Sex-abuse plea deal upsets parents

The parents of two sex-abuse victims are objecting to a plea agreement under which defendant Joseph Lee Spafford-Beal would serve just two months in jail.

Spafford-Beal, 23, pleaded guilty to three counts of misdemeanor battery. He was accused of fondling three girls, ages 10, 12 and 15, on Aug. 1.

The maximum penalty for three counts of sexual abuse of a child is 45 years in prison.

Instead he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge. Judge Barbara Buchanan sentenced him to the maximum – three consecutive six-month sentences – and she suspended all but two months. Spafford-Beal was also placed on two years probation and ordered to pay $750 in fines and $217 in court costs.

One parent said that Spafford-Beal has failed to show any remorse.

– Associated Press