Injured firefighter undergoing therapy
A volunteer firefighter injured last week has been transferred to St. Luke’s Hospital in Spokane for rehabilitation.
Jon Cook received an electrical shock while fighting a fire in Post Falls and suffered nerve damage to his heart, arms and legs, said Kootenai County Fire and Rescue spokesman Jim Lyon.
Lyon said Cook was released from Kootenai Medical Center over the weekend and is now in occupational therapy. Cook is having difficulty walking, but Lyon said he has been told that he will likely regain all use of his legs and arms and eventually return to work.
Three other firefighters were injured May 3 at the fire in an apartment above the Stow and Go Self Storage office at 410 N. Greensferry Road. One sprained his leg and another injured his back after falling from a ladder. Another firefighter was shocked along with Cook.
All were treated and released from the hospital that day. Investigators determined the fire started on a deck outside the door of the apartment, but Lyon said they couldn’t determine what actually caused the fire.
– Taryn Brodwater
Boise
Newspaper wins Press Club awards
The Spokesman-Review won four first-place awards in the Idaho Press Club Best of 2005 Annual Awards.
The newspaper also won second place in the daily newspaper general excellence category. The Idaho Statesman in Boise won first place.
Two reporters in The Spokesman-Review’s Coeur d’Alene office and the newspaper’s Boise-based reporter won first-place awards:
“James Hagengruber won in the watchdog/investigative reporting category for “Poisoning the well,” an exposé on sources of oil and gasoline pollution in the region’s groundwater. Hagengruber also took first in the light feature category for a story about poetry night at a Troy, Mont., saloon.
“Betsy Z. Russell in Boise won first place in political reporting for her examination of how the lack of financial disclosure requirements for Idaho legislators contributed to an ethics scandal that tore apart the state Senate last year.
“Business reporter Becky Kramer won in business reporting for an article on a growing movement to illegally avoid taxes through abusive trust schemes.
Erica Curless won second place in political reporting, and Kramer and Hagengruber tied for second in serious feature reporting.
Third-place awards went to Taryn Brodwater in spot news coverage and in crime/court reporting; Curless in general news story; Russell in agriculture reporting; and Hagengruber in environment reporting.
Rasha Madkour was awarded an honorable mention in light feature reporting, and Brodwater and Russell shared an honorable mention in crime/courts reporting.
The Press Club awards were announced Saturday night in Boise.
– Scott Maben