In brief: SNAP dinner moves to Peaceful Valley
Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs’ Thursday night Sack Dinner has temporarily moved to the Peaceful Valley Community Center.
The service, which provides hot meals to about 80 to 100 homeless and poor people weekly, moved from the downtown Commercial Building last week, said SNAP spokeswoman Robin Waller. The building’s new owners, BlueRay Technologies Inc., plan to convert the structure into a Blu-ray disc plant, displacing the service, a nonprofit mental health agency and 45 low-income residents.
Volunteers prepare the meals, and Spokane Mental Health workers offer food stamp outreach and other services, Waller said.
Attendance seemed normal after the move last week, Waller said. It is unclear how long the service will remain at the center.
Tonight’s dinner will be offered from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the community center, 214 N. Cedar St. From downtown, residents can take Spokane Transit Authority bus Route 20 toward Spokane Falls Community College.
– Parker Howell
Spokane Valley
Trucker loading van hit by car, injured
A trucker was seriously injured when he was hit by a car Wednesday morning on East Marietta Avenue in Spokane Valley.
Wearing a reflective safety vest, 48-year-old Anthony Mullinax was loading used cars onto a semi when a Ford Taurus hit him, according to a police news release.
Spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan, of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, said he did not know whether Michael W. Codd, 60, hit the brakes before his car struck Mullinax. The speed limit in the 16200 block of the busy street is 35 mph.
Mullinax was taken to a hospital and was being treated for head injuries and abrasions, according to the release.
No charges have been filed against Codd, Reagan said. “There could be charges coming out of this incident, but not until after the investigation,” Reagan said.
– Nick Eaton
Post Falls
Chiropractor sentenced for fraud
A Post Falls chiropractor was sentenced this week to six months home detention with electronic monitoring for felony health care fraud.
Timothy Grothman, owner of Health Within Chiropractic, will be under probation for 2 1/2 years following the home detention, U.S. Attorney Tom Moss said in a news release.
U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge also ordered Grothman to pay a $5,000 fine and $37,000 in restitution in addition to 100 hours of community service.
Grothman admitted in January to defrauding numerous health insurance companies by overbilling and billing multiple insurance companies for the same services between September 1998 and August 2003.
Lodge ordered Grothman to pay restitution to multiple providers including Blue Cross of Idaho, Safeco, Aetna, Regence Blue Shield, Farmers Insurance, United Healthcare, AIG and Cigna/Medicare, Allstate, Hartford Insurance Co., One Beacon Insurance and Washington Labor & Industries.
Health Within Chiropractic is still operating in Post Falls. A receptionist answering the phone Wednesday said Grothman was with a patient.
He didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.
– Taryn Brodwater