In brief: Northwest will miss out on lunar eclipse
The full moon may look a little shaded when it rises at sunset tonight, but that’s as close as Inland Northwest sky watchers will get to this afternoon’s total lunar eclipse, the first such eclipse in two and a half years.
Mary Singer of the Spokane Astronomical Society said the eclipse will show “virtually nothing” in this region, and a chart from NASA shows that the moon will rise here just as the eclipse ends. Views will be better to the east. The total phase begins at 2:44 p.m. on the West Coast.
Sky watchers should mark Aug. 28 on their calendars. That’s when another total lunar eclipse will be visible, and it will occur high in the sky during the early morning hours here.
– Mike Prager
Boise
Teen driving bill speeds through House
Legislation to impose more restrictions on new teen drivers sailed through the Idaho Senate on a 31-4 vote Friday.
The bill, SB 1119, is sponsored by Sens. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, and Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake. Its provisions include limiting passengers for young drivers during their first six months on the road and requiring more adult-supervised driving before teens are cleared to drive on their own.
The measure now moves to the House.
– Staff reports
Stevens County
Man acquitted of employee’s assault
Stevens County jurors acquitted a Colville businessman who was tried this week on an assault charge involving an employee who remains in a coma more than six months after the defendant struck him.
A Superior Court jury took about 45 minutes Wednesday, after two days of testimony, to acquit 51-year-old Gerald Alymer Tinkess of second-degree assault in the Aug. 14 injury of dump truck driver Bennie Walter Schoenwald, who has since turned 60.
Tinkess told jurors he struck Schoenwald when Schoenwald shoved him. Defense attorney Carl Oreskovich successfully argued that Tinkess acted in self-defense.
With Schoenwald unable to testify, Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Troberg attempted to show that Tinkess – who had a 105-pound advantage over Schoenwald – deliberately beat Schoenwald senseless.
Troberg presented testimony from sheriff’s officers who said Tinkess gave inconsistent accounts of the incident.
Sheriff’s Capt. Mike George said Tinkess first claimed he grappled with Schoenwald and landed on top of him when they fell to the concrete driveway. Tinkess said he hit Schoenwald “several more times while he was down,” according to George.
Troberg also played a 911 tape in which Tinkess called for help and told a dispatcher he had struck Schoenwald more than once. Court documents say Schoenwald went to Tinkess’ home to discuss a dispute over Schoenwald’s pay, and the men argued in Tinkess’ driveway.
– John Craig