Man found dead after falling into hole

A man was found dead Wednesday night after he fell into a hole he was digging on his Nine Mile Falls property.

Fire crews responded about 8:30 p.m. to 20002 N. Mathias on a report of a man with his head buried in sand, said Spokane County Fire District No. 9 Deputy Chief Mike VanHeel. Firefighters pulled the man out, but couldn’t revive him.

Authorities did not release the identity of the victim, who they said was in his 50s. He lived on the 10 acres where he was found, VanHeel said.

– Jody Lawrence-Turner

Spokane

Parents say man has ‘mental problems’

The man shot by a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy last week suffers from “mental problems,” his parents have told investigators.

Michael P. Marley, 38, remained in stable condition Wednesday at Deaconess Medical Center, said Spokane police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer DeRuwe. He was shot Nov. 8 while confronting Sgt. Bill Beeman with a knife on Day-Mount Spokane Road, authorities said.

Deputies were responding to reports of a man driving a truck with a flaming cloth in its gas tank.

Beeman was the first to encounter Marley as the man emerged from the woods. Beeman told deputies he believed he fired three shots, according to a search warrant filed Wednesday. Marley is being investigated for first-degree assault and second-degree arson, police said.

According to the document, Marley’s parents, who live in North Idaho, told investigators they believe he had been off his medication.

– Jody Lawrence-Turner

City will no longer buy studded tires

The city of Spokane has halted the purchase of studded snow tires for its vehicles.

Mayor Dennis Hession last week issued an executive order banning the use of studded snow tires on any of the city’s 1,400 vehicles.

The ban won’t start until long after Hession’s out of office – in the winter of 2008-09, a city press release reported Wednesday.

But purchases of studded tires are ending immediately.

Studded tires shorten the life of city streets, Hession said in the release. “I encourage our citizens to give up their studded tires and choose one of the new winter tire alternatives.”

– Jonathan Brunt

Coeur d’Alene

Man arrested on enticement charge

A 30-year-old Spirit Lake man who police say tried to order a teen girl into his car this week was arrested Wednesday on a charge of child enticing.

Benjamin C. Buroker has a history of indecent exposure, said Coeur d’Alene police spokeswoman Sgt. Christie Wood.

On Monday, a 13-year-old girl called her mother to say she ran to a friend’s house after a man approached her at school and told her to get into his SUV, Wood said.

The girl told police the same vehicle and man had followed her after school at least three previous times.

– Jody Lawrence-Turner