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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

News in brief: Wrong-way driver from Pullman

The Spokesman-Review

The Washington State Patrol has identified Tye Cruver, 23, of Pullman, as the man killed in a collision with a Greyhound bus Thursday evening near Ritzville.

Cruver was driving the wrong way on U.S. Highway 395 about 5:30 p.m. when the crash occurred in the southbound lanes, two miles south of Ritzville, the agency said.

The bus’s driver, Norman Cain, 51, and its only passenger were not injured.

spokane

Officer involved in shooting identified

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of the Spokane police officer who shot a man accused of ramming a patrol car with a stolen Honda.

Officer Jay Kernkamp and reserve Officer Jon Hall were following a stolen Honda early Wednesday when it pulled into an alley near Post Street and Lacrosse Avenue and three people bailed from the car, Sgt. Dave Reagan said.

Kernkamp and Hall got out of their car with guns drawn, police said Wednesday.

But the Honda turned around and rammed their car, knocking Hall to the ground, Reagan said. Kernkamp fired at the driver, who has been identified as Taylor J. Davis.

Davis escaped but was tracked down and arrested a few hours later.

The bullet that wounded Davis worked its way out of his back during his escape and was found on the seat of the Honda.

He was treated for the wound and booked into the Spokane County Jail Wednesday afternoon on charges of first-degree assault, car theft and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Kernkamp is the officer who accused a protester of assaulting him July 4 at Riverfront Park while police tried to disperse a group protesting police brutality.

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, Wash.

Drugs, cash found as death investigated

Police investigating the death of a man whose body was found near Interstate 5 in a sleeping bag bound with duct tape were led to a Lynnwood home full of drugs and cash.

Police have not explained how the death is connected to the drug cache but two men were arrested at the home for investigation of drug possession.

It was not immediately clear whether the men were involved in the man’s death, Mountlake Terrace Assistant Police Chief Mark Connor said.

The men, aged 63 and 57, were found Wednesday, along with cocaine, marijuana, several pounds of heroin and a large amount of cash in the home, Connor said.

The man whose body was found Wednesday near the 220th Street S.E. offramp from I-5 was in his mid-40s but he has not been identified.

An autopsy was planned.

MOUNT VERNON, Wash.

Accident shuts down northbound I-5

A chain-reaction accident involving about 15 vehicles shut down the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 between Burlington and Mount Vernon for nearly two hours on Friday.

Trooper Keith Leary of the Washington State Patrol said the pileup occurred near the Skagit River Bridge at milepost 228 about 11:30 a.m., and involved at least one semitruck. Leary said one minor injury was reported.

The accident happened near the Cascade Mall and the Burlington Outlet Mall.

Leary said the weather was dry and sunny, and the accident appeared to begin with a rear-end crash that led to other collisions behind it.

Port townsend

Work to begin to aid ferry traffic

Workers planned to begin adjusting the Port Townsend ferry dock today so a passenger-only ferry can moor there while car-ferry service is shut down because of damage to some of the state’s boats.

Car-ferry service on the Port Townsend-Keystone route was halted Tuesday when the Washington State Ferries’ four oldest vessels were pulled from service because of concerns about cracks and corrosion on their hulls.

The passenger-only service between Port Townsend and Keystone, on Whidbey Island, isn’t expected to begin until Monday. That’s how long it’s expected to take to reconfigure a slip at Port Townsend to accommodate the passenger-only ferry Snohomish, ferry system spokeswoman Susan Harris said Friday night.

In the meantime, a third ferry has been running since Wednesday on the Edmonds-Kingston run, south of the Port Townsend-Keystone route, Harris said. The third ferry will continue to run eight hours a day through Sunday, she said.

TWIN FALLS, Idaho

Head shop fails to win beer license

A Twin Falls head shop has been denied a license to sell beer alongside its glass pipes and tobacco.

Allen Nagel wants the license to sell brews at The Smoke-N-Head Shop. The state had already approved it.

But Twin Falls County commissioners don’t think the business is the right fit for the community.

They say denying the beer license is a way to send a message.

Though Nagel has signs that read “For Tobacco Use Only,” the commission believes he peddles products that could be used for drugs. Nagel is frustrated, arguing selling beer doesn’t have anything to do with selling glass pipes.

He concedes it’s possible that people may be buying his products for things like smoking marijuana.