In brief: Manila Creek fire at 26,213 acres

The wildfire burning on the Colville Indian Reservation had spread to 26,213 acres by Saturday – a 40 percent jump over the previous day’s tally.

And the number of people fighting the blaze had doubled, to 833 assisted by six helicopters.

But there was good news, too, with officials saying the Manila Creek fire was about 50 percent contained.

Windy conditions helped the fire grow on Saturday afternoon, though firefighters made plenty of progress encircling the blaze with prescribed burns and digging lines in the rugged country north of Lake Roosevelt.

The fire, which officials suspect was arson-caused, started Monday southwest of the reservation town of Keller. It has burned one abandoned house and forced the evacuation of 12 homes, said Doreen Smith, a state spokeswoman.

The area burned is roughly the size of Priest Lake.

Spokane

Man arrested in death of gang member

Police arrested a man Saturday in the shooting death of a Spokane gang member at an early-morning party.

Freddy Miller, 27, was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder in the death of Adama Walton, 28, said Jennifer DeRuwe, police spokeswoman.

The shooting occurred shortly after 3 a.m. Friday at a party in the 2600 block of North Perry. Two vehicles sped from the scene, and one crashed about a block away. Police and paramedics found two men at the crash scene on North Perry Street. Walton, who had been in a gold Avalanche that flipped, died in the middle of the street. Another man, also in his 20s, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Both men had been hit by bullets.

Police described Walton as a confirmed gang member, and the house where the shooting occurred has a record of late-night parties and drug activity. Police have been to the home eight times since December.

Walton’s friends, who were at the scene, said he was released from jail just a few days ago. In March 2005, he was sentenced to 43 months in prison for possession and delivery of cocaine.

The Spokane Gang Unit is investigating whether the violence may be gang-related, DeRuwe said.

Man out of hospital after I-90 crash

A 26-year-old Spokane Valley man airlifted by a helicopter following a crash that closed westbound lanes of Interstate 90 Friday evening has been treated and released from Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Reports initially described Leonard Wallen in critical condition after an SUV he was riding in flipped near the Barker Road exit in Spokane Valley, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Troopers continue to investigate after witnesses said a pickup may have cut in front of the SUV causing the accident.

The crash snarled traffic for much of Friday evening.

TACOMA

Reservist awarded in wrongful firing

A federal judge has awarded $542,000 to a McChord Air Force Base reservist who was fired from his civilian job after returning from active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The U.S. Department of Labor previously ruled against retired Tech. Sgt. Gerald Delay when his employer, Ace Heating of Seattle, produced documents that said he was a disciplinary problem.

But those documents were proved to have been fabricated after Delay’s firing, and one was even dated Feb. 29, 2005, a “leap day” in a nonleap year, Delay’s lawyer said.

A jury awarded the Federal Way resident $250,000 for the false statements and $292,000 in lost pay and punitive damages, agreeing with Delay that he had been defamed by Ace Heating when he tried to assert his rights under the Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Act.

Delay, 40, who has since retired from the military, said he hopes the verdict serves as an example for others struggling with deployment-related problems at their civilian workplaces.

“The money is not that important; it’s the principle of what he did to me,” Delay said Friday.

Ace Heating owner Tim Hayes said Friday that Delay was a good employee for three years but that after his return from active-duty, he refused some assignments and some customers complained about his performance.

Hayes said the documents he submitted to the Labor Department were composed after Delay was fired but that they were based on real notes he kept on company computers at the time the complaints came in.

He said he supports protections for returning service members, but in this case, he and his company were just out-lawyered.

JEROME, Idaho

Ex-commissioners’ overtime disputed

Jerome County commissioners have filed complaints against their predecessors in 5th District Court, seeking recovery of more than $75,000 in illegal overtime.

The commissioners hired Fritz Haemmerle, a private attorney from Hailey, to try to recover the money that Veronica Lierman, John D. Elorrieta and Alvin Chojnacky paid themselves over four years as elected officials, the Times-News reported. The state’s attorney general found in 2006 that although the three were paid for work-related reasons, the overtime pay system was devised illegally because elected officials cannot be paid beyond base salaries, and the year’s budget was already set.

But the former commissioners say the decision was made within the budget, that legal counsel was present and that they interpret state law differently.

Lierman paid herself $51,857 in overtime; Elorrieta, $16,200; and Chojnacky, $425, according to the complaints.

The complaints were filed on Friday; once the former commissioners are served they have 20 days to respond in court.

Compiled from staff and wire reports