Forged checks lead police to bomb
A series of forged traveler’s checks resulted in the discovery of a pipe bomb in the suspects’ home and the evacuation of a residential area just north of downtown Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday.
Michael D. Cornelsen, 25, and his wife, Sunshine D. Cornelsen, 21, were arrested Wednesday on several counts of burglary and booked into the Kootenai County Jail. The case began when police responded to the Safeway at 121 W. Neider Ave., after two people attempted to pass forged traveler’s checks, according to the Coeur d’Alene Police Department.
Police said they found the suspects had passed a similar forged check at the Safeway at 1001 N. 4th St., and witnesses helped police locate the suspects at their apartment at 510 Wallace Ave.
The pipe bomb was found inside the apartment and defused by the Spokane County Bomb Squad, according to police.
Lakewood, Wash.
Man arrested after house explodes
A young woman’s home has exploded and burned in Lakewood, and her estranged boyfriend is in jail.
Seventeen-year-old Kristine Manues says she returned home Wednesday as her 23-year-old ex-boyfriend was leaving with some of his belongings. She says he asked to kiss their 5-month-old son Jaydyn, but she refused because she had obtained a restraining order for herself and the baby.
Before entering the home, she said, she smelled natural gas and went to a nearby house to call authorities. As she was on the telephone, her house exploded and burned.
Police Lt. David B. Guttu said the ex-boyfriend was arrested two hours later. He has been jailed for investigation of violating a restraining order, domestic violence-related burglary and arson.
Pullman
WSU president rejects job offer
Washington State University President Elson Floyd says he has turned down an approach from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, which is looking for a chancellor.
Floyd grew up in North Carolina and graduated at Chapel Hill, where he previously worked as vice chancellor.
Floyd told Washington State regents he’s fulfilling his commitment to WSU. He was hired in December 2006.
Regent Rafael Stone said regents are impressed with Floyd’s performance and are reviewing his annual compensation, which is $650,000 this year.
Seattle
DOT may charge for carpool lane
Will solo drivers pay 50 cents to $4 to drive in the carpool lane?
The Washington Transportation Department is starting a four-year test of High Occupancy Toll, or HOT, lanes April 26 on a 9-mile stretch of Highway 167 between Auburn and Renton.
Drivers who want to take part can get transponders on their cars to automatically pay the toll, which varies depending on congestion. It’s part of the “Good to Go” system already used on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
Gray whales return to Puget Sound
Some of the gray whales migrating along the West Coast are again stopping in Puget Sound.
A biologist with Cascadia Research in Olympia, John Calambokidis, says they include a group of about a half-dozen whales that have been returning to Whidbey Island since at least 1990.
They are individually identified by markings.
They typically spend two or three months in the sound before rejoining the annual migration of 20,000 whales from Baja breeding waters to the summer feeding waters off Alaska.
The Whidbey whales were sighted again last month, feeding on shrimp. Calambokidis says they sometimes can be seen from Langley or from the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry.
Each year a few gray whales die on the Washington coast or in the sound.
Last year there were four strandings in state waters.
Olympia
Puget Sound Energy fined $1.25 million
State regulators have fined Puget Sound Energy $1.25 million over phony inspection records for natural gas pipelines.
The Utilities and Transportation Commission says that’s the largest state fine ever handed down to a natural gas distributor.
The commission says a Puget Sound Energy subcontractor falsified records about checkups on “phantom leaks,” when natural gas odor is smelled but no leak is found.
Under a settlement with the state, Puget Sound Energy will improve its subcontractor monitoring and records system, and undergo an independent audit.
Boise
Officials probe wolf shootings
State wildlife officials are investigating the shooting of a pair of wolves reported by a landowner near Ashton.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game says the wolves were shot and killed Tuesday by an unidentified man, who later reported his actions.
State officials say wolves had been seen near the shooter’s residence and his 20 horses Tuesday morning.
The investigation comes just days after wolves roaming in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming were removed from the federal Endangered Species List. That decision gave each state the responsibility to manage the predators under their own rules and policies.