In brief: Man hurt in hit-and-run is GU employee

The victim in Friday’s hit-and-run collision has been identified as Joel Morgan, an assistant athletic director at Gonzaga University.

Morgan suffered head injuries after he was struck by a truck while crossing North Monroe Street at its intersection with West Indiana Avenue about 9 p.m., according to police. Witnesses told police the northbound truck had a green light.

Police impounded a tan Dodge Dakota pickup Saturday in the 4000 block of North Martin Street but have yet to file charges against its female driver pending an investigation.

Morgan has been GU’s assistant athletic director for facilities since 2004. He’s out of the hospital and is taking time off from work to recover, said Dale Goodwin, GU’s spokesman.

Mayor names her pick for top parks job

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner has named her choice to lead the city’s parks department.

Barry Russell, assistant parks director for land management for El Paso, Texas, is scheduled to be confirmed by the Spokane City Council next Monday.

He will replace interim parks director Roger Crum, a former Spokane city manager.

Verner fired former parks director Mike Stone in December, arguing that she needed a leader who would bring a “newly invigorated” direction to the department. Stone recently was named parks director of Spokane Valley.

Russell served as the parks and community services director in Kirkland, Wash., from 1998-2003. He has a master’s degree in recreation administration from Indiana University.

Russell is scheduled to start in Spokane on May 5, said Human Resources Director Dave Chandler. He will earn $97,280 a year.

Vox looking for grads who make difference

The Vox, a monthly newspaper produced by area teens, is looking for suggestions for “Five graduates who will change the world,” a feature story to run in the final Vox edition of the school year.

The story will feature five Spokane-area high school graduates who promise to improve our world.

This isn’t a contest; it’s a story. Please send your suggestions to help us write it by April 25 to Vox adviser Erin Daniels at erind@spokesman.com or 999 W. Riverside Ave., Spokane, WA 99210. Nominees must be graduating from a Spokane-area high school this year. Vox staff members are ineligible.

Tips sought on man accused of molestation

A cash reward is being offered for information that leads to the arrest of a 19-year-old man wanted for first-degree child molestation.

Frederick G. Ritchey last gave his address as 10511 N. Ritchey Road and 3005 E. Broad Ave., according to Crime Stoppers.

Call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line with information about Ritchey at 327-5111 or forward the tip via www.crimestoppersinland northwest.org.

Tipsters do not have to give their name to collect the cash reward but should provide the operator with a code name or number.

TACOMA

Man pleads guilty to girl’s July 4 killing

A former handyman and tow-truck driver pleaded guilty Monday to kidnapping a 12-year-old girl last July Fourth, raping her, killing her and leaving her body in a patch of thick brush.

The plea in Pierce County Superior Court to an aggravated first-degree murder charge means that Terapon Adhahn will spend the rest of his life in prison, without the chance of parole. Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against the Thai immigrant.

In a hearing before Judge Rosanne Buckner, Adhahn admitted he kidnapped Zina Linnik from an alley behind her home at twilight and dumped her body in a wooded area near Silver Lake in eastern Pierce County. Adhahn also pleaded guilty Monday to a dozen other charges in the rapes of two girls from the Tacoma area, ages 11 and 12. He remains a person of interest in the late 2005 abduction and killing of Adre’Anna Jackson, a 10-year-old girl whose remains were found in a Pierce County field.