In brief: Sunday cold beats 115-year-old record

A record more than a century old fell Sunday: It was the coldest April 20 since 1893 in Spokane, according to the local National Weather Service office.

On April 20, 1893, the high temperature was 42; Sunday’s high was 39, the weather service said.

Maybe people were hardier in 1893 or not so preoccupied with weather.

Whatever the case, the cold weather didn’t merit a mention in The Spokane Chronicle, newspaper archives show.

The big story that day: “The Entire City of Wardner Falls a Victim to a Fierce Fiend of Fire.”

Sunday’s overnight low was expected to be 28 degrees in Spokane and 26 in Coeur d’Alene.

Today’s forecast calls for a high of 42 with rain and snow showers likely.

Search suspended for canoeist

Police and sheriff’s officials suspended the search Sunday for a Spokane teen missing since Friday evening.

A spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office said Sunday the canoe, a personal floatation device and a paddle had been found, but there was no sign of Kiernan E. Norman, 18, who launched his canoe upstream of the Bowl and Pitcher about 6 p.m. Friday.

Spokane police Cpl. Jon Strickland said the river is high, fast-moving and cold from snowmelt, and it’s unlikely Norman could survive long in the water.

He said there’s a slim chance Norman lost control of his canoe while on the shore, and after the boat went out in the water and tipped he went to a friend’s house where he could be unaware of the search.

Police said Norman’s father reported that a friend helped Kiernan put his canoe into the water in Riverside State Park, and saw him in the rapids above the Bowl and Pitcher.

The teen didn’t return home that night, and his father went to the river Saturday, where he saw the overturned canoe in the water.

Woman bitten by loose pit bull

A 21-year-old woman was bitten Saturday night by a pit bull running loose in the 1800 block of West Boone Avenue.

An animal control officer from SpokAnimal C.A.R.E. responded to a call about the dog and tried to snare it, according to Spokane police. The dog was “actively aggressive,” causing the animal control officer to call police, according to a dispatcher for the animal control agency.

Two police officers cornered the dog in a residential yard.

“It attacked officer (Jake) Jensen who was able to fend it off with the snare,” a police press release said.

Eventually police captured the dog, which is in custody at SpokAnimal.

The 21-year-old woman, whose name has not been released, was treated for a bite on her left calf then taken to a hospital.

Driver in rollover in critical condition

A 65-year-old Spokane man was in critical condition Sunday evening after a morning accident on a snow-slick stretch of Interstate 90.

William Branam was driving a 1999 Ford pickup west near the Salnave exit when he lost control of the truck, the State Patrol said. It slid into the median and rolled onto its top. The investigating officer said the truck was going too fast for the road conditions.

Branam and two passengers in the pickup were taken to Deaconess Medical Center, where the passengers were treated and released.

All three were wearing seat belts, the report said.

- From staff reports