Fire closes down Sonic Drive-In
A fire that started in the fryer of a Sonic Drive-In shut down the Spokane fast-food restaurant on Saturday.
Fire crews responded to 1313 N. Ruby around 6:30 a.m. and found a fire behind the fryer unit in the restaurant’s kitchen.
The fire was extinguished quickly, according to the Spokane Fire Department, and damage was limited to the fryer and some smoke damage throughout the restaurant.
The Fire Department estimated losses at $12,000.
The restaurant was closed until health officials could conduct an inspection.
A message left at the restaurant was not immediately returned Saturday.
Greenacres
Bar patron accused of death threat
A 73-year-old man was arrested for attempted murder Saturday after threatening to kill a patron at a Greenacres bar.
Witnesses said Frederick C. Medlen, of Liberty Lake, was upset because another man at Mr. G’s Bar and Grill wasn’t wearing a shirt.
Medlen allegedly threatened to kill the man and said he was going to get his shotgun.
Police were called after Medlen returned to the bar with his gun just before 2 p.m.
When officers arrived, Medlen was alone in the bar. The bartender and several customers were on the outside patio and when Medlen realized the man he threatened was no longer in the bar he put down the gun and went outside to talk to other customers, according to a press release.
About a half dozen officers jumped on Medlen and restrained him, the release said.
Medlen was arrested and booked into the Spokane County Jail on felony charges of attempted first degree murder. He was also arrested on an outstanding DUI warrant.
ROSALIA
Rollover crash kills Lewiston man, 76
A 76-year-old Lewiston man was killed and his wife injured in a rollover accident just before 2 p.m. Saturday.
Mary E. Kirk, 71, was southbound on state Route 195 about nine miles south of Rosalia when her 1998 Pontiac Bonneville drifted across the centerline, into the northbound lane and then off the shoulder. The car went into a field, rolled several times and came to a stop 200 feet from the road.
Her husband, Marion Kirk, was killed in the crash.
Mary Kirk was taken to Whitman Community Hospital. Her condition was not immediately available.
The accident was due to inattentive driving, the WSP said.