January 25, 2008 in City

In brief: Groups sue feds over protection of worm

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Four groups filed suit Thursday against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the agency’s decision not to seek endangered species protection for the giant Palouse earthworm.

Once common on the Palouse Prairie, the giant earthworms have been spotted only twice in the past two decades. They grow up to three feet long and emit a lily-like scent.

The suit was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Palouse Prairie Foundation, Palouse Audubon, Friends of the Clearwater and two individuals, Steve Paulson and Lynne Nelson.

A petition to protect the Palouse earthworm was filed in 2006. In October, U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials turned down the petition, saying it lacked enough information.

According to the suit, less than 1 percent of the worms’ native Palouse prairie habitat remains.

– Becky Kramer

Spokane

SNAP’s boiler repaired; donations made for bill

Ron Hardin heaved a sigh of relief Thursday afternoon when the boiler at Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs’ downtown office and low-income housing project on South Wall Street came back to life.

The boiler quit Tuesday evening, and Hardin, the development director for SNAP, worried about whether it could be fixed.

“We don’t know the cost yet,” Hardin said. “There was some pretty significant damage, the heating people tell me.”

SNAP has received some donations toward the cost of the repair.

– Pia K. Hansen

Spokane valley

Red Top Motel blaze possibly electrical fire

The Red Top Motel was the scene of a fire early Thursday.

The fire, which was reported at 4:25 a.m., apparently started in the wall of the manager’s apartment and spread to the attic, said Battalion Chief Warren “Coop” Kennett, of the Spokane Valley Fire Department.

Twenty-nine people were evacuated from the motel at 7217 E. Trent Ave. They were placed in vacant units so they didn’t have to stand in the cold.

“We contained the fire pretty quickly,” Kennett said.

Mike Murphy, who does maintenance at the motel, said the fire appeared to have started at an electrical switch in the kitchen, but that wasn’t confirmed Thursday.

Watch video from the scene.

– Thomas Clouse

No charges planned in Hooter’s shooting

The man suspected of firing several shots outside a Spokane Valley Hooter’s restaurant last Friday will not be charged in connection with that incident because of a lack of evidence, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

But 33-year-old Christopher J. Kimsey remains in Kootenai County Jail on $1 million bail for allegedly pointing a gun at Post Falls police officers hours later in a church parking lot. The Kootenai County prosecutor’s office has charged Kimsey with aggravated assault on an officer.

Post Falls police fired at Kimsey after they say he threatened them with his gun. Kimsey was struck in the chest, but a cell phone in his shirt pocket stopped the bullet.

In addition, the Washington State Patrol plans to charge Kimsey with driving the wrong way on Interstate 90 as he allegedly fled Hooter’s and sideswiped a car.

– Taryn Hecker

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