November 6, 2008 in City

Gun rights groups sue over licenses

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A Bellevue gun rights group and the National Rifle Association have filed a federal lawsuit against the state Department of Licensing.

The Second Amendment Foundation said the department requires resident aliens to obtain a special license to buy a gun and then refuses to issue it.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports the department said it cannot perform the required background check because the FBI won’t allow a noncriminal justice agency to use the database.

A spokesman for the state attorney general’s office said it’s just starting to look at the lawsuit.

It seeks to have a judge order the state to issue gun permits to resident aliens or declare the law unconstitutional.

Post Falls

Man found dead, apparent suicide

A missing Post Falls man was found dead Wednesday, an apparent suicide victim, authorities said.

Robert D. Harkness, 77, left his Post Falls home driving a 2006 silver Toyota Tacoma pickup about 1 p.m. Sunday, the Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday. Authorities had asked for the public’s help in locating him after family members expressed concern for his safety.

His body was found a short distance from his home early Wednesday, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Spokane

Black history will be discussed

Quintard Taylor Jr., will give a multimedia presentation and lecture, “The Other Black Northwest: Beyond Portland and Seattle,” today, 3:45 p.m., at Gonzaga University’s Wolfe Auditorium in the Jepson Center.

Taylor will discuss the region’s African-American history outside of the urban centers of Seattle and Portland. He’ll talk about the black communities in places such as Walla Walla, Roslyn, Pasco and Spokane.

Taylor is a University of Washington professor and the leading authority on the region’s African-American history.

The event is free and open to the public.

Down to Earth green-focused

The Spokesman-Review’s marketing division is launching a new Web site and magazine focused on “green” practices and businesses.

The magazine, Down to Earth, will be inserted into the newspaper on Saturday and will be available at locations in Spokane and North Idaho. The Web site is www.downtoearthnw.com.

The magazine includes profiles of people and businesses and stories about issues such as organic food, transportation and energy. The Web site includes event listings, a blog, a weekly column by author MaryJane Butters and environment- themed comics and games.

“Down to Earth offers new opportunities for people to connect, share suggestions and experiences, and find new ways to protect, preserve and promote our region’s environment and enviable quality of life,” Shaun O’L. Higgins, The Spokesman-Review’s director of sales and marketing, said in a press release.

Walla Walla

Stenson execution will be Dec. 3

The state Department of Corrections is preparing for an execution Dec. 3 at the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla.

The department said a federal appeals court ruling has lifted a stay of execution for Darold Ray Stenson.

The 55-year-old was convicted of aggravated murder for the 1993 shooting deaths of his wife, Denis Stenson, and his business partner, Frank Hoerner, in Clallam County.

Seattle

E-filing may end bike service jobs

The Seattle bike messengers who pedal in out of downtown traffic to deliver documents could be out of jobs when the King County Superior Court system shifts next June to filing all legal paperwork electronically.

Superior Court Clerk Barbara Miner said the change will affect the bulk of nearly 8,000 documents filed each day at courthouses in Seattle and Kent.

The owner of one messenger service, Ron Belec of North West Legal Support, said many couriers lost their jobs when the federal courts shifted to electronic filing. He expects many of the remaining 100 or so bike messengers in Seattle to be out of work when King County makes the transition.

Tenino, Wash.

Group sues to get wolf back

An Idaho wolf education organization is suing Tenino’s Wolf Haven over possession of a wolf called Waukita.

The owner of Wolf People, Nancy Taylor in Sandpoint, said she gave the 3-year-old female to a woman in California with the understanding she would open a Wolf People franchise.

The woman says in a statement that she did not have space for the wolf and gave it in March to Wolf Haven. Now Wolf People wants it back.

The Wolf Haven director, John Blankenship, said it has no plan to give the animal to Taylor. He said the wolf has been renamed Sitka and should spend the rest of her life at Wolf Haven.

Twin Falls, Idaho

BLM buys sagebrush sprouts

The Bureau of Land Management has purchased more than 10,000 sagebrush seedlings from the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe in Southern Idaho.

Federal land managers in Twin Falls plan to use the plant seedlings to stabilize and rehabilitate land that was damaged during a 2007 wildfire.

The Murphy Complex fire torched 1,000 square miles of Idaho and Nevada backcountry.

Twin Falls District Bureau of Land Management partnered with tribal members four years ago to build greenhouses on two reservations in Southern Idaho.

Students who attend a school on the Shoshone-Paiute reservation helped produce the plant seedlings.

Aberdeen, Wash.

PUD buys into wind power

The Grays Harbor PUD has authorized a $77 million investment in wind power.

At Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners approved a 64 percent share of a proposed wind farm to meet a requirement for renewable energy.

The Energy Northwest utility group plans to build the Radar Ridge wind farm in Pacific County. PUDs in Clallam, Mason and Pacific counties also have a share of the project.

The Aberdeen Daily World reports the Grays Harbor PUD general manager, Rick Lovely, said Radar Ridge is expected to provide peak power during the winter, while Eastern Washington wind farms peak in the spring and fall.

From staff and wire reports

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