Guard enters not guilty pleas

The suspended Spokesman-Review security guard accused of raping and molesting a young girl pleaded innocent to four felony charges Monday afternoon in Spokane Superior Court.

Robert J. Robel, 60, remains in jail on $50,000 bond, charged with two counts of child molestation, one count of first-degree child rape and one count of second-degree child rape. He appeared before Judge Jerome Leveque on Monday via video.

Robel was arrested Sept. 5 at the newspaper’s downtown office, then suspended from his job as security supervisor.

His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 21.

BEND, Ore.

Town evacuates during wildfire

A wildfire burning in the Deschutes National Forest forced residents in the small community of Crescent Lake Junction to evacuate.

The 1,000-acre blaze also closed a 12-mile stretch of state Highway 58.

Virginia Gibbons of the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville said winds caused the Royce Butte fire to blow across retardant and bulldozer lines late Tuesday afternoon.

She said about 45 structures in Crescent Lake Junction were evacuated as well as nearby campgrounds and other homes. That included summer homes at Crescent and Odell lakes, the East Odell Lodge and the Diamond Peak subdivision.

CHEYENNE, Wyo.

Yellowstone airs cell service plan

Yellowstone National Park has released a draft plan for guiding the development of wireless communication within its 3,500 square miles, including a limited increase in cell phone coverage.

The environmental assessment addresses cell phone service, wireless Internet service, park radio systems and resource monitoring stations.

The proposal would restrict cell phone towers from the backcountry, park road corridors and smaller developed areas. Cell phone service and wireless Internet would be provided in developed areas with hotels.

Yellowstone will hold public meetings early next month in Idaho and Montana to gather feedback on the plan.

BLAINE, Wash.

Boy’s nose blows up most balloons

A 14-year-old boy from Blaine has broken his own record for blowing up balloons with his nose.

Using only his left nostril, Andrew Dahl inflated 308 balloons in an hour Tuesday, each to at least 8 inches in diameter, for the “Live with Regis and Kelly” television show in New York.

Stuart Claxton, a Guinness Book of World Records representative, announced, “He’s literally blown the record away with 308 balloons.”

Dahl said he was a “little bit” out of breath but felt pretty good.

He set the old mark of 213 balloons at his hometown library in April.