Cougar injures boy playing in yard

State wildlife officers and hunters with dogs failed to track down a cougar that injured an 11-year-old boy Tuesday.

Capt. Chris Anderson, of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the animal bounded out of nearby brush Tuesday evening and bowled over the boy who was playing in a yard with two friends. The boy suffered cuts on his scalp.

Anderson says it appears the 100-pound cat was playing. Otherwise, the injuries would have been worse.

Wildlife agents searched all night for the cat, and a local police officer took a long-range shot and missed. Two hunters with dogs have 30-day permits to track and kill the cat, Anderson said.

Associated Press

Spokane county

Hundreds ticketed for speeding near schools

More than 300 drivers have been ticketed for speeding in school zones in the Inland Northwest since Sept. 2, authorities say.

Coeur d’Alene police wrote 62 citations in the first two weeks of school, spokeswoman Sgt. Christie Wood said.

Spokane police ticketed 28 drivers the first week. No numbers were available for the second week of school.

Spokane County sheriff’s deputies have written 59 tickets and Washington State Patrol troopers have issued more than 200 tickets in Spokane and Spokane County since Sept. 2.

Flashing yellow lights installed in school zones this year have helped slow down drivers, Spokane police Officer Teresa Fuller said.

Speeding in a school zone in Washington brings a fine of $189 to $784, depending on the speed. The fine is $116.50 in Coeur d’Alene.

Jody Lawrence-Turner

Spokane

Manito’s Rose Hill named top garden

Rose Hill at Manito Park has been ranked as the nation’s top All-America Rose Selections display garden out of more than 130 gardens nationwide.

Manito was the winner for the 2007 season. A plaque was received recently by Rose Hill gardener Steve Smith.

The garden, which holds about 400 varieties of roses with a total of 2,000 plants, dates to the 1940s as a joint venture between the Rose Society and parks department.

Mike Prager

Spokane Valley

Teacher on leave after pot plants found

An elementary school teacher didn’t tell his principal about his arrest for growing marijuana this summer, so a community member did it for him.

Now Daniel Kerr, a special-education teacher at McDonald Elementary School, is on paid administrative leave in addition to facing a felony charge of manufacturing a controlled substance.

Police arrested Kerr, 29, at his East 6th Avenue home on Aug. 23 after a neighbor reported seeing marijuana plants in his yard. Three plants were confiscated, according to police.

McDonald Principal Kevin Longworth learned of Kerr’s arrest from a resident at a back-to-school event Sept. 10, said Melanie Rose, spokeswoman for the Central Valley School District.

Meghann M. Cuniff