In brief: Man, 50, missing from care facility

Spokane police are asking for help finding a 50-year-old man missing from an adult care facility near Chief Garry Park in central Spokane.

Randy Needham, who has the mental ability of a 12-year-old, left his residence about 10 a.m., Officer Tim Moses said Friday. Needham lives in a series of duplexes for people with special needs in the 2400 block of East Boone Avenue.

Needham checked in with a caretaker around 10 a.m. and said he was returning from a walk during which he tried to buy cigarettes but found a nearby store was closed.

Moses said Needham may have left a second time to find an open store. Officers were told he is extremely shy and may be unwilling to ask for help.

The National Weather Service was predicting temperatures to fall into the mid-teens early this morning.

Needham was last seen wearing a Seahawks jacket with green trim, jeans and a stocking cap. He is 5-foot-7, about 155 pounds and has salt-and-pepper hair. Moses said Needham walks with his head down.

Police ask anyone who has information about Needham’s whereabouts to call 911.

Schools get grants for energy saving

Spokane Public Schools and Riverside School District each will receive a $500,000 grant from the state for energy-related projects.

Those Spokane County districts are among 59 receiving $16.7 million for projects that include upgrades to heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, repair and upgrade of controls, and replacement of inefficient lighting, according the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. To qualify for the funds, a district had to prove a project would save energy, and it had to show it could supplement the grant with additional resources, said Patricia Jatczak, a building program manager in the state superintendent’s office.

The completed projects are expected to save an estimated $2.1 million in annual energy costs.

“In units of energy – primarily electricity and natural gas – the savings can be compared to the annual energy use in 2,700 average Washington homes,” Jatczak said.