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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Spokane house fire injures 2, yields marijuana find

From Staff Reports

More than 40 marijuana plants were discovered in the basement of a Spokane home that caught fire Saturday morning.

The Spokane Fire Department responded to the fire in the 100 block of East Sinto about 4:30 a.m. Seven adults and three children lived at the home, which had been converted into apartments, according to a news release.

Police obtained a search warrant after firefighters found what appeared to be a marijuana grow operation in the basement.

One of the tenants claimed to have a medical marijuana card but couldn’t immediately produce it, police said.

The fire was started by a malfunctioning electrical box fan, which had been used in a window.

An adult and a 2-year-old child were hospitalized for injuries, fire officials said. The 2-year-old suffered second-degree burns.

The Red Cross is helping the tenants displaced by the fire.

Interim WSU dean dies unexpectedly

Lenoar “Len” Foster, recently named interim dean of the Washington State University College of Education, died unexpectedly late Thursday or early Friday at his home in Pullman. He was 57. The cause of death has not been released.

He had been named to the post after the death on June 26 of Dean Judy Mitchell.

Foster joined the faculty of the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology in 2003. He served as associate dean for three years, overseeing administration, research and graduate studies.

Firefighters douse garage blaze

Spokane Fire Department crews stopped a garage fire Saturday from burning the adjacent rental home at 1516 E. Sharp Ave.

Shortly after 7:30 p.m., crews responded to a house fire to find the garage in flames. The fire burned the garage to the ground, went through a breezeway and started to burn into the home’s attic before crews were able to stop it, fire officials said. A wooden fence also caught fire.

Officials said the fire started in the garage or in some tall grass nearby. The cause is under investigation.

The tenant was not at home at the time of the blaze, fire officials said.

Man seriously hurt in boating collision

A man badly injured in a boat-versus-personal watercraft accident at Lower Twin Lake Saturday was taken to Kootenai Medical Center on Saturday afternoon.

The individual’s name, age and condition were not available Saturday night. The collision occurred near a public boat launch on Twin Echo Road.

Northern Lakes Fire District responded to the accident about 4 p.m., said Capt. Patrick Riley.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Marine Division was also on the scene.

Father, son found dead in apartment

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – McMinnville police said a father and son were found dead, and officers were trying to determine whether it was a double murder or a murder-suicide.

The police said in a statement that 58-year-old Thomas Marshall and his 22-year-old son, Sean, were found in an apartment Saturday morning dead of “obvious traumatic injuries.”

Capt. Dennis Marks says at least one died of gunshot wounds. An autopsy is scheduled Monday.

Sean Marshall was a 2005 McMinnville High School graduate and avid skateboarder and musician. His father would have turned 59 Monday. Police said both lived in the apartment

Breast-feeding tiff at pool stirs protest

MILTON- FREEWATER, Ore. – A group of mothers has staged a “nurse-in” at a public pool in Eastern Oregon.

At issue was whether the state’s law favoring breast-feeding conflicts with the state’s law requiring food and drink at public pools to remain 4 feet from the pool’s edge.

Earlier in the week a lifeguard at the Milton-Freewater Aquatic Center asked a woman feeding her child under a nursing cover at the shallow end of the kiddie pool to move to the locker room.

The pool manager said state law requires all food and drink at public pools to stay behind a blue line that marks a 4-foot perimeter from pool’s edge.

The mothers who nursed in protest Friday kept behind the blue line.

Motorcyclist clocked driving 122 mph

PORTLAND – Oregon State Police arrested a motorcyclist who they say zipped along Interstate 205 in east Portland at 122 mph.

Officers said they chased 20-year-old Ryan Robert Dowley, of Portland, onto city streets at about 3 a.m. Saturday and stopped him at an intersection.

He was booked on charges of speeding, reckless driving and attempting to elude police.