Candidate launches bid from bikini bar

BOISE – The latest candidate to announce a bid for Idaho governor is a retired state employee and amateur comedian who announced his plans Monday at a Boise bikini bar.

“Why not?” said Ron “Pete” Peterson, 58. “Like everything else in my campaign, it sets me apart.”

Peterson, a Republican, once campaigned for Gov. Butch Otter, but now his slogan is “Beat Butch,” which is also the name of his Web site. The incumbent has lost touch with the people, Peterson said. Peterson is one of six lesser-known candidates to file preliminary papers to run for the office; Otter has yet to announce his plans.

Idaho’s primary election is May 25; the filing period for candidates starts in March.

Arizona suspect faces charge in ’97 slaying

An unsolved murder in Douglas County may be linked to a man charged in an Arizona killing tied to a rogue border defense group.

Jason “Gunny” Eugene Bush Jr., 34, faces a murder charge for the killing of Jonathan Bumstead, 18, in the Douglas Creek area on Sept. 21, 1997.

Bush is in the Pima County Jail in Arizona, accused with two others of murdering a man and his 9-year-old daughter on May 30.

One of the suspects, Shawna Forde, of Everett, was a member of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, a citizen border patrol group, before she started her own organization.

Bush was also a member of the group.

Confidential informants led detectives to Bush, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.

Bush also is charged with killing a transient, Hector Manuel Lopez Partida, on July 24, 1997, in Wenatchee.