The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
54°F
Current Conditions
Clear sky
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

In brief: Breeder donates pup to police K-9 unit

A Pullman man motivated by the shooting of a Spokane police dog has given the department a German shepherd puppy.

Nick Lungu breeds and trains the dogs for his business, I-Guard International. He sells the animals for as much as $2,500 each but gave the Spokane Police Department first pick of his latest litter after reading of the March shooting of Var, a longtime police dog.

Police say Officer Dan Lesser shot and killed Johnnie Longest, 22, after Longest shot Var.

The puppy, named Ajax after the mythological hero, will be raised by Officer Jay Kernkamp as part of the Spokane police K-9 unit’s puppy program.

“This program, due to its careful selection process, has been extremely successful in producing some of the region’s finest police service dogs,” according to a news release prepared by Officer Kevin King.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Grant County

Sasquatch festival yields few arrests

Grant County authorities reported relatively few problems at the Sasquatch Music Festival this weekend.

Of the more than 70,000 people who packed the Gorge Amphitheater for the three-day concert, 10 were booked into the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office released statistics Tuesday showing 88 criminal contacts and complaints over the three-day period, ranging from three abandoned vehicles to 19 reports of trespassing.

Five people were arrested on suspicion of felonies, four for misdemeanors and one on an arrest warrant. The rest were issued citations.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Man walking on tracks killed by freight train

A freight train slammed into a man walking on the tracks near Ephrata on Sunday night, killing him.

Jason Alan Watts, 35, was walking west on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks about two miles southwest of town when the eastbound train struck him around 9:20 p.m., according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. The train’s conductors saw Watts about 300 yards ahead and sounded the horn but could not stop in time. Watts was pronounced dead at the scene.

Meghann M. Cuniff