Region in brief: Farmer accused of bank robbery

PORT ANGELES, Wash. – The arraignment of a farmer accused of being a bank robber has been delayed in federal court.

The Peninsula Daily News reports that the arraignment of 40-year-old Michael John Fenter, of Port Townsend, was delayed for a week because his court-appointed attorney withdrew from the case. Fenter is charged with bank robbery.

Fenter was arrested on Oct. 8 after the robbery of a bank branch in Tacoma and was booked as John Doe when he refused to identify himself. The FBI later identified him as Fenter, who is a boat builder and farmer on the Olympic Peninsula, where he lives with his wife and three children.

The FBI says he is being investigated in connection with other bank robberies this year in San Francisco, Sacramento and Seattle. He had no prior criminal history.

Biologist decries killing of wolves

BILLINGS – The killing during hunting season of two collared wolves will affect a study examining wolf pack dynamics in and around Yellowstone National Park, a park biologist says.

Doug Smith, of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, said the killing of the Cottonwood Pack’s 7-year-old alpha female and her collared 2-year-old daughter means the pack’s movements are no longer being tracked for the study by the park. The Cottonwood Pack’s alpha male and a 5-month-old pup were also shot.

“Typically the pack splits up” when the alpha wolves are killed, said Smith. “That’s what’s happened in the past.”

Smith said he still supports the Montana wolf hunting season but would like to see some changes.