In brief: Car slides over embankment

Early-evening snow Thursday created slick roads throughout the Inland Northwest, sending emergency crews scrambling to respond to dozens of accidents.

About 5:20 p.m., a car southbound on High Drive slid off the road near 31st Avenue, landing 200 feet down the embankment.

Spokane fire crews worked for more than an hour to free two people trapped in the car. The snow and steep embankment made the rescue difficult, said Lt. Joe Walker, of the Spokane Police Department. The trapped people’s injuries were minor.

Witnesses said two young people, passengers in the car, walked up the embankment after the crash and told someone their parents were trapped.

Walker said officers were responding to dozens of crashes after the snow began falling and roads began to ice up about 4 p.m.

Officials said the treacherous conditions came at a bad time, as New Year’s revelers began to hit the streets.

“It’s a high-alcohol holiday,” said Sgt. Dave Reagan, of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. “Unfortunately, we are having the worst possible weather on a high-drinking holiday. There’s going to be traffic issues.”

Sara Leaming

Woman pulled from bed in robbery

A Spokane Valley woman was robbed at a residence early Thursday by two men who demanded cash and took her engagement ring.

The robbers awoke the woman and pulled her from her bed before taking cash and the ring. The incident occurred about 12:10 a.m. at an apartment in the 7900 block of East Alki Avenue.

The woman was staying with a nephew, who was not injured. The woman suffered minor injuries, police said.

Officers who went to the scene attempted to track the robbers with a K-9 unit and followed a trail to a parking lot at 711 N. Argonne Road, where the track ended.

Mike Prager

Hacker breaches EWU’s records

Eastern Washington University officials are notifying students from as far back as 1987 that computer records containing information about them, including Social Security numbers, have been breached.

As many as 130,000 people may be involved, and notification is going to occur over the next two weeks.

A recent assessment of the university network found that a hacker had installed software to store and share video files on the university system, said EWU spokesman Dave Meany in a news release.

While there was no evidence that personal information was taken, the university recommends that people who receive the letter place a fraud alert with a credit reporting agency. The notification letters provide phone numbers to do that.

Staff reports

Hayden Lake home destroyed by fire

Fire officials Thursday were trying to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a 4,000-square-foot home at Hayden Lake on Wednesday night.

Two occupants got out safely with their pets, but they lost nearly all of their belongings and their home at 2247 E. Woodstone Drive, in a gated community just west of the lake.

Tyler Drechsel, fire inspector for Northern Lakes Fire District, said the house was about three-fourths on fire when crews arrived about 10 p.m..

The names of the occupants were not released. No injuries were reported.

Mike Prager