In brief: Man dies while mowing cemetery lawn
A 44-year-old cemetery worker was killed Friday when a lawn tractor he was riding dropped down an embankment and landed on top of him, authorities said.
The man, who was not identified, was mowing grass in an area of Greenwood Memorial Terrace designated as “hand mow only,” according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.
Co-workers found the man trapped beneath the mower about 7:20 a.m.; he died at the scene.
Sheriff’s deputies said the mower may have bounced after hitting a depression, which caused it to drop down the 6- to 8-foot embankment.
Fireworks stand burns to ground
Worley residents got a free impromptu fireworks display Friday night after a child ignited a firework that caused a nearby fireworks stand to go up in flames.
The fire, which started about 8 p.m., burned two vehicles and caused Highway 95 to shut down for a short time, authorities said.
According to a Coeur d’Alene tribal spokesman, a minor was playing with fireworks near Adeline’s Smoke Shop, near the old Worley Fire Station, when one firework accidentally shot into the stand, causing the building to ignite along with the fireworks inside.
The stand burned to the ground, authorities said. The highway was shut down for safety reasons. No one was hurt.
Juneteenth events unfold today in CdA
The Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d’Alene today will host its second annual celebration of Juneteenth, known also as African-American Independence Day.
The day kicks off at 10 a.m. with music and a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation by Coeur d’Alene High School students. Also featured will be horseback rides and a Chautauqua-style presentation of Buffalo Soldiers, a black history exhibit, a narrated slideshow featuring document and photo footage from slavery through Reconstruction, food, music and more.
The institute is located at 414
Four escape blaze near Medical Lake
Fire badly damaged a house in the Silver Lake area east of Medical Lake Friday morning, but the occupants escaped without injury.
Deputy Fire Chief Bill Dennstaedt of Spokane County Fire District No. 3 said a smoke detector alerted a sleeping family to the blaze, which tore through the attic and roof during the 5 a.m. call.
He said four people were in the home. The cause of the fire was under investigation, but it may have been started from the use of a wood stove, he said.
No injuries were reported.
Drug suspect gives up after standoff
A suspected heroin dealer surrendered to a Spokane police SWAT team after a standoff on Thursday.
Jacob E. Snizik, 25, tried to run from a home in the 6800 block of North Napa Street when a SWAT team showed up about 5 p.m., but “the scene was so well secure” that he retreated back inside, Officer Brian Eckersley said.
Snizik armed himself with a handgun but surrendered without incident a short while later after a SWAT sergeant talked to him over the phone, Eckersley said.
Police say they seized five firearms and found heroin and drug sale supplies in Snizik’s home. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail on five counts of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance (heroin).
Snizik was sentenced to 22 months in prison in June 2008 after pleading guilty to second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, and residential burglary and first-degree theft, according to news archives.
Pedestrian hit in Maple Street crosswalk
Spokane police said they are trying to determine what happened in a traffic accident Friday morning in which a pedestrian was struck in a crosswalk on Maple Street at Boone Avenue about 2:30 a.m. The pedestrian, who was not identified, suffered a broken leg and was in stable condition at a Spokane hospital, police said.
He was crossing Maple in the crosswalk when he was hit by a northbound vehicle, a 2000 Ford Contour.
Officers got conflicting information from the driver and pedestrian about how the accident occurred, and there were no witnesses, police said.
Effect of spill on sturgeon awaits results
BONNERS FERRY – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service won’t know until August whether spilling water over Libby Dam helped white sturgeon reproduction in the Kootenai River.
Several agencies were tracking fish movement and looking for eggs during the seven-day spill test, which ended Thursday morning, said Jason Flory, a USFWS biologist. But it will take a while to analyze the results, he said.
Fewer than 500 adult sturgeon remain in the Kootenai River. They haven’t spawned successfully in the river since Libby Dam was built in 1974. Spilling water over the dam was intended to mimic spring freshets that triggered the sturgeon’s upstream journey from Canada’s Kootenay Lake to spawning gravels in Idaho and Montana.