In brief: Invasive species task force to meet

The Bonner County Aquatic Invasive Species Task Force will hold a public meeting from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Bonner County Administrative Building, 1500 U.S. Highway 2 in Sandpoint.

Discussion topics include Eurasian milfoil control on Pend Oreille and Priest lakes and milfoil and flowering rush control on the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille systems. Task force members will also give an update on the 2010 boat inspection program.

Wrong-way driver jailed on charges

A wrong-way driver was arrested Monday after a sheriff’s deputy drove off the road to avoid a head-on collision.

The suspect, Joseph W. Boyce, was arrested in April on suspicion of a drug-related robbery but released from jail after no charges were filed. Boyce, 26, is back in jail after a sheriff’s deputy saw him driving the wrong way in the 11100 block of McFarland Road on Monday, according to news release.

The deputy pursued Boyce south on Hayford Road. An Airway Heights police officer helped remove Boyce from the truck, and the deputy used a Taser after he struggled while on the ground, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Boyce was taken to a hospital after medics found needle marks on his arms, then booked into jail. He was due in Superior Court today on charges of attempting to elude police. He also faces misdemeanor charges of obstructing a police investigation and resisting arrest.

Library exhibit

depicts 1910 fire

A new photo exhibit at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library depicts the aftermath of the fires that swept through the region in 1910, blackening more than 3 million acres.

The great fires of Aug. 20 to 21 killed 85 people – mostly firefighters – burned about one-third of Wallace and destroyed other towns in North Idaho and Montana. The images are courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service. A grant from the Friends of the Coeur d’Alene Public Library paid for reprints.

The library, 702 E. Front Ave., is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays; and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The library is closed this Sunday for the Ironman competition.

High-dollar liens bring indictment

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that a federal grand jury in Spokane has indicted a Deer Park man for filing fraudulent multibillion-dollar liens against four government officials.

Ronald James Davenport, of Deer Park, faces up to 40 years in prison and up to $1million in fines, according to a DOJ news release. The Internal Revenue Service also participated in the investigation.

According to court records, the federal government brought a civil suit against Davenport in 2008 to collect delinquent income taxes. In apparent retaliation, Davenport then made a series of fraudulent claims in December 2008 against U.S. Attorney James McDevitt, an assistant U.S. attorney, the clerk of court for federal district court and a collection of officers working for the IRS, the news release states.

Davenport filed liens against the property of these government officials claiming that each owed him $5.18billion.

The case is being investigated by the Treasury inspector General for tax administration and is being prosecuted by tax division trial attorney Brian Bailey, according to the release.