In brief: NCAA fans spent about $4.6 million
The Spokane Regional Sports Commission said last week’s first- and second-round NCAA basketball championships here had a regional economic impact of about $4.6 million.
About 12,000 of the 32,000 tickets sold were to out-of-town fans who traveled to Spokane to see the games, the commission said in a news release. Those fans spent an average of $294 a day and generated 3,500 hotel room nights.
When the NCAA men’s basketball first and second rounds were last held in Spokane, in 2007, they had an estimated economic impact of $3.7 million. The higher take this time is because Spokane landed stronger “traveling” teams, meaning their fans were more willing to fly across the country to support them, the commission said.
Mohammed lawyer speaks at Gonzaga
A Boise lawyer working on the defense team for a suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in New York is not asking for sympathy for his client, just fairness.
Scott McKay, a 1990 Gonzaga Law School graduate who spoke at a daylong seminar on campus Friday, is a member of the defense team for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, whom prosecutors consider the mastermind of the World Trade Center attack.
“I’m not asking anyone to feel sorry for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. We have to be fair. We have to appear to be fair to the rest of the world,” McKay said.
“Torture, rendition, disappearing a person. That’s not what we do. That’s what other countries do.” He said one of the lessons to be learned in the aftermath of Sept. 11 is “it is so important that we adhere to our core values.”
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has said he was tortured in order to force a confession of his role in the attack. “I really question the value of intelligence derived from torture,” McKay said. “Experts say a person being tortured will say anything to end the torture.”
NIC events honor Indian heritage
North Idaho College is hosting a weeklong series of events April 5 to 9 in honor of American Indian Heritage Week.
The week will include presentations on storytelling, history, dancing, drumming and traditional foods. On April 7, a silent auction will be held in the Edminster Student Union Building with artwork from tribal artists including George Flett, Ric Gendron, George Hill and others. That day also will include beading, basket weaving, sculpture and painting demonstrations.
On April 8, an evening Inter-Tribal Show will feature a wide array of performances, including comedy, rap, dancing and drumming.
All events are free and open to the public. For more information, call (208) 769-3365 or visit www.nic.edu/events.
Officials authorize killing wolf pack
MISSOULA – State wildlife officials have authorized killing a pack of wolves that killed four miniature horses near St. Regis.
Statewide wolf coordinator Carolyn Sime said the depredation was confirmed March 20, and three of the five wolves in the Superior pack were killed Tuesday.
John and Mary Cheesman have been raising miniature horses for more than a decade and told KECI-TV that the ones that were killed were some of the best breeding horses they had.
Sime said the decision to kill the wolves was made based on the fact that the wolves have been spending more time at lower elevations, closer to people and livestock.