In brief: Man’s body found in Spokane River

Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies on Saturday pulled a man’s body from the Spokane River near the state line.

The body was reported about 7:30 a.m. near Richards Road, Lt. Stu Miller wrote in a press report. That road is below the Post Falls Dam on the south side of the river, less than a mile from the Washington state line.

The department’s recreational safety section and dive rescue team pulled the body from shallow water, Miller reported.

Authorities haven’t determined how long the body was in the river, the man’s identity or what caused his death, Miller reported. The case remained under investigation.

Hundreds back McKenna, lawsuit

OLYMPIA – Hundreds of people have voiced their support for Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna and his decision to join other states trying to overturn sweeping federal health care legislation.

The Washington State Patrol estimated that 850 people showed up Saturday for a tea party rally at the state Capitol in Olympia.

McKenna, a Republican, told the crowd the health care bill is unconstitutional because it mandates that people buy insurance – and the government can’t force people to buy a commercial product.

Many legal experts say that argument is futile because the law frames the mandate as a tax, which the government has clear authority to do.

Poacher loses hunting privileges

SALMON, Idaho – An Idaho Falls man who last month pleaded guilty to a felony violation of unlawful taking of multiple big-game animals has been stripped of his hunting privileges for life.

The sentence 54-year-old Jerry G. Ferguson received earlier this week in the 7th District also includes 60 days in jail, a $7,500 fine and a prohibition from being in hunting camps or possessing a firearm in the field for 10 years.

According to court documents Ferguson shot and killed five cow elk during a hunting trip near Salmon in central Idaho on Dec. 5, 2008.

Authorities say Ferguson retrieved one elk but left the others in the field.