In brief: Artist’s work on national poster

Virgil Marchand’s artwork graces the walls in 3,000 federal offices throughout the United States.

The Omak artist, a member of the Arrow Lakes Band of the Confederated Colville Tribes, is featured this year on the American Indian Heritage Month poster produced by the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The illustration, depicting the cultural significance of salmon, is being used in an effort to educate citizens about tribal efforts to protect natural resources.

“Marchand’s illustration … underscores why protecting the resources which allow the salmon to survive and flourish are important conservation and cultural endeavors,” said NRCS state conservationist Roylene Rides at the Door.

Deputy arrests pair at tire store

Two Spokane Valley men were arrested Wednesday night after a sheriff’s deputy caught them allegedly burglarizing a tire store in Airway Heights.

Michael Earl Brown, 49, and Thomas Edward Kivett, 53, were booked into Spokane County Jail on felony counts of second-degree burglary, according to a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Deputy Tyler Smith was prowl-checking businesses around 11:45 p.m. when he saw someone dressed in dark clothing in a fenced storage area near the tire store and a van parked nearby.

There were four snowy tires inside the van and 10 leaned up against it.

Man gets 10 years for crime spree

A 19-year-old Kalispell, Mont., man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a 2009 crime spree.

Nathan Hunt was arrested in April after he and another man were linked to the Oct. 17, 2009, robbery of Super 1 Foods in Hayden.

After his arrest, he admitted to having a gun while he robbed Smith’s Foods in Columbia Falls, Mont., on Oct. 25, 2009, and to stealing from the Army Navy Store in Evergreen, Mont., on Dec. 10.