In brief: Man critically hurt in plane crash
A Chattaroy man is in the hospital after he crashed his small plane at Priest Lake on Tuesday.
Dr. John Hershey was conscious when emergency crews found his wrecked Cessna at the Cavanaugh Bay airstrip, on the south end of Priest Lake in Coolin, Idaho.
Witnesses said Hershey was trying to land when the plane veered off the runway about 11 a.m.
Hershey was taken by MedStar helicopter to Kootenai Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition Tuesday night.
Montanan to head Idaho land agency
BOISE – Idaho’s state Land Board has selected Tom Schultz, current administrator of trust land management for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, as Idaho’s new state lands director.
Schultz replaces George Bacon, a longtime department employee who retired a month ago. This is the first time in decades a director has been selected from outside the state Department of Lands. Gov. Butch Otter said Schultz “brings a lot of new ideas and experiences, especially concerning return on assets.”
Idaho’s state lands director oversees management of the state endowment lands, which include everything from grazing land and forests to lakefront cabin sites to commercial buildings in downtown Boise, to benefit public schools and other state institutions. Schultz has worked for the Montana department since 1997; he was selected over three other finalists, including two from within the Idaho department.
People, pets escape house fire
No one was injured Tuesday when a north Spokane home caught fire.
Firefighters responded to a call about 4:45 p.m. at Standard Street and Lacrosse Avenue. Initial reports suggested children may have been trapped inside. However, all the children were accounted for and safe, Spokane fire Chief Bobby Williams said.
Two adults, five children ranging in age from 3 months to 11 years old, two dogs and a python escaped.
Smoke was seen pouring out of the rear of the house. Crews were able to get it quickly contained, and prevented it from spreading to a nearby house, Williams said, though that house may have sustained some heat damage. Williams said propane tanks in the garage may have caused loud popping sounds.
The extent of damage and cause of the fire are not known, Williams said, and it appeared the family would not be able to return Tuesday night.
Toddler falls from third-floor window
A 2-year-old boy was airlifted to a Spokane-area hospital on Monday evening after falling from a third-story apartment window at Liberty Lake.
Medical crews and police responded to the apartment at Big Trout Lodge on East Country Vista Drive and found the boy conscious and alert after striking the ground, police said.
He was taken by MedStar as a precaution against internal injuries, KHQ reported.
The boy’s father told officers that he left the room where the boy was and heard a window screen fall away. He discovered that the son had fallen.
Plea agreements reached in killing
Two Spokane residents arrested on murder charges in Benewah County face less than a year in custody under recent plea agreements.
Kelly A. Miller, 40, and Stephen Milton, 22, pleaded guilty to felony criminal accessory charges for helping Miller’s husband, Jody Miller, 40, and her son, Irael Kennedy, 21, after a fatal stabbing in Plummer, Idaho, April 17.
Milton was sentenced to five years in prison, but a judge retained jurisdiction over the case, which means he’ll undergo treatment with the Idaho Department of Corrections for three months to a year, depending on what prison officials decide, said Douglas Payne, Benewah County deputy prosecutor.
Kelly Miller has not been sentenced, but faces the same time, Payne said Tuesday.
Jody Miller and Kennedy are tentatively scheduled to go to trial in October on first-degree murder charges.
The men are accused of killing Antowyn D. “Tony” Swiney, 37, at his girlfriend’s Plummer home after Swiney left a Spokane bar to avoid a confrontation.
Jody Miller used to date Swiney’s girlfriend, officials say.
Wastewater spilled at sewer plant
About 45,000 gallons of treated wastewater was spilled from a broken pipe at the Post Falls sewage treatment plant last week.
The spill was discovered Thursday morning. Mike Neher, the city’s environmental manager, said the water had already been disinfected and was contained within a swale at the treatment plant.
The spill isn’t believed to pose a risk to groundwater quality, but city officials have hired a hydrologist to assess potential impacts, Neher said.
Cigarette caused apartment fire
A smoldering cigarette is being blamed for a fire that damaged an apartment house in Pullman on Sunday.
The source of the fire was traced to a couch on the ground floor of the four-story building at 405 S.E. Jordan Road.
Residents living in the floor above reported the fire about 10 p.m.
The fire was partly extinguished by residents, who used a fire extinguisher and buckets of water to combat the blaze.