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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Man charged with assault of baby; infant is in ICU

From Staff Reports

A Colville man appeared in court Friday on charges that he assaulted a 6-week-old baby, who remains in intensive care in a Spokane hospital.

David M. Ordway, 19, of Colville, was arrested Wednesday on the charge of first-degree assault of a child after the baby’s injuries were discovered. Ordway later told a Spokane police detective he had shaken the baby and thrown it down in a crib, Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen said.

Ordway appeared Friday before District Court Judge Gina Tveit, who ordered Ordway held in the Stevens County Jail on a $250,000 bond.

Deputy Colin Webb testified that the baby remains in the intensive care unit at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, and it’s not clear whether the baby will live.

Witter, A.M. Cannon pools to stay open past Labor Day

The Spokane Parks and Recreation Department will keep two pools open after Labor Day, after all.

Witter Aquatic Center, in the Mission Park neighborhood, will be open for swim team and lap swimming until Sept. 9, weekdays only, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m.

A.M. Cannon, located in the West Central neighborhood, will offer “open swim” sessions for all swimmers from 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and 1 to 4 p.m. weekends through Sept. 10.

“With hot summer weather arriving so late this year, many citizens were disappointed that our pools would be closing this weekend,” Parks Director Leroy Eadie said. “At the urging of Mayor (Mary) Verner and others, we developed a plan to keep our community in the swim for a few more days.”

The city’s remaining pools – Comstock, Hillyard, Shadle and Liberty – close today.

 

Woman aids officers in pursuit of fugitive

A resident helped officers find a fleeing fugitive early Friday in west Spokane, police said.

Christopher A. Hill, 31, was wanted on suspicion of bank robbery in Pendleton, Ore., and on a $250,000 bail-jumping charge related to a drug-possession case in Benton County, Wash., when the Pacific Northwest Violent Crimes Task Force told Spokane patrol units he was in the area about 2 a.m., authorities say.

Hill allegedly drove away from police in the area of U.S. Highway 195 and South Thorpe Road, but a woman who watched the chase from her home called 911 and said she’d seen the man turn off his headlights and turn down Canyon Woods Road.

Spokane police K-9 Leonidas found Hill about 60 feet from the truck he’d been driving, which was high-centered on a boulder. Hill was booked into jail on the warrant, as well as a new charge of attempting to elude police and harming a police dog for allegedly punching Leonidas and trying to pry open the dog’s mouth.

Stolen jewelry recovered after arrest of suspect

About $100,000 in stolen jewelry was recovered Thursday after police arrested a burglary suspect.

Cody Michael Sutton, 20, is accused of burglarizing a home in Veradale after the owner’s 12-year-old son let him inside, thinking Sutton knew his father, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Sutton, carrying a pink gym bag, left the home in a Jeep after the boy saw him going through kitchen cabinets, the Sheriff’s Office said. The boy found his parents’ safe containing the jewelry missing, and his mother called a family friend, who said the thief’s description sounded like Sutton.

Deputies said they found the Jeep and the bag outside Sutton’s apartment in the 1700 block of North Union and saw gold jewelry spread out on a table inside.

Nearly all stolen items were recovered “with the notable exception of a three carat diamond ring,” sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Reagan said in a news release.

Sutton was booked into jail on suspicion of residential burglary and possession of a controlled substance for Suboxone found in his backpack, Reagan said.

Idaho’s high court orders resentencing in murder case

BOISE – The Idaho Court of Appeals has ordered the resentencing of a Sagle man for second-degree murder, saying a North Idaho judge misinterpreted state sentencing laws when he defended his decision to sentence James M. Anderson to 10 to 20 years in prison, with the first 10 years fixed.

Anderson appealed his sentence, calling it excessive, and 1st District Judge Steve Verby indicated that state law required a 10-year fixed term.

The Court of Appeals said state law requires a unified sentence of at least 10 years for second-degree murder – meaning a sentence including both the fixed and indeterminate portion, in which an inmate is eligible for parole. The maximum possible unified sentence for second-degree murder is life in prison.

Anderson was convicted of shooting 30-year-old Eli Holt on Thanksgiving night in 2008, during a confrontation outside Anderson’s trailer.

Judge orders more updates at Farragut shooting range

Kootenai County 1st District Judge John Mitchell ruled this week that a shooting range at Farragut State Park must remain closed until further safety improvements are made.

Mitchell found that the range “will not contain rounds that ricochet over the back berm” and bullets could travel as far as a mile and a half off the site, which is owned by the Idaho Fish and Game Department.

The range was closed in 2007 by court order. Fish and Game had proposed a multimillion-dollar upgrade, but neighbors complained about noise and errant bullets.

Fish and Game has made improvements but Mitchell’s ruling, issued Thursday, made clear that they’re not enough. The court said additional safety measures should include ground baffles and an “eyebrow berm” near the top of the back berm to reduce ricochets.