In brief: Council approves new airport boss

Spokane International Airport is one vote away from having a new director.

The Spokane City Council on Monday voted 6-0 to name Larry Krauter the airport’s new executive director. Krauter is the interim director of the Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Penn.

The Spokane airport’s board of directors voted last week to recommend Krauter for the job. The Spokane County Commission will have the last say on the matter and is scheduled to vote today on Krauter’s selection.

If the commission agrees, Krauter will replace interim director Ryland “Skip” Davis, who has led the Spokane airport since Neal Sealock stepped down last summer.

Longtime chef Ray Delfino dies

Ray Delfino, who was executive chef at the Spokane Club for many years, died early Sunday at his Spokane home. He was 53.

Delfino was a valued mentor for many Spokane chefs and often assisted area nonprofits that hosted catered events, said Elijah Dalager, sous chef at Harbor Crest Retirement Center in Spokane.

Delfino became executive chef and dining services director at Harbor Crest in July 2009.

For the previous 14 years Delfino was executive chef at the downtown Spokane Club.

After moving from the Seattle area in 1993, Delfino took an active role in the Spokane chapter of the American Culinary Federation. That group is the education and networking group for many area food service professionals.

The chapter is planning a memorial service at Manito Golf and Country Club within the next two weeks, Dalager said.

German cadet trains in Spokane

A police cadet from Germany recently spent four weeks training with the Spokane Police Department.

Jens Muth spent time with various units, including the SWAT team, drug unit and gang unit.

Muth rode with officers during each patrol shift and also trained with the K-9 unit.

Muth’s relationship with the department began four years go when he was visiting friends in Spokane. He rode along with Officer Rob Boothe and stayed in contact with him.

Muth began his law enforcement career as a government attendant in 2002, said Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, SPD spokeswoman. By 2008, Muth was studying to become a police public official.

He was required to undergo three training sessions.

After learning basic skills, he was invited to spend four weeks with a police department in another country, so he contacted Boothe.  Assistant Chief Jim Nicks approved the internship, which began Jan. 22.

Muth returned to Hessian, Germany, on Sunday after a “fantastic experience” in Spokane, DeRuwe said.

Tax break sought over jobless fund

OLYMPIA – Lawmakers say Washington state should not be penalized for having a healthy fund for unemployment payments.

Senate leaders introduced and pushed forward Monday a measure requesting that the federal government give Washington employers an unemployment tax relief or a financial benefit equal to any financial help the federal government provided to states with bankrupt unemployment funds.

The measure was in response to the Obama administration’s recent proposal to give states a temporary break on their interest payments for their unemployment insurance debt to the government.

At about $2 billion, Washington state’s unemployment fund is one of the nation’s healthiest.

The fund is where the state draws money to pay people claiming unemployment.

Officials say that more than 30 states have bankrupt unemployment funds and have had to borrow from the federal government to pay benefits owed to unemployed workers.

Wife sentenced for child rape

SEATTLE – A woman who videotaped herself and her husband raping a 4-year-old girl and posted it to the Internet has been sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.

The Seattle Times reports Hollie Beston, of Burien, Wash., was sentenced Friday by King County Superior Court Judge Mariane Spearman.

Beston had pleaded guilty in December to first-degree child rape, first-degree child molestation, sexual exploitation of a minor and dealing in child pornography. Her estranged husband, Brian Beston, of Kent, Wash., pleaded guilty to the same charges and was also sentenced in June to 26 years to life in prison.

Charging documents say the Bestons were arrested in October 2009 after the FBI learned of the couple from a tipster.