In brief: District honors 5 who found bomb

The Spokane Public Facilities District, which operates the Spokane Convention Center, has honored five people who found a bomb along the planned route of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. march.

Mick McDowell, chairman of the district’s board, said three people employed by Labor Ready who were working for the district by contract found the bomb Jan. 17 and radioed information about it to two of the district’s event supervisors, who called police.

The five were honored during an employee lunch earlier this week and presented with the district’s “Standing Ovation” award, which included gift certificates, McDowell said. He said the workers have indicated that at this time they prefer not to be honored publicly.

Furloughs close state offices

Many state agencies will be closed today as part of an effort to save money.

Certain public safety, public health and revenue-generation activities will continue. Services provided by child protection workers, community corrections officers, emergency public health workers and State Patrol will remain in operation. The legislation exempts the Office of the Governor and Office of Financial Management from temporary layoffs during the legislative session.

The furloughs will save more than $70 million in all funds in 2010-’11, the news release said. The temporary layoff law was passed as part of a series of measures to address a nearly $12 billion budget shortfall during the 2009-’11 budget period. For more information, visit http://ofm.wa.gov/ layoff/.

Judge removes juror from trial

A Spokane County juror was removed from a vehicular homicide trial Wednesday after falling asleep and telling a judge it was OK she’d missed testimony because she already knew the topic well.

“I was marginally OK until she volunteered the last part,” said Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen.

The woman told the judge she already understood phlebotomy after she was confronted about sleeping during testimony regarding the subject on Tuesday, the third day of trial for Jon A. Strine, who is charged with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault for a June 2, 2009, crash that killed Lorri Keller and paralyzed her husband, Gary Keller.

The woman apologized repeatedly after Eitzen told her that she could no longer serve on the jury because “every single juror has to have the same information.”

“I feel really bad,” said the woman, who appeared to be in her late 30s or early 40s.

One of three alternates, who have been present for the entire trial, took her place.

Man charged with burglaries

A suspected car prowler was arrested early Tuesday after a woman said she spotted him stashing stolen property before he robbed a neighbor’s garage.

Loren Camron Kintner, 31, was arrested near Trent Avenue and Ella Street following the report of suspicious activity in the 8100 block of East Carlisle Ave., according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.

The caller said she watched Kintner stash a red box behind a vacant house, then remove a white box from a neighbor’s open garage. As police were speaking with Kintner, a waitress from a nearby restaurant told officers a distinctive sweatshirt had been stolen from her car.

Police found Kintner with the sweatshirt, along with a stolen cordless drill and a calculator stolen from a car in the 8700 block of East Courtland. He also had 38 vehicle keys, police say.

Kintner, a transient, was booked into jail on charges of second-degree burglary, second-degree theft, possession of motor vehicle theft tools and three counts each of second-degree vehicle prowling and third-degree theft.