In brief: Rags catch fire in dryer at jail
A basement fire at the Spokane County Jail triggered a full response from the Spokane Fire Department on Friday evening.
Kitchen staff at the jail alerted a corrections sergeant that they could smell smoke in the basement and found some rags in a dryer that were on fire, according to Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Craig Chamberlin. The corrections employee tried to put the fire out with an extinguisher and called the Fire Department about 5:15 p.m.
By the time the fire department arrived, the fire had started again, but crews quickly extinguished it and ventilated the area.
Medical personnel checked out the inmates who were in the kitchen at the time. No injuries were reported.
Rapist gets life term without parole
A Coeur d’Alene rapist was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh announced Friday.
District Judge John Mitchell sentenced Timothy Eugene Estep, 55, after a jury found Estep guilty following a three-day trial that began Dec. 10, according to a news release.
He also was found guilty of dispensing alcohol to a minor in connection with the Aug. 4, 2010, rape. His prior criminal history includes procuring alcohol for a minor, use of a telephone to threaten or harass, and felony injury to a child under the age of 16.
Judge Mitchell determined rehabilitation efforts would be unsuccessful.
“While very rarely imposed, the life without possibility of parole sentence is appropriate to protect society from a person who will very likely reoffend if released from prison,” McHugh said in the release.
Man found stabbed near bar identified
A stabbing victim found unconscious and bleeding after a fight outside a Chattaroy bar on Wednesday has been identified.
Orlan Knuth was in satisfactory condition Friday at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
Deputies have arrested two suspects who left the scene but then came back: Brian D. Reinhart, 25, faces first-degree assault charges, as does Dwayne W. Hackley, 42. Both appeared in court Thursday afternoon.
Reinhart allegedly stabbed Knuth in the torso and thigh with a knife after an altercation in the parking lot of Prime Tyme, 4211 E. Westwood Ave., according to a court affidavit. Reinhart claimed he stabbed Knuth in self-defense, documents said.
Reinhart was transported to the hospital for a stab wound to his arm before his interview with detectives.
Judge Annette Plese set Reinhart’s bond at $10,000, and he bonded out Thursday night, according to Spokane County Jail staff. Hackley remained in custody on a $30,000 bond.
American Profile in Wednesday paper
Starting Jan. 2, Spokesman-Review readers will find their American Profile magazine insert in the Wednesday newspaper instead of Saturday.
American Profile carries stories about people, travel destinations, festivals, recipes and celebrities.
If you have questions about this switch, please contact the Customer Service Department at (509) 747-4422 or (800) 338-8801.
Hundreds honor mall shooting victim
PORTLAND – A crowd of nearly 500 gathered Friday to honor one of two people fatally shot Dec. 11 at an Oregon shopping mall, sharing memories of a woman described as both “the original neighborhood hippie mom” and a compassionate hospice nurse.
Chaplain Tom Nolen worked with 54-year-old Cindy Yuille at Kaiser Permanente. He told the crowd that the day was “all about Cindy.”
“This is not the time to go on about the tragedy itself or the sorry state of our world, where innocent people are victims of violence and terrorism,” he said.
Yuille and Steve Forsyth were fatally shot at the Clackamas Town Center before the shooter killed himself. A 15-year-old girl, Kristina Shevchenko, was released from a Portland hospital this week.
Tree falls across U.S. 2, killing two
LEAVENWORTH, Wash. – A tree fell across U.S. Highway 2, hitting an SUV and killing two of the six people inside, the Washington State Patrol said Friday.
WSP identified the dead as Timothy Desmond Owen, 58, and Cheryl Janine Reed, 56, both of Bothell, Wash.
The vehicle was eastbound Friday afternoon about 21 miles west of Leavenworth when it was hit.
Four other people in the SUV were injured and taken to Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee. They were all in their 20s.
Dad faces charges after son takes gun
PORTLAND – The father of an 11-year-old boy accused of an attempted carjacking in Portland has been charged in federal court with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The federal charge carries a maximum 10-year sentence, compared with a 5-year sentence Joseph D. Charlton could face if convicted in state court.
Authorities expect the lesser charge of leaving an unsecured gun within reach of a child will be dismissed.
The 34-year-old cannot have a gun because of a 2003 assault conviction.
Charlton’s 11-year-old son is accused of taking his father’s loaded Derringer on Dec. 8. Police say the boy and a 7-year-old accomplice threatened a woman sitting in her vehicle in a church parking lot. She left unharmed.