Pedestrian hit by car in North Spokane

In the second serious car accident in 24 hours, Spokane police found an unconscious and seriously injured man lying in the road shortly after 9:30 p.m. Saturday after getting a report of a car hitting a pedestrian at the intersection of Buckeye Avenue and Wall Street.

Witnesses said the driver was heading east and hit the man as he was crossing the intersection heading south, according to a Spokane Police Department press release. Investigators were called to the scene.

Police arrested Spokane resident Candace L. Wilson, 30, on a vehicular assault charge. Anyone with information about the accident is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233. Police did not release the victim’s name.

Missing boy, 11, returns home

The Spokane Police Department reported Sunday that 11-year-old Everette D. Alonge was safe at home.

Police asked for help finding the boy Saturday after he was last seen at Kiernan Avenue and Madison Street at 8 a.m. He returned home at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Petroleum group, counties reach deal

BOISE – A group representing Idaho counties and a group representing companies interested in tapping natural gas in the state announced an agreement Sunday on legislation they plan to introduce into the Idaho Legislature next month.

The Idaho Association of Counties and the Idaho Petroleum Council said the guidelines will allow counties some control over natural gas development, while natural gas wildcatters will have a clearer path to tapping fields.

But a conservation group said the agreement appears to reduce local control over industries by letting state lawmakers create rules that counties and cities wouldn’t be able to exceed with their own ordinances.

The proposed legislation was not released, but the news release said the legislation would allow local governments to create regulations involving exploration and processing as long as the rules didn’t prevent companies from building infrastructure.

The groups also said the proposed legislation would let local governments pass their own ordinances regulating the industry as long as those ordinances don’t conflict with state law.

Idaho officials have been scrambling to develop new rules after natural gas was discovered in 2010 in an ancient lake bed a mile beneath the surface of Payette County.

Natural gas wildcatters have been concerned about cities and counties passing laws that could halt development of Idaho’s emerging oil and natural gas fields. A main concern is hydraulic fracturing, which some fear could harm regional groundwater that some rural residents rely on.

Fat Smitty’s yields hefty payout

PORT ANGELES – Customers at a landmark burger joint called Fat Smitty’s on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula have wondered for years how much money was plastered to the eatery’s walls and ceiling.

The answer, it turns out, was a pretty penny.

The Peninsula Daily News reported that Carl “Fat Smitty” Schmidt enlisted Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts to take down the dough this weekend, including many dollar bills decorated by patrons who stuck them on the walls.

The total? $10,316.

Schmidt says he’s giving all but $3,000 to a local Boy Scouts project. The rest will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

The tradition began years ago when a traveling salesman wrote his name on a dollar bill and tacked it to the wall.